Good Wednesday morning. In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the struggles facing Arab-Jewish summer camps in Israel following the Oct. 7 terror attacks. We also feature an opinion piece by Jennie I. Schaff formerly a nonprofit grant-seeker, now a foundation.
Eight weeks after the brutal attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas, our communal pain remains raw. Much of the savagery perpetrated specifically targeted women and girls, who were raped, tortured, dismembered, burned to death all too horrible.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, more than 45,000 Ukrainians have sought refuge in Israel. Families were slowly picking up the pieces and finding ways to cope. Then, Israel’s war erupted. Now many are reliving their trauma. Some have left Israel, but many remain — refusing to again flee a war. Most have lost their support systems due to restrictions around gatherings. Others have lost hope of reuniting with loved ones. Tatyana Prima thought she’d left the bombs behind when she fled Mariupol, Ukraine. She escaped with her injured husband and young daughter, now living in southern Israel. Yet the calm she was slowly regaining was shattered Oct. 7, when Hamas militants invaded, thrusting her onto the front line again.