What October 7 Told Us About the West

The events of October 7 last year should have shocked the world. A barbaric attack on Jews, carried out by Hamas terrorists and other Islamist militants, resulted in perhaps the worst act of Jew-killing since the Holocaust. Yet in the days, weeks, and months after that fateful day, we have witnessed a shocking series of equivocations, denials and outright apology for the unprecedented violence of Hamas militants. On top of this, as Israel has sought to destroy the terrorists who killed, butchered and raped Jews, seemingly for fun, a network of politicians, NGOs and identity groups have mounted an unrelenting campaign against the Jewish state. The accusations, libels, and double-standards heaped on Israel have sought to delegitimise any action Israel has taken to defend itself. But perhaps most shocking of all has been the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Western societies. Attacks on Jews have intensified, protests celebrating Hamas’ became a fixture of many capital cities, and a casual attitude of anti-Semitism has become ingrained in many conversations around Israel and Jews more broadly. MCC Brussels believes that this resurgent anti-Semitism, and the widespread attacks on the legitimacy of Israel as a state, represent one of the gravest anti-Civilisational threats facing European society. To mark the occasion of the anniversary of October 7, we convened a special episode of the MCC Brussels Podcast to take stock of a shocking year. The podcast opens with a powerful intervention by MCC Brussels’ executive director Frank Furedi, who takes to task those in influential positions in European society who have excused the actions of October 7. Then, Jacob Reynolds, our head of policy, leads a discussion with Mark Birbeck, co-founder of Our Fight, a campaign in support of Israel and against anti-Semitism, and Tamir Wertzberger, foreign affairs director of Action and Protection League, a European NGO combatting anti-Semitism. Please take the time to like and share this podcast to demonstrate that you too stand against anti-Semitism in all its forms.