[ ]J Street[ ]
Friends,

I was in Boston a year ago today. My heart was beating outside of my body.

From half a world away, I was hit with frantic texts and news alerts that
Hamas was rampaging through the homes of my friends and family in southern
Israel. My birthplace was evacuated when Hezbollah joined the attack. My
son was immediately called up for reserve duty.

Days later, I landed in a country I did not recognize. Deeply wounded,
grappling with trauma, reckoning with grief.

Mine is just one story among millions of lives that were upended by that
day and every day since. They include thousands of grieving survivors who
remain displaced; families of hostages still haunted by the unknown; over
a million people in Gaza who remain homeless, desperate and struggling to
survive.

Today, as we mark the first painful anniversary of October 7, we share
with you below several powerful reflections from those touched by that
horrific day. From survivors and hostage families and rabbis and peace
advocates and the diaspora, they are stories of pain and resilience – a
call to remain engaged, to tell the stories that need to be told, and to
advocate for an end to this nightmare.

Thank you, sincerely, for your support this past year. I hope your
connection with our community has brought you the measure of comfort it
has brought me.

May we be inspired by stories of courage. May we remain committed to the
cause of peace. May we stand firm in our humanity, even as forces of
terror try to strip it from us.

Nadav Tamir
Executive Director, J Street Israel

Hope and Resilience: Reflections One Year On

[ [link removed] ]The Last War: A Proposal for Peace

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Israeli peace advocate Maoz Inon lost both his parents to the horrific
attack on October 7, but his commitment to peace remains unwavering.
“Alongside that pain, a determination has emerged: To dedicate my life to
reconciliation and peace,” he writes. “The work of peace cannot wait until
after the guns fall silent. It begins now – with every conversation.”
[ [link removed] ]Read and share Maoz’s story.

[ [link removed] ]Fighting for Life, Fighting for the Hostages

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Naama Weinberg, whose cousin Itai was murdered by Hamas, is part of a
movement of hostage families relentlessly campaigning for their freedom.
The fight to bring the hostages home is a “fight for the soul of our
society” and a “fight for us to remain a society that values life more
than revenge," she writes. [ [link removed] ]Read and share Naama’s story here.

[ [link removed] ]Living By The Sword Will Not Bring Peace

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, who worked 15 hours straight in the emergency room
of southern Israel’s Soroka Hospital on October 7, reflects on what it
will take to ensure the horrors of that day are never repeated.

“It’s been almost a year, and this is an opportunity to remind ourselves
that the only thing that has ever brought safety and security to the
region is peace agreements and political settlements,” she writes. “We
must go back to the basics and commit to equality and freedom. No one will
be safe as long as we are not all safe, free and equal to each other –
from the river to the sea.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share Dr. Fraiha’s story here.
 

[ [link removed] ]Uniting to Bring the Hostages Home and Fight for Israel’s Future

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Efrat Machikawa, whose 80-year-old uncle Gadi Moses is still held in Gaza,
shares the story of her family and the collective fight for Israel's
future and the release of the hostages.

“One out of four people from the 400-member Nir Oz community was either
brutally murdered or violently kidnapped,” she writes. “Six of our
immediate family members were taken. Four came back in the November 2023
exchange deal. One was murdered. Gadi and 28 more Nir Oz members are among
the 101 kidnapped who are still in Gaza today. A nightmare we still
struggle to believe is our reality.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share Efrat’s story
here.

[ [link removed] ]Holding Inspiration and Pain

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Longtime J Streeter and national community leader Rabbi John Rosove of Los
Angeles shares his profound concerns over what the future holds.

“I worry about the diminishing good name of the State of Israel throughout
the world, the rise of antisemitism everywhere, and that so many – Jews
and our enemies – have lost their moral compass,” he writes. “Despite the
worry and angst I feel, I’m inspired by Israel’s civil society, the
commitment of so many Israelis to take care of each other, for the
strength and constancy of the Diaspora Jewish world.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share
Rabbi Rosove’s reflections here.

[ [link removed] ]Searching for Hope in the Future of Israel

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Long time J Streeter Diana Clark grapples with despair. “If you have hope,
please, please hope. Hope for us all,” she writes. “I am reconciled to
loss, including the loss of hope that Israel will ever be for me what it
was meant to be: a place where the rights and dignity of all are
acknowledged and upheld.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share Diana’s reflections here.

[ [link removed] ]A Year Since October 7, Hope is a Mandatory Practice, a Radical Act

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Rabbi Claudia Kreiman reflects on a year of pain and despair, and the
“mandatory” “radical” practice of hope. “Even as we have witnessed the
worst of what humanity is capable of, we have also witnessed acts of
profound grace and courage,” she writes. “Hope is not a passive state but
an active, sacred practice. It requires us to acknowledge our pain without
letting it consume us.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share Rabbi Kreiman’s thoughts here.

[ [link removed] ]To Bear Witness and to Move Forward with Purpose

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Born into a family of Holocaust survivors, University of Pennsylvania Law
Professor Abby Tolchinsky has been forever sensitive to the historical
precarity of Jewish life. “We all face a challenge to stay centered, seek
understanding and show compassion,” she writes. “We must find ways to
build a better tomorrow and, by doing so, honor the memory of those
massacred.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share Abby’s reflections here.

[ [link removed] ]All Too Quiet on the Mediterranean Front

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Yonatan Zeigen’s mother, Vivian Silver, was killed in the massacre in
Kibbutz Be'eri. In the aftermath, he quit his job as a social worker and
dedicated himself to peacebuilding and is currently on tour through the US
with Parent Circle – Family Forum.

“Why talk to Americans? Why write this in English?” he asks. “The US is
not a passive bystander in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The US
actively enabled the status quo up until October 7 and has sponsored this
war ever since. They do it with immense resources and unparalleled
diplomatic relations. The word of the day is ‘unconditional.’ How can you
support someone unconditionally with one hand and wag your finger at them
with the other? You can’t.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share Yonatan’s reflections here.
 

[ [link removed] ]The Poison of Antisemitism

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

French-Israeli J Streeter Sebastien Levi, who lives with his family in New
York, grapples with antisemitism following October 7. “Today, my
12-year-old son does not dare share his Jewish and Israeli identities at
school. My Israeli wife is reluctant to read in Hebrew on the subway,” he
writes. Still, the weaponization of antisemitism to shut down debate about
the Israeli government makes it “all the more poisonous… If everything is
antisemitic, then nothing is.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share Sebastien’s thoughts
here.

[ [link removed] ]Prayers for a New Year

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Former local elected official and political columnist Alma Rutgers of
Connecticut grapples with the failures of military force alone to keep
Isaelis safe and chart a better future for all. “Yes, Israel has an
unquestionable right to defend itself, and indeed must do so,” she writes.
“But these words have too often justified a deadly Israeli military
campaign in Gaza that’s devoid of any long-term vision for the future.
Indeed, over the past decade, Israel has launched many operations against
Hamas and yet in that time Hamas got stronger not weaker.” [ [link removed] ]Read and
share Alma’s reflections here.

[ [link removed] ]Empathy and Resilience on this Somber Anniversary

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Michael Seiden of Arizona shares his reflections on resilience and
empathy. “Those of us who feel concern for the hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians are not outcasts to our religion,” he writes. “As a people
who have experienced much suffering over the centuries, we can and must
sympathize with the suffering of others. It is my deepest hope that, once
this cycle of violence and pain finally comes to an end, the resilience of
both Israelis and Palestinians walk the path together toward lasting
peace.” [ [link removed] ]Read and share Michael’s reflections here.

[ [link removed] ]101 Hostages Are Still In Hell

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

J Street Israel Director Nadav Tamir has volunteered for almost a year now
with hostage family advocacy groups. His message: We must act now.

“The simple facts from the chronicle of this war are clear: eighty
hostages have been brought back through a deal with Hamas, while only
eight were rescued alive by military operations,” he writes. “Only a deal
can save those who have survived for such a long time. The only way to
release the hostages is by agreeing to a ceasefire, to end suffering for
both Israelis and Palestinians and to prevent a wider regional conflict.”
[ [link removed] ]Read and share Nadav’s Times of Israel op-ed.

[ [link removed] ]Holding Space for Humanity and Hope

[ [link removed] ]Click to read

Paula Weiss of New York writes of the struggle to hold multiple truths, to
lift up the work of peacebuilders, and to hold on to the humanity of
Israelis and Palestinians – especially on social media. “People have
stopped me to say my posts amazed them and helped them through these dark
times, and I was glad, but to be honest, I posted mostly for my own
grounding,” she writes. [ [link removed] ]Read and share Paula’s reflection here.


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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