Eastertide reflection – what is ‘hope’ right now?

29 May 2025, The Tablet

Relatives of seven Palestinians killed by an Israeli airstrike on Sabra in Gaza City last week

ALAmy/Imago, Omar Ashtawy

In the face of death, cruelty and suffering in Gaza, a Catholic priest, the son of Jewish parents who fled Nazi Germany and found refuge in South Africa, searches for a hope rooted in the memory of past breakthroughs

The Israeli army continued its bombardment of Khan Younis last Saturday. In the bombing, Alaa al-Najjar, who was at work, lost nine of her 10 children: Sidar, Luqman, Sadin, Riwal, Ruslan, Jubran, Hawa, Rakan and Yahya. Her only surviving son, Adam, and her husband Hamdi, were critically wounded. I share these words with you under their gaze.

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