Etgar Keret for tvn24.pl: “A blow to the people who created bridges”
Photo: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images
If someone now wants to go out on the streets and demand peace with the Palestinians and seek their right to self-determination, I will gladly join them, but not here in Tel Aviv, but rather in Washington or Tehran. It is in these capitals – and not here – that the key to solving this conflict lies, says Etgar Keret, an Israeli-Polish poet, prose writer and columnist, with whom Jacek Tacik met in Tel Aviv, in his home.
On October 7, Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing over 1,200 civilians – in their homes, unsuspecting – and kidnapping over 240 people to the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with a military offensive, which – with a one-week break resulting from the signing of a cease-fire agreement – has been ongoing for almost sixty days.
End of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Negotiations on another ceasefire did not bring any breakthroughJacek Tacik/Fakty TVN
Jacek Tacik: Can you still live here?
Etgar Keret: It is certainly impossible to erase from your memory what happened here on October 7.
In the north and west of Israel, we have villages and towns that are located practically on the border with Lebanon or the Gaza Strip. You open the window, stick out your hand and basically you are in another country.
And this hasn’t bothered anyone so far. There were some turmoil and clashes, but no one ever kidnapped anyone, raped women, killed children in front of their parents, or murdered families in their homes.
New fences and high fences will probably be built now. Even more soldiers will have to ensure the safety of residents of villages and towns.
…but I’m asking about life in Jerusalem, Haifa, here in Tel Aviv. Relatively far from the threat from Gaza.
My neighbor recently bought a gun. At night – as he told me – he has dark thoughts: that someone is trying to break into his house and harm his family. And he has a daughter and a wife whom, as he explains, he must ensure their safety.
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