Content Warning: Brief mentions of terrorist acts; somewhat graphic.
I’m sad.
I’m angry.
I have a tightness in my chest that comes and goes. I am feeling things.
It’s taken me this long to come to the space where I could gather thoughts although they’re still scattered and disjointed.
I’m disappointed in many of the reactions to Israel’s defense of its borders, especially the gaslighting as if the Jewish people aren’t indigenous to that area of the Middle East. When Ukraine was invaded, these same people cheered at every Russian death. No one suggested that Zelenskyy surrender. The world cried out at the children kidnapped, still missing.
Somehow, with Israel being invaded on October 7th, not only shouldn’t they retaliate and fight back but they should roll over and die.
Where are the All Lives Matter folks?
Crickets.
Or antisemitism.
This isn’t to say that the Israeli government and Netanyahu is doing everything right. Obviously, they aren’t, but the hate and the vitriol around the world is out of proportion to Israel’s actions.
As some hostages are released, the apologists sound as though since Hamas didn’t use gas chambers on their captives, they should be cheered as benevolent and worthy of empathy. Oh look, this mother thanked them. Half her family remains hostages. They (Hamas) killed children in their beds. They shot parents in front of their children. They set fire to houses and the people inside were burned alive. They beheaded babies and when returning with over two hundred hostages, they hid under hospitals while still managing not to get anyone medical care. They raped women and a report is that in the middle of one rape, the Hamas terrorist shot the girl/woman (I don’t know her age) in the head before he “finished”. Among dozens of others, they still have a ten-month-old baby. What’s that child eating? Are they even still alive?
And where are the Red Cross in all of this? Not giving one woman her medicine.
But somehow Jews are to blame.
Because some Jews are white in color, they are somehow now colonists as opposed to the British who occupied the land, not the Jewish people. The Jewish people have been persecuted since the beginning of time.
You’ve never been called a Christ killer, and it shows.
You’ve never been in a group project in high school with a neo-Nazi WEARING A UNIFORM, and it shows.
You’ve never hidden your heritage/religion, and it shows.
Hamas started this war.
They stole fuel from the Palestinian people, so that instead of keeping the hospital and other services running, they can send more rockets into Israel. They are in control of all the aid sent to Gaza. Why haven’t they done anything to make the Palestinian people’s lives better? They’re too busy destroying…and getting rich in Qatar. Israel’s to blame for that too, I suppose.
Why aren’t the Arab nations getting involved in dismantling Hamas? Why are they harboring these terrorists? Why is Israel to blame when they were the ones attacked without provocation?
Hamas can’t be both the government and the invaders. They are terrorists. And they need to go.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 
Kol HaKavod – this is such an important piece of writing. I was driving to work thinking about how this has turned into the ultimate gaslighting scenario. Although not Jewish, I have Jewish family and friends and I am sick at heart. Thank you for your words and witness. Am Yisrael Chai.
I appreciate you saying this. I wonder how much I should say, if I sound too ranty, but I’m am worried and frightened, especially for my kids. Thank you.
One more thought… where are the feminists and women of the world, not really condemning the horrifying rapes???
This is probably most disturbing. After years of me too and listen to women, believe women, now with these horrors on videotape, not only aren’t they speaking out, they’re out and out saying it didn’t happen. I can’t imagine what Twitter is like; Threads isn’t great on this. I fall down a rabbit hole and come away more depressed than ever.
Same.
Karen, thank you for writing this honest, heartfelt post in regard to the lack of support for the Jewish people since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel. I’m not Jewish, so I don’t full understand your feelings about what you wrote. With that said, though, I have great respect and admiration for the Jewish people, at large, and have been appalled at both the comments I hear, and the silence I hear. Why are we Americans not fully supporting Israel at this time? Why is there so much unwillingness to speak out in support of Israel? When did it become politically incorrect to talk about terrorism? I’m dumbfounded over all of this.
When I shared links for Jewish humanitarian programs on my Facebook page, my own cousin posted an article, on my Facebook, about why we should be supporting Palestine instead of Israel. I was livid with her, deleted her post and told her she many never, ever put anything on my Facebook again. My husband then asked me if my cousin might be anti-Semitic, which never would have crossed my mind, but now I have to wonder about that.
You are correct, Karen, that the Jewish people have been persecuted since the beginning of time as we know it. God’s original chosen people have suffered atrocities for generations upon generations, simply because of the religion into which they were born. And now, with the attacks by the Hamas, the world is hemming and hawing over whether to help Israel or not. Hamas started this mess, Israel did not. Are we, as a country, not supposed to be allies with Israel?
I’m sorry for the silence of all the groups you mentioned, Karen. Have we become so afraid of being politically incorrect that we’ve forgotten how to stand with the true victims of an attack? Personally, I stand with Israel, the Jewish people as a whole, and every single one of my Jewish friends I love so dearly because they’ve been far kinder to me through the years of our friendship than some of my Christian friends.
Thank you for this comment. It really means so much to me that you would take the time and I truly appreciate your support. I am sorry it’s taken me this long to answer or respond. I’m not as affected as many people but I feel a deep, innate attachment and have always felt the connection and the pride to being a Jewish person despite the fear that came with it.
We’ve always celebrated the holidays in our interfaith house, and my daughter asked me why I wasn’t supporting a boycott. I had to bite my tongue and not get angry, and also talk to her honestly about what is happening in Israel, and how much of what she is seeing is misinformation and intentional lies. I feel as though I fell down on the job. We celebrated Chanukah more than we usually would. Decorating and having outside lights as well as lighting the candles all eight nights and then two extra because I had covid and couldn’t do anything on the last night, but I needed to complete the menorah, if you know what I mean. I also said the prayers. It was important to me with the political climate even though it was a private family moment, but it also felt so meaningful and connected.
Thank you so much. ❤