Today doesn’t exist without yesterday

If someone were to time travel from the early 2000s, what would they think of society today?

If someone were to time travel from the early 2000s, what would they think of society today?

Would New Yorkers believe that there would be a Muslim mayoral candidate less than 25 years after 9/11 and that then-mayor Rudy Giuliani would have fallen from grace years after his time as “America’s Mayor”? In 2004, “The Apprentice” debuted with Donald Trump as the host. Who would have thought a little over a decade later he’d be elected as U.S. president and then after losing his bid for a second term, would win the election the next time around, after two assassination attempts?

It’s impossible to tell what tomorrow will bring but in this time of low attention spans, it’s still important to look backward and be aware of what happened in the past to provide context to what’s happening today.

For instance, there are those who say that the war in Gaza “didn’t start on Oct. 7,” and call the Hamas attack an act of resistance to the occupation and apartheid that they accuse Israel of committing. It’s true, the war didn’t start on Oct. 7, it’s gone on for decades, even before the state of Israel was established. (You could even say it goes back to biblical days with Abraham’s sons Isaac and Ishmael, if you’re so inclined.)

But for those who knew nothing about the history of the region before raising their Palestinian flags in support of those who committed the murders, rape and kidnapping on Oct. 7, it’s ignorant to ignore what has happened in the past.

People see the checkpoints in Gaza and in the West Bank and see the attacks on Gaza (and Iran and Lebanon) and accuse Israel of being a racist aggressor who only wants land. (One popular singer reposted this message on Instagram this week: “What’s happening in Palestine isn’t complicated. Massacring an entire population to build a state for one religion isn’t self-defense.” Several people commented in appreciation and agreement. WTH?!!)

It’s gotten to the point where a musician at a music festival with more than 200,000 attendees (and that was broadcast on British television) shouts “Death to the IDF” and the crowds repeat his chants.

It’s gotten to the point where a group of people in Boulder, Colo, marching in support of releasing the hostages from Gaza, are attacked by a man shouting “Free Palestine” as he threw a Molotov cocktail at them. Karen Diamond, 82, one of the eight people who were hospitalized from the attack (including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor) died this week from her injuries.

People see the attacks on Gaza and are horrified, rightly so. War is awful and because of social media, we’re seeing much more of what’s happening on the ground than in past wars. (Although I haven’t seen much influencer coverage about Congo or Sudan or Russia or Ukraine or Myanmar or other current conflicts.)

However, the absence of blame for Hamas and the omission of advocacy for the release of the hostages makes me wonder how much protestors really know about the history behind this conflict. In 2001, Hamas started attacking Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip with mortar shells, as well as the Israeli city of Sderot, which is less than a mile from the Gaza border.

By 2002, the weapons became Qassam rockets and attacks continued in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, a 4-year-old boy on his way to kindergarten and a 49-year-old immigrant from Uzbekistan were killed by a rocket shot from Gaza to Sderot. The city had been a target of Palestinian rockets for three years before these first fatalities. Since the city, which was founded in 1951, was so close to the Gazan border, they only have 15 seconds to take cover when rockets are detected and at that time, there was no alarm procedure in place.

Between 1948 and 1967, Gaza was part of Egypt (and before that, it was administered by the British and before 1917, it was ruled by the Ottoman Empire.) The Gaza Strip came under Israel’s control following the Six-Day War, a conflict between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, primarily Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

According to the documentary, “Under the Iron Dome,” in the 1980s, Israelis used to shop and visit the beach in Gaza and people from Gaza used to work in Israel.

When the rockets first started landing in Sderot in the early 2000s, there was no warning at all before they hit, but eventually, when the rockets started landing closer to homes, an alarm system was developed to announce to residents when to run for shelter. Obviously it was very traumatic for the Israelis who lived with those frequent rocket attacks, as well as the suicide bombings throughout the country - on buses, in restaurants, markets and in other civilian areas.

According to Jewish Virtual Library, there were 303 suicide bombers who attacked Israel from 1993 to mid-August 2003, with nearly 80 percent of the attacks being after 2000. The majority were carried out by radical Islamic terrorist groups - Hamas (89), Islamic Jihad (59), Fatah (58) and the PFLP (8).

Because of its history of being surrounded by neighbors who want to destroy it, Israel has had to focus on having a strong military and most men and women are required to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. So when the musician at the Glastonbury Festival shouted “Death to the IDF,” it’s like calling for the death of the majority of Israeli citizens.

When you have a nation of people who have lived their entire lives with many periods of being under attack from their neighbors (and losing loved ones, friends and acquaintances in the attacks or while serving in the military or know people who were kidnapped into Gaza), perhaps that better explains the checkpoints on the border or some of the procedures currently in place that are heavily criticized today. What other measures should Israel have taken to protect its people?

It’s a vicious cycle and a distressing situation. When Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005 by removing all their IDF bases and all the Jewish settlements, the hope was that that move would bring peace. Yet, several hours after the last troops were withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, two Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza at communities near the southern border.

So yes, the current conflict didn’t start on Oct. 7. Hamas has been attacking Israel from Gaza for decades, which has led Israel to take measures to protect its citizens. These measures include requirements to have shelters in residences and warning systems to instruct residents when to enter shelters.

Eventually, after it became apparent that the disengagement from Gaza wouldn’t bring peace, the Iron Dome, which stops short-range rockets, was developed. This invention has saved countless lives since it debuted in 2011. An example of this was during the 12-day Israel-Iran war last month when Iran launched over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel.

The attacks killed 28 people (all but one were civilians) and wounded over 3,000. In all, there were 36 missile impacts and one drone strike in populated areas, according to the Times of Israel, causing damage to 2,305 homes in 240 buildings, along with two universities and a hospital, and leaving over 13,000 Israelis displaced.

The oldest casualty was a 95-year-old Holocaust survivor and the youngest was a 7-year-old Ukrainian cancer patient who was receiving treatment in Israel. (Her mom, grandmother and two young cousins were also killed in the attack on their apartment.) Many pro-Palestinian social media accounts celebrated this destruction and said they wanted to see more of it.

In addition to the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and the Arrow missile defense systems were also used to intercept missiles during that war.

Basically, Israel has invested heavily (with billions from the U.S.) in self-defense because its enemies have threatened for years to destroy it and continually attacks its people. This is the reason there aren’t more casualties when Israel is attacked.

Contrast that with the Hamas leaders who have spent the billions they’ve received in humanitarian aid to build underground tunnels and weapons and have invested nothing for infrastructure or protection for their people. The Hamas charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and then attacks Israel and hides under the civilians in Gaza when Israel strikes back. It’s a devastating situation.

So what happens next? We have generations of people on both sides of the border whose lives are filled with terror, heartbreak and loss. Children and families who have lived there their entire lives and have nowhere else to go. Both with long ties to the region and the land. There are many voices of condemnation of Israel from Americans and Europeans who have never had to live with the terror and yet are quick to judge based on reports from a group whose primary mission is to destroy its neighbor.

If we were able to time travel 25 years into the future, what would we see? Will another generation be forced to live under these circumstances?