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Most mornings, we wake from our dreams. But on Oct. 7, Israelis and all who support them awoke to a nightmare. Hamas, the terror group that rules the Gaza Strip, viciously attacked Israel by land, sea and air, on the Sabbath and a Jewish holiday. Hundreds of Israelis have been murdered, thousands more are injured, and many others have been taken hostage. This horrifying act of violence is personal to all Israelis, and to many other Americans, including me.
The very real issues that have caused division recently seem distant today — and even trivial — while our friends in Israel are locked in safe rooms, listening to sirens blaring and rockets exploding overhead.
Hamas’s attack was brutal, calculated and designed to inflict the maximum physical harm to the maximum number of innocent civilians. There is devastating emotional harm to ordinary Israelis. Hamas murdered elderly people in the street. They pulled families from their homes, including young children, and are keeping them hostage. They paraded young people and the elderly, dead and alive, through the streets of Gaza. The echoes of the past are deafening.
Please hear the pain that our friends and family are experiencing. And do something.
Many of us have condemned atrocities in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, Iran and elsewhere. We have taken action, lobbied and posted our opinions online. While this may feel like just another hopeless horror in the world, please don’t be silent now. This is not a “both sides” situation.
Whatever the grievances of Israel’s Palestinian neighbors, this is an unprovoked act of war that will cause boundless suffering and devastation to everyone involved. There is no calculation by which this terror brings us any closer to peace or justice.
Sadly, this type of escalation and violence isn’t new. Since its founding, Israel has never known a day without threats to its very existence.
I know that many around the world look at Israel as a powerful player. Those who know Israelis well, and I hope every reader has had the opportunity to know some Israelis, recognize a different calculus. Israelis may be grateful for military strength, but they’ve always known that very powerful forces are aligned against it. Israelis feel that keenly right now. And those who connect with Israel, who have visited, or have friends and family there feel that now as well.
Your voice matters — on social media, in articles and op-eds and in your everyday conversations. Many people who are close to Israel feel isolated and unsafe, including in the LGBTQ community.
I can just imagine the pain that college students must be feeling on campuses where their connection to Israel is used against them. The country they love, and perhaps loved ones who live there, are under attack. Will they feel safe to share their pain without inviting harm from others? Can they come to queer spaces to find support? I am thinking in particular about what happened recently at Rice University. The leading LGBTQ group there decided to boycott the school’s leading Jewish group. Rice PRIDE falsely branded Hillel International as hostile to Palestinians — and singled out the main Jewish group on campus, Rice Hillel, for a boycott. In effect, Rice PRIDE was acting out a version of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, using LGBTQ Jewish students as a proxy to demonstrate opposition to the Israeli government.
This discriminatory act, like many others on other campuses and across parts of the LGBTQ community, leaves LGBTQ Jews feeling they have to choose between their LGBTQ and their Jewish identities — especially since national identity and connection to Israel is so deeply woven into how many Jews experience our faith. Imagine the isolation they feel on that campus, having once had a close partnership between the Pride and Hillel groups. Now imagine this against the rising tide of antisemitism and LGBTQphobia in our broader society.
It’s a daunting situation for these students, made even more acute and devastating after this latest outbreak of violence in Israel.
Imagine instead how those same students and other LGBTQ Jews might feel knowing that there are LGBTQ people who stand with them? That the LGBTQ community recognizes that it is wrong to ask people to put a core part of their identity into a closet in order to be accepted for another part of their identity? None of us should be forced to choose like that.
Much of what happens around the world can feel out of our control, and it’s easy to feel like our actions can’t possibly make a difference. Now is the time to put one foot in front of the other and take action on the things we can change. Standing in solidarity with LGBTQ Jews is one concrete action we all can take together.
May the coming days bring peace, justice, and understanding to Israel, the region, and all of us around the world as we deal with this violent and dangerous moment.
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Ethan Felson is the executive director of A Wider Bridge, an organization that builds a strong relationship between the LGBTQ communities in North America and Israel, advances LGBTQ inclusion in Israel, advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia and fights antisemitism and other forms of hatred.
The past week has been more harrowing than words can express. Hamas terrorists, together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, attacked Israel. They murdered more than 1,200 people, injured thousands, and subjected young and old to torture, rape, and abduction. Israelis, living in fear, are coming together to care for and protect one another. We must do the same.
We know you may be looking for ways to help. Here are several things you can do to support Israel, its LGBTQ community, and all those who love Israel.
1. Connect:
Call, text, WhatsApp, and email your Israeli friends, including people you’ve met through A Wider Bridge. Let them know that they’re in your hearts. Recognize that they may be overwhelmed and may not be able to respond right away, but know that the messages you send make a difference.
2. Stay Informed:
Look to credible domestic and Israeli sources, including English-language Israeli media like Ha’aretz, Times of Israel and Ynet. Listen to updates, including the emergency briefing AWB held with our friend Nurit Shein, former chair of The Aguda.
3. Speak out:
Your voice needs to be heard on social media and beyond. Words from the heart can be a great comfort to people in pain, even those you don’t even know. They say, “you’re not alone, we stand with you, we get it.”
You can use our AWB portal to share a message to the Israeli LGBTQ community – we will make sure they receive it.
4. Reach Out:
The AWB staff is here to listen and hold space for you to share what you’re thinking and feeling. Write us, message us, call us, and we’ll respond. We can provide information, connect you with Israeli LGBTQ groups, or just provide a space for you to be your authentic self. If you’re looking for ways to do more, we’d be happy to brainstorm with you. We can also help if you’d like to write an op-ed, get speakers for your community, etc.
5. Donate:
A Wider Bridge is accepting contributions that we will share in their entirety with Israeli LGBTQ organizations responding to the needs of LGBTQ Israelis during this time of crisis – helping to house the displaced, providing hotlines, emotional support, mental health counseling, caring for the injured, and supporting one another in every possible way.
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Today is a somber day.
The Israeli government has passed a “reasonableness” law that diminishes the authority of the Supreme Court. This is a dire step in an agenda that many fear will shift the delicate balance of Israeli democracy toward autocracy.
The Israeli LGBTQ community has been protesting these proposals for months because it is the Supreme Court that has helped to safeguard the civil rights of all Israelis, including the LGBTQ community.
The story doesn’t end here. The fate of a democracy is not decided in a single day or with a single vote. We love Israel and care deeply about its future. Our commitment is permanent. Please stand with us as we stand with the Israeli LGBTQ community.
Especially now, the Israeli LGBTQ community needs your support. They are struggling to afford the cost of participating in the pro-democracy movement, as well as increases in calls to crisis hotlines and support services. Please contribute to our Emergency Grant campaign today.
We also recognize that this is a global struggle. Democracy is fragile and must be protected everywhere.