Take crime, for example. We hear plenty about corrupt politicians under investigation and, lest we forget, our darling prime minister’s ongoing criminal proceedings following his indictment for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. But there are so many other stories: of theft, of hit-and-runs, of drug smuggling, of high-speed car chases, of domestic abuse, of systemic rape, and so much more. There’s no way to tell it all.
I vowed to myself shortly after beginning to work at The Jerusalem Post years ago that I would do what I can to uplift the voices that are less heard: those crying out all too silently and receiving no response. I still want to do so.
From liberal Americans to poverty, from asylum seekers to the LGBTQ+ community, Jews and Arabs alike are being tossed aside.
As a mother whose husband went to war for over a year just four short months after giving birth, I know what it means to be cast aside by your country and feel that the only support system you have is the people around you. When I was alone at night with a feverish baby, myself delirious with illness, it was not the government who brought me a warm meal and a new pack of Kleenex; it was my neighbor from across the street, whom I met for the first time in that instance.
Now that same government wants to lower the salaries of brave soldiers like my husband. How considerate.
That point in time was low. I felt unheard, forgotten, and frankly – shut up. The war and the conditions created by it, combined with governmental policies, had driven so many people further into their individual challenges and crises. The goal of this issue of the Report is to give them a stage, a microphone, and – forgive me – a captive audience.
So take a moment, sit, and listen to those voices on the mic. They deserve to be heard.
