Israelis ink the memory of deadly attacks onto their skin | Reuters
EILAT, Israel, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The date Oct. 7 will be forever etched in Israeli history, marking the day Hamas gunmen rampaged through southern communities, killing 1,400 people, in the country's deadliest attack since its founding in 1948.
Now, many Israelis are getting the date tattooed on their bodies to commemorate the dead and missing, and bear witness to the collective tragedy.
"It was a very difficult date for the whole state of Israel, including for those who weren't in the affected areas," said tattoo artist Roey Benezri-Levy, who works in the seaside resort of Eilat, far from where Hamas attacked.
"Some people choose to tattoo images that remind them of their home, the family, or the people kidnapped, in one way or another," he said. "Many of them write the date, October 7. We all understand what that means."
University student Gal Nishman got a tattoo on his back in black and blue ink combining a Star of David with the numerals 7/10.
"The truth is I don't know anyone who was murdered, fortunately ... but the tattoo for me is a symbol," he said. "On one side (the tattoo) is dark, representing those who were captured. On the other, there is blue, the Star of David, Israel, (showing) that we're here to win."
Benezri-Levy said clients had found solace in the experience. "Many folks told me it lifted a heavy weight off their hearts. It brought out feelings I haven't felt before. It gave me a lot of strength, a lot of hope," he said.
Another tattoo artist, Sheli Eliel, has also been busy since the attacks in her studio in Magan Michael, some 400 km (250 miles) north of Eilat, on the Mediterranean coast.
"It's therapeutic," she said. "I never asked questions before, but during the tattooing, the stories come out, they share them and cry. It is quite amazing," she said.
Among those seeking to commemorate recent events was Hadas Karmazin, a resident from the south, close to the border of the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, who has been evacuated from her home as Israeli forces gather ahead of a possible invasion.
She had three stars inked close to her heart to represent her three sons, two of whom are in combat units while the third is set to enlist this month.
She also had a large lotus flower tattooed on her forearm, saying it represented Israeli residents of the south. "It grows with glory and flourishes even in murky water, especially in murky water," she said. "Despite everything I will return home."
what i can't fathom about this affair is how they're characterizing it as uniquely threatening & scary for Israel... the six-day war? yom-kippur war? y'know, times the actual full armed forces of neighboring countries fought them? with more IDF casualties even? these (presumably young) people's parents fought tanks and jet aircraft where are they getting off thinking a small-arms razzia is unfathomable violence?
is Israel just America, with no sense of history whatsoever or what?
I googled that. Good word.
Israel has gone mask off. Israelis seem to have entirely forgotten they live in a tiny country and there isn't a big ocean separating it from its enemies. When apologists for Israel or IDF spokesmen or Israeli pols have spoken I've only listened to a minute or two here or there. I can't stand to hear them go on and on. But it seems to be that they all sound the same. And it's far beyond the usual "Israel has a right to defend itself." They aren't saying that "Israel has a right to slaughter and commit ethnic cleansing but it's pretty clear that's what they want. Their conception of international diplomacy is that Israel gets to do whatever it want.
Once Israel's ground war starts - for a while they'll keep calling it an "incursion" even though it's clearly a ground war. And then I don't think they'll even try to hide their glee once civilians are in the crossfire. They'll cheer the slaughter and they'll say "This is Hamas's war and they are responsible," or "Civilians die in war," or "I'm sorry to say this. This is war. This is what happens."
And once it's clear that ethnic cleansing is happening they'll say stuff like "Israel must do this. Israel has no choice." They will decide on a preferred euphemism for ethnic cleansing. Annexation? Whatever the substitute word - they'll say the same sort of stuff about that too: "Israel must do this. Israel has no choice."
found it was a less pretentious way to say chevauchée
I'm American and I don't know a more common, single word for razzia. As a substitute all I can think of is phrases like "cause death and destruction". I don't like the word "raid" because it's so vague and can be milder sounding euphemism for killing and r*pe.
The problem is that Americans hate words they don't know so I can only use razzia a few places - like here. Using it at reddit would only annoy me because I'd get "Well, actually..." comments that it's a historical word referring to slaves or redditors would tell me they don't know the word, they won't google. Fine, you own me by being proudly ignorant. I'm so owned.
Anyway - once Israel starts its ground war - I better not talk online at big sites because that will make me a crazy person and words won't mean anything there anyway.
specifically 'cavalry raid' has purchase in american eyes because they're a famous part of the civil war, but that's a bit confusing if cavalry isn't doing it. and there's also connotations attached to the -other- thing the US did with cavalry raids out west, so it wouldn't be a great way to talk about tactics used against empire. i'm pretty sure there's a racist reverse term for indian campaigns using similar tactics against settlers but im not inclined to track it down
Idk, I've also never heard this word before but after looking it up I'd just say raid? It apparently has connotations of being about moors raiding to take slaves and I don't see how those connotations are helpful in this context
The problem with raid is that it's so vague. The right-wing media says "The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago," but of course that's silly. They told Trump days (weeks?) in advance so he had plenty of time to move/hide his stuff.
Here's what Wikipedia says.
Yeah I wouldn't want to use a term which means raiding "to obtain booty, capture slaves, ethnic cleansing" as a neutral or positive term applied to natural acts of self defense by an oppressed people. That does not sound like the correct word to use.
I once knew an Israeli who explained it as "if someone hits you then you keep hitting them until they die"