I am proud to march for Israel in Washington - opinion

What does it mean to constantly fight for your life – your very right to exist? To confront an enemy who truly wants to exterminate you?

For Americans, that can be hard to imagine.

Israelis, however, are all too familiar with this threat. The War of Independence in 1948, the Six-Day War in 1967, and the Yom Kippur War in 1973 all put Israel’s very life – and that of its citizens, on the line.

Hamas’s terror attack on October 7 marks the first time that many of us, especially younger Americans, have witnessed such a threat to Israel and the Jewish people. Today’s teens weren’t alive for the Second Intifada of 2000-2005 when Palestinian terrorists waged a campaign of suicide attacks against civilians in cafes, on buses, and even at a Passover Seder.

Hamas is a genocidal, internationally recognized terror organization. Its founding covenant calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews worldwide. Last month’s massacre represents an existential threat, which Israelis of all ages understand all too well.

Hamas would repeat October 7 again and again if given the chance

More than 260 young people were murdered at a music festival in southern Israel, a festival whose very purpose was to celebrate “friends, love, and infinite freedom.”

Jonathan Rom, 23, was an Israeli-American music lover who enjoyed traveling. Hamas murdered him while he was helping a friend suffering from a panic attack.

Mia Schem, 21, was kidnapped and taken back to Gaza, where she is being held hostage.

Shani Louk, 22, was a tattoo artist and influencer. Hamas kidnapped and murdered her. Her body was taken back to Gaza City, where it was paraded around and spat on.

A senior Hamas official recently said that, given the opportunity, Hamas would repeat the October 7 massacre again and again until Israel is destroyed.

Another top leader told The New York Times, “I hope that the state of war with Israel will become permanent on all the borders.”

Yet somehow, far too many Americans believe Israel is the problem, which is manifesting as a particularly troubling threat to young American Jews.

At Cornell, one professor said he was “exhilarated” by the massacre. A student threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig Jews.”

Jewish students were cornered in a library at Cooper Union by pro-Hamas protesters. At Tulane University, a Hamas supporter broke a Jewish student’s nose with a megaphone.

Swastikas were drawn at high schools in California and Connecticut and students marched through the hallways of a San Francisco high school chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a call for the destruction of the one Jewish state.

It’s especially heartbreaking to see such brazen antisemitism as Jews around the world commemorated the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht (the “night of broken glass”), when the Nazis murdered nearly 100 Jews, burned, and smashed Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues, and sent 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps.

That night, which sent a ripple of terror through the Jewish community, was a harbinger of the genocide to come in the Holocaust. We cannot accept that possibility today.

In this dark hour, we must stand in solidarity with Israel – in our communities, through our government, and as a people.

Today, November 14, Jews from all across the US will gather in Washington, DC for a pro-Israel march. Together, we will show our support for Israel, call for the release of the hostages, and rise against antisemitism. We will stand united for human dignity and against terror and hate.

This moment transcends politics, generations, and religions.

Hamas is not interested in coexistence: it is interested in murdering Jews “from the river to the sea.”

If Hamas cared about Palestinian lives would they strategically place weapons and command centers among civilians? And then use these casualties for propaganda?

Hamas’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has crowed, “We love death like our enemies love life!”

Indeed, Israelis do love life. According to the World Happiness Index, Israel is the fourth-happiest country on earth. Women, the LGBTQ+ community, and people of all religious affiliations and ethnicities enjoy equal rights in Israel.

The opposite is true in Gaza under Hamas’s barbaric and totalitarian rule.

Trust Hamas when they tell us who they are, when they proclaim, “The entire planet will be under our law; there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors.”

The choice is clear.

I know where I stand.

On this crucial day, join me in Washington.

The writer is the CEO of the American Jewish Committee.