The pogrom of October 7, 2023, perpetrated by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Israel, shocked the conscience of all who care about and defend the civil, social, human, and political heritage of liberal democracies. This is the result of a long and brutal strategy of terror that has targeted the civilian population and has been fueled by a fierce hatred, with obscene and explicit calls for “death to the Jews” and the intent to eradicate the “Zionist entity.”

Crimes accompanied in the West by years of irresponsible minimization, unacceptable justifications, and cowardly acquiescence, leading to the legitimization of Islamic terrorism. Significant sectors of our communication and education systems have, for their part, embraced ambiguity, manipulation, and deceit, expressed through evasive language capable of distorting reality, validating counterfeit sources, and tolerating the most aberrant theses, ultimately turning victims into perpetrators. Since October 7, no one will ever be able to say—like many did after the Shoah—that they didn’t know, because today we have all been witnesses to the abyss, overwhelmed by the images depicting it, the anguished cries of the victims, and the merciless shouts of the executioners.

Freedom of thought and information, freedom of religion, assembly, and association, freedom to private and family life, security, justice, and the rule of law, are not abstract concepts nor eternal achievements, and we recognize in the State of Israel the outpost of those values in a region where they are either denied or condemned to a fragile survival. The attacks against the Jewish State, which has full legitimacy to exist, live within secure borders, and defend itself, directly concern our communities and each of us individually, whether man or woman, young or old, believer or atheist.

Defending today those freedoms that cost the lives of millions who came before us means fighting against the hypocrisies, ambiguities, and falsehoods that for years in the West have contributed to undermining the foundational values of our democracies, justifying Islamic terrorism, and encouraging antisemitism.

We have founded the association Setteottobre as aware and responsible citizens, committed to combating denialism and false news, pursuing the condemnation of terrorism and antisemitism, opposing totalitarian ideologies, and promoting the study and defense of the roots and values of our democracies.