There are times when I need to write about something that concerns me, but my fingers won’t move. This has been one of those moments. Can I do this? To put yourself into my shoes for moment, read the article linked to above. Can you even finish it? Can you then compose a blog post about it? Or are you frozen as I am.

It’s not just the horrific descriptions of the violence of October 7. It’s the fact that the violence is being denied, that the NYT felt the need to send reporters to fact check the events. It’s the fact that even now there are people who will deny or excuse the actions of Hamas. So it’s not just the horror of that day, it’s the horror of reactions to it that I cannot comprehend.

The Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel and carried out these unthinkable acts are not martyrs or heroes. They are not even animals. Are they even human in any way? Animals kill for food or to protect their young. They do not commit sexual atrocities. In fact the word atrocities can only be applied to humans behaving outside the bounds of any actions necessary for survival. Perhaps it’s the ability to commit atrocities that sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. 

People wonder how we’re special. Is it art? Is it language? Is it our problem solving abilities? Yet there are many animals that encroach on our sense of uniqueness in remarkable ways. So perhaps it’s our ability to horrify each other with hideous acts of violence, often, but not only, against women, and then brag about it that really sets us apart. Or our ability to subject people to the sight of family members being raped and tortured and dismembered. Or our ability to deny that these events took place. Or our ability to celebrate the men who commit these hideous acts. 

I should be excited about a new year, but I am in a state of despair. I don’t know how we fix this.