The Year of Death

An incomplete list of losses to mark a year since October 7

LOST THIS PAST YEAR:

2000+ Jewish lives, including some entire families

40,000+ Palestinian lives, including some entire families

25 Jewish villages on the border with Gaza, including some that may never be rebuilt

A few dozen more on the north, including some that may never be safe

Thousands of Jewish homes and communities, with unknown futures

Tens of thousands of Gazan homes, with severely unknown futures

700 Jewish soldiers

Countless limbs of Gazan babies an children

Countless limbs of Jewish fighters

Freedom to breathe and leave the tunnel for 250 hostages… now only 101… whoever is left still breathing….

Freedom to get out of the West Bank, for 3 million Palestinians

Freedom to protest without fearing sinister repercussions

Freedom to speak without fearing the Bibi/Bengvir dogs

Trust in Israel’s leadership

Belief that Jewish-Israeli leaders have the best interest of their own people at heart

The idea that Jews will do everything to rescue one another. Lost. Gone.

The idea that the IDF “is the most moral army in the world”. Scratched out forever.

Belief that Israel has a plan, and some kind of moral underpinning guiding its actions. Gone. Destroyed. Replaced by nothing. By nothingness. By aimlessless. Distrust. Betrayal. Emptiness.

Blood. Lots of blood. Lost. So Much Blood.

The idea that Israel is, at its core, good. Not randomly bombarding tens of thousands of innocent bystanders while throwing hostages and reserve soldiers and their families under the bus all for the sake of leaders keeping their seats of power. Plato has lost, been replaced by Machiavelli. The idea of a righteous Israel is over.

Mutual responsibility. Gone.

Kol yisrael arevim ze laze? Replaced by cynical laughter.

The idea that this model of Israel as a Jewish state is workable. Lost. Dead. Replaced with the clear and unambiguous understanding that as long as Israel keeps doing the exact same thing — brute force, zero self-awareness, relentless military bombardment, absence of humanity, refusal to dialogue, indoctrination into radical ideology, systematic dehumanization of the other, deprivation of basic human rights to entire swaths of people out of fear of “demography” or whatever — as long as Israel keeps doing this, the bloodshed will continue to get worse. The hate will get worse and worse. The spiral will continue, as it has continued. And people will either leave or die, and the only Jewish people left on this land will be the radicals with the insatiable bloodlust who do not represent anyone but themselves.

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NOT LOST: What has not (yet) died:

Hope. Among those still pursuing a vision of peace. Democracy. Humanity. Shared society.

Some of us are still here.

Still working.

We have not yet lost our spirit.

What has not yet disappeared: The belief that this CAN be different.

That we CAN create a different vision for this country. One in which all human beings count. Where all those who dwell here have basic rights, freedom, and the ability to live and thrive.

Belief in the possible. It’s still here. For some of us.

Oh, and 101 hostages. Still there. Still waiting for us.

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The war is still raging. Not just the military war, but the idea war. Over what it means to be a human being in this land. We’re still fighting that war, too. Like the military war, this battle also starts with words.

I’m here. I’m showing up for that war. Hineni.

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