Peace and quiet

November 19, 2023

Headline on Times of Israel: IDF confirms Houthis hijacked ship in Red Sea, says it is not an Israeli vessel

I am not the same person that I was 44 days ago on October 6. I, and all other Israelis, died on October 7, 2023 when Hamas invaded our country, barbarically murdered our brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and stole hundreds of innocents into the depths of the earth.

We are all damaged souls on the inside, faking it through the days on the outside. Depending on the day, we might accept support from friends or give out hugs when we see a certain look in the eye.

I have had a rough week. To be honest, most times, I consider myself a strong person, but there are things that hit me a certain way that incapacitate me; like a nick in the achilles, or death by a thousand cuts where I bleed slowly, trickling my lifeblood, marking the land where I have walked for the last six weeks.

If you look carefully, you will see rivulets, streams of our soul’s blood where each Israeli has traveled since October 7. Each of the 1,200 deaths has stabbed a hole in ourselves. Each hostages taken is a puncture in our heart. From each hole, we bleed every day. Every hour.

The ground is soaked, not just in the South, but in the remaining land of Israel. Not just with blood, but with tears for those lost, stolen, murdered, decapitated, dismembered, baked, burned, broken, raped, butchered, orphaned, and widowed.

Israeli soldiers walk past houses destroyed by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri, October 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) – reprinted by Times of Israel

I was picking up my kids the other day and ran into a friend (“was she okay?” my husband always jokes around). She saw me and immediately gave me a hug. There must have been a particular glint in my eye because we’re not necessarily close. She is simply a very kind person with a perceptive heart, so I accepted the warm hug and pulled her close.

It’s not the war, per se. Not by itself anyway.

It’s the fact that 300,000 people gathered in Washington DC last week and there were still antisemites yelling that we should have all burned in Hitler’s ovens.

It’s the fact that bloodthirsty barbarians around the world are openly calling for genocide of my people through their infamous chant, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” “Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea,” says the organization’s 2017 constitution. UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman stated, the slogan is “widely understood as a demand for the destruction of Israel,” and added, “Attempts to pretend otherwise are disingenuous.”

Protesters hold placards, the left one reading reading “Gaza, Paris stands by you,” during a demonstration in central Paris on October 28, 2023. (Photo by Bertrand Guay / AFP) – Times of Israel reprinted.

It’s the fact that Belgium is refusing to show the video of the Hamas massacre of October 7 at all, “with some lawmakers reportedly decrying the video as Israeli propaganda.”

It’s the fact that Jews outside of Israel are being attacked, threatened, and killed at rallies. Crimes against Jews in the UK has risen by 1,350%, with no arrests in over 90% of the cases. Read that again.

It’s the fact that Hamas killed babies with joy, executed parents in front of children and vice versa.

It’s the fact that many Jews, in general, are feeling unsafe sharing their identity with the world, hiding their Jewish stars or identifying marks. I had one friend ask me to help her find an Israeli jeweler who could make a star/butterfly necklace just so she could feel herself while staying safe in public.

I am truly not afraid of being forgotten. I honestly wish we would be.
It seems we are the the focus of everything all the time – the war, the illegal kidnappings, the antisemitism- and even when the war ends, it still won’t be over.

The antisemitism will still exist as it always has – but now, the proverbial cat is out of the bag. The Jew-haters have outed themselves. The hatred in their hearts is alive, feeding on the war and the knowledge that not enough people will speak out against them. Governments and their citizens will still call for our murder and the end of our country.

For thousands of years, we have been hated, expelled, taxed, murdered.
They say that tough times builds character.

We have plenty of character.

All we really want is a little peace and a real quiet.
Not just in Israel for Israelis, but around the world – for all Jews.