There are a disturbing number of parallels between the events surrounding September 11th and the October 7th attacks against Israel earlier this month.<\/p>\n
For example, as with the dozens of warnings<\/a> the US received before 9\/11, Israel also received numerous warnings<\/a> about an impending attack by Hamas. As with unverified propaganda stories that emerged after 9\/11 \u2013 such as the widely spread fairy tale<\/a> about thousands of Muslims dancing and celebrating the attacks \u2013 fake stories emerged after October 7th, such as the one about babies beheaded by Hamas<\/a>. As with the US government\u2019s crackdown on civil liberties following 9\/11 \u2013 such as mass surveillance programs<\/a> and the censorship of anti-war voices<\/a> \u2013 the aftermath of October 7th has also seen similar acts by the Israeli government, such as the targeting of government critics<\/a> and the prevention of anti-war protests<\/a>. And as with 9\/11 and Bush administration plans drawn up in years prior to invade Iraq<\/a>, hawks within the Israeli government have also seized on to the attacks as an opportunity to enact long-dreamed plans<\/a> of forcibly removing millions of Palestinians.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the years since 9\/11, the US government launched wars against Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya, along with routine strikes inside Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, all of which have taken more than 800,000 lives<\/a> at a financial cost to US taxpayers easily exceeding $8 trillion dollars<\/a>. There have been other costs as well, such as the creation of invasive spying infrastructure which still exists today<\/a>, gruesome torture programs<\/a> with zero accountability<\/a>, and the opening of Guantanamo Bay, which still holds dozens of individuals<\/a> who have never been tried or charged with a crime.<\/p>\n Not a single one of these wars or policies were justified by 9\/11, nor have they stemmed global terrorism; if anything, there is evidence that the so-called \u201cWar on Terror\u201d has actually created <\/a>more <\/a><\/em>terrorism<\/a>.<\/p>\n Likewise, the October 7th attack on Israel does not justify their response over the last few weeks, which has included, among other things:<\/p>\n Collective punishment against Palestinians won\u2019t make Israel safer, and restricting journalism and antiwar voices won\u2019t strengthen Israeli democracy. As the US response to 9\/11 demonstrated, these types of hostile responses often bring about the opposite of their stated goals. Instead of preventing further bloodshed, they create more of it; instead of preserving democracy, such policies weaken it.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, it seems these important lessons are being actively ignored by Israel.<\/p>\n\n