Anne Frank was 15 years old when she died in a Nazi concentration camp. Yet her words outlived her body. Words scribbled in a diary from a secret attic in Amsterdam became one of the world’s most powerful mirrors.
This summer, I found myself in Amsterdam for Mindvalley U. By chance, my Airbnb was on the street next to Anne Frank’s house. Each morning, I’d step outside and see the same canals, the same cobblestones, and the same rooftops Anne may have glimpsed in stolen moments when she dared peek out from her hiding place.
A few mornings later, I opened the news and froze. The Diary of Anne Frank had just been banned in Florida schools under new book-ban laws. Imagine that. In 2025, one of the most important human documents ever written—the testimony of a teenage Jewish girl hiding from Nazi genocide—was deemed “inappropriate” for children to read.
The synchronicity hit me hard. I was standing before the building where those words were written. Words that survived Anne, even though she did not. Words that outlived war, genocide, and cruelty—only to be silenced again today by politicians who fear truth more than hatred.
And this got me thinking.
If Anne Frank were alive today, what would she say about America? About Israel & Gaza?
What I’m about to share may feel uncomfortable—but Anne’s words demand we face discomfort.
Who was Anne Frank
Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt in 1929. When the Nazis rose to power, her family fled to Amsterdam, hoping to escape persecution. In 1942, when deportations began, they went into hiding in a small annex behind her father’s office. For over two years, Anne, her sister Margot, her parents Otto and Edith, and four others lived in silence, relying on the courage of Dutch friends who smuggled them food and news.
Anne wasn’t just a symbol. She was a teenager—funny, sharp, sometimes rebellious, and always observant. She dreamed of being a journalist. She once wrote, “I want to go on living even after my death.” And, tragically, she did—not through her life, but through her words.
In August 1944, they were betrayed. The Gestapo stormed the annex. The Franks were deported to Westerbork, then Auschwitz, and finally Anne and Margot to Bergen-Belsen. In early 1945, both sisters died of typhus—just weeks before liberation. Anne was 15.
Only Otto Frank survived. After the war, Miep Gies, one of the helpers, handed him Anne’s diary. He published it, fulfilling her dream. Today, it has sold over 30 million copies and been translated into more than 70 languages.
Anne’s body was silenced. But her voice became immortal.
Anne’s words in today’s world
Anne once wrote:
“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor, helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”
She was describing Nazi roundups in Amsterdam.
But doesn’t that sound eerily like ICE raids in America today? Parents taken in the middle of the night. Children left crying, bewildered, abandoned. Different time, different uniforms—but the same cruelty.
Anne also wrote:
“We are chained to one spot, without rights, a thousand obligations… waiting for the inevitable end.”
That could be the voice of Gaza today. Entire families locked in. Starved. Bombed. Denied freedom of movement. Children asking, “Why must we suffer simply because of who we are?”
Her words, written 80 years ago, read like dispatches from the present. History is not past. It is a loop—unless we break it.
A hard, controversial mirror
Anne’s diary teaches us to look at cruelty honestly, no matter where it comes from. And one thing history proves: atrocities don’t start with bullets. They start with words.
Dehumanizing language always comes first.
So let’s talk about Gaza, as uncomfortable as this may seem.
Consider the echoes:
- Nazi leadership (1943): Heinrich Himmler at Posen: “I am referring here to the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people….”
- Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (2023): On the Palestinian town of Huwara: “[Huwara] should be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it.”
- Hitler, Mein Kampf: Jews as “the typical parasite, a sponger who, like an infectious bacillus, keeps spreading.” Nazi propaganda routinely cast Jews as vermin.
- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (2023): Announcing a siege of Gaza: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel… We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
- Nazi propaganda (Goebbels echoing Hitler): Jews blamed collectively for war, threatened with “extermination.”
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog (2023): “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible….” — words widely criticized as endorsing collective punishment.
- Nazi euphemisms: “Evacuation” as code for extermination.
- Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (2023): Suggesting a nuclear strike on Gaza was “one of the options.”
Different contexts. Different scales. But the same pattern.
Dehumanize → Justify → Destroy.
Anne Frank’s words remind us: when we hear this language, it is never “just rhetoric.” It is the runway to cruelty.
You see, cruelty always begins the same way: when leaders tell us to fear “the other.”
Fear the immigrant.
Fear the refugee.
Fear the neighbor who looks different.
Fear the people beyond your border.
That is the oldest political trick in the book. And it works—unless we refuse to buy it.
Anne Frank didn’t write her diary so we could cry in museums. She wrote it so we could recognize her suffering in others—and have the courage to stop it.
Why giving people a chance matters
This message hit me with even greater force because, while in Amsterdam, I also had a chance encounter.
I bumped into a young Syrian man who once worked for me back in 2016. At the time, he was a refugee in Malaysia. He and his friend had escaped a country torn apart by war. One had seen his home blown to rubble. The other had lost a brother when a bomb fell on the very place his brother was resting.
Both had lived through horrors most of us can barely imagine. And yet, when I met them, I didn’t just see refugees. I saw brilliant young minds. I saw hope, determination, and resilience.
That year, I had an idea for a new learning model called Quest and needed someone to build the app. These two young Syrians built it in record time. That app became the Mindvalley app—today used by millions worldwide and even featured in 200,000 Apple stores on the iPad.
Yes, our app was built by Syrians. Yes, it was built by refugees who were given a chance.
Anne never got her chance. But when we give people that chance, look what can happen.
This is why I am so adamant about this message. When politicians tell you to fear refugees, or immigrants, or minorities, they’re not just lying. They are robbing humanity of its future.
The rule we must all live by
If there’s one rule we must all live by, it’s this:
The moment a leader tells you to fear refugees, minorities, or immigrants, you are looking at a tyrant.
Do not believe them. Do not reward their fear with your silence—or your vote.
Because fear divides. And division always leads to cruelty.
What the world needs now is unity.
Unity across stripes, colors, races, and ethnicities. Unity across cultures, religions, and especially across borders.
Because the only way we solve the greatest challenges facing humanity—from climate change to war to poverty—is to remember this truth:
We are one humanity.
And kindness cannot stop at the invisible lines of race, religion, or border.
The higher vision
Anne Frank once wrote:
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
That may be the most extraordinary line ever written. She believed it while hiding from people who wanted her dead.
If Anne could believe in human goodness then, we can believe in it now.
Let’s prove her right.
Let’s choose compassion over cruelty.
Let’s stand up for one another across borders.
Let’s silence the voices of fear not by shouting back but by choosing unity again and again.
Because Anne’s diary isn’t just a warning.
It’s a torch.
And it’s in our hands now.
So here’s what we can collectively do.
Stand for unity. Across color. Across race. Across borders. Across religions.
When you hear fear, answer with love.
When you hear division, answer with solidarity.
When a politician uses scapegoating, vote the other way.
The only way to honor Anne is to prove her right—that humanity is good at heart.
And that goodness becomes real when we act.
Because history doesn’t just happen to us. It is written by our choices—and our silence.
I’d like to hear from you: Drop a comment below—let’s create a conversation around unity, compassion, and what it means to stand for humanity in our time.
1,246 Responses
Shame on you for trying to relate Anne Frank to billions of law breaking illegals and MS 13 gang bangers entering our country illegally. Very disgusting you would compare our ice agents to Nazis. Funny how the left use the nazi word so freely, everyone is a nazi. You boast unity but you are really only stirring the pot and keeping the hate going. What’s next, your love for Abrego Garcia the human trafficker, child pornographer and wife beater?
Exactly right. Using Nazi comparisons so casually is not only insulting, it erases the reality of what our people went through. It also fuels the same antisemitism that put Anne Frank in hiding in the first place. When platforms spread these distortions to millions, it puts Jewish lives at risk all over again. Thank you for calling it out, we need more voices willing to say clearly that these comparisons are wrong and dangerous.
Amen to your words and for reading between lines
What a beautiful reminder. Choose loving kindness. Thank you.
It was great to see you in person in Amsterdam.
Keep speaking your voice, Vishen.
We’re listening.
Thank you Vishen for using your platform to call for compassion, empathy, and unity. Much admiration and respect for someone who is courageous enough to speak up. For those who say to “leave politics out of Mindvalley,” these are human rights issues that affect the world. Calling for goodness is not political.
Compassion and empathy are essential- but celebrating this article is not compassion, it is misinformation. It equates Israel with Nazis while leaving out the fact that Israel left Gaza in 2005, that Hamas’s charter openly calls for the extermination of Jews, and that on October 7 they massacred, raped, and kidnapped civilians. Ignoring those truths does not defend human rights, it erases them.
Calling for “goodness” while hiding Hamas’s crimes is not courage, it is propaganda. Real courage means naming hate for what it is and rejecting it, even when it is uncomfortable. Unity without truth is not unity- it is a weapon that fuels antisemitism and puts Jewish lives in danger.
Open Letter to Vishen Lakhiani, Founder of Mindvalley
I write this as a Jewish woman living in Israel, a long-time subscriber to Mindvalley, and someone who has invested both money and trust in your programs. Your recent email invoking Anne Frank in the context of Gaza is deeply offensive, historically inaccurate, and morally unacceptable.
Anne Frank was murdered because she was Jewish. The Nazis’ sole aim was the extermination of the Jewish people. To equate Israel’s defense against Hamas with the Nazi regime that slaughtered six million Jews is a grotesque distortion of history and an insult to the memory of Anne Frank herself.
Let’s be clear: Israel did not start this war. On October 7th, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, massacring 1,200 people in a single day. They raped women, burned families alive, butchered children, and abducted over 250 innocent civilians into Gaza — many of whom remain hostages. Hamas has never hidden its mission: the total annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people. That is not a political dispute. That is an echo of the Nazi ideology that murdered Anne Frank.
Your message ignores this reality and instead paints Israel — a nation fighting for its survival — as morally comparable to the Nazis. That is not just wrong. It is dangerous. It fuels antisemitism at a time when Jews worldwide are already being attacked, harassed, and vilified.
Anne Frank’s diary is not a tool to be misused for political posturing. It is a sacred reminder of what happens when the world turns a blind eye to genocidal hatred. If Anne were alive today, she would not side with Hamas — a terrorist organization that slaughters civilians and uses its own people as human shields. She would recognize October 7th for what it was: the same evil her family faced, revived in our time.
Your words betray ignorance, insensitivity, and a profound lack of responsibility for the influence you hold. If you truly believe in unity, compassion, and truth, then:
1. Retract your false comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany.
2. Apologize to your Jewish community members, many of whom are grieving, fearful, and horrified by your message.
3. Acknowledge the reality of October 7th and condemn Hamas unequivocally for its acts of barbarism and its genocidal charter.
I once respected your work and invested in your vision. But your response to this moment is appalling. Until you correct it, your words will stand as a stain on your credibility and a betrayal of your own stated values.
Anne Frank believed in the goodness of people despite everything. You owe it to her memory — and to the living Jewish people still fighting for their right to exist — to get this right.
If you choose not to issue a retraction and apology, I will be canceling my membership and sharing this letter publicly with fellow subscribers and the wider community. Silence and distortion cannot stand unchallenged.
Sincerely,
Shira Raymond
Israel
do you understand how he could have said something so twisted without being a avowed anti semite?
Shira, thank you for writing this with such clarity and courage. You are absolutely right, twisting Anne Frank’s memory to compare Israel with Nazis is grotesque and dangerous. It erases the Holocaust, ignores Hamas’s genocidal charter, and whitewashes the atrocities of October 7.
Your words cut through the distortion: Israel did not choose this war, Hamas did. And using Anne Frank’s diary as a political prop while Jews are once again being targeted worldwide is not compassion, it is propaganda that fuels antisemitism.
I stand with you in demanding that Vishen retract, apologize, and acknowledge reality. Silence in the face of lies is complicity, and we cannot allow falsehoods like this to spread unchecked. Thank you for refusing to be silent.
I am deeply disturbed by your horrendous misappropriation of Anne Frank who, along with her family, hid in an attic ata time when Jews, all over Europe were hunted down like animals and sent to crematoriums and mass graves just for being jewish!!!! Go visit Auschwitz’s or any other concentration camp and educate yourself. Go to israel and visit the site of a nova music festival where 3000 participants who came to celebrate peace love and music were hunted down ands raped and slaughtered. Israel’s beef has NEVER been with the Palestinians. It’s the terrorists Hamas that plants their arsenal in tunnels crisscrossing under civilian life that causes all the unnecessary innocent deaths, it’s Hamas that prevents the Palestinians people from accessing their food trucks while they confiscate the resources, eat lavish meals in their hideaways and sell what supposed to be free food provided by sponsoring countries, lining their pockets with millions, while mere feet from where they are starving and torturing hostages that have been held for 700 days, it’s Hamas that shoots to kill any Palestinians who try to evacuate areas forewarned by Israeli with leaflets dropped from the sky and cell phone messages because Hamas needs maximum fatality counts against their people so they can continue to make up lies about germicide. I always loved mindvalley and respected your efforts to enlighten the world and here you are, spreading baseless ignorant lies. Where was your voice when hundreds of women children and old folks were trapped, dismembered, burned and kidnapped, all while posting these vicious scenes on social media??? Even when they unabashedly shots off their brutality, you make up lies for your thousands of followers. It’s beyond irresponsible; it’s incitement
Such a beautifully written message Vishen! Couldn’t agree more with your message! 🎉🙏🏽😊🍀
I am a huge Mindvalley fan! Thank you so much for all you do! ❤️🙏🏽
When I first read the paper it was a little disturbing to hear politics through mindvalley, as anyone a part of any mindvalleys programs should have an understanding to the importance of not interacting, to avoid fuiling the flame. When I continued reading the article I saw the twist and to how vishon brought this all to unity and oness. This is finding the lesson in the hardship so we can detach and move forward.
Comparing Israeli politicians to nazis is something not OK since there is always a second side and although we live in a time that words speak louder then actions, I think it’s important for us to remember words turn into actions – I highly believe this is where we have the issues. With nazis their words turned into destruction as they were coming from the ego. With Israeli politicians their words turned into an endless stream of healing from the core, as their words came from pain from the loss of family. through the country coming together Israel is probably one of the few countries that understand the power of unity, it’s their survival mechanism and how they survived attack after attack, while still providing for the attackers. Unlike what the media shows Israel’s oneness does not just include jews, as anyone that has visited will say. When we share a common goal of understanding we are all one, we can all live amongst each other and start to truly live life. But unfortunately we do live amongst evil, since that turns into the driving force that brings forth programs like mindvalley. War is never the answer but if someone held a gun to those pushing for unity we are forced and I believe it is our duty for the sake of oneness to try to get him to put down the gun but at times we are left with no choice but to protect ourselves. May we all find the light from within to shine, may we have the courage to love and may we merit to learn to accept one another for whom they are. May we all have the power to stand for our authentic self’s and show up on a personal communual and universal level. Creating connections forming bonds and uniting the world one link at a time. Together may we create a loving, harmonious universe we can all live on, thriving in oneness.
Thank you for standing up for the truth Vishen! You express your perspective by your own unbiased observation. And I admire that. What’s happening in Gaza and US is deeply tragic and must be brought to a firm resolution. Keep shining your light of perception… Long live and Be blessed!
Querido Vishen,
Gracias por no guardar silecio y hacernos reflexionar. Soy maestra y en muchas oportunidades les he hablado a mis niños del heroísmo de Anna Frank.
Soy de Bolivia, amo mi país, pero ahora estamos pasando por una crisis económica muy fuerte. Soy maestra y me ofrecieron trabajo en México. Hoy soy migrante y no se por cuanto tiempo.
En Mindvalley, a través de los desafíos, siempre he experimentado este llamado a la unidad, a confiar en la bondad del otro, a tener esperanza en uno mismo y en la humanidad. Tal vez no podemos cambiar las grandes políticas pero con nuestro actuar de cada día podemos hacer la diferencia.
Saludos desde México
Lu
I so completely agree with you!
NO ES OSCURIDAD, SINO LA AUSENCIA DE LUZ
NO ES EL FRÍO, SINO LA AUSENCIA DE CALOR
PERSISTE EL MIEDO Y GANA TERRENO ANTE LA AUSENCIA DE AMOR…
ME DECLARO IGNORANTE DE MUCHO DE LA HISTORIA DE ANA FRANK Y EL HOLOCAUSTO, HARÉ LA TAREA DE INFORMARME…
IGNORO MUCHO MAS LAS HISTORIAS DE LAS GUERRAS QUE HAN INICIADO INCLUSO EN SIGLOS ANTERIORES Y PERSISTEN AUN EN LA ACTUALIDAD, PERO ME QUEDO CON EL MENSAJE FINAL : ELIJO CREER EN LA BONDAD QUE NOS HACE DISTINGUIRNOS Y NOS HACE SER “HUMANOS”
Denisse, valoro tu sinceridad al reconocer lo que no sabes y tu disposición a aprender. Esa es la verdadera luz. Pero también es importante ser clara: la historia de Ana Frank no es solo un símbolo, es el testimonio de una niña judía escondida de quienes querían exterminar a todo su pueblo. Hoy, Hamas lleva en su carta fundacional ese mismo odio de exterminio y lo demostró con las atrocidades del 7 de octubre.
Creer en la bondad humana es hermoso, pero esa bondad no puede existir si no rechazamos con firmeza el odio que alimenta el genocidio. Si realmente queremos que la luz y el amor ganen, debemos comenzar por nombrar ese odio claramente y negarnos a difundir mensajes que lo ocultan.
Denisse, I value your honesty in admitting what you don’t know and your willingness to learn. That is real light. But it is also important to be clear: Anne Frank’s story is not just a symbol, it is the testimony of a Jewish girl hiding from those who wanted to annihilate her people. Today, Hamas carries that same ideology of extermination in its charter and proved it with the atrocities of October 7.
Believing in human goodness is beautiful, but goodness cannot exist without firmly rejecting the hate that fuels genocide. If we want light and love to win, we must begin by naming that hate clearly and refusing to spread messages that erase it.
Soy inmigrante. Y eso significa mucho más que haber cruzado una frontera. Significa haber dejado un pedacito de mi patria atrás, a mi familia, mis raíces, mis recuerdos. Significa vivir entre la esperanza y la nostalgia, entre los abrazos que sí recibo aquí y los que me faltan allá.
Ser inmigrante no es solo buscar trabajo o un techo. Es cargar con la incertidumbre de no saber si encajo, con las miradas que juzgan, con la desaprobación silenciosa, con los prejuicios que dicen que vengo a quitar, a robar, a delinquir. Pero también es verdad que he encontrado aquí brazos que me han sostenido, manos que me han ofrecido calor, amores nuevos que me recuerdan que el mundo no es solo rechazo.
Y mientras vivo esta mezcla de cariño y desprecio, de oportunidades y humillaciones, veo lo que pasa en otros lugares del mundo. Gaza, Siria, países donde los derechos humanos no existen. Padres que huyen en lanchas con sus hijos para no morir, y el mar que se queda con ellos. Esas imágenes no se me borran: los llantos, las miradas, los cuerpos. Y me duele, me destroza el alma, porque parece que lo vemos como si fuera una película. Lloramos, nos conmovemos un rato, y después volvemos a la vida como si nada. Porque no es mi hijo. Porque no soy yo. Porque no es mi amigo.Por eso me niego a dejar de sentir. Porque lo más peligroso no es la guerra ni el hambre ni la pobreza, lo más peligroso es acostumbrarnos a verlos como algo normal. Es quedarnos indiferentes frente al sufrimiento, como si no nos tocara.
La verdadera frontera no está en los mapas. La verdadera frontera está en el corazón: entre quienes todavía sienten y quienes han decidido no hacerlo.
Yo he elegido sentir. Aunque duela. Porque solo quien siente puede transformar, solo quien siente puede tender puentes, solo quien siente puede resistir a esta deshumanización.
Y quizá ahí está la tarea que nos salva: volver a mirarnos de frente, volver a reconocernos en el otro, volver a actuar con la simple y poderosa certeza de que la humanidad solo tiene sentido si la vivimos juntos.
Estoy de acuerdo, no debería haber fronteras, ni limitaciones de ningún tipo. Todos tenemos derecho a vivir en unidad y en paz, sin temor a represalias por parte de otros. Al final todos somos humanos, compartimos el mismo planeta y debería haber mas solidaridad entre todos.
Amazing article,
Thank you Vishan!
Leading with the heart,
as always
The world needs compassionate words more than ever!
Righteous a…holes are the biggest danger. As always…
Let’s hope for unity amd awakening.
Thanks for Being the Change!
Dear Jonathan, thank you for repeating , once again, these propaganda lines. Unfortunately for you, no one believes theses lies anymore. Israel is a brute colonial project, formalised in 1917 already with the Balfour treaty and the british occupation of Palestine. Later on, European jewish settlers learned a lot from the nazis and they proved to be more psychopathic blood thursty killers than their teachers. If the nazis killed for 5 years, the sionists had a free pass for murder for 77 years, while controlling the narrative and bribing everyone they could from presidents to congressmen, to university teachers.
They transformed the Holy Land into a laboratory for waepon testing, organ trafficking, and blood diamond whitewashing.
Sionism has been a cancer for humanity from day one.
Vishen, gracias por recordarnos que el camino de la humanidad es la unidad, en estos tiempos, es mas que prioritario este mensaje que compartes, leerlo, apreciarlo y recodarlo siempre. Me llena de lagrimas esto que compartes, por eso te sigo por que vas mas allá de un negocio su misión es elevada.
I’m not jewish, I’m Catholic and this was really hard and sad to read. This only promotes antisemitism and repeats the jihadist propaganda that has spread out for years and now more than ever. If Israel wanted genocide they would have wipe out Gaza in a week, instead they are fighting and impossible war, having their youth die fighting terrorist, with terrorist underground covered by their own civilians and still holding Israeli hostages. This war would have ended if they had freed the hostages, they don’t want to because they need to make Israel look bad and people like you fall for it. Palestinians are taught to murder jews since they are in kinder garden, unfortunately there are not that many “innocent civilians” Why do you think their Arab neighbors like Egypt dont let them in? I was about to renew my mind valley membership, not anymore. Unsubscribe!
Te resumo mi opinión; por que no le explicas a las familias de más 1200 israelíes y extranjeros muertos y casi 5500 heridos o dile a las familias de los rehenes que conserva hamas secuestrados en condiciones deplorables, que articulo tan mediocre y falto de verdad.
la humanidad fracaso en la franja de gaza por que convirtieron un negocio la precariedad humana. la propaganda vale mas que la desgracia de Israel, que según oriente medio no tiene derecho a existir. ni Egipto los quiere recibir a los palestinos, será por algo.
I’ll summarize my opinion: Why don’t you explain to the families of the more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners killed and nearly 5,500 injured, or tell the families of the hostages held captive by Hamas in deplorable conditions, what a mediocre and untruthful article this is? Humanity failed in the Gaza Strip because they turned human precariousness into a business. Propaganda is worth more than the misfortune of Israel, which, according to the Middle East, has no right to exist. Not even Egypt wants to welcome the Palestinians, there must be a reason.
Thank you, Vishen, for asking for our comments.
My mother was born, at the beginning of the war, in Hungary – and like Anne Franks – she was hidden, part way through the war, until the end. On my father’s side, in Poland, relatives were sent to gas chambers in droves.
Upon reading your email I was disturbed to see the founder of Mindvalley – someone I respect very much – pile on, seemingly unknowingly, to ‘the war on propaganda’.
I marvel at the strength, resilience – and above all – integrity that Israel has displayed in response to this conflict. Surrounded by enemies, and hugely outnumbered – they are fighting to free the hostages, keep their people safe, prevent the events of October 7th from re-occurring – all while feeding and protecting the Palestinian people – while their own government steals their food, and uses them as human shields. Israel has provided hundreds of millions of meals to the Palestinian civilians, built tunnels to allow the UN to safely deliver food, paused fighting on numerous occasions – and continually warned Palestinian civilians of unsafe conditions – through text messages, door knocking, and personal phone calls.
Still, the lies persist around the world, that Israel is committing a genocide – when, in fact, the shoe is on the other foot. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority seek the complete destruction of Israel – they only disagree on the ‘how’, or the strategy to accomplish this.
‘Pay-to-Slay’ policies award Palestinians’ pensions for killing Israelis and often, are proportional to the number of persons killed or injured. If an individual goes to jail, after committing a terrorist attack, their family receives the monetary reward. Hatred toward – and intrinsic benefits to killing Jews – is taught in Mosques, schools, and included in textbooks. If you wish to talk about ‘brules’, you should know, children are taught, if they seek the destruction of another, they will benefit – if not here, in an afterlife.
Media outlets around the world have become garbage dumps for terrorist propaganda. The term ‘Globalize the Intifada’ refers to extending the violence, toward Jews, worldwide. Many in my community feel scared, lost, helpless.
The only argument against the Israelis’ right to defend themselves – is that they are on occupied land. This argument falls flat in the face of genetic, archeological, and historical evidence – all which point to the Jews, originating from this land, we now call Israel or Palestine. Not to mention the Bible – the Jewish history book – which places Jews in Israel, thousands of years ago. And, of course, then there’s the UN’s decision – or vote, overwhelmingly in favor – of giving this land, which had been left barren, back to the Jews, in 1947.
It is hard to see what could change for the better, as long as the International Community continues to blame Israel. I know from experience, it is easy, when victimized, to allow your anger to fly in every direction, but placing it – or rather, responsibility – exactly where it belongs, is imperative. In this case, the responsibility lies with Hamas. The Palestinian mandate to kill Jews, and destroy Israel, has failed them, and caused much pain – and it is only recognition of this, that could truly bring peace and restoration to both sides.
Suzanne, thank you for putting this into words so clearly. What you wrote is the reality that so many refuse to see. Israel left Gaza in 2005 and hoped for peace. Instead, Hamas turned it into a terror base, firing rockets, digging tunnels under schools and hospitals, and filling children’s textbooks with hate. On October 7 they proved again their true intent- rape, murder, kidnapping, and celebrating the slaughter of Jews.
Israel has not only defended itself but has done everything possible to warn civilians, provide food, and facilitate aid- even while Hamas steals it and hides behind their own people. Calling this genocide is not just false, it is a dangerous lie that fuels antisemitism worldwide.
You are right: the responsibility lies with Hamas and the ideology that rewards killing Jews. Until that is faced and rejected, there can be no peace. Thank you for standing for truth and refusing to let propaganda rewrite history.
Thank you, Vishen for sharing and your thoughts. Also, thoughts of the other readers. We should remember that this a discussion for sharing personal thoughts through our own lens. Anne Frank was also sharing. From her thoughts I received that there is some good in everyone as I too believe. She seem to have an awareness that Vishen is teaching to those ready to see. We need to be aware of all sides of the story and know everyone is on a journey of their own. This how we grow and expand. In knowing this we can send love and compassion to all as this will create a world we can live in together.
BettyAnne, love and compassion are vital, but not every story is just a “different lens.” Anne Frank was murdered because a regime set out to annihilate Jews. Today, Hamas carries that same ideology in its charter and proved it again on October 7 through massacre, rape, and kidnapping. To pretend this is only about “all sides of the story” erases the truth and fuels antisemitism. Real growth begins when we choose compassion with honesty- and honesty means naming Hamas’s hate for what it is. Without that, unity is just a word.