After Israel Part 3: Tel Aviv
This one may anger you, but I ask you to examine that anger if it does because it might instead be fear
We didn’t spend much time in Tel Aviv; I saw nothing of it but the hotel, the nearby beach, and Hostages Square. Our hotel was lovely, but half-filled with displaced persons from the north who, I suspect, are still there. We were told most people from the South had returned home where they were, if not safe, as safe as they had been before October 7th. Maybe a little safer because Hamas has been rendered less capable by the war effort. But in the north, Hezbollah aims to bypass the Israeli Air Force's detection systems and increase the number of missiles hitting targets and circumventing the Iron Dome. These displaced persons—and the signs, posters, and protest art that filled the city—were the only real signs, there, of the war.
If we were there instead of somewhere that we might either be useful or to bear witness, it was usually for a talk. One of these, the one that had the greatest impact on me, was from the aunt of Yagev Buchshtav, one of the hostages. His wife, Rimon Kirsht, was released in November. Like every Israeli who spoke to us, she was careful, aware of the deep political fractures in our own country and within the group of attendees. She was, she made clear, there to ask us to advocate with our government to put more pressure on Netanyahu to emphasize bringing home the hostages before politics. Whether or not you agree with her on this, it is certainly a reasonable thing for the family of the hostages to ask.
It was during the Q&A part of this talk that one of the most startling moments of this trip occurred. A woman in the audience asked “Don’t you think we should cut off all humanitarian aid to Gaza until the hostages are released?” The speaker was visibly taken aback. “No,” she said (and here I’m paraphrasing but not by much), “I don’t wish harm on the civilians. I think most people just want to live quiet lives with their families. These people are not the enemy.” I like to think a wave of relief washed over most of the room at her answer, but I don’t know. Certainly, I was relieved.
I have heard from many friends that any criticism of how Netanyahu is prosecuting this war is a danger to Israel; that we must only speak supportively of whatever Israel does in this awful moment. In Tel Aviv, the people have no such fear. Everywhere in the city are signs blaming him for what has happened.
The deaths of the World Central Kitchen workers was a grave error; one for which I believe all of us who support Israel’s right to self-defense must acknowledge. They were operating with Israel’s permission and cooperation to feed civilians in desperate need of the aid. They were also among the first NGOs to come to Israel’s aid after October 7th. I understand that acknowledging this and mourning them might feel dangerous; that we might be scared that speaking out undermines support for Israel’s right to self-defense. But remember, Israeli’s aren’t afraid of this and are currently speaking out in record numbers to put pressure on the Netanyahu government to either resign or prosecute this war differently (groups participating represent both points of view). We cannot become afraid to say true things.
I’m asking you to join me in acknowledging that these deaths are a tragedy by sending a donation to World Central Kitchen. We are a people who believe that the saving of a human life, pikuach nefesh, overrides almost all other considerations and these workers were there to preserve life.
Sending a donation occurred to me this morning, too. Thanks for the reinforcement.
Sending a donation