Israel

I've never, ever, written a personal post, on this professional platform. But today feels different, this feels different.

Having been born on the exact day of the Intifada - December 9, 1987 - and having lived (and loved) in Israel for eight years, the days have seen every emotion rise and fall, and it’s been comforting to hear from friends near, and far. it’s also been piercingly loud and painful not to hear, from some always so vocal about everything else, whereby the silence says everything.?

I’ve been spinning since Saturday, reading the news, contacting close friends, Zach writing to say that friends and friends are missing, and him later confirming their passing, hearing about our dog Shelley having panic attacks because of sirens, observing the endless posts, seeing the harrowing images of the abandoned cars from the festival, and trying to find some sort of solace during these dark days. ?

Israel is a small, small country, so small that if you look for it on a world map, you can easily not even see it.? But Israel is also a very, very big energy center, on a spiritual and religious level, you can feel it being there for those who have visited.?

For the world and wider community, the impact of the conflict - and the last few days - has enormous tidal waves of energetic feeling and galvanized opinion around the world, as we’ve seen with a brick thrown into a kosher restaurant in North London’s Golders Green’s, or the “celebrations” and solidarity marches for Palestinians in Sydney, New York, London, etc. ?

I’ve been trying to make sense of it all, thinking about the murder of the young Israeli parents who hid their twin babies or the German-Israeli pacifist taken into Gaza and strewn across a truck naked. ? After they’ve passed, where do they go? How can we make sense of senselessness??

What’s the intention of the Hamas terrorists, driven by single-minded hate and intoxicated with anger and their own trauma??

How can this in any way advance the Palestinian people and aspirations for agency, autonomy and independence?? And for the wider community, the octopus of Iran? ?

It’s been overwhelming to see the world's consciousness triggered and involved by this, as we collected, consumed and shared, streams of posts, and opinions, graphic photographs from both sides. ?

So quickly shared, so long-lasting the loss. Suffering from both sides. ? Suffering for both sides.

But there have also been some incredible stories of light and love, the miraculous rescue of the “cookies and coffee” elderly couple who offered the terrorists exactly those things as a deploy, before they were eventually rescued, or the couple who drove at speed away from the festival with their instinct saying to turn right, and thwarted being surrounded by the terrorists surrounding cars on the left, or the mother and young children who ran quickly, in the moments before being taken into Gaza. ?

Many stories. Many are missed by the media, and many more where the missing parts of the story are not written — removing the bodies, taking the cars away, collecting the personal items, identifying the bodies, giving DNA samples to verify, endless anxieties about future outdoor parties, destroyed shops and homes, PTSD from childhood.?

Often unreported. But the grief seeps through.? It’s the trauma of having your parents shot before you or a family entirely in one go.? And in Gaza, the collapse of buildings and with it lives.?

As a side to all of the above, I think it’s important for those who have never visited this region or stepped foot in Israel or Gaza/West Bank to be mindful that until you’ve experienced something first hand you hold a privilege in your judgment and opinion, typing safely far away without fully grasping the magnitude of this intense, and geographically tiny space, and the context of where Israel sits geographically, and the Jewish people historically. ?

It’s from that place that I often see Israel as the once bullied kid - anti-Semitism, programs, the Holocaust, all of it - that developed muscles with time and hard work and sacrifice and skill -, and yet inside is deeply self-protective, scared, and scarred. ?

It’s also impossible for anyone to make a comparable comparison, as ultimately, there isn’t one.? How would the UK respond? The US? Imagine… the Netherlands? Rockets and mass shootings at Glastonbury?? Coachella?

Praying for peace for both sides in the coming weeks, days, and always.?Longing for the Egyptians to step up, and step in, to help in any way that they can, and should.?

I wish safety and security for all of my friends in Israel, and for the Palestinians, all the communities impacted and affected, and the wider global community to understand that “Free Palestine” must start with a Palestine that’s free from Hamas.? Hoping for better days and praying for all those on both sides hurt, wounded, and grieving.?