Snapshot

 

Yesterday,  an article of mine was published in the Australian Jewish News providing a down to earth view of life in Israel over the last two years. This was timed for the two year anniversary since the infamous October 7. 

If you are reading this blog in realtime, you will be aware that early this morning, Israel and Hamas inked a agreement to end the war in Gaza. (Please don't ask, 'Which war?').

https://www.reuters.com/world/gaza-live-trump-says-israel-hamas-agree-first-phase-plan-end-war-2025-10-08

Today, the streets of Israel are filled with a sense of hope, as if people have stopped holding their breaths for the first time in...years. 

And they have.

A sustainability festival was held today at the community garden of Jerusalem's Museum of Natural History. This was after everyone woke to the news of the signed agreement, and a universal mood of elation permeated the air. As part of the festival I launched a photo exhibit that I am curating, and I have no doubt that the level of success was in some measure due to the lighthearted feeling we are all experiencing. 

In order to gain insight into what some are feeling following the news, I thought it would be interesting to share a snapshot of my social media feed from the last 24 hours. (Remember to take into account that my feed is largely determined by Facebook's algorithm.)

To my understanding, in addition to that noted in the above post, the agreement provides for the release of almost 2000 Palestinian detainees, many with given multiple life sentences for the murder of Israeli civilians, as well as the creation of a mechanism for the rebuilding of Gaza under a supervised board. And, of course, and end to the death and destruction suffered by the Gazan population and the Israeli soldiers sent to identify and disarm the many confronting Israel.  As a knock on effect, the agreement will provide security and financial benefits to the Palestinians, Egypt, Jordan and many of the local Arab and Muslim countries, a significant number of whom have pressured Hamas to accept the deal. Expansion of the Abraham accords is almost a given. There is much, much more to this arrangement of which we cannot possibly be aware.

So what have people been saying on social media since the announcement that has been fed to my  account?

See below, and make of it what you will...