We Are All In The Image

Holding On to Our Compassion

Earlier this week we were all holding our breath as missiles from Iran rained down above Israeli soil. The pictures were unreal — rockets intercepted in the airspace above holy sites and ancient structures. Our Israeli friends and family waited in their bomb shelters and basements for word that it was safe to come out.

Hours later Israeli civilians received the all-clear. They were able to exit, and exhale. The news was reassuring: Israel’s intricate long range defensive systems and interventions were 99% successful. Barely a scratch. Just some minor damage.

And for 99% of the population, this is true. Unless you are family or friend of Amina Al-Hassouni, a seven year old Israeli Bedouin girl who lives in the Negev. Her home was hit by the shrapnel of an intercepted missile. She was struck in the head, and she is hospitalized still today in grave condition.

Her father tells her story to the news outlets who will listen: she is just a little girl. She loves to dance and sing. She wears her hair in pigtails. She was sleeping in her bed when the shrapnel exploded through the roof of her home. And her life hangs now, in a delicate balance.

Amina is a causality of a conflict that she didn’t cause, a war she couldn’t stop. This isn’t isn’t her conflict. Her father remarks, “Nobody protects us. Honestly, I am scared of everyone — Iran, Hamas. I am scared of what my country will do and from the response.”