October 7 was the worst day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. But already, efforts are underway to diminish the horrors visited upon Israelis and others who were living in Israel on that day. Among those horrors was the taking of hostages.

A small group of New York City-based Israeli artists put together an unfunded #KidnappedfromIsrael campaign to circulate photographs of the hostages, along with their names and ages. (More on that below.) Many people have printed out these photographs and posted them in public places to focus attention on their plight. Almost as soon as the public awareness campaign started, a systematic counter-campaign arose, involving vandals tearing down the posters.

These posters depict 240 human beings held in captivity. Nearly all are civilians. Many are grandparents. At least 33 are children, including one 9-month old baby.

What kind of moral degenerate would wish to conceal the fact that innocent men, women, and children are being held captive in underground tunnels?

Unfortunately, there is a method to their madness. This concerted effort to erase the hostages’ predicament from public consciousness finds parallels in the efforts to deny the Holocaust.

In some parts of the world, Holocaust denial is official dogma. In much of the Arab world, hundreds of books denying the genocide are still sold, and sitcoms about the “fake Holocaust” have been hits in Egypt and the Gulf countries. Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the West Bank Palestinians, does not completely deny the Holocaust occurred, but he contends that the real number of murdered Jews was only one sixth as large as claimed, and that this scaled-down Holocaust resulted from a collaboration between Zionists and Nazis, designed to spur Jewish immigration to Palestine. In other words, he asserts that the Jews helped orchestrate their own mass murder.

Outright Holocaust denial in the United States is restricted to the loonier fringes of the political spectrum, but a more passive form of denial emerges from widespread ignorance.

According to a 50-state survey conducted in 2020 based on 11,000 interviews of Millennials and Gen Z Americans, almost two-thirds of young adults do not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. About 36% believe that the real number was 2 million or fewer. More than one in 10 believe that Jews themselves caused the Holocaust. Almost half of the young Americans surveyed could not name a single concentration camp. Almost a quarter said that the Holocaust was a myth, or was exaggerated, or they weren’t sure.

It is tempting to view the tearing down of the posters as acts of adolescent petulance. But when you consider the woeful extent of Holocaust ignorance, tearing down the posters actually makes a sort of malevolent sense.  For an uneducated and gullible public, out of sight is out of mind.  

Sadly, the campaign may be succeeding, at least to an extent. Many of the hostages are Americans. In 1979, when Americans were held hostage in Iran, the media paid  constant attention to their situation. Ted Koppel became a star when ABC launched “America Held Hostage,” which ran every night, eventually transforming into “Nightline”.

Today, we hear little or nothing about the American hostages held by Hamas. Other than their family members, few if any of us know their names. We do not recognize their faces.

Ignorance is the ally of evil. If people do not know that two out of three of Europe’s Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust, they are less likely to recognize the evil of antisemitism. If people do not know that 240 men, women, and children, including babies, are being held captive, they are less likely to recognize how Hamas fosters the same type of evil.

The public should not forget the hostages, nor grow callous to the injustice of their captivity.

Below are the photographs gathered by the #KidnappedfromIsrael campaign. Their website is at https://www.kidnappedfromisrael.com/.  See them and bear witness.

This post is a short primer on the Middle East. It is designed for the many typical Americans who have open minds and open hearts, but for whom Israel is not a constant concern. 

According to recent polling, the vast majority of such Americans believe that Israel is in the right and its enemies are in the wrong. But when they hear “experts” from think tanks, universities, and even some congressional offices, blaming Israel, they may not know how to respond.

This post collects many of the most commonly heard charges against Israel, and offers brief factual refutations. Then it includes links to other posts on this same website which provide more detailed information.

The Jews in Israel are “colonists” and “settlers,” who displaced the native people.

The Jews are the native people. Colonists and settlers establish colonies and settlements in regions in which they have never lived before, and to which they have no connection.  Jews are different. They have had a continuous presence in the Holy Land for more than 3,000 years, far longer than any Arab presence. Jews outside Israel in the Diaspora retain deep religious ties to Israel, constantly mentioning it in their prayers.

Want more facts? Go to https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/21/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-the-jews-in-israel-are-colonists-and-settlers-who-displaced-the-native-people/

Israel is an “apartheid” state.

Israel is a multi-ethnic nation, where Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze all enjoy equal civil rights. Arab Israelis make up 21% of the population and are fully integrated. They hold elected office and sit on Israel’s courts, including its Supreme Court. They even enlist in the IDF. It’s strange to hear people call Israel an “apartheid” state since a majority of Jewish Israelis trace their heritage to North Africa and the Middle East, and by some definitions would be considered “people of color.” And what kind of “apartheid” state would go to great lengths to rescue thousands of oppressed Ethiopian Jews from Africa to bring them to freedom in Israel?

Want more facts? Go to https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/21/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-israel-is-an-apartheid-state/

The founders of the State of Israel expelled the Arab residents, causing the refugee problem.

The founders did the opposite. They appealed to the Arab residents to stay. Israel’s War of Independence, like most wars, caused civilian dislocations. The roughly 800,000 Jews who were forced out of Arab countries are not considered refugees because they were welcomed in Israel, and soon became productive citizens. The comparable number of Arabs who fled Israel have never been fully integrated into the neighboring Arab counties, and instead have been consigned to squalid refugee camps.

Want more facts? Go to https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/21/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-the-founders-of-the-state-of-israel-expelled-the-arab-residents-causing-the-refugee-problem/

Israel refuses to let the Palestinians have a state of their own.

The Palestinians were offered a separate state of their own by the British in 1937, by the United Nations in 1947, and by the Israelis in 2000 and 2008. In each instance, they turned down the offer, rather than live as neighbors with a Jewish state. No wonder the late Israeli statesman Abba Eban once said: “The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

Want more facts? Go to https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/21/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-israel-refuses-to-let-the-palestinians-have-a-state-of-their-own/

Hamas doesn’t hate Jews, it just hates Israel.

Hamas hates both. Its founding Covenant commands its followers to kill Jews, wherever they may be found. The butchery that occurred on October 7 was fully consistent with the organization’s Covenant.

Want more facts? Go to https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/22/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-hamas-doesnt-hate-jews-it-just-hates-israel/

The root cause of Hamas terrorism is Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which has turned Gaza into an open-air prison.

Hamas terrorists do not murder Israelis because Israel blockades Gaza. Israel blockades Gaza because Hamas terrorists murder Israelis. Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005. Almost immediately, Hamas used Gaza as a launching pad from which to fire thousands of rockets at Israeli homes and schools. Hamas uses supplies intended for construction of homes to make rockets and to dig terror tunnels. Israel, along with Egypt, restricts the flow of goods into Gaza in an effort to prevent Hamas terrorism. Before October 7, if attacks from Gaza had stopped, these restrictions would have ended immediately

Want more facts? Go to  https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/21/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-the-root-cause-of-hamas-terrorism-is-israels-blockade-of-gaza-which-has-turned-gaza-into-an-open-air-prison/

Israel’s use of force violates international law because it is disproportionate.

Israel, like any nation, has the right to defend itself by using sufficient force to stop attacks on its people. That is what Israel has tried to do in Gaza ever since Hamas took over the territory and began using it as launching pad for attacks on Israeli homes and schools, while embedding its terror network in mosques, hospitals, and other civilian sites. The awful events of October 7 show that Israel has used less force, not more, than is required to prevent Hamas terrorist attacks.

Want more facts? Go to https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/21/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-israels-use-of-force-violates-international-law-because-it-is-disproportionate/

Israel’s use of force just creates a “cycle of violence.”

The “cycle of violence” theory assumes that Israel’s enemies resort to violence in response to Israeli acts of violence. But the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack was not a response to violence by Israel. The October 7 attack was a response to peacemaking efforts by Israel; namely, its efforts to make peace with Saudi Arabia. This has happened before. Yasser Arafat launched the violent 2000 Intifada, not in response to any attacks by Israel, but in response to American and Israeli peacemaking efforts at Camp David.

Want more facts? Go to https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/21/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-israels-use-of-force-just-creates-a-cycle-of-violence/

If Israel ceased to exist there would finally be peace in the Middle East.

The Middle East is the site of numerous wars – such as the civil wars in Yemen, Syria, and Sudan, and the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1989 – which have nothing to do with Israel. If Israel ceased to exist, wars would continue throughout the Middle East.  One of those wars would likely be between Hamas and its Palestinian rival Fatah. They have already fought one war for control of Gaza. They would likely fight another for control of the place where Israel used to be.

Want more facts? Go to  https://toputitbluntly.com/2023/10/21/whats-the-truth-behind-the-charge-if-israel-ceased-to-exist-there-would-finally-be-peace-in-the-middle-east/