Twenty-three years ago, on a beautiful September morning, the nightmare of global terrorism became real for America. We watched intently on live TV as the trauma unfolded, scene after horrifying scene — hijacked airliners careening into NYC’s iconic World Trade Center twin towers, the furiously burning towers with thousands trapped inside, and then that sudden sickening collapse of one, then the other, into a massive, smoking heap of rubble, entombing all.

That morning, we lost almost 3,000 of our fellow Americans. We resolved never to forget — but evidently, some have.

Eleven months ago, Israel — our longtime ally and sole truly democratic nation in the war-torn Middle East — suffered its own 9/11, a savage attack by Hamas, an Islamic terrorist organization openly committed to annihilating Israel, its Jewish neighbor.

Israel is no stranger to terrorism. For years, it has been the constant target of drone and missile strikes, suicide bombings, and other lethal violence from neighboring adversaries. Israel is clear-eyed in facing constant danger and proficient in its own defense, but the October 7 assault was the most severe sustained by Israel in decades.

Worse, the brutality of the Hamas attack was unparalleled, a premeditated large-scale assault on thousands of unsuspecting civilian Israelis carried out with unspeakable barbarity. The Hamas intruders systematically terrorized their victims via shooting, beating, and raping. Children were tortured and killed in front of their parents, and parents were murdered in front of their children.

More than 1,100 were killed that night, and about 250 (including American citizens) were taken hostage, evidently for later utility as bargaining chips.

Alone in the region and under siege, Israel has no choice but to eliminate the lethal threat from Hamas, embedded within the Palestinian enclave in Gaza, and simultaneously fend off the entry of Iran-backed Hezbollah — more terrorists — from the north. It is a daunting but unavoidable military challenge. Israel’s survival is at stake.

But here in the U.S., the reaction by some to the necessary military actions Israel is taking has been sharply negative. It suggests that many Americans have forgotten our own hard-won lessons about terrorism and that some actually think terrorism targeting Israel is OK.

Their loud, angry, intrusive, and often violent protests continue on many college campuses. Ostensibly, they publicize the plight of Palestinians caught in the crossfire as the Israeli forces root out the Hamas occupiers embedded in Gaza. But those Palestinian casualties are the direct consequence of Hamas’s willful, inhumane use of them as human shields.

Opponents call Israel’s actions genocide; protesters demand immediate cessation of hostilities against Hamas, along with aggressive actions by the Biden/Harris administration and by corporations and universities to punish Israel financially and politically.

But make no mistake: Legal or not in our permissive society, these protests are not “mostly peaceful.” They are implicitly pro-terrorist (i.e., pro-Hamas) and anti-Semitic (i.e., anti-Israel). The enthusiastic young protesters, with their chants and signs and chic Keffiyehs, may give the whole thing a romantic, revolutionary feeling, but at its heart, it is fundamentally un-American. We don’t tolerate terrorism, and surely we can never reward it.

Yet, we are rewarding it. Without a doubt, the Hamas perpetrators of the barbaric October 7 attacks are elated with their achievements. Sure, their foot soldiers have taken a beating, but their vicious initiative has spawned an entirely new support base in America and the West and simultaneously prompted the U.S. to dial back on support to Israel.

Although there should be nothing political about this entire mess, virtually all of the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel activism has come from our political left — prompting, in this election season, both the Biden/Harris administration and the Harris presidential campaign to do backflips to keep from offending their renegade, pro-terrorist, and anti-Semitic faction.

Just 10 days ago, Hamas ruthlessly executed six hostages whom they’d held captive for 11 months and who were about to be rescued by Israeli forces, one of whom, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was an American citizen (with dual Israeli citizenship). Reaction from the Biden/Harris administration was notably muted.

The president has showcased his lead role in negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas while simultaneously withholding the supply of weaponry and publicly criticizing Israeli leadership. When asked recently by a reporter whether he thought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “done enough” to deter Hamas’s murder of the hostages, Biden’s terse one-word assessment was, “No.” Ditto on the presidential campaign front. Kamala Harris answered that question in typical two-sides-to-every-story fashion, while her running mate ignored it altogether. Either he doesn’t have an opinion, or he’s not allowed to express it. I can’t decide which is worse.

The correct answer is this: Giving anything less than full support to Israel’s effort to exterminate the terrorists simply strengthens Hamas’s position and extends the war. Moreover, attempting to broker a deal with the barbarians who just murdered one of our citizens is a loser. Every time.

And my unsolicited advice for the Harris campaign: Quit trying to mollify Democrats who are cheering for Hamas. Show the leadership that you keep promising and make it clear that you do not support their view. And who knows — you might gain more support than you lose.

It’s not complicated. Terrorism is intolerable. No wrong is ever made right through terrorism. There are no circumstances in which it is justified, no middle ground, and no room for “yeah, but” caveats. Anti-Semitism is detestable. And burning the flag we learned to revere after 9/11 may be legal, but it should be repulsive to every American citizen.