We shouldn’t be letting off fireworks while innocent families and their homes are being blown up

[Banfire]

“When the F-16s come, it is really scary and traumatic. You hear them and then the hiss of the missile and then the big blast, and then you can smell the gunpowder.
“The children are there, terrified, saying exactly this: ‘Let them just kill us for this to end.’

The quote above is an excerpt from an article in the Guardian this morning.

Is it just me or does it seem insensitive that on the 5th November, and for many days either side, we will be lighting up our sky for fun while innocent people, a large proportion of whom are children, are being blown up as if their lives meant nothing.

There are also people in this country who may find the sound and noise of fireworks traumatic. They may have been victims of war, have lost loved ones in this way or are currently fearing for the lives of their families and friends.

Fireworks aren’t fun for everyone.

If you do chose to let off fireworks for entertainment then when you watch them I hope you remember how privileged you are and the impact this might have on the people around you.

Personally I am feeling really upset about the people being bombed, displaced and deprived of food and water in Gaza, and how hopeless the wider situation feels.

I will try to avoid fireworks this year, it does instinctively feel inappropriate to me at this time and fireworks would just make me feel sad, though I appreciate other people have other views and am not saying we need to ban anything.

Honestly, the amount of political grandstanding here (and all over social media) by people wanting to make their own bleeding heart feel better is insane. The situation is horrific for all involved. Allow me to suggest - as someone sitting in Israel, literally listening now to fighter jets overhead and often hearing rocket booms from my own home - that if you want to make an actual difference, there is something you can do. Don't cancel your fireworks, nobody here cares about that. Instead, before your next post, reach into your wallet. Pull out your credit card. Make the largest donation you are comfortable with to an accountable civilian organization making things better on the ground - you can choose whichever fits your own worldview best. My suggestions:

• International Red Cross - humanitarian assistance on the ground in Gaza.
• World Food Programme (ditto)
• Standing Together (an organization of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel doing work on the ground to prevent the conflict spilling over further).
• Magen David Adom (the Israeli Red Cross).

Or any one of hundreds of other civilian organisations working day and night to make this situation less terrible for the millions of people caught up in it.

Then enjoy your fireworks.

What an absolute crock. Talk about a nerve. It's OP who started the debate! Which I thought was insightful. Don't worry nobody is going to take your precious fireworks from you 😥

Why are you crying?