Bring Them Home Now!

These are certainly not the prettiest photos I will ever share on my blog. They aren't of birds or flowers, ancient ruins or even my work. After a long break, I have started to share my art here once again, but it was bothering me that Israel is at war and I haven't mentioned it nearly enough.

Since losing Gadi, I have not gone back to my usual hiking or visiting art galleries but, in recent weeks, I did make time to visit Kikar Hatufim (Hostage Square) and "Nova 6.29", an exhibition which recreates the Nova music festival site, in Tel Aviv. I hope those of you who are more used to visiting this blog to read about my paper art will indulge me and take a few minutes to learn about these important installations.

On Saturday 7th October Hamas began a coordinated surprise offensive on Israel. The attack began in the early morning with a barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. One of the rockets reached the city that I live in. In parallel, some 2,500 Palestinian terrorists breached the Gaza-Israel barrier and massacred civilians in neighbouring Israeli communities. At least 1,200 Israelis were massacred, including residents of eight kibbutzim in southern Israel. That number includes 364 young people at the Nova music festival. In addition roughly 240 unarmed civilian hostages and captured Israeli soldiers were taken to the Gaza Strip, including women, young children, Holocaust survivors and babies. This was the largest sustained slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

Since that horrific day, the square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art has been transformed into Kikar Hatufim (Hostage Square). In the square there are pop-up art installations, posters, signs and messages left by visitors. Numerous tents commemorating each of the kibbutz communities destroyed on 7th October are manned by families of the kidnapped who are holding 24/7 vigils.
The yellow brick road, above, is made up of handwritten messages intended to lead the hostages home. The empty Shabbat table (top photo), is an installation that has been replicated in communities around the world. The long, empty table with place settings and yellow decorations, symbolizes the hostages that have been held in captivity in Gaza since Israel was attacked by Hamas. Posters with the names, ages and photos of the hostages are also displayed on the table.

Gatherings take place every night at Kikar Hatufim. It has become a space for meditation, reflection, song and prayer.

The "Nova 6.29" exhibition at the Tel Aviv Expo is named for the exact hour on 7th October when rockets began falling on the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im. More than 3,000 people were at the festival that began on Friday night 6th October and was meant to last into the afternoon of 7th October. As rockets began falling early that morning, the partygoers were still dancing, and at first didn't realize that hundreds of Hamas terrorists, who arrived on gliders and mopeds, were launching an assault. The attackers shot and killed some 364 people and assaulted and abducted dozens more.

The exhibition includes hundreds of items retrieved from the site of the festival, from stage props and sets, to personal items brought by partygoers that weekend. Visitors navigate their way through scattered tents and sleeping bags, rolled-up yoga mats, water bottles and camping chairs lying on their sides. In the background, trance music plays on the neon dance floor and oversize video screens show the faces of the DJs and dancers, as well as screenshots of WhatsApp messages sent as people began realizing that an assault was taking place and hurried to alert their families.

Other artifacts on display are the bar adorned with untouched bottles and a row of yellow bullet-riddled toilet cubicles, below. Hamas terrorists aimed their guns at any space where someone may have been hiding. Skeletons of burned out cars are testament to the attempted flight of hundreds of people who were mown down by the terrorists.

Toward the end of the exhibition is perhaps the most harrowing and painful section, "Lost and Found," with rows of shoes and sunglasses, hats and deodorants, hair clips and house keys, most destined never to be reunited with their owners. Families of victims and abductees are invited to help identify and reclaim personal belongings.
As visitors take their leave, a long, rolling screen shows portraits of all the 364 partygoers who were gunned down that day, as the song, "Shomer Yisrael" ("Guardian of Israel"), plays in a loop.

"Nova 6.29" gives us a sense of the horror that occurred on 7th October and at the same time, honours the victims and helps the survivors grieve. The world needs to see it.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Travel Tuesday and My Corner of the World.

"I feel so sad that killing each other seems to be the only response"

I posted yesterday about the current situation in Israel. One of the comments to my post was as follows:

Anonymous said...
"I don't have any answers, Lisa, but I feel so sad that killing each other seems to be the only response from either side. So many wasted lives!"

What would you like Israel's "response" to be exactly? Israel has tried everything to live in peace with Gaza. It unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and since Hamas took power in 2007 Hamas has invested every penny it has in armaments. Israel supplies water to Gaza so what did Hamas do? They dug up many of their water pipes and turned them in rocket launchers. (Google it if you don't believe me). 

Funny isn't it that Gaza is short of everything except rockets?

Israel has allowed thousands of Gazans each day to come into Israel and work. Israel has allowed Qatar to literally send in suitcases of money into Gaza. And at every turn Israel has been met with rockets launched at its cities. And on 7th October 2023, when Israel's guard was down, 2,500 Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and tortured and butchered 1,500 people. Whole families, kids, women, the elderly. And then kidnapped another 200 people. What would you have Israel do? What would YOU do in that situation? 

Even now Israel is only trying to eliminate Hamas and avoid harm to Palestinian civilians. That is why Israel gave advanced warning to Palestinians to move to the south of Gaza to avoid being hit. And what did Hamas do? They blocked the exit routes with lorries on the 2 main exit roads to prevent civilians from leaving. Hamas use Palestinian civilians as human shields whilst firing rockets at Israeli civilians. And nothing delights Hamas more than when there are Palestinian casualties, knowing that the western liberal elites will lap it up. Witness the world outcry at the Palestinian hospital that was hit 2 days ago. And when Israel gives categorical proof that it was an Islamic Jihad misfired rocket that hit the hospital, suddenly know one is interested anymore.

Israel is in an impossible situation. Damned if it does, damned if it doesn't. So I repeat, what would you have Israel do? What would YOU do in that situation?

A Time Like No Other

I haven't blogged for quite some time. We lost our soldier son in May 2022 and honestly I haven't felt like there was anything to write about or share here. But I am aware that my blog is called "Handmade in Israel" and that I have shared many wonderful things about the country I live in over the years. It's time to share some not so wonderful news.

On Saturday 7th October "Operation Iron Swords" began with a coordinated surprise offensive on Israel. The attack began in the early morning with a barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, one of which reached the city that I live in. In parallel, some 2,500 Palestinian terrorists breached the Gaza-Israel barrier and massacred civilians in neighbouring Israeli communities. At least 1,350 Israelis were massacred, including residents of eight kibbutzim in southern Israel and 260 young people at the "Supernova" music festival. 199 unarmed civilian hostages and captured Israeli soldiers were taken to the Gaza Strip, including women, young children and babies. This was the largest sustained slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

Hamas, an Islamist terrorist movement, launched its attacks during the end of the Sukkot Jewish holiday and 50 years after the 1973 "Yom Kippur War", which also began with a surprise attack. Israel began conducting retaliatory strikes before formally declaring war on Hamas a day later.

I am not a particularly political person and anyway, I prefer to leave politics out of this blog. But these are the facts. Visiting my son's grave at the local cemetery, I discovered six new graves of young soldiers who have been killed in action in little more than a week. There are more new plots in the non-military section. We hear constant booms in the distance of the Iron Dome, Israel's mobile air defence system, intercepting rockets. Worry, together with the non-stop roar 24/7 of air force jets, keeps me awake at night. We have watched memorial service after memorial service on the television of those murdered and killed in action. Last Friday we stood holding Israeli flags in a guard of honour on the route to the cemetery for a former student at our boys' school. We worry about what will happen to our sons' friends and the children of all our friends when we progress into Gaza.

The terrorist attacks by Hamas are pure evil. Israel has a right to exist and anyway, as Golda Meir said, we have nowhere else to go. The antisemitic demonstrations in London, New York and around the world have shown us that. 

I urge you to keep us in your hearts in the coming days.

* The cards are all commissions I have made over the years for young people who are or were IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldiers or about to start their military service.

** This post has been shared on My Corner of the World, Little Things Thursday and Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday).