How are you?
For the last 17 days, the most normal of questions, the question that usually just rolls off our tongue without thinking, has become the hardest question to answer.
When someone asks me, How are you?
I pause and think. I don’t know how to answer the question.
I usually say, “I’m okay and I’m not okay.”
So, How am I?
Well… I’m alive, my family is alive. We have a roof over our heads and food to eat. We’re really grateful for that. The rockets seemed to have slowed in our area. We’re grateful for that too.
The basics are covered for us whereas for many people in Israel they aren’t.
But… I’m not okay. We’re not okay.
Today is Day 17 and I woke up with a lot of questions and a lot of anger.
How can it be that we have 220 hostages (by the latest count) in Gaza for 17 days?! Two and a half weeks! How are they being treated? How are they surviving this? Children who’ve watched their parents murdered in front of them and are now alone in captivity. Elderly who need their meds and everyone else of course.
How can it be that there are still hundreds of bodies, yet to be identified? There are families still waiting for news and clarity about their loved ones – alive and kidnapped or dead.
How can it be that people are celebrating Jewish deaths and atrocities once again? People who survived the holocaust after losing their families are now again facing similar losses.
How can it be that videos of horrendous acts are published proudly by the terrorists? They want the world to see what they’ve done. There’s no shame, no remorse, no regrets – only celebrations about their “accomplishments.”
How can it be that freedom of speech is celebrated when that freedom means support for these heinous acts?
Yes, we have generational trauma. An event like this opens wounds that are still relatively fresh, wounds of our ancestors from not so long ago.
And it creates anguish. Every fibre of my being is in anguish.
I feel anguish that things seem to be moving so slowly; that there’s no quick resolution to this situation; that it may still escalate.
And I get that I know nothing about any of this and how things are done. We’re so used to watching movies where people are kidnapped and pretty quickly the situation gets resolved. In only 2 hours of a gripping story line, we get taken from anguish to resolution. There’s always a hero that comes in, blasts their way through and comes out battered and bruised with hostages in hand – mostly unharmed.
But life is not like in the movies.
I constantly think of the people that have been murdered, raped, abducted and worse. I think of the hostages just wishing to go back home.
The story of a 92-year-old man comes to mind. He lost his family in the holocaust, came to Israel, rebuilt his life and now lost his family in this massacre, only his 13-year-old grandson remains alive. In an interview with him he exclaimed with courage and passion, “I lost everything and rebuilt it here in Israel and my grandson will do the same!”
A father is interviewed after discovering that his 8-year-old daughter is among the dead and he cries in relief because he can’t imagine what it would be like to know that she had been abducted and held in Gaza for weeks that could turn into months, years?
And I see the world is getting confused and bringing in discussions about land and who was here first and why this all started. There is NO reason for people to be butchered, raped, tortured, abducted over any kind of disagreement or conflict.
No conflict resolution method calls for extreme violence to get to peace. And calls for peace are meaningless when we’re in an extreme situation right now. Right now, we have hostages that need rescuing and people celebrating death to Jews.
What interests me is how do we create peace now, in this situation, in this specific moment in time?
Surely, if the hostages were returned to their homes – that would be a start?
Surely, if the rockets would stop being fired, it would be a start?
Surely, if our neighbours in the North didn’t see the attack in the South as a perfect opportunity to attack us because we’re already spread thin, it could be a start?
I started this morning angry and a friend of mine sent me this thought:
Anger + Hope = Momentum
Whereas
Fear + Despair = Stuck
We are not stuck.
We are taking action.
We can and are using anger not as an excuse for violence but rather to fuel action that brings hope and momentum.
This is present in the amazing stories of heroism we’re seeing every day.
In the countless communities coming together to help cook food, donate blood, rehouse displaced families, rehouse displaced animals, help farmers manage their produce, help broken souls with support and therapy.
You name it, there’s an initiative and a WhatsApp group to donate, help, coordinate, write – whatever your strength, there’s a place you can contribute. And this is how a country galvanises for the survival and safety of its people.
I know for sure that we will get through this. We have both the courage and compassion to see this war through and get our people out. I cry for the costs along the way.
Israel will defend herself and her citizens.
Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱