Dear Servas Friends all over the world,

I have been thinking a lot about what to write here, after the shock of October 7th, 2023 – how to express all our feelings of anger, disappointment, disbelief, fear, … how to collect ourselves and rise to hope, despite what was, is and will be.

We wish to express our deep sorrow for those who we have lost and to support Israeli members who escaped the horrors of October 7th and are in a safe place now.

We pray for all 239 hostages in Gaza – Jews and non-Jews, Israelis and non-Israelis, kids, babies, elders, injured, … everyone – to be freed and come home soon.

We wish to express our gratitude to all Servas friends, who expressed support and empathy to their friends in Israel

We wish to express our gratitude to all Israeli friends who volunteer nowadays to help all who need help.

We hope that good will prevail over evil, and a path to peace will open soon.

Hugs to All

PS: to think that we visited Netiv Haasara on June 1st, 2023 (at least 20 members were slaughtered on Oct 7) and took a photo by the wall separating it from Gaza: https://israel.servas.org/?CategoryID=167&ArticleID=527

See impressions from our visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz in 2019 (1/4 of its members were slaughtered or kidnapped or missing on Oct 7):

https://israel.servas.org/?pg=&categoryid=167&articleid=485

See impressions of Servas Belgium who visited our Servas members there on February 2023:

https://israel.servas.org/?CategoryID=198&ArticleID=529

Those residents of the Israeli area bordering Gaza used to employ Gazan workers and even drove their family members to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals after they received permission.