Riding the waves, Gaza border survivors meet fears head on by learning to surf

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Title : Riding the waves, Gaza border survivors meet fears head on by learning to surf
Link : Riding the waves, Gaza border survivors meet fears head on by learning to surf

One in three survivors of the massacre at Nir Oz are surfing with HaGal Sheli, which has served thousands of Gaza border locals and recently opened a center at Zikim Beach.

One stormy day, months after Rotem Lev Ari spent 12 hours hiding from Hamas terrorists in a safe room with her partner and two young children, she went to the beach with her surfboard. Lev Ari, still learning the sport, didn’t want the rain to stop her. But when a teacher told her to take a break, it made her realize something pivotal about how she had processed the experience of October 7, 2023.

“I was fighting the waves, determined to beat them,” she recalled to The Times of Israel. “A surf guide said, ‘You know, you can come out of the sea and go back in again later.'” She continued, “I got out and said to myself, ‘I’m not in the protected room anymore, and nobody’s shooting at me.’ The fact I could come out helped me repair, to understand that life doesn’t have to be just about war, and that we can move forward.”

A big part of moving forward, for Lev Ari and other survivors of October 7, has been learning to surf with the HaGal Sheli (My Wave) nonprofit, which offers trauma therapy through surfing. Originally founded to serve at-risk youth, the organization has helped thousands of Gaza border residents process the impact of October 7, beginning in the days after the onslaught. It is now increasing its capacity in the south and inaugurating a new surf center at Zikim Beach, a site of the massacre that reopened to bathers last month.

“Riding the waves helps you to be present in the moment and understand that after every fall, you can get back up again,” said co-founder Yaron Waksman. “There are all the reasons for mourning and crashing, and saying ‘Why me?’ and there’s room for that, but the waves will keep coming, like opportunities, and you can choose whether to grab them, to act, to try.” (Ed note: "Let's go surfing now, everybody's learning how..." And it's proving to be great therapy. Dude, surf's up!) (Read More)