I was awakened early Saturday morning in our Jaffa apartment by the siren that alerts Israelis to incoming rockets from Gaza. My wife and I ran downstairs and joined our visiting son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter in our reinforced safe room, which doubles as a guest bedroom. As additional sirens sounded through the morning, we learned the enormity of the war that had begun. When we heard that our 41 year old son-in-law was called up to reserves duty, we joined our daughter up north to help with her newborn baby boy.

I am sure you are all following the news and know the early, shocking details of the terrorist invasion from Gaza. As I write these words, the death toll stands at 700 with thousands more injured. And members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad continue to cross the border and infiltrate the local kibbutzim, moshavim and towns. The catastrophic Israeli intelligence and military failure is hard to understand, but I will leave that analysis for another day. Some are calling it Israel’s 9/11 and Pearl Harbor rolled into one. It is abundantly clear that this is now a different Israel than before the attack.

In the early hours of the surprise attack, kibbutz members took up arms, hoping to hold off what they assumed were a small number of Hamas fighters until the army arrived. I was shocked to see the face of a friend, Ofir Libstein, cross the television screen with the report that he had died defending his home, Kibbutz Kfar Azza. I had gotten to know Ofir initially in his role as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Habonim Dror Olami, the international umbrella entity for local branches of the progressive Zionist youth movement around the world. Ofir was the head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council and had shared plans with me for the construction of an industrial zone that would employ both Israelis and Palestinians from Gaza. May his memory be a blessing and an inspiration.

It became clear, as Saturday turned to Sunday, that one objective of the attack was to bring back a large number of hostages and prisoners to Gaza. Sunday evening Hamas announced that they were holding over 100 people and Islamic Jihad claimed that they had 30.

With such large numbers of dead and abducted, the common phrase one hears is that since Israel is such a small country, everyone will be connected in some way to the sad list. Beyond, knowing Ofir personally, it appears that I know two of those taken to Gaza.

Keith Siegel, an American citizen, and his wife Aviva were witnessed being abducted from their home on Kibbutz Kfar Azza. I lived on Kibbutz Gezer with his brother, Lee, for many years and the U.S. government has been notified of his situation.

Vivian Silver, is a close friend going back to the Jewish student movement of the 1970s, Habonim and the founding of Kibbutz Gezer in 1974. She is missing from her home of Kibbutz Beeri, one of the closest communities to Gaza. Several of us who were in touch with her on Saturday morning while she was in her safe room and received a final Whatsapp message a little after 11:00 when Hamas fighters were outside her door. There has been no sign of her since and we fear she has been abducted to Gaza as well.

Many Ameinu members know Vivian as our leadership trips to Israel regularly visited with her and her colleagues to discuss two of her passions, Arab-Jewish co-existence and Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Ameinu has organizationally worked with her in role as Co-CEO of NISPED-AJEEC and as a leader of Women Wage Peace. As she is a Canadian-Israeli citizen, the Canadian government has made aware of her status.

I will remain involved in efforts to support the release of Keith, Aviva, Vivian and all of the hostages and prisoners. If and when there are steps you can take to help, we will let you know.

Kenneth Bob

President, Ameinu

HOW CAN YOU HELP

Many of you have reached out to us at Ameinu asking us the best way to support Israelis during these dreadful days. As you can imagine there are many places to donate and I am sure that we will hear about more coordinated efforts in the days to come.

There are obvious places where you may be involved such as your local Federation or the Jewish Agency that are collecting funds.  Below, is a list to donate to specific projects from some our friends and colleagues.  The list is in no specific order. We will keep updating the list on our website.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

A.  Chofshi B'Arztenu, the Israeli Democracy Headquarters is the only organization which serves all 200 grassroots organizations throughout the country. Israel Democracy HQ support our member groups and organizations that form the broad alliance against the judicial overhaul in Israel, which threatens Israel’s democracy, security and society as a whole.

Donations here go to assist the residents of the South.

B.  UnXeptable has created a joint initiative with the IDF Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) veterans at the requests from commanders in the field for protective (bullet proof) gear. Each ceramic vest + helmet set costs $500. Donate here to support this project.

Other important links:

• Click here if you can host Israelis who are stuck in the NY area due to flight cancellations, and need a place to stay.

• If you are an Israeli in NY area whose flight back home has been canceled and you need a place to stay, feel free to sign up here.

C. Ameinu's Progressive Israel Network (PIN) colleague, the New Israel Fund has put together an emergency response plan.  Below, are the different programs that you can support.  All of them can be reached here.

1. Basic care for the most vulnerable groups: While the country reels from this attack, we must make sure that no communities are left behind. Families in the kibbutzim near the Gaza Border are still not reunited and may not have the access to care that they need. A number of Bedouin citizens from unrecognized villages in the South have been killed and many more injured. With very little infrastructure - including very few bomb shelters -  and decades of neglect by consecutive governments, this community needs urgent support to ensure that basic care is available for those injured, left homeless, and for those needing arrangements for the dead. These are just examples of two vulnerable groups that need our help right now.

2. Combating violent speech and incitement online: Ever since news of the attack first broke, right-wing extremists have been calling for revenge and attempting to escalate an already dangerous episode by inciting hatred and fomenting violence in mixed Arab-Jewish cities and towns throughout the country. Learning from past experiences, we know how quickly and easily these kinds of inciting messages can spread and lead to conflicts and conflagrations on the ground. We need to help de-escalate, de-platform and disempower these voices online.

3. Preventing inter-communal violence in mixed cities: Through focused efforts with municipalities, the media, and local grassroots leaders, we have to work to prevent the spread of violence into mixed Arab and Jewish cities.

4. Mental health and trauma counseling: We know that yesterday was among the most terrifying and traumatizing days for Israelis in recent memory. People are shocked and reeling and we know that when that shock begins to fade, there will be a massive need for trauma counseling and mental health support for many, including civil society leaders, who will need to show up for their communities and lead long-term efforts even as they deal with their own trauma.

Nomi Colton-Max

Chair of the Executive Committee and Vice President , Ameinu

Unsubscribe