Who are you actually helping by taking a side? asks Robi Damelin

It is perhaps a natural thing to choose a side. For Israel and Palestine, since October 7, it is the flavor of the month.

All other conflicts pale in comparison to the media interpretation of what is happening. It has created a parallel universe which pushes us to choose who to back.

Today you are for Gaza, and who could possibly blame you? Thousands of people fleeing for their life to the south, babies wrapped in little white shrouds, the result of the violence.

Children clinging to their mothers, and even a little boy insisting he will not leave for the south unless he is allowed to take his furry grey cat.

This is not the first time. It seems that since this boy was a toddler there have been wars every two or three years and no one has bothered to use cement to build a shelter near his home.

He does not experience freedom of movement, has no hope for a better future. So I ask you, what kind of adult will he become?

The Israeli children in the surrounding towns have also experienced a trauma which no doubt will affect the adults they become.

The events of October 7 when the horrifying pictures started to surface of youngsters fleeing for their lives from a music concert, hundreds not making it and scenes so vile they seemed to have been created out of hell.

Hamas running rampant in the kibbutzim on the border of Gaza, setting houses aflame and burning people to death.

My friend Vivian Silver was among them. She had been a peace advocate all her life, driving children from Gaza to hospitals in Israel. She was one of the founders of Women Wage Peace and devoted a good part of her time to supporting the Bedouin in the surrounding villages.

Thousands of bereaved families will have to live with their loss, which I can tell you never goes away. Whose side were you on that day?

So I ask you, who are you actually helping by taking a side? Will the life of Mohammed, Laila, or Bassam improve? Will Uri, or Tomer or Mira change?

So, I beg you, if you cannot become part of the solution and not the problem, leave us alone, all you are doing is importing our conflict into your country and creating hatred between Muslims and Jews.

When the soldiers came to tell me that my son David had been killed by a Palestinian sniper, one of the first things I said was, “You may not kill anyone in the name of my son."

I must have known instinctively that there is no revenge for a lost loved one and that anything I could do would not bring David back.

I chose instead to try to prevent other families, particularly mothers from experiencing a pain which rips a hole in the heart that never heals.

It is for this reason I will be coming to London to join a vigil this Sunday – the first of its kind – where bereaved Israelis and Palestinians will come together to show what we have in common is more than that which divides us.

Those who believe in a better future free of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, please join us.

Building Bridges for Peace: Together for Humanity will take place at 3pm on December 3, opposite Downing Street. For more details go to www.togetherforhumanity.co.uk