As the war on Gaza enters its second month, in Tel Aviv it has become routine to hear the sirens every other day and to run for shelter as Hamas rockets target the city. I do so with my two small daughters: it is always a terrible experience for them, and so for me also. As a parent, I do my best to shield them from the reality of the war and maintain normality.
But it isn’t always possible. This week I took them to the public library to return their books, and in the square outside there was a vigil by the families of those Israelis kidnapped and taken to Gaza on 7 October, calling on the government to negotiate for their return. As we passed through, my youngest daughter, aged seven, looked curiously at the pictures of the child hostages and asked me who they were. I never want to be untruthful to them, and I try to to explain the world to my daughters in an honest way. Yet the dreadful reality of small children being taken from their parents and being held captive – and who, in fact, may no longer be alive – is so appalling that I struggled for the right words.
Later that day, I thought about the Palestinian fathers in the Gaza Strip with daughters the same age as mine. Surely for them there isn’t even the slightest chance of maintaining normality for their children amid the bombing campaign launched by my government. Surely every day consists of fear. Fear for their lives and their loved ones, of running out of basic necessities, of having to evacuating their homes and leave behind not only their belongings, but also the daily routines that shape their lives – school, work, friends.
What I have described is the reality of Palestinian and Israeli life. Since 7 October every so often I tell my daughters that I’ll be out this afternoon “visiting a friend”. Then, I go to a funeral or a Shivah – the traditional Jewish mourning ceremony – to comfort friends who lost family members in the Hamas terror attack on their homes.
Israel is a small country, and almost everyone knows someone, directly or indirectly, who was hurt in the attack, forced to evacuate their homes, killed or even kidnapped. The grief that grips Israeli society is for me further compounded by the indiscriminate bombing that has killed thousands of civilians in Gaza, including children, and forced more than a million Palestinians to leave their homes. It has been horrifying to watch my government inflicting collective punishment on the people, and hear the rhetoric it has used to excuse its actions, as it cuts off Gaza’s water and electricity supplies. The minister of defence, Yoav Gallant, defended the tightening of the siege and the steps taken against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip with the horrendous words: “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
Since 7 October, there has been a wave of repression directed towards the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel. My organisation, Standing Together, a grassroots political movement of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel, has set up a hotline to help the thousands of Arab workers dismissed from their jobs, and the many Arab students facing disciplinary charges in their universities. Some were accused of “supporting Hamas terrorism” simply because they “liked” an Instagram post that highlighted the human suffering in Gaza.
While war rages in Gaza, there is also a battle in Israel for the character of our society. That is why we’ve formed the Jewish-Arab Solidarity Network with more than 12 local groups in cities across the country, which works on the ground to combat racism, promote peace and equality, and bring Jewish and Palestinian citizens together. Our activists erase racist graffiti (replacing “Death to Arabs” with “Equality for all”); put up bilingual posters that read “Only peace will bring security”; and support Jewish and Arab families whose members have been injured or killed in the war.
At times there is state repression, and some of our activists have been detained by the police. But, nonetheless, this movement grows. Last week we started a series of Jewish-Arab solidarity rallies, with 700 attending in Haifa, 300 in Tel Aviv, 350 in Baqa al-Gharbiyye and 150 in Abu Ghosh. While warmongering government ministers dehumanise Palestinians, provoke racist violence and plan for a war that will last months, our message is that there is an alternative. We are demanding an Israeli-Palestinian peace that respects the rights of both people to independence, security, justice and freedom. This means an end to the occupation, and the creation of an independent Palestinian state, according to UN resolutions, as well as full equality within Israel for the Arab-Palestinian citizens, both as individuals and as a national minority. This is the only path forward for securing the safety and wellbeing of Israelis and Palestinians alike.