by Isabel Smyth

I don’t think I’ve ever felt so dispirited about the world in which we live as I do now, and I can’t remember being so fearful for its future.

I’ve never lived through a war and was probably too caught up in my own life and work to engage with critical moments in the past like the Cuban crisis. I was a student in college when that happened and remember going to bed with the nuns telling us to pray hard as nuclear war was a real possibility. I remember feeling anxious but not sad to the pit of my stomach as I do today about the situation in the Middle East. I am older now, more aware of world events and politics, involved in interfaith relations, more knowledgeable about the history of antisemitism suffered by the Jewish community, more aware of the interconnectedness of all human beings and through television exposed to the reality of the horror of it all.

I am appalled at the terrible attacks on innocent citizens in Israel by Hamas and at the ensuing retaliation which is killing innocent Palestinians. Governments, civil rights and peace groups have expressed outrage at what has happened and is happening, and my inbox has been filled with statements of support for Israel and cries for Netanyahu to desist from a war of revenge. The one that touched me most, probably because it expresses so well my own feelings, comes from the Board of Interfaith Scotland:

‘There are no adequate words to express our grief, despair and horror at the events unfolding in Israel/Gaza...  We stand in solidarity and are praying for all the innocent lives lost or forever damaged by terrorism, war and violence and will do all we can to support our beloved communities in Scotland as we navigate this difficult time’.

Isabel Smyth is a Sister of Notre Dame who has been involved in interfaith relations for many decades.

Photo by Egor Myznik on Unsplash