Kerby Anderson

Most events in history are mere footnotes in history books, but there is some reason to believe the Hamas attack on Israel will change just about everything. That includes everything from the current US policy on the Middle East to American attitudes towards university campuses.

Victor Davis Hanson is one commentator convinced of the significant changes. He notes that it has been 22 years since we saw crowds in the Middle East celebrating the killing of 3,000 civilians. This time it was the cheering of the murder of people in Israel.

He argues that the current administration's policy of appeasement of Iran and the gift of billions of dollars to Gaza and the West Bank are less likely to pass Congress, though I must admit that the president tried his best in a television event from the Oval Office to make the case for humanitarian support. But the attempt to continue giving aid to terrorist groups or the attempt to normalize relations with theocratic Iran seem destined to failure.

Hanson also points to the difference in attitude toward the Ukrainian military and the Israeli military. The State Department put few restrictions on Ukrainian retaliation, including operations against the Russian Black Sea Fleet. By contrast, some in the State Department already called for a “ceasefire” while others called for a “proportionate” response from Israel. Can you imagine any American diplomat trying to lecture Ukraine about ending the “cycle of violence?”

Finally, America’s perspective on higher education seems to be changing. University presidents and professors could not condemn the Hamas attack. Scores of student groups pledged their support of Hamas and the Palestinians. Hanson says they seem like “kindred spirit to the anti-Semitism, intolerance, and fascism of the 1930s German universities.”