One of the great many tragedies of the current situation is that Vivian Silver, one of the leaders of Women Wage Peace, the group marching in the banner heading, is currently missing and believed to be among the hostages taken by Hamas. Below I share their release about Vivian, as well as their position paper on the current conflict. It's not the kind of declaration that many would want, but I think it speaks to the challenges in the current situation, from a group of Israeli and Palestinian women who have been building bridges for years, fighting occupation with the tools they have and working in solidarity with each other. I'm not even sure I agree with it, it demands a lot very vaguely and almost nothing specifically. That said, I'm a regular reader of your news letter, and when I saw that image in the banner, I felt compelled to share this one story, that I have a very peripheral connection to. I hope it's helpful to somebody.
Thank you so much for sharing the information about Vivian, as well as the statement that WWP put out. What I appreciated about it so much was that it reflected the honest uncertainty and "feeling multiple things at once" of a group that deliberately includes women from a variety of political backgrounds that is also in immense pain right now.
I keep thinking about Kibbutz Be'eri. It is a left wing bastion, one of the few kibbutzim remaining that maintain collective ownership. It has become not just an agricultural center, but is also one of the largest printers in Israel, making it one of Israel's wealthiest kibbutzim.
I keep thinking about Kibbutz Be'eri because it was one of the 11 points (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_points_in_the_Negev), settlements in the southern Negev desert founded in the mid 40s as a way to establish facts on the ground, to make sure that whatever happened in the aftermath of the British mandate, there would be Jews living in the desert to make the claim that this territory would be part of a Jewish state, encircling Gaza and setting a border there as well. Its existence is a product of the conflict over the land, it was built to be a front in this war, even if the Israeli government forgot that.
But I also keep thinking about Kibbutz Be'eri because of this video of a 19 year old survivor of the massacre there. It's hard to watch, she describes what she went through, and she expresses deep rage. But her rage is directed at the Israeli governement and its establishment, blaming them for the conditions in Gaza that lead to the attack, she calls out in rage for the children of Gaza who can't evacuate as she was able to. She cries out against revenge. It's intensely powerful, this teenager who just left the bodies of 100 of her friends and neighbors, calling out for peace and against occupation and the Israeli military state. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1AxZG09htI
I'm probably not going to stop thinking about Kibbutz Be'eri for a long time.
I hadn’t heard the news about Vivian’s body being found until reading this comment. Absolutely gutting. And thank you so much for sharing these multiple layers of the Kibbutz Be’eri story. I too now will be thinking about it for a long time.
I have to avoid reading both NYTimes and BBC these days to avoid seeing Western newspapers rallying behind the revenge attack in Gaza. Asking 1,1 millions Palestine to leave in 24 hours is literally saying you guys are all dead. I thank you for articulating and reasoning this war out for each of us as individuals understand this better from the casualty rather than from the idealogy. Thank you for writing. It is heartbreak to see all the children on news. Why are they on news? They are dying at bombing time.
Thank you for this important piece. It speaks to the whirlwind of emotions I've felt this past week, and the dearth of communities so many of us contend with.
One of the great many tragedies of the current situation is that Vivian Silver, one of the leaders of Women Wage Peace, the group marching in the banner heading, is currently missing and believed to be among the hostages taken by Hamas. Below I share their release about Vivian, as well as their position paper on the current conflict. It's not the kind of declaration that many would want, but I think it speaks to the challenges in the current situation, from a group of Israeli and Palestinian women who have been building bridges for years, fighting occupation with the tools they have and working in solidarity with each other. I'm not even sure I agree with it, it demands a lot very vaguely and almost nothing specifically. That said, I'm a regular reader of your news letter, and when I saw that image in the banner, I felt compelled to share this one story, that I have a very peripheral connection to. I hope it's helpful to somebody.
https://www.womenwagepeace.org.il/en/vivian-silver-a-peace-activist-is-missing/
https://www.womenwagepeace.org.il/en/position-paper/
Thank you so much for sharing the information about Vivian, as well as the statement that WWP put out. What I appreciated about it so much was that it reflected the honest uncertainty and "feeling multiple things at once" of a group that deliberately includes women from a variety of political backgrounds that is also in immense pain right now.
Vivian Silver's body was identified yesterday, at her home in Kibbutz Be'eri. She was killed on October 7th, but it took this long to positively identify her. https://www.jta.org/2023/11/13/israel/vivian-silver-veteran-canadian-israeli-peace-activist-declared-dead-in-hamas-massacre
I keep thinking about Kibbutz Be'eri. It is a left wing bastion, one of the few kibbutzim remaining that maintain collective ownership. It has become not just an agricultural center, but is also one of the largest printers in Israel, making it one of Israel's wealthiest kibbutzim.
I keep thinking about Kibbutz Be'eri because it was one of the 11 points (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_points_in_the_Negev), settlements in the southern Negev desert founded in the mid 40s as a way to establish facts on the ground, to make sure that whatever happened in the aftermath of the British mandate, there would be Jews living in the desert to make the claim that this territory would be part of a Jewish state, encircling Gaza and setting a border there as well. Its existence is a product of the conflict over the land, it was built to be a front in this war, even if the Israeli government forgot that.
But I also keep thinking about Kibbutz Be'eri because of this video of a 19 year old survivor of the massacre there. It's hard to watch, she describes what she went through, and she expresses deep rage. But her rage is directed at the Israeli governement and its establishment, blaming them for the conditions in Gaza that lead to the attack, she calls out in rage for the children of Gaza who can't evacuate as she was able to. She cries out against revenge. It's intensely powerful, this teenager who just left the bodies of 100 of her friends and neighbors, calling out for peace and against occupation and the Israeli military state. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1AxZG09htI
I'm probably not going to stop thinking about Kibbutz Be'eri for a long time.
I hadn’t heard the news about Vivian’s body being found until reading this comment. Absolutely gutting. And thank you so much for sharing these multiple layers of the Kibbutz Be’eri story. I too now will be thinking about it for a long time.
I have to avoid reading both NYTimes and BBC these days to avoid seeing Western newspapers rallying behind the revenge attack in Gaza. Asking 1,1 millions Palestine to leave in 24 hours is literally saying you guys are all dead. I thank you for articulating and reasoning this war out for each of us as individuals understand this better from the casualty rather than from the idealogy. Thank you for writing. It is heartbreak to see all the children on news. Why are they on news? They are dying at bombing time.
Absolutely. It's the "beating the drums of war" from the big, legacy Western outlet that has always devastated me the most.
This resonated with me, because that is what I did when l heard about the attacks. Then I read this Substack entry: https://hardegree.substack.com/p/understanding-the-palestinian-israeli-cbb?r=f0bbb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&fbclid=IwAR2BPNV0ByaSSZOzzeRZ1yJWwXEojlb14AOriAIwtAvTMdV3IiaPM3W76XI. It summed up all of my research and clarified so much of the history behind the conflict. It gave me some comfort that I was on the right track with my conflicting emotions. Perhaps your readers could benefit also. Thank you for this post.
Thanks Phyllis. Really appreciate you sharing that article.
I really appreciate this perspective. I also recommend this really beautiful piece by the editor of Jewish Currents, "We Cannot Cross Until We Carry Each Other." https://jewishcurrents.org/we-cannot-cross-until-we-carry-each-other
I have been so grateful for Jewish Currents in the past week
Thank you for this important piece. It speaks to the whirlwind of emotions I've felt this past week, and the dearth of communities so many of us contend with.
Thank you for this, friend.
❤️❤️❤️