Page 59 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

families around the world who have been profoundly affected.
Our remembrance of Israelis and Jews at Christmas time in 2023 could include any of the following facts:
1. The child in the manger is a Jewish child, born in the homeland of the Jewish people, a people torn from their land by the Romans, exiled for 2000 years, and persecuted through the centuries, even in societies that had long been ‘Christianised’.
2. The antisemitic and genocidal forces that, historically, have wreaked havoc in the lives of Jews and disrupted the cause for peace were at work again in unspeakable ways on October 7, 2023, in peaceful communities in southern Israel.
3. What occurred on October 7 in Israel was a pogrom (act of mob violence) involving premeditated murder, torture, mutilation and abduction of civilians, including sexual violence of extraordinary ferocity against Israeli women and girls.
4. The traumatic impact of these atrocities continues in the lives of those victims who survived and for the families of all victims. For example, homes are still being found for Israeli children who lost both parents on October 7 and who witnessed their parents’ murder. Many more lost one parent, through death or kidnapping. Psychological trauma is part of the unseen wounds carried by Israelis, children and adults alike, especially in light of the history of the Holocaust.
5. The entire Israeli population directly affected by these events, in what were the townships and small communities bordering Gaza, have been displaced since October 7. They cannot return to their homes, even if they were to be rebuilt. While Hamas remains in power in Gaza, they
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