We Had Dreams

On Monday 5th June 2017, I arrived at work, still processing the weekend news. Terrorists had unleashed misery in a series of attacks across London Bridge. That these attacks happened in a pub, made it feel as though it could have been any of us. One of my friends had been drinking in the pub next door.

As the work day closed, our boss called the company together. He took a moment to reflect on his old life in Tel Aviv.

On Mondays, he told us, people dreaded the morning commute because Hamas would strike buses at the start of the week. He saw how that dread turned into anger, and how many people became hateful toward "the other". He eventually left Tel Aviv for London, and on that Monday in 2017, in a city we loved for its diversity, he instructed us simply: do not harden your hearts.

I'll never forget that speech. The acknowledgement of pain, his desire to not let go of humanity.

I also remember struggling to fully relate. I didn't feel fear after a single terrorist attack. I wondered how many attacks it would take before I felt afraid to travel to work? How long before I would be consumed by pain?

Today, as this unbearable war unfolds into its next stage, I'm wondering how many bombs would it take? How many days living under siege? How many of my friends buried in rubble?

I have not lived under such threats. I cannot even imagine.

Instead I will share the voices of some of those who are, right now, gripped by fear. I feel powerless to intervene, but connected to them through their words. I only hope they are not their last.

https://wehaddreams.com

Thank you to the friend who channelled their anger into to creating this project.