Jimbo J with Orit Tashoma and Avraham Lagasa - In the Place Where I Live

IndieCity is back, and this season is dedicated to the Gaza Envelope. Seven music videos were filmed at various places in the Gaza Envelope and one in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Check them all out here. "In the Place Where I Live" is taken from Jimbo J's latest album, which was completed just before October 7th and features texts about his life in Kibbutz Or HaNer (just outside of Sderot). Since filming this clip, he's returned to the kibbutz with his family, to the same beautiful landscape but to a very different reality. I've been thinking a lot about the families in the Gaza Envelope. In many cases, the parents grew up somewhere else but fell in love with the landscape, the laid-back atmosphere, and the opportunity to live in a community with like-minded neighbors. How aware were they of the threat from Gaza? Up until October 7th, there was a common saying that life in the area was 99% heaven and 1% hell, a peaceful life that was sometimes interrupted by a heavy round of rockets during which families often packed up and left for a quieter place in the country, usually for about a week or so. The biggest threat was tunnels leading into Israel but that had been solved by the IDF's above-and-bellow-ground barrier, and in any case, families were reassured that they were being protected by the army. Amir Tibon, who moved to Kibbutz Nachal Oz with his wife in 2014 and started a family there, describes in his moving memoir "The Gates of Gaza" not just his father's heroic journey to rescue his family on October 7th but also how life was in the kibbutz dating back to its founding in 1953. The book also gives a clear-eyed account of Israel's (and specifically Netanyahu's) relationship with Hamas and what led to this sense of quiet and security. It's still not clear how things will develop in the South, and in the North, but I doubt that families living by the border will be reassured again by "quiet will be answered with quiet".

*English subtitles are available in the video's settings

Efrat Gosh - To See the Light

In memory of the beautiful souls ruthlessly murdered on October 7th. This heartbreaking video first aired about two weeks after the massacre when the fate of so many festival-goers was still unclear. Ofir Tzarfati, who was celebrating his 27th birthday at the festival, was declared dead in late November and on December 1st the IDF announced that it had rescued his body from Gaza. Ruth Peretz, 16, born with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, was a fixture at music raves and was confirmed dead after many days of uncertainty. Inbar Heyman, 27, volunteered at the festival as a "helper", assisting those who felt unwell. In December her family was informed of her murder in captivity. Mia Schem, 22, was released in late November and has said that she can't begin her recovery until the remaining hostages return home, a statement echoed by other hostages who were released. 

Although this beautiful song wasn't released as a memorial song, it quickly became one and was often played on the radio on quiet days after terrorist attacks and at memorial ceremonies. Because of the lyrics, up until October 7th it was often associated with surviving the Holocaust and the forest that I would see in my mind when listening to it was in Eastern Europe. Now I see in my mind the Reim forest and when I listen to the lyrics I think of the hostages in the tunnels yearning to be free. We won't be able to see the light until they will be able to see the light.

For I saw my path disappear

In a tangled forest, among grove walls

And in the bleeding ground

My feet were planted, struck roots

And for a moment I could hear

Leaves teaching their song

And I wanted to rise high

To bloom with them

I knew the drops of the rain

Gathering inside me, falling under me

And the cold and desperate wind

Froze me, weighed on me

And for a moment I could touch

The edge of the gray pain

And I wanted to rise high

To see the light

To see the light

They say the sky is blue above us

Full of lights

Maybe one day I too will be able to see

To see

And I fell to the ground, silently

I closed my eyes, I sealed my heart

And I felt how I was breaking down

From all my pain, from all my loneliness

And for a moment I could run away

Like a feather on a bird's wing

And I managed to rise high

To see the light

To see the light

Peer Tasi - What Tomorrow Will Bring

It's not exactly a joyous new year. Yesterday afternoon right before heading out to the family Rosh Hashana dinner news broke that eight IDF soldiers had died in battle in Lebanon while fighting Hezbollah operatives and later in the evening we learned more about the victims who were murdered in Tuesday's terror attack at a light rail station in Jaffa. Of course, the main topic of conversation at the dinner was Iran's heavy missile attack and where it had caught us. I was at my mom's place and when the sirens began we headed with our two dogs to the stairs, trying to calm them down. They had gotten used to a siren here and there but could sense that this was clearly different. I bumped into a neighbor I always chat with and we settled into our usual small talk as if we were just waiting for the elevator and not taking cover from missiles. "They better not start with this again tomorrow, I have so much cooking to do!" she said, and at that moment I felt that things were going to be okay. As Peer Tasi sings, who knows what tomorrow will bring, we can only hope for the best and take comfort in being with our loved ones. Here's to a much better year ahead. ♥

Don't be afraid to just jump into the water

And keep one close friend

And wherever you go I'll call it home

So I live on almost every street

Don't just try to hide the longing

It will eat us from the inside

Minute by minute and then week by week

It comes when you're not waiting

I would take everything to my lungs

In the middle of the night, I'm in the lights

I just wanted to hug you

Because who knows what tomorrow will bring

I would walk even barefoot on thorns

Find you among millions of people

I just wanted to hug you

Because who knows what tomorrow will bring

To learn to fly like a bird in the sky

And to see beyond the picture

To ride on the imagination like a bicycle

To feel like for the first time

Maybe I look a bit tough on the outside

It passes slowly with the years

Minute by minute and then week by week

It comes when you're not waiting

I would take everything to my lungs

In the middle of the night, I'm in the lights

I just wanted to hug you

Because who knows what tomorrow will bring

I would walk even barefoot on thorns

Find you among millions of people

I just wanted to hug you

Because who knows what tomorrow will bring