There is a growing need to highlight some points of clarity related to the October 7 massacre in Israel.

The animating hatred of Hamas’s terrorist attack in Israel was specific—this was a pogrom against Jews.

For Islamist fanatics such as these, though, a more basic motivation is this: They want Jews dead. 

As Israel fights to defend their nation, it also needs to be pointed out that this is not the “clash of civilizations” that Samuel P. Huntington predicted in the 1990s. It is a clash between the civilized—the West—and the barbaric.

Unless we first recognize the barbarity, the depth of the depravity coursing through Hamas—which is really just an arm of Iran—we cannot possibly defeat it. 

The question on many people’s mind is whether—or not—a post-Christian West can even rally to its own defense? 

The U.S.—and the West—has received an urgent wake up call.

We need to heed it.