Opinion | Why October 7 Is Even Bigger Than 9/11, And Israel’s Fight Is So Important

Both times, the devil descended from the skies.

On September 11, 2001, when planes crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon headquarters, history was written in a flash of fire, smoke, blood, and ashes.

On October 7, 2023, powered paragliders flew across the Israel-Palestine border fence and swooped down on several Israeli kibbutz or small communities.

Then the dance of death began.

Men and women going about their normal lives were butchered, revellers at a local music festival massacred, elders shot, babies beheaded or even put in ovens. About 120 were killed, 250 taken hostage.

Two human course-altering tragedies. Separated by 22 years and about 9,000 kilometres. But united by the same enemy: Islamic terrorism, essaying its baroque handiwork with blood.

9/11 changed the way we live, travel, construe danger and friendliness, and much more. Its dark impact is indelible. Its expanse casts a hawk-like shadow across all of modern civilisation.

However, October 7 is perhaps a bigger assault on the existence of civilisation itself. If 9/11 was done to drive a burning javelin of fear into the heart of the strongest superpower, 10/7 was to tell every small island of resistance around the planet that it stands to be wiped out, from the river right up to the sea.

When 9/11 happened, America had already been the world’s biggest superpower for more than half a century since the end of World War II. It consistently heads the Global Firepower Index, the marker of military might.

In comparison, 444 Israels can fit into the United States. It punches far above its weight, but is still ranked 17 in the Global Firepower Index. Iran, its main predator, ranks 14 and is 74 times larger.

America is geographically surrounded by the ocean, and Israel by enemies. Israel is the classic case of the underdog with hostile neighbours all around — Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and much of the Muslim world. It is a bit like Asterix and Obelix’s little Gaulish village, surrounded by the unending landmass conquered by the Roman Empire. The Gauls had magic potion, and Israel has America’s (sometimes dicey) support.

Finally, America’s war on terror had elements of expansionism. It has been accused of meddling in other nations’ affairs for decades, carrying out regime change, and propping up puppets. Its Iraq invasion was predicated by the now well-known deception that Saddam Hussain had weapons of mass destruction.

But Israel has been fighting the war of existence. Jews are fighting for their centuries-old homeland, Israel, which is mentioned 43 times in the Quran in various forms like Bani Israel, sons of Israel. Muslims’ holy book even says Allah has ordained the sacred land for them.

Historians say the ancient kingdom of Israel was founded around 1,000 BCE, or about 3,000 years ago, and has been inhabited uninterruptedly to date by some of those who call themselves ‘Israelites’.

It is crucially important for human civilisation that Israel wins this battle for survival and defeats the forces of Islamist fundamentalism and imperialism which wants to establish a Caliphate worldwide and wipe out every other culture, religion, and way of life.

David must win this war against Goliath.

Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.