On October 7th, Hamas terrorists breached the fence separating Gaza from Israel and tortured, raped, mutilated and murdered at least 1200 women, men and children.
1200 women, men and children. Dead. Before taking an estimated 240 others into captivity as hostages.
Israel’s far-right leaders soon responded to these atrocities with war, and after weeks of bombardment, 14,000 Gazan women, men and children lie dead, with even more injured.
14,000 women, men and children.
Children.
Babies.
Sons and daughters.
Kids who should be counting their toes. Playing on playgrounds. Sleeping in their parents’ arms. Whispering with their friends.
And while there is an agony of very real history that the world is now grappling to understand, there are also opposite truths that too many are failing to hold in the same space:
Terrorism has no justification, and war is an atrocity.
Israel has a right to defend itself, and Palestinian lives matter.
The use of human shields by Hamas is a war crime, and those being used as human shields deserve life and protection.
We can want the bombs to stop, and at the same time, for the captives to be set free.
We can, each one of us, be on the side of humanity.
And yet, around the globe, we are lining up on opposite sides of the street to hurl insults at one another. Hate crimes against Jewish people and Muslims have spiked. Pictures of missing Israelis are being torn down and the stories of Israel’s victims and survivors mocked, celebrated and dismissed by people on the right and the left. While at the same time, millions of Palestinians are being painted with the same murderous brush as Hamas.
At WordCity Literary Journal, we stand on the side of humanity. Of peace. And yet, we understand that it’s impossible to negotiate peace with terrorists who consider violence their birthright. Who, in their very charter, call for the destruction of their neighbours.
We do not have any answers among us. Just our humanity. And with all of our compassion and grief and hope, we believe that all who are innocent deserve life and security and hope. We also understand that those who act with evil now were not born that way. Because we also know that despair is a powerful recruiting tool for extremists.
As journal editors and writers, we don’t know how to achieve peace, only that peace is the only answer. So we stand, here in this space we’ve created, with the broken in body and spirit, with the hopeful and the hopeless, and with those who are working for a better way forward.
It is our hope that you, dear readers, will stand here with us.
WordCityLit 