4 | OCTOBER 24 • 2024 J N essay One Year Later O ct. 7, 2024. One year later, it still hurts. One year later and my hands are shaking as I put on my “Bring Them Home Now” necklace. One year later, and I am feeling the same as the day our hearts broke. I woke up to my social media flooded with prayers, remembrances for those whose lives were taken too soon, and hope that this living nightmare will be over sooner rather than later. “1 year of heartbreak. 1 year of sadness. 1 year of rising hatred against our community. 1 year of saying: BRING THEM HOME NOW . ” I wrote those 5 lines on my Instagram story alongside a post shared by the State of Israel’s official Instagram account. As a writer, I’m not often at a loss for words, but how can I explain what I am feeling isn’t just me? How do I explain to my non-Jewish friends that when our community is attacked, everyone feels that same hurt and fear as though we were all one person? When my friend wanted to meet for lunch, I said OK. Once I stepped outside my dorm building and started walking to lunch, I got an anxious feeling in my gut, same as I did a year ago. The only difference is that this time I was not hiding the fact I was Jewish, and I was proudly showing off my “Bring Them Home Now” necklace. But the fact that I felt the same way now as I did a year ago emphasizes how that fearful feeling never truly goes away. I have grown within this last year, making sure to only surround myself with true friends, cutting out those who are not and experiencing the change I can make by simply using my voice. While I often feel alone on my campus, as do my Jewish friends who are using their voices to stand for Israel at other colleges, I know that we will always be connected as we share in the resilience and strength that is found in every proud Jew. I headed off to class with that same uneasy feeling in my stomach. Seeing the Detroit Jewish Federation building vandalized made me even more anxious. I’ve been to that building so many times growing up — meetings for Tamarack Camp, JARC, Hebrew Free Loan and more. I always thought of that building as untouchable and so strong. For it to be vandalized — especially on this day — felt like the wall protecting us was breaking down. I had the opportunity to attend a community commemoration at the University of Michigan. It meant a lot to be able to join and be part of a larger Jewish community when my own at Eastern Michigan University is so small. Whenever I go to U-M for a community event, I feel as though I am stepping into a whole new world as life on U-M’s campus is so greatly different than it is on EMU’s. When driving to the Diag, we saw a pro-Palestine march crossing the street. It felt surreal to see it with my own eyes, as thankfully, I have only seen such protests happening on other campuses across social media. People were waving Palestinian and Lebanese flags, wearing both black and white and red and white keffiyehs, and many wearing face masks, as well. As they were crossing the street, they were screaming chants about wanting U-M to divest as well as “freeing their people. ” Thankfully, the protesters were walking in the opposite direction of the Diag, so we knew they weren’t planning on disturbing our event. On our way to the Diag, we also passed a truck with a holographic screen displaying anti-Israel messages. I had seen similar vehicles posted on Instagram by the Jewbelong account. However, instead of displaying uplifting messages, the ones on I saw that day were meant to put us down. “Zionism is terrorism, not Judaism” it said at first glance. Then, the screen changed to an image of a “wanted poster” style photos of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden, and one other politician I couldn’t quite make out, with a message across their faces saying, “Wanted for Genocide. ” The foundation of being a Zionist is that one supports the need for a permanent statehood and home for Jewish people, that home being the ancestral land of the Jewish people — Eretz Yisrael. Theodore Herzl, known as the father of Zionism, wrote that one of the aspects that would separate our Jewish state from others is that our home would be a land of acceptance, free of the persecution found in other countries. That is what Zionism truly means and that is why I am proud to be a Zionist. Seeing what our people had to go through, correction, seeing what our people are currently facing, only emphasizes the need and desire to advocate for our Jewish homeland. The harassment I receive online, synagogues and Jewish businesses being vandalized, the intimidating and violent protests, the encampments … it is all made to make us feel frightened and unsafe. However, those who try to scare us forget: “We are one people — our enemies have made us one without our consent. Distress binds us together, and, thus united, we suddenly discover our strength. ” (The Jewish State, pamphlet published 1896 by Theodore Herzl). We are one people, standing together more resilient than ever. The love and strength that binds our community will overcome any form of hate that tries to break it. We are not going anywhere. Shayla Mostyn is a junior in the Honors College at Eastern Michigan University, major- ing in sociology with a minor in journalism. She is president of Hillel at EMU, a writer for the Eastern Echo, social media manager for the Center for Jewish Studies at EMU and is a #EAmbassador for EMU. Shayla Mostyn PURELY COMMENTARY A display at U-M’s Oct. 7 commemoration