This is from a friend’s daughter who lives in Israel:
“It’s been one full month now.
One excruciatingly long month that also somehow simultaneously feels like a single nightmarish day.
It’s one month later, and I am only now slowly reentering the world, faking my way through social interactions, after being essentially non-functional for the better part of that month. And I am doing so as someone who will never be able to see that world in the same way again.
It’s been a full month that I’ve struggled to look at my children without picturing them being raped, stabbed, beheaded, or burned alive.
It’s been a full month that I’ve watched hate parades masquerade as social justice movements; openly and unabashedly chanting antisemitic slogans and spreading propagandic blood libels; openly calling for the extermination of not only Israel, but for the Jewish people everywhere.
It’s been one full month since more Jews were killed in a single day since the Holocaust. 1,400 women, men, children, babies, and elderly, not only slaughtered– but joyfully tortured– in the most barbaric ways imaginable.
It’s been one full month that 240+ hostages have been held in Gaza, their families in the indescribable, inescapable hell of not knowing what happened to them, what they are going through, or if they are alive.
It’s been a full month of my family and friends continuously taking cover from rockets.
It’s been a full month of conspiracy theories and denials of what took place, despite hours worth of raw footage taken not only by first responders, but of body-cam videos that were live-streamed by the terrorists themselves. Despite friends of friends, who are among the victims.
It’s been a full month of watching the horrors of October 7 fade from people’s minds– if they were even aware of the scale of the atrocities that occurred in the first place.
It’s been a full month of deafening silence from many friends and acquaintances. A revelation that is not unique to me, but to every Jewish person I know. A simple acknowledgement of our pain is apparently too difficult.
BUT …
It has also been a full month of reminders of the strength of the Jewish community.
That despite our wide-ranging opinions, beliefs, and lifestyles– that we show up for each other.
That we have genuine allies in many people, even if their voices can be hard to hear because hate often speaks much louder.
That despite what we have gone through, we maintain our humanity. That we feel for all innocent lives lost, no matter the “side.”
That pro-Israel demonstrations are not filled with calls for revenge or violence, but with song, love, and genuine hope.
That despite propaganda arguing otherwise– and in stark contrast to the stated goal of Hamas– that the Israeli military goes to extraordinary and unprecedented lengths to try to reduce civilian casualties.
And that despite being only a small 0.2% of the world population, we can defend ourselves now.
BUT …
We are done defending that we have a right to exist.”
©2023 Friend’s daughter in Israel