How Did it Feel When...October 7th Happened?

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This is a part of the "How did it feel when...?" series where I write about how certain events and experiences on the road made me feel. In this series, I hope to provide a raw, authentic representation of my thoughts and feelings on the road, and through them I hope to inspire others to have their own.

This post discusses the on-going conflict in Gaza, and was originally written on December 6th. It is not a political commentary or call for action, although I necessarily incorporate some of the political discussion due to the nature of the conflict.

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On 7 October 2023, Hamas, an Iranian-backed terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip, part of the disputed / occupied Palestinian territories (depending on your point of view), launched a coordinated attack against Israel. It took over 200 Israeli citizens hostage, murdered children at a festival, and launched over 5,000 rockets (based on Hamas's statements) indiscriminately into Israeli population centers. It was a large-scale terrorist attack the likes of which the world had not seen in many years.

Jo and I were in England when this attack went down, and it certainly affected the trajectory of The Great Gallivanting.

Our Original Plan

Since we first decided to go on The Great Gallivanting, Jo and I wanted to spend Christmas in Israel. We thought it would be really cool to be in Christ's homeland on the Holy holiday. We knew for sure we wanted to at least go to Jerusalem, but were going to go to Bethlehem if we could manage it.

We'd told all of our friends and family that we didn't have much of a plan for our trip around the world, but we knew for sure where we would be on the 25th of December. Unfortunately, on October 7th, while we were visiting Jo's cousin in England, Hamas launched an abhorrent attack on Israel, ushering in yet another armed conflict in Israel.

Initial Reactions

We were both shocked at first. Social media had exploded in the 18 years since the Second Intifada, and we were both solid Instagram users by this point on the trip. We were bombarded with images, videos, and stories in real time. Our trusted social media news sources were outpacing the mainstream media, and we couldn't believe what we were seeing.

That said, the Second Intifada ended in 2005. While I was much too young to be affected by it, I certainly remembered the atmosphere in my home town. There was a lot of fear of the U.S. getting drawn into yet another war in the Middle East right as the Iraq Civil War was ramping up. Luckily, that never happened. In the intervening years between then and now, there have been many occassional flare-ups between Palestinian militant groups. None of them had the same feel or fear behind them, and they all ended relatively quickly.

After a day or two, my impression was simple: this conflict would probably fizzle out in a few days, maybe two weeks at the most, unless Hamas declared a Third Intifada. I was not at all worried that our Christmas plans would be derailed.

Three Weeks on....

Well...I don't know if I would say I was wrong, but I was certainly quite mistaken. Hamas never called for the Third Intifada, but that didn't seem to matter. Hamas held onto the hostages it took, Netanyahu's government declared war on Hamas, and international political tensions exploded as the Israeli Defence Forces bombarded Gaza day and night, reportedly targeting Hamas infrastructure, weapons caches, and leadership.

By the time Jo and I made it to Agadir, we were certain our plans had changed. We'd seen the synagogues under heavy police protection in Marrakech, and there was no end to the conflict in sight. To put it mildly, we were bummed.

I was not just bummed we wouldn't be going to Israel for Christmas but for everything that this conflict brought. I, personally, have lost friends, because I would not issue blanket condemnations or all-encompassing declarations for or against one side or the other. I eventually started unfollowing certain social media channels because they became so toxically partisan. I watched as no one was willing to have any sort of legitimate discourse on the subject, which ripped an even bigger hole in America's political and social fabric. Suddenly you were either a Zionist or a proponent of terrorism. Those of us who were neither were cast into both categories, depending on who you were talking to.

And, taking a step back, I simply could not (and cannot) believe that incessant bombardment, indiscriminate rocketing of civilian populations, and executing children in cold blood is what God intended when he guided His chosen people to the Promised Land.

Parting Thoughts: The Unfortunate Realities

I left my entire security career behind when I left for The Great Gallivanting. I had some serious issues from nine years fully immersed in the minds, actions, and countering of terrorists, groups, and their ideologies. I wanted to change my life for the better and get away from all of that.

I decided to stick to that. I started unfollowing accounts and channels which became politically toxic. As much as I supported them, especially their on-the-ground perspective of various topics, I could not continue to be bombarded with what I was seeing.

I am sure I am not the only one. In the security world, we called it "threat fatigue." Eventually, you become numb to it all, and the emotional appeal goes away. As unfortunate as it is for the innocent Palestinians, that's what happened. The initial strong responses gave way to muted diplomacy and the 24-hour news cycle as the election year approached. To the United States, the most influential superpower in the world, there were simply other, more-pressing political fish to fry.

The same was true in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and others. The fact on the ground is these countries were not (and are not) willing to risk their Western tourism dollars over the Palestinian peoples' plight. Jordan declared they would not send in forces to support the Palestinians, and Egypt refused (and continues to refuse) to take in Palestinian refugees. States act in their own best interest, and drawing the United States' ire over a designated terrorist group (Hamas) was simply not a realistic option.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings on this as a traveler. On the one hand, as a citizen of the world, I want world leaders to come together, condemn Hamas, coerce Netanyahu to stop his incessant (nee indiscriminate) bombardment, and take a moral stand against terrorism and the concept of total war. This would probably mean that I, as an American, wouldn't be able to travel to several different countries as the high-level diplomacy sorted itself out.

At the same time, I am writing this post in Egypt after being here for two weeks. I'm going to be spending at least the next month in the Middle East right up against the conflict, and I am dead set against changing my travel plans. I am selfishly glad that the world hasn't responded as I hope they would, because I can keep on the adventure.