On Oct. 7, 50 years after the start of the Yom Kippur war, Israel was again attacked. This time, the targets were not Israeli military installations on the Suez Canal, but innocent civilians on the Jewish sabbath. The atrocities committed against these civilians, many of them children, were unspeakable and reflective of a mindset that most normal people cannot comprehend. The attackers were motivated by a desire to destroy Israel by the massacre of Jews. In fact, this was the worst attack on Jewish civilians since the Holocaust.

Israel has been the object of hatred and terrorism by Arab, Palestinian and other Muslim extremists since its founding in 1948. Three major wars were initiated by Muslim countries who vowed to drive the Israeli settlers into the sea. Although several of those countries, in particular Jordan Egypt and the UAE, have made peace with the Jewish state, others have not, led by the world’s major terror state, Iran.

The Arab refugees created as a result of the failed attempt to destroy the fledgling state of Israel in 1948 were housed in squalid refugee camps that have been maintained as a bargaining chip and political pawns by the Muslim countries surrounding Israel. These camps have bred hatred and terrorism against Israel, inspired by evil political leaders and radical imams. The Hamas political leaders, in particular, have instigated numerous attacks against Israel by radical extremist groups in Gaza, aided materially and financially by their terror masters in Iran.

Sadly, there are student groups, university officials and members of Black Lives Matter who excuse and applaud the Hamas terrorists. Even members of Congress have excused the Hamas terrorists. They seek to justify the horrific acts by claiming that the attacks are the fault of Israel for illegally occupying Palestinian lands (even though Jews have a claim to Israel dating back 3,500 years). Some think the problems with their Arab neighbors started with the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948 or the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967. However, animosity towards Jews has existed for millenia. It began when they rejected paganism and multiple deities to worship a single God. Their monotheism separated them from other civilizations and marked them for persecution and even eradication. The concept of one God and treating others with respect and tolerance was revolutionary and a threat to the existing power structure.

Most civilized people cannot fathom the depravity of those who committed the horrific acts against Israeli and American civilians. That these acts were perpetrated by savages who purport to believe in God reflects the distorted view of humanity held by many Muslims, who are taught that Jews and Christians are infidels and unbelievers and deserving of death. The Koran is unforgiving of those who do not follow the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed, who Muslims consider “the perfect man” but in fact is guilty of ordering killings and other heinous crimes. His dreams form the basis of the Koran and Islamic ideology and cannot be questioned.

It is time for Muslims and their apologists who do not subscribe to radical Islamic dogma, and who want to live peacefully with Jews, Christians and others who do not share their theology, to condemn the despicable and inexcusable barbarity of Hamas terrorists. The actions of these savages and their Iranian overlords must be seen by all civilized people as pure evil and treated as such. The IDF will clean out the vipers nests in Gaza, but the rest of the world must isolate the purveyors of evil and ensure that Israel can live in peace without constant fear of eradication from radical Islamists.

Throughout their history, Jews have suffered at the hands of antisemites, and in many parts of the world Christians are experiencing similar persecution. We can no longer ignore Muslim antisemitism and extremism. Their targets are Jews today, but they will come after the rest of us tomorrow if we do not put a stop to the evil.