HAMAS, The War In Israel and My Israeli Family
To my cousin Sandy Tawfik Bahari
Yes, Sandy joon, you are quite correct, the silence concerning the HAMAS attack on Israel is quite deafening.
It was dark that Saturday morning when HAMAS attacked Israel. Our dogs were getting restless for their weekend walk in the park. Kelly had switched on the radio by his bedside. Through the deep tunnel of sleep, I heard him repeat, “Oh no! Oh no!” in a dismayed and shocked voice.
I opened my groggy eyes and mumbled, “What’s the matter?”
“Hamas attacked Israel,” he said.
I sat up in bed, rubbed my eyes, got up, and made a beeline to the next room and switched on the TV. All the stations were announcing the same devastating news. “WAR! HAMAS HAS ATTACKED ISRAEL!”
“Not again,” I thought in dismay. With much anger and disbelief, I looked at the pictures of the innocent people who were unlawfully snatched out of their homes when those monsters illegally crossed the borders of Israel! The pictures comprised of young mothers, older men and women, and little children. In my mind’s eye, I pictured their terror when these villains pulled them out of their beds. I could almost hear the babies cry as they were heartlessly pulled from their parents’ arms. I imagined the terror they all felt, the breathless gasps of panic. I felt the unimaginable fear, the panic, and terrifying pain they must have felt. I spent most of the day glued in front of the TV screen and trying to get in touch with my relatives in Israel.
What bothered me was the lack of concern of my non-Jewish friends. Except for two or three people, no one asked nor seemed to care. My daughter commented about the lack of empathy. It bothered her. She could not seem to comprehend her friends’ indifference.
It made me think of the winter holidays. Each year I post a greeting on Facebook which reads, “We wish our Jewish Friends and Family a Happy Hanukkah, our Christian Friends and Family a Very Merry Christmas, a Very Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year to All!
When I received a reply, there is no mention of Hanukkah from my Christian friends. Call me petty, but this year I feel reluctant to acknowledge the holidays. It never used to bother me before, but this year it does. If the shoe was on the other foot