Dear Colleagues – 360
It is almost a year since I first wrote to you.
Much has happened in that time. Indeed, much has happened in the last week. At worst, another punch in an intractable conflict. At best, a Middle East that now has the potential to be re-imagined by, and for, everyone. Witness the scenes of jubilation by Iranians outside the Israeli embassy in London celebrating Nasrallah’s death, as it potentially opens up a window of hope not only for Israel, but for the people of Iran, Lebanon and Syria.
Regardless, thousands of innocent people and their families across the region have paid the highest price for this potential reshaping. Comparing levels of pain is a zero-sum game; there is no winner in the rank of suffering. Some of you have told me that when I explicitly share my empathy for Palestinian deaths, it is easier to be curious and care about what I say about Israel: empathy breeds empathy. Some of you have explained that when I share the reality of the divisions within the Jewish world and am honest about our disagreements, what I write sounds more authentic and easier to digest.
So, when I say that it is absolutely devastating to me and almost every Jew in the world, that a year after they were captured 101 Israeli hostages are still held in Gaza, it is not to negate the suffering of others or to ignore the vast and complex divisions within Israeli society. But it is to say that all of us, in whatever we have said and done and prayed for and fought for and argued for and advocated for and wished for, have not done enough. We simply have not done enough. One hundred and one hostages remain in Gaza, of which twelve are women, not to mention the Bibas family – Kfir Bibas was 9 months old when he was kidnapped with his brother Ariel, 4, and their parents Yarden and Shiri.
A natural reaction for each of us, is to lay the blame at someone or some organisation. I will unashamedly state that from my perspective, the UN is an organisation rotten to its core; it needs to be revamped or dismantled (I put up my hand to help in that process; I’m ready to roll up my sleeves).
But blaming others, even when true, is the easy part. We are also days away from the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement. While you will mostly hear me talk about the brisket and honey cake, these days are intended as an opportunity for self-reflection and the asking of forgiveness.
Carmel Gat was a hostage who, through a name, made all the more tangible that this could have happened to me. What more could I, what more could we, have done so that Carmel and five other hostages (Hersch Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino) were not held in the tunnels for eleven months, starved, and then executed in the back of their heads?
As you work with your Jewish colleagues over the next few days, you may want to wish them a Shana Tova u’ Metukah (a happy and sweet new year) as you have probably done in the past. Be aware that just a few days after, they will be honouring the 7th October 2023, in whatever way makes sense to them. Some may be loud & proud, some may be quiet and withdrawn, some may take a day of leave. But almost all of them, regardless of their political beliefs and religious observance will be feeling some sense of sorrow.
To my Jewish colleagues reading this, may next year be a happy and sweet new year for all of us. While it has been a year of horror, it has also been a year filled with miracles. Let us pray that the hostages be returned by the time we are dipping our apples in honey at our Rosh Hashana tables, just a day away.
Shana Tova.
Carmel