Israeli Refugees

Nobody is talking about the Israeli refugees. Some 1 million Israelis are now under fire. Fire targeted at them - the civillians. Those who could, tens of thousands of them, have found refuge in southern parts of Israel. They took their essentials and went south.

My brother is a refugee. He and his pregnant wife and their 2 y/o daughter fled from their home up north. They are now living at my parents'. My sister in law's two nefews are refugees. They also moved into my parents'.

My friend's mother is a refugee. She moved from a Kibbutz up north in the middle of the night. They couldn't stand the noise of bombing. My friend's mother insisted on washing the dishes before leaving. "I am not a refugee", she said. "Refugees don't wash dishes before they leave". And so, at 4:00am she started doing the dishes. Now she's staying with her daughter in a single room in Tel-Aviv, with two dogs and a cat. Yes, a dog and a cat were among the refugees.

Many Israeli families invited complete starngers to come live with them until the war is over. Israeli refugees are lucky to have good people to host them. So they have a roof to sleep under. Israeli refugees are lucky the Israeli economy is strong. So they have food to eat.

Those who had nowhere to leave - they are refugees in their own towns, their own homes. For two weeks they have to stay indoors, in underground shelters, not seeing the light of day. They have to keep alert to the sounds of sirens. So Israeli refugees are lucky they have shelters and authorities to take care of them.

Israeli refugees are lucky because their state and their fellow citizens take care of them. My heart goes for the Lebanese refugees who aren't as lucky.

But being a refugee is not only about not having a roof to sleep under. Being a refugee is not only about not having food. Being a refugee, above all, is being away from home. It is living in uncertainty about the future. It is not knowing what will be waiting for you when you get back home. If you'll still have a home to get back to. Being a refugee is a mental state of mind. In that sense, there are a million Israeli refugees.

My brother almost lost his mind. He wanted to go back. Fuck it all! Fire or not - he's going home. That's what being a refugee is.

Not a single report was aired around the world about the million Israeli refugees.