How is the current conflict affecting you?

[TheGruffalochild]

This thread is intended to be a safe space to talk about how you are impacted by the current conflict. May be wishful thinking- but it isn’t supposed to be a place to take sides, place blame, or use inflammatory language. Nor is my intention to fill a thread with links to historical information and YouTube videos arguing either side.
Im just starting this thread because I’m feeling my mental health deteriorate from seeing and reading about so many scenes of violence on the news/social media. Of course all victims on both sides have suffered something unimaginable and I can’t even imagine how their pain compares to my discomfort. But I’d like to exchange on how every day people are affected and have a space for mumsnetters to support one another.
I know some have posted they’re waking in the night thinking about the events. I’m experiencing something similar - there is some broken scaffolding outside my home that rattles when it’s windy. The other night I initially woke with visions of someone firing at my house then realized it was just clanking bits of metal.

Please don’t take this the wrong way. I know how privileged I am to be safe in my home with all my loved ones around me. I know I could turn off the news - it will happen with or without me watching live updates. I’m so irrelevant in all of this. Yet at the same time I feel obliged not to look away from such massive and meaningless loss of life.

I’m neither Jewish nor Palestinian and don’t have any family affected or live in the area. However, I seem to be affected more by this than other conflicts, and am obsessed with doom scrolling through the news. I think it’s the cumulative affect of just so many bad news stories. My heart breaks for the families of the hostages, particularly children - I think just imagine if it was my child separated from me, in that situation, it’s absolutely unimaginable. My heart also breaks for the vulnerable people in hospitals in Gaza, the babies and people in intensive care who can’t flee, and the families and young children fleeing and waiting at the border…again, unimaginable what they are going through. I don’t particularly have a big opinion on which side is ‘right’ it’s just all awful. I also worry on a wider scale where this will end - if Iran and the US get involved, are we in the edge of WW3. Wish people would just stop fighting!

I'm not jewish but we have family who are...my nieces friend was at the music festival that was attacked. We have family in Tel Aviv. Hamas needs to be stopped...its not good for Palestinians to live under them either, they are terrorists and they need to be stopped....I don't understand the "free palatinian" posts on social media....Palestinian will never be free until the terrorists are taken out...

Deeply saddened in a way that I haven’t felt for other contemporary conflicts. It’s clear that Palestinian lives are worthless to both Hamas, Israel and governments across the world. It fees so utterly surreal watching them being obliterated in real time, knowing that there really is no hope. There is so little we can do on a personal practical level as donating seems futile give that no aid is getting through (haven’t caught up with the news, but not sure if the Rafah crossing has opened up to make this happen). I just can’t process how it’s being allowed to happen. For all its faults, I’m glad for the security I have in the UK, but deeply frustrated that I have no viable party to vote for in the next election given Labour’s appalling and willful acceptance of human rights violations.

I have no Jewish or Palestinian friends (through circumstance not choice - I'd happily be friends with both) but feel deep sorrow for the whole situation. I think it's the specific targeting of children rather than them being accidentally caught up in it which makes it so horrific.

I think you have a really good point about MY being impacted by reading explicit depictions of the violence in Israel and Gaza. I also an a bit split about how !such my children should watch the news. I do not wish them to be oblivious of the reality of the world of wrap them up in cotton wool but I really feel they should be shielded from some of the heinous acts of the 7th.

I do think there is an enormous responsibility on the press at the moment in terms of reporting and being neutral in this vicious war is a right wire. With Ukraine there was an obvious agressor but here as you point out in the UK unambiguously choosing a side can lead to division in a diverse society.

I feel your anxiety.

It’s horrendous. The videos coming out of the children affected in the conflict are horrific. Israel bombing fleeing Palestinians and cutting off their water supply is a war crime. Those poor Israeli children still kidnapped by Hamas and god knows where.
I feel so grateful to be able to hold my kids and put them into bed safely but crippling guilt that the people of Gaza don’t have that luxury.

I can't recall a terrorist event and a war covered so explicitly in real time . Perhaps if we had the internet in WW2 it may have been similar?

Anyway I think the constant imagery of this conflict has impacted a lot of people and personally the horror seems into you. There is a point where you actually hope not to be become immune to the imagery as if you lose an emotive reaction to some of the videos what does that tell you about your psyche?

It is extremely hard to watch and I have to say I tend to read some of the more sanitised reporting now.

I heard on the (U.S.) news last night that a man went to his tenant’s home and stabbed a mother and her 6-yr-old son dozens of times.

”Because they were Muslim.” That’s it. No other reason.

The little boy died of his injuries (30 stab wounds) and his mother (24 stab wounds) is expected to survive.
The knife was 7 inches long.

He was charged with first degree murder and hate crimes.

It just makes me sick and very very sad.

And tonight, as revenge, one guy claimed to be ISIS shot two Swedes in Brussels....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67129117

Purplechrayne - sorry I don’t know how to quote to reply to a post directly so hoping you’ll see this . im so sorry about your family member who’s been kidnapped . I’m sorry for it all x
My sons best friend was one of the first in at the kibbutz rescue if it can be called that and said to my son when they finally spoke that what he saw will affect him for life . My son sat in his car sobbing for 20 mins after speaking to him .
many of my in laws family are in israel including my holocaust survivor 91 year old family member .
My kids school allows them to go and arrive only in groups of 3 or more . I won’t let my older son walk to school without a cap over his kippa . Everyone knows someone dead , fighting , trapped , kidnapped.
And then the awful marches in the Uk and elsewhere with people shouting free Palestine . What has free Palestine got to do with and why must it be shouted in response to a massacre of Jewish people by Hamas ? Surely an appropriate response to a massacre is bowed heads and silence . There is a time for everything under the sun and the time for that type of March surely wasn’t now when Jewish wounds were bleeding and oh so raw.
Fear everywhere . In the streets , in our schools , in our synagogues and in conversations . And we wait for it to get worse - if and when Israel goes into Gaza what then with the thinly veiled threats being made by Iran and Hezbollah in the north . I feel we Jewish people are holding our breaths - one huge collective breath whilst we wait for the pot to boil over .

@lisalisa

I feel the collective mourning of the Jewish people.has been overshadowed by the speed of events. I feel this is akin to 9/11 and the horror is as palpable amongst people the world over and at heart unspeakable terrorism. The deliberation of the murder s on the 7th shocked my to the core.

The quiet dignity of the Jewish people remembering their dead is is sharp contrast to intimidating protests about Palestine.

I hope Israel's wounds heal in time and yes I think we in the UK can pass on those condolences without fear of favouritism in a decades long conflict.

Sorry for the typos

I’m not an anxious person but I feel a constant sense of dread, unease and fear. I’m Jewish and don’t know anyone who doesn’t have friends and/or family in Israel that they aren’t petrified about.

Im heartbroken for the civilians on both sides who are suffering at the hands of extremists. Also deeply pessimistic as Netanyahu is not willing to work towards peace and Hamas wants to eliminate all Jews. Where do you go with that. I live in a Jewish community and everyone is on red alert and scared.

@ForThisPost1
I read that article. It doesn’t mention anywhere that the attack in Brussels was “revenge” for that crazy old white dude killing that innocent little boy.
Anc just for clarification, I’m white and 67.
That xenophobic old dude was 70+.

Killing innocent people is abhorrent. Let’s leave it at that.

I'm Jewish. Profoundly angry and upset by what Hamas and the Israeli government have done. Worried about the division this will stoke, the suffering of all people but to be honest especially the Palestinian people - this is not a symmetrical conflict in any way.

I don't have any family in Israel who are close enough that we know them personally so I haven't got any particular fears there and I was reflecting from stuff I've seen from Jewish social media connections that while I would be prepared to offer help (as has been requested) for Israeli families who want to come to the UK for a while and so on, I'm not prepared to donate anything towards the IDF. I would also donate to our otherwise help Palestinian people.

I am not 'for' Israel, but I am for Israelis. I am not 'for' Hamas, but I am for Palestinians. Too many people are failing to understand the distinction.

I’m deeply, deeply devastated by the world turning a blind eye to the killing, the murder of over 1000 children in Palestine. 1.1million people have been displaced, my heart weeps for them and the years of atrocities they’ve faced at the hands of Israel. Israel have the technology, power and international backing to be able to find Hamas without all these lives destroyed. I’m saddened for the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza where they too will likely perish due to the bombs Israel is raining down on the strip of land. How are they supposed to survive this? I’m heartbroken that no one is stepping in and stopping Israel from committing international war crimes. Aid is ready to be delivered but Israel bombed the border for the 4th time today. Gaza is suffering - no food, no water, no electricity, hospitals being told to evacuate. They don’t have an airport or a way to leave. I read that 47 people from the same family have been wiped out - my heart breaks for a whole generation, an entire family tree wiped out. Some people say they are in an open air prison whilst others say it’s an concentration camp. Many people are affected by this, I’m affected by the biased media reporting, having to see what’s actually happening from lots and lots of different social media accounts. I’m affected by how all lives don’t matter only the ones the west deems acceptable to matter. But I’m not as affected as the people who live in Palestine and their families and loved ones.

I’m reading on here and hearing on the radio more than watching

So I’m not seeing graphic imagery by choice, but it’s incredibly sad. I feel so much for those who feel connected

The fear people are feeling is heartbreaking

Big big hugs

It will be ok soon 💐

I’m depressed about how many people I will never speak to again. I can accept a difference of opinion about almost everything but on this I cannot. There are no opinions about what is happening, only facts and I can’t overlook how many value one life so much more than another.

I thought exactly the same regarding the marches and the despicable behaviour of some on them. Awful.

Just to answer why people are shouting free palestine it’s because it’s under the control of Israel. Gazan people are not allowed any movement of their own free will. They’ve been living in inhumane conditions for so many years. Having their homes taken by anyone who proclaims to be Jewish. People were saying free palestine from the current situation where over 1000 children have been killed, pregnant women bombed, elderly, disabled, men, everyone and anyone just killed. Free them from the terrible conditions they’ve been living in for the last 75 years, long before Hamas was around. I hope that answers your question as to why people are marching and shouting free palestine. Just to add when you stand for palestine it doesn’t mean you condone what Hamas did just like when your a Jew you don’t condone the acts of the Israeli government.

My husband is Jewish and I worry about his safety and mental health. He's had people shout things at him before on the street but nothing serious. He's been working at his current work place for over a year and hasn't told any of his colleagues that he's Jewish because he's been worried about the onslaught of jokes etc from his stupid work mates even though some of them already suspect. Him and his siblings all suffered from anti semitism at school when they were children and I really worry about my daughter right now. It's horrible to admit but I was staring at her earlier while she was asleep wishing her hair stays blonde as if it will cover up her heritage or give her some protection. I'm glad none of our neighbours know that our family is Jewish and that scares me a bit.

I'm limiting my exposure to the news to just 30 minutes a day. I'm still crying at times while watching it; for both the Israeli people killed and abducted last week and the desperate plight of the families in Gaza. I hope each day to hear that the US can use its considerable influence to get a ceasefire. Stop the current dire situation getting worse.

I'm so desperately sad for the lives lost on both sides. I am equally sad for the lives already lost and the rising number on both sides. The fleeing Gazans and the Israeli young soldiers on the front line who might also lose their lives if this invasion goes ahead. We can't also discuss this openly in RL for the risk of offending anyone.

Why don't people understand, you can be equally upset and enraged at the massacre at the hands of Hamas and also the innocent Palestinians killed in the retaliation. As a human surely we can be upset for all innocent lives cut short by this war.

I'm one of the few people in my workplace who doesn't have family directly impacted. Hearing how colleagues (Jewish and Muslim) feel about going about their day-to-day lives in out (normally very open, welcoming city) is an eye opener and I'm struggling with how to support, and also how to balance the tensions bubbling under the surface in the office