The morning brought the first hint of summer. The sea, flattened beneath a breezeless sky, was translucent. There seemed no horizon.

My granddaughter padded into my room, sat on my bed and solemnly studied the view beyond the window.

Relatives and friends of Israeli citizens taken hostage by Hamas call for their return. Credit: AP

“Pa,” she said in the voice that tells me she is about to reveal something that only the unfiltered mind of a four-year-old might conjure. “Somebody stole the sea.”

How could I respond?

My granddaughter’s perception of an optical illusion was profound. The weeks of wind and waves and white-caps had been stolen away by a perfectly still morning.

There are much worse things being snatched from children than the mood of the sea.

Israelis choke with grief, their children killed, orphaned or stolen as hostages by the pitiless terrorists of Hamas two months ago.

In the subsequent invasion of Gaza by the relentless Israeli Defence Forces, Palestinian children are being killed, orphaned, rendered homeless and mutilated, their agony compounded by a cruel lack of medical supplies.

The TV at home is tuned to Bluey instead of the news when my granddaughter is around.

QOSHE - There are worse things stolen from children than the colour of the sea - Tony Wright
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There are worse things stolen from children than the colour of the sea

7 0
08.12.2023

The morning brought the first hint of summer. The sea, flattened beneath a breezeless sky, was translucent. There seemed no horizon.

My granddaughter padded into my room, sat on my bed and solemnly studied the view beyond the window.

Relatives and friends of Israeli citizens taken hostage by Hamas call........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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