Everybody has questions, and so I'm hoping that this platform would be a nice, calm platform to be able to just hear each other out and really talk heart to heart. So I invite you all to ask questions and share your feelings throughout this thread of swell. So let's get this started
nina gregory
@ninaberries · 0:47
Just get to know you. And thank you so much, because I think the voices of people are the voices that are missing from this story. So I hope that we get to hear from more people who are there. And thank you so much for doing this
Sudha Varadarajan
@sudha · 0:28
Eliana, it's lovely to hear your voice. I'm really looking forward to your series. I'm looking forward to things you have to say, things people around you have to say. I made sure to follow you so I know when you post. And I just want to say thank you for starting this series. We would love to to hear more and learn more
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 4:53
1350 murdered, slaughtered in their houses, babies, children, teenagers, moms, fathers, grandparents, holocaust survivors even either murdered or kidnapped to Gaza. Not knowing what's going on at all. My WhatsApp and my instagram and all of the platforms. Every day just more ads of funerals and more people mourning. And it's just been crazy. And my friends telling me stories from what's going on their training
Sudha Varadarajan
@sudha · 1:28
Eliana, thank you for that little window into what happened on Saturday for you. I cannot imagine what's going on in your mind right now, and I sincerely wish your family and your friends every safety and really wish you all well. I have so many questions right now. I just thought that, if you don't mind how has the mood on the streets changed now in the last two weeks? What is the collective feeling? What is your personal feeling?
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 1:32
It's really appalling that we don't value lives. I'm so sorry to hear what has happened, and I can only offer you prayers. And I hope I pray for your well being. I hope that peace and order are restored soon. And I pray for peace to the departed souls. I'm following you and we'll be listening to your posts here on Swell. You take care. The question I had is, how are you managing with day to day supplies, food, et cetera?
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 4:56
So every friend of mine, I can say that this week we're at least in one funeral, for instance, we are all grieving. But with that, there is so much going on in Israel, it's amazing. I'm going to try to find a video to just show a little bit of it. Everybody is just looking where to help. The streets, the roads are emptier than other days because people are scared to leave their house
Sudha Varadarajan
@sudha · 1:02
Shabbat. Shalom. Eliana, thank you so much for that response. I hope you have a wonderful shabbat. And I'm sorry that everybody is going through the pain that they're going through right now. We will talk more when you're back, but thank you for including us in the conversation and helping us understand. Would really love to understand so much more. The images that we see on social media are horrifying. The videos that are being posted in our WhatsApp are horrifying?
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 2:00
So to hear your voice and the level of calmness and peace and presence in your voice, the message I got from that in itself was, okay, this person is in an area where all of these things are happening and have happened, and she comes on here with a voice that is calm, steady, even rational, and with purpose. And then looking at my life and where I'm at and saying, okay, this is evidence. Regardless of what's happening, you can definitely rise above
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 4:34
I mean, we've seen these things happen before. There were terrorist attacks in Israel for many, many years. Also terrorists, Hamas terrorists, or just other terrorists shooting babies, families. This past year, there were a few siblings that died in their cars, in their beds, during family dinners. And I still feel like my mind just isn't grasping it. It just still feels like a huge nightmare
Sudha Varadarajan
@sudha · 1:41
Or is there no such thinking right now? And everybody in Israel feels that the only solution is for the military to go in and wipe out Hamas, because we all know that that process will involve a lot of death on all sides and nobody knows where it will all end up. And there is a lot of sense of unease in the whole world, including the people of Israel and including in the Palestinian people, about what is to come and what the days have ahead
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 4:58
Hi, everybody. So this last swell, I was asked a very important question. Can there be peace? Are people in Israel looking for peace? Because people on both sides are going to die from this war. And it's true. So this is a very important question, and I'm so happy it was asked. And please, I'm going to try to explain as much as I can
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:02
Hey, Eliana, it's really good to listen to this whole thread so far, and I really, really appreciate your taking the time to do this. And I wanted to ask you as you continue your thoughts, because it's really just wonderful to be with you in this conversation as it grows. Can you talk about your two years of military service? I'm assuming you did them
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 4:12
And it's hard to do because we're a moral army and we do not want to kill and not want to have casualties on the other side of citizens on the other side. But if we don't do that, so they send the rockets to us. So it's problematic. And there are times where the army does have to carry the consequences of casualties in Gaza so that they don't send rockets and don't send more terrorists that will kill us, as they did on Saturday night
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 3:49
And later on, they saw that they found on the terrace that they had exact maps of each of the houses there. They knew every house, how many kids they had, and where their bomb shelters are. And she said she was just in shock, like they took such good care of him, and they made sure he had everything he needed for his family, and they just betrayed them in the most horrible way
Sudha Varadarajan
@sudha · 0:58
Eliana, I just wanted to say thank you for patiently explaining and for also posting the article that you posted. I don't have any further questions at this time but everything you said was quite enlightening and it was good to hear what you had to say. I hope you will keep posting once in a while. We would love to hear your ah, journey from here. We would love to hear the stories of what's really happening and be informed
Therapy Health
@Shmookie · 0:16
I downloaded this app simply because I was listening on an email that I got regarding what you were saying, and you say it so well, I appreciate it, Kalakabod
Therapy Health
@Shmookie · 0:44
I have an interesting question, like, living over there, how do you think it's different than living outside of Israel? Because the vicarious trauma that people are getting from just looking at their phones and their screens, you're almost getting more trauma without any of the positive of being in a country that's rallying around and just really getting the trauma from exposed from the news, which that's primarily what people are seeing online
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 3:31
Shabbat is coming in soon, so, like, last week, shabbat. Shalom means peaceful shabbat. I hope you all have a peaceful Shabbat and spread the truth. Shabbat. Shalom
Therapy Health
@Shmookie · 0:56
You. Wow. Can't get over it. My question is, do you feel that by sharing this that people will understand? Is it that facts that they're missing, is it the human emotion that they're missing? Is it even rational? Is it something that makes a significant difference? I mean, for those who understand what you're saying, it's mind boggling. For those who don't, there are many who refuse to even entertain what you're saying
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 2:13
And I remember that when I was out of Israel during that war, I felt like Israel was inflames, and it looked just much crazier a lot of times when you're out of the state because, yes, here people are doing so much, and we keep ourselves occupied by helping and going out to the streets and getting donations and packing up packages for the soldiers and just doing whatever we can and feeling the love. But saying that while saying that this war, it's much bigger than other wars
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 2:14
There are Muslim brothers and sisters and also you can probably see in the news and all the social media there are much more people who are rooting for Muslims and for the Palestinians. Sorry. And so I want to believe it's not a lack of human emotion. I want to believe that it's ignorance that they're just joining this huge trend that became of supporting Palestine. I want to believe they don't know what's going on
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 5:00
Oh, and I haven't even gotten to the subject of the kidnaps this time. I mean, why would we give them time to ceasefire when they have 240 people from our country, including babies and grandparents and any person who needs their medicine. In what world are we supposed to give them ceasefire? That's not for us. That's not good for us. That's not good for them. It's not good for the world
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 0:44
Sorry, I got cut off. Just another second. So the reason they want to get the Gazan people more down south is that so the army can work in the northern part, where most of the military Hamas bases are, so that they can purify the area and fight because that they have to stay there because that's where the bases are. And so they want to move the Gazan civilians, the innocent ones, down south so that they won't get hurt. So that's the reason
Eliana Greenwald
@eliana.g · 1:05
I could keep on telling more stories and everything that's going on in Israel. I'm just not sure what are the things that I'm saying that are new for you or that you already know, because it is important for me that you guys understand and hear the whole story from the perspective in Israel to hear the truth. And I promise to answer every question or address any thought that you have. Have a good day