Not all Palestinians 

Keshet’s community had been looking for him for days when his body was found. He was a laughing, happy man who I have known since he was a little kid. He was one of the 260 young people murdered by Hamas at the Nova Festival.  

A friend from the south told me that no one from her childhood circle has survived. Three generations, including Holocaust survivors and babies, were killed, some burned to death. I heard that an orphanage was opened for many babies who have been found but all their family members are dead. No family member is left to take care of them.

I am unable to explain the amount of pain that Israelis are experiencing. It looks like a complete darkness. For me, the only ray of light this week has been the messages I have received from my Palestinian friends

Maysaloun was the first to call. She rang immediately on Saturday morning while the massacre was still raging. She expressed her pain and her compassion for Israelis, and grief about what we are doing to each other. Then Osama, a friend and fellow peace builder, sent me a message about his horror at the violence done in his name. He still believes in peace and has hope.

As someone who has worked on joint Palestinian-Israeli peacebuilding projects for years, my phone kept receiving messages from Palestinian friends: Mariam, Nour, Reema, Aziz, Mahmoud and many more.  Even my friends from Gaza managed to contact me to express the pain that they feel about the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians. Another friend, Jawdat, has said that he understands the pain and resulting disbelief that I may have. He will keep our shared torch for now until I will return.  

Later their messages of fear began. Haneen, a refugee from Gaza, broken from all the violence, told me she was terrified for what will happen to her family as Israel mounts retaliatory raids to root out Hamas.