Predictably, the world has flown apart after October 7th, as tribalism in both directions is driven by escalating emotions. When I post neutral accounts of horrific events on both "sides" of the divide, someone always interprets what I have done as partisanship on my part — as if I am adhering to one or the other "position" in the conflict when I am simply showing that news is underway; that someone somewhere is getting hurt or dying.

So of course, since I promised on my deathbed that if I was allowed to live, I would write what I was most afraid to write, I must complete this essay, though everyone seems to be telling me not to do so.

There is no way, I feel, for a writer to take a position on what is happening, that is simplistic or two-dimensional, though the algorithms on social media, and corrupt leaders on all sides, want us to do just that.

The tragedy is a deeply intertwined one. Media account from one "side" or the other ask you to look at narratives or images as if only one set of truths is taking place. And people are screaming at each other as if only one set of truths can be true.

But in any given conflict area there are a million places one might look at any moment, and see a multitude of injuries, deaths, fear, and great injustices felt, among people on all sides of a divide.

One can't — I can't, anyway — from the safety of America, lecture those recently and still under attack in Israel, or those facing attack in Gaza.