The Antisemitic Attempt to Change the Narrative of 10/7

The original definition of Nakba is “catastrophe.” The term was coined by Syrian Arab intellectual Constantin Zurayk in 1948. In his pamphlet The Meaning of the Disaster, Zurayk used the term to describe the Arab world’s failure to prevent the establishment of the State of Israel following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. His criticism of the Arab armies was based on their rhetoric that proved to be “hollow bombs” that “cause no damage and kill no one” and their bravado that quickly turned into cowardice. Zurayk wrote, “Seven Arab states declare war on Zionism in Palestine, stop impotent before it, and then turn on their heels.” The continued desperate levels of hatred against the Jewish state by the Arab nations demonstrated clearly just how devastating the Nakba or Arab failure has been for Arab hope and Arab lives.

But suddenly, the definition changed. The Nakba became the genocidal (according to Martin Shaw) ethnic cleansing of innocent, unarmed, and peaceful Palestinians who would never harm a Jew. May 14^th, the day celebrated in Israel and in many Jewish communities around the world as the day Israel, the independent state of the Jews, was established in 1948 immediately following the end of British sovereignty over the region, became the day the Arabs of the region mourn the loss of their pride. Much of the world appears to mourn with them. That is the power of propaganda. It does not matter that 90% of the Arabs that left what became Israel stayed within the boundaries of their “historic” homeland.

A few days ago, Israelis along with many Jewish communities, mourned the victims of the genocide committed by Hamas and ordinary Gazan citizens against the citizens, residents, and guests of Israel, men, women, children, and babies, all because they were believed to be Jews. But just as the Nakba definition was change from Arab humiliation to a disingenuous accusation of Jews behaving badly, the second anniversary of the brutal death and kidnapping of almost 1500 innocent human beings, going about their lives, all because they were believed to be Jews, has been turned by antisemites, anti-Israel activists, and Islamists into a memorial of the Gazan “martyrs,” the ordinary Gazan residents who were innocent, unarmed, and peaceful, and would never harm a Jew, supposedly intentionally killed by Israel, but actually sacrificed for the glory of Hamas and the sake of propaganda.

Unfortunately, in my position as a University Research Fellow, I am constantly exposed to the results of this successful antisemitic campaign to change the narrative by changing the definition. I recently debated a fellow Ph.D. regarding the bias against Israel in the UN who believed the previous incarnation of a UN Human Rights council was disbanded because of too many dictatorships were members, rather than the UN General Secretary disbanding it for its overwhelming bias against Israel. I graded a discussion post wherein the MA student wrote an overly anti-Israel response that appeared to be straight out of Al Jazeera.

I am sure many of you are often overwhelmed by the negativity directed against Jews and Israel. And sometimes the despair is deep. My advice? Keep your head up high. Be proud of your heritage. Learn. Keep in mind that Israel is the state of the Jews, not a Jewish state. Keep in mind that Israel exists to be a place of refuge for Jews should the need arise. And remember that Israel’s reaction to attacks on its people are based on the original definition of “Never Again.”