Fifteen Months of Anguish and Terror

Professor Joe Goldblatt

During the past fifteen months, since the extermination of over 1000 people at a music festival in Israel that was the largest atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, I have experienced constant anguish and terror.

A few days after the 7 October 2023 attack, the Associate Chaplain at the University of Edinburgh invited me to what she described as a ‘listening session’ for Jewish students who were impacted by the attack.

I asked her how many students she thought would attend and she replied “I do not know. This is the first time I have done this.Perhaps a dozen?”

She could have added this is the first time I have needed to do this because of the impact of this atrocity upon our students.

When I arrived at the meeting room there were 40 students sitting in a circle with the saddest and most frightened faces I have ever witnessed upon young people.

The Chaplain closed the door and asked the students to introduce themselves and describe how they were feeling.Every student had a direct link to Israel either through a sibling fighting in the Israel Defence Force (IDF), a family member who was now a

hostage, or worse, a friend or family member who was murdered on 7 October.

After most of the students had expressed their horror and fears the final student to speak was seated to my right.She looked me directly in the eye and said that she was a post graduate student from Israel studying information technology.Blinking back huge tears she said in a trembling voice that she had not left her accommodation for one week because when she looks out her window she sees dozens of Palestinian flags fluttering and hundreds of her fellow students shouting “Death to Israel!”

I then reached in my pocket and gave her my business card and taking her hand I said “Here is how to contact me.I stay near you. If you ever need to go to the shops, to class, or to run an errand, call me and I will be your escort.”

Drawing a deep breath I turned to the other students and said “Because I am older than you I have had more experience with wars in the Middle East.Therefore, I want to prepare you for what may be a long difficult conflict.However, I also believe that one day it will be over.”

The woman sitting next to me exploded with tears firing like missiles from her eyes. “How do you know?” she shouted at me.

I turned back to the other students and quietly said “Just look around this room.We are all members of the Jewish people and we are all still here. We have suffered the destruction of our ancient temples, we were tortured during the inquisition, we were expelled from England for 300 years, we were exterminated during the Jewish Holocaust, and today we live with rising levels of antisemitism all over the world.And despite all this, we are still here.”

Slowly and silently the students and chaplain nodded their heads in agreement and the female student who was angry earlier then reached over and gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

A few weeks later I was invited to speak at the School of Divinity New College at the University of Edinburgh.The college is located at the top of the mound and I climbed the steep Playfair steps to reach my destination.

Whilst climbing I heard the loud roar of an angry mob.Upon reaching the top of the stairs I saw what seemed like hundreds of Palestinian flags affixed to tall poles and an equal number if people shouting “From the river to the sea!” This phrase often strikes fear in the hearts of Jewish people who equate it with the Hamas stated desire for the permanent elimination of the State of Israel.

Leading these chants were my many political leadership friends with whom over many years I had fostered deep positive and respectful relationships.I wondered how I could face them as a member of the Jewish people when they were calling for the end of the Jewish state?

I then had a decision to make.I could turn around and go home. Perhaps I could walk around the far edges of the angry mob and sneak in the back door. Or, I could square my shoulders, raise my head in pride, and walk through and among my friends.And that is exactly what I did with a small minor enhancement.

Every time I met one of my political friends I smiled, shook their hand, hugged them, and depending upon our familiarity,in some cases I kissed them on both cheeks.They all appeared stunned and somewhat embarrassed.

Were they embarrassed by my warm public affection or that as a Jewish person I had observed their behaviour or perhaps both?

When I finally entered the quiet it the new college courtyard I paused and thought to myself “I hope and pray, one day, I may be friends with this people once again.”

My reasoning for facing my friends and hoping for the renewal of our friendship is based upon a verse from the Hebrew bible.It is the same verse I recited at my Bar Mitzvah 60 years ago.The prophet Micah wrote

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

I hope and pray that in future years as a result of this turmoil our friendships will indeed be closer and stronger as together we learn to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with whoever or whatever we believe in.

Professor Joe Goldblatt is Emeritus Professor of Planned Events at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland.His views are his own. For more information about his views visit www.joegoldblatt.scot