Living As A Refugee

Moving Hotels

Most of our community we living in the David Hotel but a small part were also living in Ein Gedi, half an hours drive from the David Hotel. We decided that the change in scenery and the quieter nature of Ein Gedi would be a welcome change for us. 

Our new hotel was set within the famous botanical gardens which meant there were lots of birds and wildlife on our doorstep. This place was ideal for the next stage of our recovery. 

Our hotel room was much smaller but it served its purpose. We managed to fill it up with all we had accumulated over the past month. The bed served the purpose of bed, couch and dining table such was the size of the room.

We had a small balcony where we would sit and enjoy the sound of the birds. I would feed the grackles each day, I enjoyed their company. Hyrax regularly passed by on the grass stopping to chew leaves from tree outside our room.

Here I felt that I had some time to myself, to really digest what we had suffered and begin to dare to glimpse into possible futures. Futures that would put me on a new trajectory and lead me out of this place and to find fulfillment.

Selina

The humanitarian response to our strife was overwhelming. The Civilian War Response team made up of ex-military and navy personnel provided us with everything we needed, we, as in the refugees that had been displaced by the terror attack on October 7th 2023.

These people gave us so much and I will never forget their hard work in everything they have done. They provided everything the government were seemingly incapable of giving. They were the first responders.

One initiative set up by the team was a hotel in Tel Aviv called the Selina Hotel. The idea was simple, the owner donated the use of the hotel for refugees to come and stay, cook this own meals and enjoy each others company. 

We stayed there several times, each time a couple of nights. Each time was with a different group of people each looking for a break from “hotel” life and actually be able to cook in a proper, albeit industrial, kitchen. 

I met many people who shared with me their experiences of October 7th 2023, many accounts of loss and tragedy were heard and much empathy shown. Much of our time in Selina was spent listening and sharing experiences. Selina became a state of mind for want of a better term.

Our last visit to Selina was to celebrate Christmas. We invited over 40 people to celebrate with us as a thank you to everyones efforts. My main contribution was making mulled wine which went down a treat.

Listening for Answers

The shock, the disbelief and the immense incomprehension of what we had survived and witnessed individually, as a community and as a nation was plain to see on the days following October 7th 2023.

We all needed each other like never before regardless of whether we were friends or not, regardless of whether we had ever spoken before. We, as a community needed to be there for each other in our time of need.

I heard accounts from so many people of what they witnessed that terrible day. I cannot go into details but suffice to say that we were among the lucky ones. We all have our experiences of that day, Black Saturday, as it has become known. Everyones world changed that day.

The future is not set in stone, things happen to cause one future to evaporate and another, in time, to reveal itself. I was now in a state of flux and was awaiting guidance towards an, as yet, uncertain future.