Here Is Wonder

Today (Friday, 28th May 2021) marks one week since the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire came into effect. Thank goodness, at least at the time of my writing, it appears to be holding.  Whilst British Jews have been rightfully distracted and alarmed by several anti-semtic incidents across the country, it is also prompting many of us to question why Hamas, and in-turn the Palestinians, continue to garner such wide-spread support across the UK and around the world. Many Jews may wonder why pro-Palestinians rarely critique Hamas’ indiscriminate rocket-fire and the resulting deaths that occur, nor the physical and psychological impact these attacks leave on Israel’s citizens. Rather, Palestinian supporters appear to hold Israel almost solely responsible for events in the Middle East.  One of my acquaintances, frustrated with this narrative, posted on social media that, “People seem to think [Hamas’ actions] are ok [and] regard them as freedom fighters”. He goes onto list a range of reasons as to why

Over the course of my life I have experienced the deaths of several family members. Thankfully, the majority of these have been both peaceful and at a “good age”. When my grandfather passed away at the age of 90, I was sad but not distraught; reflective but not distressed. Now, just under two years later, my grandmother - Grandma Ruth - is also dead. However, the end of her life marks the passing of more than simply a single person; it marks the death of so many memories. At 96 years old Grandma Ruth was the last surviving member of her family, outliving all eight of her siblings. Likewise my grandfather; I have no grand-aunts or grand-uncles left. Indeed, to me her death marks the passing of a generation; the end of a lived connection to so many of my family and to our past. Grandma Ruth was the last link to parents a well as several of her siblings; murdered in the Holocaust. In my Grandma’s lounge, now still and empty, there hangs two small black and white photos of her parents. Th