10/12/2023
I am not okay.
My people, my nation, my country are not okay.
I wake up and go to sleep crying.
I listen to Israeli radio that has to stop every few minutes to announce red alerts throughout the country, advising citizens to take shelter from oncoming rockets.
My appetite is gone.
Friends call me and ask me if I know anyone in Israel, which makes me realize that they don't understand what it is to be Jewish.
If you know a Jew, they most likely are someone or know someone or know someone who knows someone in Israel.
That is what it is to be Jewish. We even have a term called Jewish geography because we all have 1-2-3 degrees of separation between us. We are intimately connected to each other and we're connected to our land. When Israel suffers, we all suffer.
And those who hate us know that. They know that to attack Israel—be it physically or verbally—is to attack all Jews.
See us. Hear us. Please don't take part in terrorism by justifying the heinous actions of our enemies. It’s not the time to talk about politics.
Please don't lose your humanity or rid us of ours.
I am a Jew. Your fellow human being. And it hurts that I even have to say that.
Aviv Joshua Rachel Honeyman
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