OPINION ‘It’s hard to believe a month ago I was visiting kibbutz Kfar Aza’
Dame Louise Ellman recalls how just weeks before Hamas terrorists committed their atrocity at a kibbutz she was on a delegation discussing building bridges between Israelis and Palestinians
It’s hard to believe that a little over a month ago I was part of an LFI delegation visiting Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
The group, led by Sharon Hodgson MP for Washington and Sunderland West, included prospective parliamentary candidates Dan Tomlinson, Jake Richards, Melanie Onn, Jo Platt, Graeme Downie and
Primesh Patel.
We travelled across Israel and spent time in Ramallah talking to Palestinian activists.
We held discussions with Israelis and Palestinians seeking a better future by working together.
Yet the horrendous events of the past few days have made our visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza our outstanding memory.
We were shown round Kfar Aza by an impressive and personable third generation kibbutznik.
Her knowledge, commitment and friendliness made a wonderful impression on us.
We walked round Kfar Aza, ate in the kibbutz dining room and spoke to kibbutzniks.
We walked to the security fence separating Israel from Gaza, understanding the vulnerability of the situation while we heard how constant shelling from Gaza affected everyday life.
Yet it was a profound shock to hear that Hamas’s murderous attack on Israel and the Jewish people left Kfar Aza a scene of massacre with residents murdered, taken hostage or missing.
This was part of a catastrophic event reverberating across the Jewish world: the biggest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust.
The formidable challenge facing Israel now is to rescue the hostages and deal once and for all with the genocidal Iranian backed Hamas whose charter states that Jews control the world and that ‘there will be no peace until the Muslims kill the Jews”.
Israel has not only the right, but a duty, to defend its people against the terrorist threat posed by Hamas by dismantling its military infrastructure and installations.
Israel must continue to take all possible steps to protect civilians, a task made formidable by Hamas deliberately and cynically using civilians as human shields.
Hamas should be recognised for what it is – a deeply antisemitic terrorist organisation for whom peace with Israel is anathema.
The answer to the tragic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians lies in a two-state solution, with an independent Palestine alongside a secure Israel.
Hamas’s actions make this objective even harder to achieve, but we must not lose sight of it.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
