It’s all connected

Most mornings, after I’ve had a cup of coffee and a chocolate Hobnob as I read the paper, I descend to our basement, where a treadmill and exercise bike along with other exercise apparatus await me. As I exercise for about an hour I watch the news on TV, from stations such as Sky, CNN, Fox and Bloomberg, so that I’m up-to-date with what’s happening in the world and not focused solely on the news from Israel.

Just now all the news channels are focusing on what’s happening in Lebanon. The British government has urged all British citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately and is even sending troops to Cyprus to help with their evacuation. The screen is full of scenes of cars, trucks and other vehicles stuck bumper to bumper and packed to the brim with families fleeing southern Lebanon to get away from the region being bombarded by Israel. As is the case in Gaza, the UN is concerned about the fate of the children. Funnily enough, the UN showed little concern for the fate of Israeli children and there was no similar call to British citizens living in Israel after the attacks on the country launched by Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north last October.

Even stranger is the fact that scarcely any mention is made of the reason for Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon – the location in private houses of rockets and other weapons by Hezbollah. That terrorist organization has succeeded in establishing itself throughout southern Lebanon, from where it has been firing persistently on northern Israel. Since the assault on homes and civilians in the south of Israel by Hamas terrorists on 7^th October 2023 Hezbollah has intensified its attacks on homes and civilians in the north of Israel. Those attacks by rockets, drones and artillery that began immediately after the Hamas attack in southern Israel killed and injured civilians, including children, and forced many thousands of Israelis to leave their homes. Ever since that date the bombardment by Hezbollah has continued, causing destruction and devastation to the towns and villages in northern Israel.

That situation has prevailed for the past year, so that entire Israeli communities have been displaced, with families living as refugees in crowded conditions in other parts of Israel. The suffering is acute and ongoing, but not as photogenic as the vehicles standing bumper-to-bumper on roads leading out of southern Lebanon.

When the dire situation of so many Israeli families first became apparent, two enterprising young women (one of whom happens to be my daughter-in-law) wrote and illustrated a booklet aimed at helping children forced to leave their homes to understand and cope with the situation. The booklet, entitled ‘A Family Without a Home,’ was distributed free to as many displaced children as could be located, with the aid of the voluntary agencies set up to alleviate their plight.

It is now over six months since the booklet was published, The demand for it was so great that it is now out of print. The authors have received a great deal of positive feedback, and the booklet has been able to help many children – and their families – come to terms with the situation. Whether anyone believed that the situation would last as long as it has – it is now almost a year since the assault by Hamas – is open to question. It is up to the military and the politicians who manage these matters to decide how and when all this will come to an end. We can only hope and pray that it is soon.