My Thoughts on Israel-Palestine
It’s been overwhelming, devastating and confusing as a British Jew, but here’s what I have to say.
This month’s newsletter was going to be about something else, but then I realised it really couldn’t be about anything else other than Israel and Gaza.
This isn’t going to be about what is actually happening there right now, I’m not a journalist or a news outlet, please get your news from elsewhere.
My thoughts come from a position as an online content creator and as a British Jew. That’s the perspective you’re getting here. If you want other perspectives, go and find them.
Until recently I’ve stayed silent on everything for valid reasons that I still stand by.
This post helped sum up a lot of my feelings and I found it reassuring in terms of my position of not posting anything, especially as a Jew (it’s a carousel, there are several slides).
I’m still not sure why I’ve decided to actually say something. I think the initial shock and fear has subsided a little bit, and what I’m left with is just complete overwhelm of emotions and thoughts and feelings, that I need to let them out in a productive and helpful way.
I am still scared though. This is one of the first times in my life I’ve had the really uncomfortable thought of “so glad I don’t look Jewish” (not even going to get into what it means to “look” Jewish), but that is something I thought and I don’t like it but I’m scared. One of the main reasons I haven’t said anything is genuinely pure fear of opening myself up to antisemitism and then that just being multiplied when I think about my child. The world and the internet does not feel like a safe place to be Jewish right now.
The other main reason is because I don’t believe every influencer has to use their platform to make a statement about every horrific conflict, natural or humanitarian disaster, or war that is happening in the world. That is unsustainable and it is not our responsibility, nor is it really helping, to provide the internet with hot takes and “thoughts and prayers”.
Okay, but I am choosing to say something now, so what is it I want to say to you? (these things feel obvious to me but just so we’re clear):
I condemn the actions of Hamas
I condemn the actions of the Israeli government
I condemn antisemitism
I condemn Islamophobia
I condemn racism in all its forms
I support an immediate ceasefire
I want to see the hostages released
I support a free Palestine
You don’t need me to tell you to write to your MP and donate to causes but please do those things if you can.
The most important thing for me going forward is that my actions are aligned with my values instead of worrying about how my actions (or perceived actions) are perceived by others, and that me and my family are safe. Which means don’t expect to hear anything else from me on the subject. You now know my values, I’ll be acting accordingly in a way that feels right to me, and how you feel about that is fine but I don’t need to know.
If you’re struggling to process the news right now, or confused about how to respond just know that I’m feeling that with you. And to any of my fellow Jews reading this, I hope you are doing okay and are safe.
P.S. next month I have some news and so the newsletter will be coming out a bit later than usual, so make sure you’re subscribed so it comes straight to your inbox when published!
🕎 Vlognukah is happening! - now that we’re actually releasing podcast episodes and our work on the production side is slowly winding down I can breathe a little and think about other projects and so fuck it, let’s do Vlognukah! Get yourself ready for 8 videos over 8 days. The filming and editing schedule are planned and we are ready to go. To keep on top of all the videos going out between now and the end of the year there’s a period of 2 weeks where there is an edit deadline for a video due every day. Please send your well wishes to my editor Beth!
☕️ National Ugly Mugs - They are a charity working with sex workers to provide services and support. They do research, design tools, and have a register of sex worker friendly therapists. Which if you listened to our first episode of the new season of Doing It you’ll know how necessary something like that is!
Have I talked about my rain coat? I don’t think I have! But I bought this raincoat to replace my old one that was falling apart at the seams and wasn’t even waterproof 😅 It’s from this French brand, Flotte (not spon), who make very colourful and sustainable raincoats and I am obsessed. It took me so long to figure out which colour to get but I finally settled on this bright green and I love it! It’s had a lot of use on rainy summer and autumn days. It also packs up into a little bag! I was very excited when I discovered this as you can see from the photo.
We’ve released two episodes of the new season of Doing It! Episode 1 was about sex therapy and episode 2 was all about disability. I am so proud of this series, I hope you like it!
If you'd like to support what I do, get early access to content, a private community discord server and a secret playlist of over 100 old cringey videos then check out The Common Room over on Patreon!
Thanks for reading, hope you're well!
All the best,
Hannah xxx