Release The October 7 Videos
By
Leonard Zwelling
It is pretty likely that the Israelis who have invaded Gaza and bombed it extensively will win the battle with Hamas. Unfortunately, right now, Israel is losing the war of public relations in the western world.
Every night, images of destruction and death in Gaza permeate the news. Even on Fox, which has done a superior job of keeping its eyes on the ball by focusing on what happened on October 7, the pro-Palestinian demonstrations take up a significant amount of air time. More focus on the real issue is needed in the rest of the western world.
The reason that there is so much sentiment for the Palestinians and why the Palestinians are winning the public relations battle is that those images from Gaza are seared into the minds of Americans and Europeans and there are no competing images of what Hamas did to Israel on October 7 that started this war.
But, those images exist.
As I understand it, Israel has made available to journalists in Israel and New York about 40 or so minutes of video footage including video from the camcorders of killed terrorists, depicting the barbarism of Hamas on October 7. Apparently, the footage is so gruesome, Israel will not release it to the general public. Israel needs to release the footage. No one can be made to watch any of it, but many would and they would understand the butchery of Hamas and the reason the Israelis have decided to invade Gaza despite it not being the most judicious course of action in my opinion. In short, October 7 was a pogrom and the Jews will not be silent victims again.
Israel has prioritized the eradication of Hamas over using its choice not to bomb Gaza as leverage to get the hostages back. Instead, as Israel does not know where the hostages are, they have bombed northern Gaza into the Stone Age fully knowing that this could mean the death of some of the hostages who are undoubtedly hidden near the very targets of the Israeli bombs—Hamas tunnels and ammunition caches.
Given the choices that Israel felt compelled to make, I assume because “never again” means full scale aggression in response to the genocidal killing of Jews, it also needs to think about what the world has seen so far. It has been non-stop video of the consequences of Israeli bombing on “innocent” Palestinians in Gaza and no further video of what happened on October 7 that justified the Israeli response. This is a serious error, one of many, made by the current Israeli leadership and it is not anti-Semitic to criticize this Israeli government, perhaps the worst in its 75-year history.
Israeli leaders may not think it is important to get the western world on its side. It may just call all of these pro-Palestinian demonstrations the result of persistent anti-Semitism, particularly among the left in America and on the college campuses.
But, there are many people in the western world who would begin to understand the Israeli aggression if they could see for themselves what it was a response to.
So, Mr. Netanyahu, show the video of October 7 so the whole world can see what the leaders of the Palestinians in Gaza sanctioned.
Winning the battle in Gaza will not get you much. You’ll be responsible for two million people with no place to go. At least educate the world as to why the invasion was deemed to be necessary and what “never again” means.
5 thoughts on “Release The October 7 Videos”
Maybe showing photos and videos would change a few minds but that ignores the true anti-semitism that exists throughout the world. The hatred of Jewish people has been fully unleashed once again. It’s sickening and frightening but then most of us have been subject to anti-semitism our entire lives and have learned to live with it. And, of course, the disgust that so many people feel about Bibi, me included. But Israel must be free to live in peace and be able to defend itself. It’s good that Bibi allowed the 4 hour humanitarian pauses, so perhaps that will help.
Doubtful. We are not going to get a fair hearing by the anti-Semites. The faster the Israelis uproot Hamas the better.
After WWII, horrific photographs of the Concentration Camps brought that tragedy to reality, a reality that led most civilized people to say “never again” for another Holocaust. People see gory scenes in horror movies all the time.. So, we should be able to “stomach”seeing the savagery of October 7th. And, that evil disregard for human life should motivate us all to support Israel in eradicating Humas.
After WWII, horrific photographs of the Concentration Camps brought that tragedy to reality, a reality that led most civilized people to say “never again” for another Holocaust. People see gory scenes in horror movies all the time.. So, we should be able to “stomach”seeing the savagery of October 7th. And, that evil disregard for human life should motivate us all to support Israel in eradicating Hamas..
Exactly