Six months after Hamas brutally attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,195 people and taking 250 hostages, I traveled to the Holy Land. During my visit there—cut short when hostilities between Israel and Iran escalated dramatically—I encountered a scared, divided land bound together in its grief and heartbreak, in its losses, tears, and fears.
These tears of grief were shed by both Israelis and Palestinians, and the stories of loss were shared by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. I encountered heartbroken mothers with their babies, grandparents, married couples, aunts and uncles, families and friends. And what I heard from Palestinians and the survivors of the October 7 carnage was the same: “We just want to be home. Home, safe, and secure, with our families and friends.”
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