I am not OK. We are not OK. The Jewish community is not OK.

Saturday, Oct. 7, was the single deadliest day for Jews since the gas chambers closed in Europe at the end of the Holocaust. It has taken me a few days to encapsulate the feelings I have about what happened in Israel that day. And since then, I have had very little sleep.

My heart is broken. The devastation and sadness I feel cannot be described. As I write this, I am crying. I have been unable to control my tears since the killing started.

I am angry. I am devastated. I am floating between these emotions with no end in sight.

More than 1,300 people were killed in Israel at the hands of Hamas. So far, it is believed that at least 199 people are being held in captivity in Gaza by Hamas. Babies were found slaughtered.  Some were set on fire and burnt to death in their homes. Concertgoers were massacred in a field, with more than 260 dead from that one event.

The victims are our friends and family members. They were brutally butchered by Hamas. Burned alive. Throats cut. Gunned down in their homes. Decapitated. Raped. Abducted. Taken to Gaza.

Hamas is a terrorist organization that was elected in 2006 by the Palestinian people. Hamas is a genocidal organization that has stated in its founding documents the desire for the destruction of the Jewish people. Not just Israel. Jews. Even to the point of calling for a “day of global jihad” targeting Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide.

Tragically, many innocent Gazans will be killed because of it. Gazans who did not vote to elect Hamas. Gazans whose only crime was being born in Gaza. They do not deserve what Hamas has brought to them.

My heart breaks for them, too. They are not at fault here. They did not cause this. Hamas harms them, too. 

I appreciate the statements made by our entire delegation to Congress—from U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto to Nevada’s members in the House: Reps. Dina Titus, Mark Amodei, Steven Horsford and Susie Lee. I appreciate the personal check-ins with myself and members of our community from each of them. We see it. We feel it. We appreciate it.

The entire delegation stood by Israel and stood by the Jewish community in the face of these monstrous attacks. Both Rosen and Masto have called for the freezing of the release of billions of dollars for Iran — a positive start in holding Iran accountable for their monstrous agenda, carried out through their proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Immediately following the barbaric attack there were rallies in support of Hamas that were held around the world. In Sydney, many chanted “gas the Jews.” In New York, a rallygoer presented a picture of Nazi swastika to Jews. In Berlin, crowds shouted “death to the Jews.” At Harvard, students released a statement condemning Israel, blaming Israel as a “colonizer” that deserved the attack. The same sort of statement was released by the Student Bar Association (SBA) president at New York University.

Here in Nevada, a fringe far-left organization has held events bashing Israel, with its co-chair sharing antisemitic posts and videos celebrating the attack on X. Black Lives Matter Chicago posted a picture of a Palestinian paraglider, an allusion to what Hamas used in the attack, with the words, “I stand with Palestine.”

I had a now former high school friend say that the Jews needed to “sit down and take a back seat,” because we “had this coming” and that the only solution is one in which Israel is dismantled.

A few years ago, I wrote that the statement: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was a call for genocide.

Hamas murdering babies by beheading them and burning them alive has shown that I was right. Hamas going door to door murdering entire families has shown that I was right. The chants calling for the death of Jews in Sydney, Berlin and around the world have shown that I was right. The organizations regurgitating the lie that the Jews are colonizers have shown that I was right. The former friend telling Jews to sit down, and that Israel needs to be dismantled shows that I was right — that we, the Jewish people, were right.

The world told us we were overreacting time and time again. It turns out that we, the Jewish people, were right. We were not overreacting. We have witnessed terrorists wrongfully attacking innocent people because of their heritage, whether as Arabs or their faith as Muslims.

Tragically, all Arabs and Muslims will be blamed for what Hamas did — innocent people lumped together with members of a terrorist organization that shares no common values with them. Anti-Arab and Islamophobic hate will spread, causing our own friends and neighbors to not be OK. They already are not OK. 

A friend of mine who is both Muslim and Arab was one of the first people this week to check-in to see how I was doing. What I failed to see at that moment was the level of fear and devastation they also felt. They were able to recognize that we are not doing OK, and they reached out to me and their other Jewish friends — all while they were struggling with what Hamas did themself. Fearful for what it meant for the region. Fearful for what it means for Arabs and Muslims around the world, and especially here in the United States.

What I failed to initially remember was that innocent Arabs and Muslims know all too well the horrors of terrorism. They are not immune to the harm it causes. They also know that when it is done in the name of Islam, they will be the ones to bear the consequences. Often the Arab and Muslim community is prescribed a collective judgment by society for actions not indicative of their own values. Nearly every American knows exactly what I am talking about. They have heard the calls against Islam and Arabs, and it must again now be clearly stated:

Silence on this is complicity.

My heart breaks for them, their family, their community — because I know that people will blame them for something they do not believe in, did not do.

And it is a knowledge founded in reality. On Saturday, Oct. 14, we saw the cold-blooded murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian child in Chicago, Wadea Al Fayoume, solely because of his faith in Islam. What was his crime? Why did he deserve this? For no reason other than the faith he was born to practice. How does this make us any better than the Nazis, or Hamas? 

While I grieve and am filled with rage, like many Jews, we must not allow ourselves to violate the core tenet of Judaism: “V’ahavta lorecha kamocha.” To love your neighbor as yourself. To treat others how you want to be treated. We must not cause harm to those who did not harm us.

We see those who are standing with us. We see those who are condemning Hamas. We see those who are reaching out to check in on us. We see you. We thank you. We appreciate you.

We also see those who are silent. We also see those who are blaming Israel and the Jews. We see those making fun of the Israelis and Jews murdered and in captivity. We see those who are condemning Israel but did not speak up about the atrocities of Hamas.

We see you. We do not forget. We will remember your silence, your words, your actions or non-actions.

To borrow from Hatikvah, the national anthem of the State of Israel, “Our hope is not yet lost … to be free in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem” as we pray for our mishpachah (family) in captivity in Gaza. The Jewish people are one big family in tremendous pain.

Am Yisrael Chai. The Jewish people live.

And we will continue to live.

Elliot Malin is a Jewish Nevadan.

Editor's note: (Oct. 20, 9:50 a.m.) There is ongoing debate about claims that Hamas has beheaded babies, with news stories stating photos have been shown to government officials and other stories pointing out that no photos have been made public.