Three years have passed since October 7th, 2023 — the day that changed the course of the Middle East. Much has changed, but the horror of this day does not deserve to disappear from our memory. Just as we a few weeks ago marked the 25th anniversary of the 11th September terror attack on the United States, the brutality of October 7th must be named clearly.
Thousands of Nukhba fighters entered into Israel from Gaza on this day. Over 4,000 rockets were launched. Women were raped in their own homes. Children were beheaded. More than 1,200 people were massacred in Israel, and 251 hostages were taken into Gaza.
To grasp the brutality of this day, I would with caution recommend everyone to watch the latest season of the Netflix show Fauda.
Much has however happened since the 7th of October. The Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon has been taken out, the Assad regime in Syria has fallen, the civilians in Gaza have been the victims of a crossfire that has seen their livelihoods suffer, and both the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. Many unusual and new partnerships have also appeared.
The geopolitical map and realities of the Middle East has been altered since 7th of October. Some for the better, some for the worse.
Rising antisemitism
In my own continent — Europe — antisemitism has grown to new heights in the last three years. Jews feel unsafe in countries that for decades and generations have been their homes. In many communities and political movements, sentiment towards Israel is filled with hate — not with healthy criticism.
I have been a supporter of Israel all my adult life. That does not mean I support everything the Israeli government does or agree with how Israel has conducted itself in Gaza. I believe mistakes have been made. I am however scared by the hatred I see towards Israel in Europe. There are many places that have little room for a healthy difference of opinion.
Despite being the victim of the 7th of October attack, Israel is by many seen as the enemy. A reminder of this came a few days ago when a passenger plane on its way from the UAE to Israel was attempted hijacked and crashed by its co-pilot.
The suffering of Palestinians
In the years since the attack, Israelis and Palestinians have endured immense suffering. The war that followed has killed and wounded many Palestinians, displaced families, devastated communities, and deepened hunger, grief, and insecurity. Israeli society continues to live with trauma, fear, bereavement, and the consequences of prolonged war. Palestinian civilians must not be treated as interchangeable with Hamas, just as Jewish people everywhere must not be treated as representatives of the Israeli government. Recognising one people’s pain does not require denying another’s.
This is is especially important as we confront the resurgence of antisemitism. The increase threats, harassment, vandalism, conspiracy theories and violence against Jewish communities around the world is horrendous. Ancient prejudices have often been repackaged in political language. When the murder of Jewish civilians is glorified or dismissed, something fundamental has been lost.
No political grievance can justify such acts. No account of history can make the intentional killing or abduction of civilians acceptable. To acknowledge the wider conflict is not to blur this moral line. Context may help explain how conflicts develop, but it cannot excuse atrocities.
I do however fear that the hate against Israel and the rise in antisemitism that we see in Europe, is excusing the atrocities such as the attacks of 7th October against the Jewish people.
What comes next?
For the families whose loved ones were murdered, wounded, abducted, or forever changed, time has not followed an ordinary course. Anniversaries do not close wounds. They return us to an absence at the table, an unanswered message, a familiar voice that can now be heard only in memory.
Today, we remember the victims of the terror attack in Israel: People killed in their homes and communities, young people attacked at a music festival, families hunted in places where they should have been safe, and those taken hostage into Gaza. We also hold close the survivors, the bereaved, and the hostages who returned carrying burdens that cannot easily be described. And we remember those whose fate remains a source of anguish for their families.
The dilemmas after October 7 are however real and painful. How can a state protect its people while observing the limits imposed by international law and human dignity? How can hostages be brought home without abandoning the search for a durable peace? How can Hamas’s violence be confronted without condemning Gaza’s civilians to endless catastrophe? How can Palestinian hope for statehood and Israeli security be pursued together, rather than treated as mutually exclusive? There are no easy answers, but despair cannot become a policy, and vengeance cannot become a vision for the future.
Remembrance therefore carries a responsibility. We must resist the language that turns children into threats, civilians into abstractions, and entire peoples into enemies. We must insist that leaders choose diplomacy over perpetual war, accountability over impunity, and the difficult work of coexistence over fantasies of elimination.
I genuinely believe that a positive future is possible for the Middle East. The Abraham Accords and other unusual friendships have shown this. Positive signs of cooperation between Israel and countries like Lebanon and Syria have appeared in recent times in ways thought impossible a short while ago.
Through courage, leadership and a true belief in peace, a new Middle East is possible. A Middle East with peace and partnership instead of conflict. Hope instead of hate. I pray that this will be the path forward for Israel and its Arab neighbours.
Himanshu Gulati is a Member of Parliament in Norway and is the Deputy chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
