Americans watching the news this weekend watched in horror as two separate attacks — one targeting Jewish families at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Australia, and another ambush in Palmyra, Syria that killed U.S. service members — laid bare the bitter truth: evil still stalks the weak and innocent. These were not isolated crimes of opportunity; they came with clear political and sectarian overtones that demand more than empty condemnations from the coastal elites. We must remember the dates and the faces of the victims so public memory forces action, not appeasement.
On December 14, 2025, what was meant to be a peaceful “Chanukah by the Sea” at Bondi turned into a massacre when gunmen opened fire on families and children, killing and wounding scores of people in what authorities are treating as an antisemitic terrorist attack. The world has watched Jewish communities around the globe face a spike in coordinated hatred, and the Bondi atrocity proves that rhetoric metastasizes into murder when left unchecked. Local bystanders showed bravery, but bravery alone cannot substitute for firm policy and serious protection of vulnerable communities.
Just a day earlier, American grit and sacrifice were repaid with blood in central Syria when two U.S. soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were ambushed and killed during a counterterrorism engagement near Palmyra. The Pentagon called it an “ambush” by a likely Islamic State-affiliated gunman, and President Trump publicly vowed that those who strike Americans will face swift consequences — a promise the country ought to keep with resolve, not dithering. Our troops and their partners are not adventurers; they are the thin line protecting the world from a resurgence of jihadist terror, and their lives must be treated with the seriousness they deserve.
Conservative leaders, senators, and grassroots Americans are right to demand clarity and strength: we cannot tolerate a world where antisemitic murderers walk away with grievances fed by international chaos and feckless diplomacy. Too many in the political class want to paper over ideological violence with euphemisms and “context” while refusing to name and strike the perpetrators. That moral cowardice endangers our communities and emboldens extremists; America should stand unapologetically with the persecuted and hunt down those who carry out terror.
Here at home we must also look inward — at universities, social media platforms, and public institutions where hatred is normalized and the line between protest and incitement is blurred by permissive policies. Free speech is sacred, but advocacy for violence and the organization of terror are not protected freedoms and should be treated as crimes, not talking points. Law enforcement, intelligence, and bipartisan legislation must be equipped to root out the networks that radicalize and arm killers, while communities are given the means to defend themselves lawfully.
Senator Dave McCormick and other patriots who used their platforms this weekend to warn that we cannot allow antisemitic and political violence to prosper were speaking for millions who will no longer accept weak responses and half-measures. This is not about partisan score-keeping; it is about protecting families praying at a menorah, and soldiers putting themselves between America and darkness. If our leaders will not act, voters must — electing officials who believe in victory over terror, not endless negotiation with monsters.
We owe the fallen more than thoughts and prayers; we owe them a country that remembers, retaliates when necessary, and fortifies its values and borders so that tyranny and terror find no safe harbor. To the Jewish community, to the families of the U.S. soldiers, and to every American who treasures life and liberty: we stand with you, and we will not be silent. Now is the time for toughness, clarity, and a renewed commitment to defend civilization itself.
