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There is a story told that Columbus’ voyage to North America included not three, but four ships. We all remember the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria from our elementary school education. Sadly, the fourth ship, the Locura (folly), has been relegated to a few footnotes in obscure documents of that time period, because it fell off of the edge of the earth.

Until there was sufficient evidence to prove that the earth was not flat (despite those who still believe it), most held firm to that belief. People believed that the earth was the center of our solar system, until Copernicus proved them wrong, and for that discovery, he suffered greatly. While the facts matter, sometimes firmly held beliefs carry greater weight than facts. We have experienced that play out with regard to the phrase “global warming”. The inability of some to accept the fact that we are polluting our atmosphere, that our atmosphere traps the carbon dioxide, and creates a blanket over the planet that causes the temperatures to increase, threatens the well-being of future generations who will have to suffer due to the naysayers.

We have witnessed an abundance of “truths” peddled as facts as Israel attempts to eliminate Hamas, a terrorist organization whose purpose, as stated in its 1988 charter, is to not only free the land of Jews, but to eliminate Jews overall. How does one negotiate with someone whose existence is predicated on your elimination? Yes, we wish that the fighting would stop, but how can I not worry that unless Hamas is eradicated, it will heal its wounds, resume its domination of Gaza, and continue with its mission? And what about the more than 100 hostages held in captivity for nearly six months, pawns in this suicidal action of Hamas? Must all Israelis continue to live a life awaiting the next time Hamas will attack, as well as the threats from Hezbollah in the north, Syria to the Northeast, the Houthis in Yemen to the South, and the fulsome support of Iran?

Hamas and its supporters have handled the media extremely well. So well, that everything reported by Hamas to the media is instantly published, without verification, without fact-checking, without even wondering if it is at all accurate. There is no such thing as a pleasant, beautiful war. War is ugly. War is horrific. War seems to be our default nature, as, according to one source, there have been approximately 8700 wars fought in the past 5000 years. The conflict zones have evolved from solely the battlefield to the news room to the Internet, that bastion of truth. The war in Gaza has spread to college campuses, with students taking over an administration building at Smith College for example, constant marches and rallies, and displays of antisemitism that has many young Jews wondering if there is a safe college to attend in the Fall.

Lost in the singular attention given to Gaza is the crisis in the South Sudan, where some 9.4 million people, 76% of the population, are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance, and where, according to one estimate, over 1200 children have died. Has there been any attention given to the South Sudan? You know the answer. Russia’s unprovoked attack on the Ukraine no longer gets our attention, where, according to the US State Department, 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died and 120,000 have been injured. The Rohingya minority of 600,000 in Myanmar are slowly being eliminated. The 12 million Uighurs in Xinjiang Province in China have been herded into forced labor camps as China is eliminating their entire culture. The casualties of the Syrian civil war are estimated between 580,000 and 620,000 as of this March. None of the above crises receive much attention but one: Gaza. There is a word for when this one nation is continually singled out for attention: antisemitism. This is clearly the world’s favorite sport, as all of its enthusiasts and adherents, who have been hiding for years, have sprung to action, eager to participate in the world’s oldest H. The consequences of the October 7 attack will be far-reaching in both interpersonal relationships and those between Israel and her supposed allies. None of us has a crystal ball, so there is no one person who is best qualified to predict any outcomes with certainty. Will Israel ever be able to live in a safe and secure neighborhood is a question whose answer evades us. I continue to hope and pray.