We continue to get more and more news about the horrific events in the Middle East and TikToks have started “explaining” what this war is all about — yet everything is foggier than ever. For many of us, it feels like the bombardment of nightmarish kidnapping stories, heartbreaking deaths, and exhausting history of never ending conflict has only made everything feel less clear than it ever has.
We can’t see.
Guards outside of schools, police cruising Jewish neighborhoods, security at the synagogue doors. Rallies with masked cowards raising flags with horrifying symbols, chants against the Jews, Hamas calling for a Day of Jihad last week that had college students afraid to leave their dorms. Nonstop social media posts barraging us with anti-Jewish sentiments, telling us that we shouldn’t be upset about the family and friends we’ve lost, telling us that we are the enemy.
We can’t see.
As the dust settles, we still have to squint through tears and blurred vision to understand the world around us because the future is uncertain. The increase of antisemitism we started experiencing the last few years has steamrolled. Some of us love Israel — have touched its waters, tasted its food, smiled with its people — and some of us don’t think about Israel or are frustrated with what they’ve heard about the government. But it doesn’t matter — we are all still targets of graffitied synagogues, broken glass, bullying, online hate speech. They then tell us we are not victims as we cry with our family that’s scared for their lives or as we play video games online, wishing we weren’t Jewish so we could fit in.
We can’t see until there is peace.
At Lost Tribe, we want all of these teens to come together despite differing opinions, differing experiences, and differing feelings. We want everyone to feel safe and heard, to feel they have someone to reach out to.
We want peace.
People on both sides are dying, suffering, losing their homes. And the hate is spreading beyond the Middle East and impacting us all over the world, an aftermath that may ultimately lead to something even more earth-shattering. We don’t know. We can’t see. For now, all we have is each other.
Let’s come together to support anyone who is suffering and scared. Let’s come together to fight hate and make everyone feel loved and accepted. Let’s come together to talk about what we’ve experienced or to ask more questions about what is going on and what we can do. Let’s come together in this time of uncertainty to create a foundation of hope and peace that resonates with all walks of life so we no longer have to shut off voice comms when we hear antisemitic taunts in a game or cry at home alone after being bullied at school.
We see you.
For teens looking for a safe space to come and talk, the Lost Tribe Discord is always open.
Image by Freepik.