What an unimaginably tough week it’s been. As a Jewish person myself, I amongst many other Jewish people across the world, feel Israel’s pain too.
How can people be so evil? I just don’t understand it. Israel is a democracy just like us in the UK and most of the world. They just want to get on with their lives in peace and enjoy their lives.
The horror, the grief, the innocent young lives that were destroyed. On the 7th October 2023. On the last leg of all the Jewish High Holiday festivals when everyone was celebrating, in joy and love, on one of the holiest days of the Jewish New Year… Babies, so many teens and young children, families wiped out – they killed so many young people at the music festival, they went into people’s homes door by door in Be’eri Kibbutz… It was just beyond inhumane what Hamas did to Israel. Unjustifiable. It sends a chill through my whole body thinking about it. Terrorism should never be celebrated or justified.
We will never forget the Holocaust, and all those millions of Jewish people that were killed and tortured purely because of who they were, their Jewish roots. We’ve always said #neveragain must this happen, but #neveragainisnow, how has it come to be? How has humanity not learned from its mistakes, how? I know we are in the global sense a small percentage of the population, but Jewish lives matter too!!!!
This is why it hits us so hard, Jewish people and communities across the world are so affected by these atrocities. We are like one big family, it’s very hard to watch other Jewish people suffer and of course, Israel. It feels like an attack on our own identity. We’ve already experienced the Holocaust, isn’t that enough? We all know people in Israel, family, friends, or we know someone who does. It’s just the way it is in our family. All over the world, Jewish people all know someone who was affected in some way by the Holocaust.
This is precisely why Jewish people all over the world have a strong connection to the State of Israel. This is the homeland we built when we had nowhere else to go after the Holocaust. This is why Jewish people all over the world and Israelis have an innately great spirit, a great sense of community, and a strong sense of unity. This is who we are and have come to be, and who we will continue to be.
Let’s be clear, Hamas’ goal is to wipe Israel off the map and kill all of us – this is what they would absolutely love to achieve from their terrorist “mission” but everyone else has to understand that we as Jewish people, as human beings, are not willing to stand for that. Israel must defend itself for the sake of humanity.
Would you let this happen to you and your family? We mustn’t let evil win. Love must prevail and this takes an army too – love is worth fighting for!!!!!
From the ashes, we will rise.
Israelis have had to become very resilient people over the years, but really how much does a human being have to bear? We don’t always know everything about everyone and their story, but all the images I’ve seen this week has been very distressing – it’s so heart-breaking all these innocent lives that have been lost, babies and young children included. Not forgetting old and disabled people too, including a Holocaust survivor. I can’t imagine what went through the lady’s mind when she was taken away as hostage having already been through the horror with the Nazis. It must be very surreal for those old people who lived through World War 2 and who are now either going through it all over again or watching this new war unfold before their very eyes. Kidnapping babies and toddlers, it’s so unbearable to think about what those children are going through right now.
We are a peaceful bunch of people. Really, this is all Israelis want, to be able to go about their lives in peace and joy. Israel doesn’t want to be fighting in this war – they have no choice other than to protect its citizens. Israelis care for the living; they care that their people live in safety and not in fear of their lives. They care that their people thrive as amazing, happy, strong, caring, compassionate human beings.
Also, we have really appreciated the support and solidarity of those who have lit blue and white Israeli flags all around the world and sung beautifully in support of Israel over the past week, in support of peace – more than you’ll ever know; and those friends who have taken the time to check if we are ok, spoken kind words of compassion, Jewish and non-Jewish, and shown their support for Israel’s plight for safety and peace. The world has come together in times of need which has been incredible and reassuring to see. Of course there is lots more work to be done but the solidarity so far has been so heart-warming and we are so grateful for the support of the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the British Government in this war against terror and evil.
It shouldn’t take a massacre or genocide for people to come together in this way, but for the sake of humanity, we must all join together now in love and compassion, whatever your ethnicity, religion or background. It really doesn’t matter anymore. We all have a common goal – peace, joy and the love of mankind. It’s simple really when you get to grips with what really matters in life. We are humans, just like everyone else, and we have a need and right to feel safe and at peace which is why Israel has a right to exist and must always defend itself.
Now, in the face of what is, moving forward we can only work with what we can control. So what choice do we have other than to fight for what is for the greatest good of all, love and peace – that’s what truly matters.
Amen