With the change of power in the US, the European Parliament began frenetic demands from one of the EU Commissioners to introduce "immediate harsh punishment measures to Ilon Musk as his X, Twitter, influence pan-Europe, and it is your job, Ms Commissioner, to stop it, to prevent it, to do something about it, now!” Observing this intensifying hysterical prejudice and nervous demands, I was thinking: How about doing something, preventing, stopping sheer barbarism and its non-stop images which have flooded us, in a pan-European motion, mercilessly, for 15 months without interruption, the images of the terrorists who are threatening lives under any circumstances, even during the ceasefire. 7How about it? Sometimes, we can save time on teachers, extensive preparation of educational material, long planning and time-consuming executing. We can do it when reality snaps something into our faces, as if on its own. And in those snaps, there is an essence of the development and atmosphere around us blowing in our face with no filters. And sometimes, just a couple of pictures can become not just a symbol, but a statement, and more, something that would be left in history as its hard-core evidence. Recent days were historical, filled with expectations accumulated for a long time for so many people, for multiple reasons. The events were contrasting ones, ones filled with drama, risk and danger, the others were celebrations opening a new era for many. There are two pictures that the entire world saw just a day apart this week, on last Sunday, January 19th, 2025, and the following day, Monday, January 20th, 2025. Photos: Inna Rogatchi ©. Collage: Inna Rogatchi ©. 2025. One picture was taken by anyone willing to do so from the screens showing the first stage of the hostages release in Gaza. The other picture was taken by anyone with a phone in hand at the post-inaugural rally of the 47th American President in Washington D.C. On the picture from Gaza, even super-distant TV transmission was frozen with a terror and intimidation deliberately set up by the sheer Hamas evil celebrating their public appearance with the help of the beyond-disgusting Red Cross. We all were holding our collective breath for several days, without the possibility of sleep, work, and routine, full of excitement and anxiety, because lives of our brethren were at stake. Spending hours in front of all kinds of screens, streams and reports, at one particular moment everything suddenly changed. No words or comments were needed. We saw unadulterated evil unleashed on the streets of Gaza , in a defiant manifestation which was allowed, actually accompanied by the reprehensible Red Cross. The menace was palpable. It was done on purpose of course, and the Israeli authorities were right to react swiftly against all imitative possible actions like that one in Israel, with the Minister’s of Defense order to prevent such demonstrations of terrorists in possession of guns in Judea and Samaria. Let’s hope that it will be implemented . But that is not the point in the context. The point is that this unleashing of evil, similar and of the same nature, evil that we all were terrified to see on our screens in Gaza on January 19th, 2025, had been allowed, permitted, sympathised with, and supported in many ways all over this planet for the previous 15 months. The cursed months of despicable cowardice world-wide, at so many levels, some of them essential ones, simply have no luxury of cowardice, or pretending that there is no problem when those problems are outright criminal. In the other picture, from the US capital, the families of some of the Israeli hostages were invited to the stage by the 47th President of the United States to take a very visible and honorable part in public celebration of President Trump’s assuming of the top world office by people who despise terrorists and who are on the right side of humanity. That image of our people with their yellow scarves on that stage on this day was more symbolic than anything we saw after the October 7th assault on humanity world-wide. It was articulated, it was honorable, it was respectful, it was decent, and it was fair. Very fair. Especially after all those tormenting 15 months, in every sense. It was a telling statement of a governing power which sees its priorities clearly and is not shy about stating it publicly - because that means policy declared, and declared policies are part of policies implemented, if things go as they should. What this second photo states is what, in fact, should have been the picture from every civilised high office world-wide for a good 15 months. -Not the endless demonstrations of hate, violence and incitement which held a feast of instrumentalist hatred for all these terrible, inhuman 15 months. -Not cowardice shying away from the truth and facts as in fact so many governments demonstrated. -Not mean and outrageously false equalising of victims with aggressors, innocent people with blood-thirsty monsters, as the international community and so many governments did, in total shamelessness and total distortion of reality as well as the refusal of minimal decency. -Not manipulative, sold-out to the bone media claims, 90% of them put into the dustbin in the perception of anyone who has a brain of their own. -Not to speak about academia and cultural institutions infested with falsehood beyond anything acceptable. The first picture taken on January 19th 2025 in Gaza did demonstrate to the world the truth which this very world has created - its alarming anti-Semitism which was even happy to be unleashed after October 7th, against all normal moral instincts. The inhumanity we all were brazenly shown in Gaza during the release of our first three young female hostages was, as a matter of fact, manifested not only by the terrorists with no masks, armed, covered in black and green, and not only by the crowds of aggressive ignoramuses all over who discovered their deep love of melons all of a sudden. And not only by the completely disgraced Red Cross which abolished its reputation with its behaviour after October 7th, but which is nothing new for the Jews, starting from 1939 onward. Nothing new at all. This menace and outrage has become possible due to the same sentiments barely disguised in so many places in the world for all this period. So many high offices world-wide - governments, parliaments, presidential administrations - did not find either courage, or decency to support those who they were expected to protect in a normal society, the victims. There were some decent reactions in several, but so very few countries, but even then, the very same countries allowed all those pathologically hateful demonstrations against the victims, and against the people who did not do anything wrong to anyone, against the defined group of people, the Jews, thrown onto a world which did not lift a finger. It did not defend those who had been attacked in crazy, dangerous, hateful racial violence. Until the first day in the office of the 47th President of the United States Donald J. Trump. This is a fact. The second picture should be the norm. It should be a picture that could be taken at any international organisation world-wide, and any governmental or legislative office. Our people, families of our hostages, tortured for over 15 months by the evil terrorists, should be welcomed, supported, helped and defended by the top international authorities and most important international bodies and governments. Instead, so far, the attention paid to them on the first day of President Trump's presideney stays as an emphatic exemption. We are living in a highly schizophrenic frenzy: reality has become a bad dream, bad dreams have materialised, and what we knew and believed as the norm and as good has become a distant mirage. Because of what? Because of the absence of responsible leadership, because of raising meanness to become the general motto, because of equalisation of good with evil, blurring morality into a shadow. Because of the return of violent and open antisemitism in its most ugly forms. Because of the silence of those who should speak out. So simple. As always. I hope the statement on the podium in Washington DC was the beginning of the process of justice and articulated decency, of fairness, all delayed for 15 months. Fifteen months. Given the quality of the place in question, it is a great start. Much expected, absolutely necessary, only natural - if we still would like to think about ourselves as decent human beings, who form decent societies, not distorted hordes dominated by hate, violence, sheer lies, and banal, low racism. Those voters and taxpayers who elect the people with a heart instead a calculator. Normal people with normal human reactions. With responsibility, courage, and the will to lead and govern in the way to be remembered positively, not scornfully. Normal people with civilised morality. Yellow scarves on our people, families of our hostages, victims, were worn proudly on the stage of a post-inaugural rally in Washington D.C. on January 20th, 2025. We all have been waiting for such a moment for a long, tormenting 15 months. In addition to fairness, care, respect and empathy, there was a hope at that moment on that stage. The hope for the return of decency, from Washington D.C. to spread to all civilised countries. It is long overdue. So there is plenty to say to the hysterical members of the European Parliament who oversaw if not supported the murderers en masse during all the time after October 7th, 2023 before taking action against Mr Musk who deprived them of sleep. How about taking real measures and preventing terrorist gangs from intimidating hundreds of thousands of people, maybe just one, for this matter? How about declaring antisemitism not just unacceptable, but punishable, as any expression of racism should be? In any of the EU countries, to start with!
