For the last several years my pal Max and I have organized a monthly lunch meet at Swifty’s in Palm Beach. We invite an assortment of friends and guests representing the arts, finance, medicine, government service and retirees settled in south Florida. This week’s lunch was our first of the ’23-’24 season. Only half the usual gang showed – the others are still making their way back to Palm Beach from their summer or permanent homes up north. The conversation centered mostly on our recent travels – fishing in Idaho, visiting abroad. After the brief travelogue, our talk turned to the events in Israel following the Hamas attack on October 7th. We discussed the humanitarian crisis as well as the strategic avenues available to Israel in dealing with Hamas and the potential invasion of Gaza. Clearly October 7th stood out as a date of remembrance of the terrorist attack on Israel and the murder and mutilation of innocent Israelis. The suffering of the children on both sides of the conflict was a particular concern now that Israel is firing on Gaza in retaliation. My friends around the lunch table all commented on the post-attack media focusing on the children in peril and the disturbing images of bloodstained children’s beds. After the worst terrorist attack on American soil– the destruction of the World Trade Center twin towers –the videos and photojournalism did not show the child victims of the attack, as there were no images to capture.
There is no simple, one-sentence solution to freeing hostages, or ending Hamas’ reign of terror, or saving innocent Palestinian children’s lives. Yet 9/11 teaches us not to act out of passion and anger and vengeance. The aftermath of 9/11 with the military incursion in Afghanistan and Iraq left many Americans unsupportive of our government’s anti-terrorism policy. President Biden has personally expressed to Israeli leaders the lessons learned. For Israel it is a difficult and troublesome path forward.
