What To Do in the Aftermath of the Attack on the Ambulances of Hatzolah in Golders Green

 

What To Do in the Aftermath of the Attack on the Ambulances of Hatzolah in Golders Green

The destruction of ambulances is appalling and utterly unacceptable. It’s also been predictable and predicted. It’s an attack on not only the Jewish Community of this country, but on all British citizens and the very notion of what it means to be British. There’s police work to be done, political work to be done and my mind is on what it means to help build towards the sort of society we should all want to live in.

In the aftermath of the attack on the ambulances of Hatzolah, try these.

 

Do Something Good

              Be kind, support a cause, reach out to someone alone or in pain. In the words of In the words of Rev Anders Bergquist, “Be the best friend you can be to your fellow. Bring out the best in your fellow.” Money also helps, Hatzolah are in need of new ambulances. That’s a good cause - https://hatzola.org/donate/. Don’t let a bad action get away without drawing a good action in its wake.

 

Don’t hide

              Take care, of course take care, but it won’t help to hide who we are or how we are different from others around us. If we do, we increase our sense of isolation, misery and they’ll spot us anyway. To hide is to fail ourselves, to fail those who are also different in their own differences and to give strength to those who feel terror is an appropriate way to affect change in the world. Hen Mazzig writing after the Bad Bunny Superbowl Halftime Show, argued brilliantly that we should occupy space, that we shouldn’t worry about permission or ask for pity. “Belonging,” he wrote, “Is not a debt to pay or a favour to beg for. It is a reality we need to demonstrate. Minorities [and we are all part of a minority, one way or another] are not a ‘problem’ to be solved.”

 

Be precise in the use of language.

              Quite how we have come to a place where nuance has come to be a sign of weakness is bizarre. Language has a life of its own once it leaves our lips. It might be that 99.9% of my audience are going to hear my strident language and realise that I mean no physical harm towards those I critique. It might be that only a person affected by mental illness or trauma could possibly understand my strident use of language as justifying physical harm. But that 99.9% is not enough. Not even close to being enough. Language is the greatest gift we possess as human beings. It’s the greatest responsibility. It’s capable of causing the greatest amount of damage. It’s also the best tool we have if we want to mend, to bring compassion, to offer hope.

If we disagree with a person’s actions or opinions, disagree with their actions or opinions. State their opinions as they would have it stated. Don’t extrapolate from what they have said into something that might sound more outrageous in order to create a straw-figure more easily pilloried. It might not be them, or their opinion that gets pilloried. It might be someone else.

 

Amplify those who help

              If there are people you hear or see who are trying to build the world you want to be a part in, retweet them, share their message. Don’t fall for the notion that ‘no-one cares.’ There are plenty of people who care, they just need better megaphones. Be a megaphone for good.