Open Letter from a mother

 At the age of 44, I’ve seen some things and experienced a few difficult times. Grief and hurt are no strangers to me. But nothing really prepared me for the hurt of these past 5 days. The acts of Hamas against Israelis and Palestinians are unspeakable. My family members and friends have been glued to our phones, hoping for any news of our family and friends in Israel. As a mother, to have to sit down with my 10 year-old and a 7 year-old and answer their questions about the War in Israel is really painful. I realize now; I won't be able to shelter my children from anti-Semitism. Eventually they will experience it, as all Jews unfortunately do. Last night, my children had questions like: Why do people want to kill us? Why do some people hate us just for being born Jewish?

 My hope with this post is to inspire other people to learn about this very complex subject. Please, I urge you, before speaking about this, do your research. Don’t trust what you see on social media or traditional media and learn history from the right channels (NOT from TikTok).

Please, don’t get stuck in identity politics, there are misinformed people on both sides in North America and the world.

Please, let’s educate our children to seek peace, tolerance, and open dialogue. Hate never solved anything, for anyone.

Below are some of the facts and considerations that can bring us some clarity:

• Palestine is and always was a region. There are Palestinian Jews, Palestinian Christians, Palestinian Muslims.
• There were numerous attempts to come up with peace agreements for the region. Over 100 years of conflict and negotiations. This is a complex subject that must be treated with respect. Before you take any side, try to understand what has been happening in that region since Biblical times. Chances are when you read the history of this region, you will not take any side, and rather hope for peaceful resolution. What many good people hope is for more moderate representatives on both sides. And especially to have representatives that can put a stop to the “death to all Jews” mentality. That would be a huge step towards peaceful resolution.
• Israel is a democratic country. There are Christian, Muslim and Jews living in Israel.
• Hamas does not represent the interest of Palestinians. They are a radical group that was elected in Gaza in 2006. Back in 2006, Hamas defeated another Palestinian political group, the Fatah forces. Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah kept control of the West Bank. Things are significantly more complicated in that region than the media portrays. Even before the State of Israel was declared, there has been a lot of turbulence and changes in the region dating from BCE and even ancient Egypt.
• There is a large part of the Israeli population that is dissatisfied with their current government. Of course, for now, they are all, as a nation, focused on keeping all Israelis safe (Christian, Muslims, and Jews) and focused on defending their borders from Hamas and potentially other threats (like the Hezbollah at the Lebanon border).
• And finally, a Zionist is a supporter of Zionism; a person who believes in the protection of a Jewish nation and the right of the Jewish people to exist, NOT a terrorist.

 I encourage people to google all the above. Don’t take my word for it. 

Just remember, if you find information that sounds one-sided, suspect it, dig deeper. Be aware of social media algorithms feeding you a variation of the same misguided or incorrect information. 

Anti-Semitism and Anti-Muslim sentiments take lots of forms and it is not always clearly displayed. Hate can be pervasive. Be vigilant!

Thank you for reading this. May you find the strength in your heart to always be a force for love, peace, and tolerance for all ethnicities and religions. 

Love, Ana