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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
A 500-Minute Fast on Day 500; Prayers for Tal Shoham and Kibbutz Be'eri; Remembering Itay Svirsky on his 40th Birthday - Feb 17th, 2025
Out of 250 faces of strangers all over Tel Aviv, Itay's was the one that leaped off the page and straight into my heart.
Melanie Preston
Feb 179 min read
344 views
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Shock and Horror Linger as an Uneasy yet Resilient Nation Braces for Future Releases
"So much for 'Never Again,'" said Lena Kosinovsky in a text to me last Saturday, as we shared the thoughts so many of us did about how...
Melanie Preston
Feb 1511 min read
422 views
0 comments
A Daughter's Birthday Shines with Light on this First Shabbat with American Dad Keith Siegel Back in Israel After 482 Days of Hell
It must take a minute to digest that he is home – that after 16 months of horror and agony – that her father came back to her family alive.
Melanie Preston
Feb 812 min read
232 views
1 comment
What Does That Press Conference Mean for Our HOSTAGES and this Weekend's RELEASES?!
I imagined IRAN listening to this, and my blood went cold. My heart stopped beating.
Melanie Preston
Feb 55 min read
424 views
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Listen to Her Voice - on Bringing Home the Girls who Warned of the October 7th Attack
These girls were the eyes of Israel. They were tasked with watching the border with Gaza - that's it - and they saw this attack was coming.
Melanie Preston
Jan 258 min read
1,611 views
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Imagine Your First Shower in 470 Days.
It is difficult for me to contemplate what could be going through these women's minds as I write this at 7:23am in Charlotte, North...
Melanie Preston
Jan 195 min read
197 views
0 comments
A Memory of Infinite Blessings, May Itay Svirsky Rest in Peace
What must it be like to be laid to rest after all you've been through?
The 98 days alive in Gaza - and the 326 days not?
Melanie Preston
Dec 7, 20243 min read
166 views
0 comments
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...
Melanie Preston
Oct 25, 202413 min read
253 views
0 comments
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....
Melanie Preston
Oct 6, 20249 min read
864 views
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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.
Melanie Preston
Sep 30, 20248 min read
465 views
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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?...
Melanie Preston
Sep 28, 20243 min read
55 views
0 comments
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...
Melanie Preston
Sep 23, 20246 min read
56 views
0 comments
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...
Melanie Preston
Sep 21, 20247 min read
328 views
0 comments
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,...
Melanie Preston
Sep 3, 202411 min read
672 views
0 comments
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...
Melanie Preston
Jun 7, 202415 min read
1,700 views
0 comments
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...
Melanie Preston
May 7, 20246 min read
123 views
0 comments
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.
Melanie Preston
Apr 25, 20248 min read
763 views
0 comments
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...
Melanie Preston
Apr 7, 20244 min read
656 views
0 comments
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...
Melanie Preston
Feb 14, 20246 min read
488 views
0 comments
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...
Melanie Preston
Jan 16, 202412 min read
864 views
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