The author reflects on their childhood experiences of anti-Jewish propaganda and violence in Morocco and relates it to the events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel. The article describes how media coverage and social reactions in different parts of the world varied widely but often celebrated the killings as heroic acts against Jews. The author notes that this hatred is deeply rooted in religious doctrine and societal teachings, not just political conflict, using personal anecdotes from Morocco to illustrate these points.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 civilians and taking around 250 hostages. This event marked the deadliest attack against Israel in its history, drawing significant attention to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Prominent entertainers like John Cusack, Roger Waters, Susan Sarandon, Cynthia Nixon, Mark Ruffalo, Macklemore, and others have used their platforms to criticize Israel or support Palestinian causes since then, despite lacking expertise on Middle East issues. The attack led to a devastating war in Gaza where tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed, prompting ongoing tensions between the two sides. As Israel prepares for elections this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent Hamas from ruling Gaza and continued targeting those involved in October 7 events or hostage-takers. Meanwhile, Palestinians struggle with the aftermath, living under Israeli military control and in squalid conditions due to extensive destruction.
Written for “October 7 Anniversary Effects” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 44 other(s) covering the same event.
On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, I woke up late and checked the news.
asserted
I → wake → news
My feed runs in three languages, English, Arabic, and French, so I usually see the same event through very different lenses.
asserted
I → run → lenses
That morning, every lens showed horror.
asserted
lens → show → horror
The images were unbearable, and the videos sent a chill through me.
asserted
videos → send → me
I pictured my own children at that music festival.
asserted
I → picture → festival
I pictured my family living in one of the kibbutzim along the Gaza border.
asserted
I → picture → border
I called friends in Israel, Arabs and Jews alike.
asserted
I → call → Israel
Everyone I reached was frightened, confused, and quietly hoping for some kind of miracle.
asserted
I → reach → miracle
By the afternoon, a different kind of content had taken over.
asserted
kind → take → content
Account after account was celebrating.
asserted
Account → celebrate → account
Footage of soldiers being dragged away and hostages being carried off was passed around as proof of courage.
asserted
Footage → drag → courage
Gaza, people wrote, was finally going to be free.
asserted
people → write → ?
Free of Jews, they meant.
asserted
they → mean → Jews
Voices I had long considered moderate, even enlightened, went along with the herd.
asserted
I → consider → herd
They were happy to see Jews killed and Israel invaded.
asserted
Israel → see → ?
I grew up in Morocco, and I absorbed the propaganda against Israel from childhood.
asserted
I → grow → childhood
I watched the first and second intifadas on television.
asserted
I → watch → television
I followed Yasser Arafat’s speeches.
asserted
I → follow → speeches
I saw how the bodies of Palestinian children were put on screen, again and again, to keep the anger and vitriol burning.
asserted
anger → see → screen
In 2003, with the second intifada still leading the news every night, that anger came home.
asserted
anger → lead → news
On May 16, suicide bombers struck Casablanca.
uncertain
bombers → strike → Casablanca
Their targets included a Jewish social club, a Jewish cemetery, and a Jewish-owned Italian restaurant, along with a Spanish restaurant and a luxury hotel.
asserted
targets → include → restaurant
Forty-five people died, the bombers among them.
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people → die → them
None of the dead were Jews, but nobody in Morocco doubted who the intended victims were.
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victims → doubt → Morocco
That September, Albert Rebibo, a 55-year-old shopkeeper, was shot in the head in Casablanca.
asserted
Rebibo → shoot → Casablanca
Days later, Elie Afriat, 75, was stabbed to death in Meknes on his way to synagogue.
asserted
Afriat → stab → synagogue
It was almost expected.
asserted
It → expect → ?
Jews were the villains of the television dramas, of the religious series that fill Ramadan evenings, of Friday sermons, of school lessons, and youth activities.
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that → fill → lessons
The Palestinian conflict did not create this hatred.
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conflict → create → hatred
It gave it an excuse.
asserted
It → give → excuse
The Hebron massacre took place in 1929, almost two decades before Israel existed.
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Israel → take → 1929
The Farhud, the pogrom against the Jews of Baghdad, came in 1941, seven years before.
asserted
Farhud → come → 1941
The roots go deeper than any dispute over land.
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roots → go → land
They reach into religious doctrine, and they are watered every day by the media, the schools, and the society around them.
asserted
they → reach → them
One clip from Oct. 7 sums it all up.
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clip → sum → it
A Hamas fighter calls his parents from inside Israel to brag.
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fighter → call → Israel
He does not say he killed soldiers, or occupiers, or even Israelis.
asserted
he → say → soldiers
He says, “Jews.
asserted
He → say → Jews
Mom, I killed 10 Jews with my own hands.”
asserted
I → kill → hands
Their son is a hero now, and his heroism will raise their standing.
asserted
heroism → raise → standing
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
