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Today, as we mark the anniversary of the horrific attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, I find myself thinking about one very simple question:

Do we still know the difference between good and evil? Between right and wrong?

My first thought, of course, is for the families of those who were murdered, and for those who survived physically but will carry the emotional and psychological scars for the rest of their lives.

Our hearts and our thoughts are with them.

But October 7 also forces us to confront something much bigger — something that should be as clear as daylight, but somehow gets blurred into shades of grey:

Good vs evil.

Let me give you an example.

Recently, we heard about an attack on a commercial aircraft that could have ended in another mass-casualty tragedy.

The pilot who attacked his colleague in the cockpit, on Flydubai flight FZ1073 is an Omani citizen named Hamam al-Hammami while more than 170 people were on board.

But there was a hero. Captain Smit Machchhar, the pilot who was stabbed, still managed to open the cockpit door and, as the aircraft descended dangerously, allowed passengers to overpower the attacker.

One person chose evil. Another chose courage. And the difference is clear.

Yet almost immediately, before the dust had even settled, conspiracy theories began circulating. The same thing happened after October 7. Instead of focusing on the perpetrators and their victims, the conversation quickly shifted — somehow, unbelievably — toward blaming Israel and questioning whether the attack had even happened as we understood it.

This is how evil becomes obscured. When the lines between truth and fake are blurred. Thanks to Rebel News, we can count on accuracy and facts.

Conspiracy theories, misinformation and social media manipulation can turn perpetrators into victims and victims into perpetrators.

And that is dangerous.

Because when we refuse to call evil by its name, we don't make the world more compassionate.

We make it more vulnerable to evil.

Last year I visited Israel and travelled from the Gaza border to the Golan Heights noting the remnants of the destruction imposed upon Israel, which is heart-rending, but the resilience of the Israelis is exemplary.

October 7 was not a debate. It was not a matter of competing narratives.

It was an attack on civilians.

And remembering October 7 means remembering the human beings who were murdered, the hostages who were taken, the families who were shattered, the women who were raped and the survivors who will never be the same.

But remembering is not enough. We have to learn.

We have to teach our children the difference between right and wrong, between courage and cruelty, between defending human life and celebrating its destruction.

Because if the world cannot distinguish between good and evil — and if we are unwilling to hold perpetrators accountable — these attacks will continue.

It’s embarrassing for us as Canadians to hear of the drunk police officer asleep at the wheel and equally embarrassing that our leadership is also asleep at the wheel.

On this anniversary, let us remember the victims. Let us honour the survivors. And let us have the courage to call evil what it is.

That is not hatred. That is humanity.