The phone is ringing. My son calls me and asks if we heard about horror which takes place in the south of Israel. Information comes only through social networks. People are sending calls and begging for help. At that moment, I was with my parents in Belgrade, and the rest of the family was at home, in Israel. Hours passed during which we saw the scale of the tragedy which is happening. The attack was carried out during the holiday of Sukkot, symbolically, on the anniversary of another holiday that is celebrated The Yom Kippur War.
More than half a year has passed since the war broke out in Israel. In one day, on October 7, 1400 Israelis were killed in the most brutal way, and 240 adults and children were kidnapped. Hundreds of rockets were fired at Israel that day alone. The war began in the early morning while many were sleeping. People are being chased as if it were hunting. Brutal killing and massacre of living people as well as dead bodies. There was no mercy for anyone - not even for children, the elderly, pregnant women. The intention was to do something terrifying, painful and shocking. Days passed until all the victims were identified.
The kidnapped hostages were transferred to gazu on foot, by car or motorcycle. At the same time, very close to these settlements, a two-day music festival was held in nature, as it is every year during the holidays. Hundreds of young people were killed. Many were wounded and raped. Many are still undergoing treatment today, and some could not cope with the consequences and ended their lives. Suffering for which I cannot find the right words. Hamas' plan was not only to kill, but also to humiliate and permanently maim.
Killing hope
After less than two months, a number of kidnapped Israelis detained in Gaza were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. More than a hundred Israelis are still in the hands of Hamas. We don't know if they are alive or dead. No one has the right to visit them, not even the Red Cross. Those Israelites who were released only physically got rid of hell. They parted from the part of the family that remained in captivity, and upon returning home they learned about the fate of other family members.
Hamas and its supporters killed those who believe in the coexistence of two peoples. It is a painful fact that the residents of those settlements are mostly leftist-oriented, those who most believed in the possibility of coexistence with their Palestinian neighbors at a distance of only two kilometers. Once and for all, the hope that such a thing was possible had to be killed.
Demonization of Israel
The Middle East conflict is the subject of all the world's media, and the number of dead and wounded is used as a tool to demonize one side. I am shocked every time I watch television shows in which journalists, and even more so their guests, provide one-sided, and often inaccurate, information about events in Israel. It strikes me that the Israelis are victims of the shadows.
Recently, a journalist from Belgrade told me in a private conversation that, because of what is happening now with the people in Gaza, I am deprived of any right to give moral lessons to anyone. But imagine if the thousands of rockets fired at Israel since the beginning of the war had hit their target and killed far more Israelis. Would I then have more rights to express my opinion?
Prayer for peace
The war is still going on, and people die in war. With that chilling thought, they lie down and get up in the Middle East while the world watches it as a game and decides whose side it will take. It's as if we are drowned out in the arena by noisy and enraged fans. The world war that everyone fears for us has already begun. There is a war and a struggle for survival. The Israelis therefore build shelters and anti-missile machinery, and Hamas tunnels under the entire Gaza Strip for themselves and their supporters, using the Palestinian people as human shields and a means of manipulation.
As I write this is also a holiday, Pesach, which is celebrated with family and close friends. During the festive dinner, food is eaten that reminds us of the slavery of the Jews in Egypt and the liberation from slavery. I have guests coming soon. I am especially excited because my son is coming from the army. Tonight I feel that this day is even more special. All the families in Israel will gather around the table, they will pray for the end of the war and the freedom of those who are still held hostage in Gaza today.
The author is a sociologist who lives in Israel
