Not Just Names - Not Just Faces - on Day 400
It's puzzling. Even the few people who come to Israel now take the moving walkway to the right of the rows of hostage pictures, instead...
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THE ATTACK ON ISRAEL
October 7th, 2023
BROKE ME
The SILENCE of my “Friends”
Devastated Me
The World’s Protests and Celebrations
Horrified Me
And So I Came Back
To Tell the Stories of Who They Were
and Who We Are
Melanie Preston
Oct 2513 min read
A Wandering Jew, Talking to Strangers, Douglas Murray's Smoothie and Vivien Leigh
"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," wrote Tennessee Williams for his classic play "A Streetcar Named Desire," for the...
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Melanie Preston
Oct 69 min read
Yonatan Rapoport - A Heroic Father Remembered - One Year Later
"Adam's brother Yoni has the most interesting story on the Kibbutz," I was told last week at lunch, in the dining hall at Kibbutz Be'eri....
527 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Sep 308 min read
Rising From the Ashes, the Light from Kibbutz Be'eri Leads its Residents Home
I fell in love with Israel because I fell in love with its people.
331 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Sep 273 min read
SPOILER ALERT - We Got Nasrallah
I think we did at least. It depends on which channel you turn on here in Israel. On one, it said "Nasrallah chu-sal." Ma ze chu-sal?...
54 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Sep 226 min read
As War Reaches a New Phase, Israel's Heart Shines Brighter, with October 7th Survivors in the South Offering their Homes to the North's Residents
"Thank goodness I am here," has been my predominant thought since returning to Israel last Monday. This is despite losing my Israeli...
55 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Sep 217 min read
As Kibbutz Be'eri Residents Shift from a Hotel to Kibbutz Hazerim, I Departed America to Join Them in Israel as the War Only Gets Worse
I made it back to Israel, despite the constant warnings on my phone of escalations with Hezbollah, and now a declaration of a Third...
310 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Sep 311 min read
Hersh - Carmel - Alex - Almog - Eden - Ori
The cursor has been blinking below these six names and faces. I haven't known where to begin because there are so many emotions swirling,...
664 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Aug 23 min read
A Letter to Israel on Day 300 and Counting
Dear Israel, I know how lonely it can feel to be you, all tiny and blue and shimmering and sparkling on your sliver of land on the sea....
264 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Jun 715 min read
In Her Own Words: Mother of Piano Player Alon Ohel Describes Her Reality as a 'Hostage Mom' and Calls on World Jewry to Keep Israel What it Was Meant to Be and Must Continue to Be
This is the story of Alon Ohel, based on my interview with his mother in Israel in February. I heard Alon's piano playing on the news...
904 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
May 76 min read
Hamas Bamboozles the West Through its "Ruse" of Accepting a Ceasefire on Holocaust Remembrance Day
For Israelis and those of us paying attention, today's move by Hamas was predictable. On the day Israel dropped its flyers in Arabic into...
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Melanie Preston
Apr 258 min read
Be'eri Seder in Hostage Square, Hersh Hostage Video Release and the Twisting Tunnels of my Mind on this Passover Like no Other
We are bound in our love for each other and our rich past, entwined in our current struggles and standing as one in a vow for our future.
753 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Apr 74 min read
As Their Posters Fade, Our Resolve Does Not
Six months ago yesterday, 133 people woke up on a fairly normal Thursday. Some were up with the sun practicing yoga, while others made...
644 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Feb 146 min read
Shani Louk: A Legacy of Compassion, Love and Art
On February 7th, Shani Louk would have celebrated her 23rd birthday. Instead, her family and friends gathered at a reception for the...
433 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Jan 3013 min read
Inside Israel's Hostage Crisis: Michael Levy’s Heroic Battle to Rescue his Brother from Hamas Captivity
“I have one mission in life. To bring my brother back for his two-year old son," Michael said. "That's my goal." It was 6:45pm on January...
994 views1 comment
Melanie Preston
Jan 1611 min read
How my Heart has Been Breaking Through this Project of Mine, into 136 Families' Worlds
It had seemed like such a good idea, after 37 days of tears by myself in Charlotte. The families of the hostages had been on every...
741 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Jan 37 min read
Fearful of Large Hezbollah Attack; Ha Tikva in Hostage Square; Ringing in 2024 With Rockets Over my Head
On Saturday night I walked from Jaffa in South Tel Aviv to Hostage Square, which took about an hour. I needed to meet the brother of one...
70 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Dec 28, 20236 min read
Letter from a Fallen Soldier to his Parents; Murder of American-Israeli Hostage Judy Weinstein Confirmed
"Dear Mom and Dad, I love you very much. I chose this path myself. I've lived a good and interesting life. Nevertheless, I have never...
99 views1 comment
Melanie Preston
Dec 13, 202310 min read
Day 68 of a War that is Now Clearly on Multiple Fronts
Something unknown by many abroad but well-known in Israel is that as horrific as the October 7th terror attack on Israel was, with 1400...
42 views0 comments
Melanie Preston
Dec 9, 20239 min read
Incoming Rocket Sirens Blare on Highway; Forced to Exit Vehicle and Duck; Taking on Hamas
It's important to keep a routine as best as possible in Israel, despite the prevalence and randomness of sirens going off, and it was...
108 views1 comment
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