Dear Gossips,
As mentioned yesterday, I’ve been reading what I can to stay informed about the war between Israel and Hamas, thank you to those of you who’ve reached and sent articles and other resources. That is the intention – to learn so that I can better understand and to, hopefully, do this in community with others who are also horrified by these events. But as we have said often here on this site, intention and impact are two different things. And some of the feedback I received yesterday is that what I shared was incomplete, and that that oversight could result in more harm, more dehumanisation, because I was not clear enough in my post that both Israelis and Palestinians have been killed, injured, displaced, orphaned, taken hostage, and continue to fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Aid is being denied entry in Gaza where nearly half the population is children. All of this is wrong. As one reader wrote to say, “A loss of human life should be mourned regardless of the region that human lives in -- Palestinian or Israeli.”
I am grateful for the criticism, and I will keep trying.
Yesterday, I shared a link to organisations that are helping Israelis and Palestinians in Israel and Gaza as the violence continues.
Here is another link, if you are able to help, with a list of agencies that are doing what they can to help the victims.
I am also sharing a piece from Forbes in 2021, featuring the stories and the work of two dozen Israeli and Palestinian women who have been advocating for peace. Each and every one of these profiles is powerful, their experiences are different, their cultures are different, but there is a common goal among them: “a more just future for both peoples”.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
