I grew up in Moshav Yesha in the Eshkol Regional Council. On the cursed Shabbat, October 7th 2023, I lost many friends from the Moshav and the area. My best friend, the late Gil Avital, a member of the Moshav civilian standby squad, was killed while protecting the Moshav from attack. Then came the news of many more people I know who were murdered, injured, kidnapped, and their homes burned down... My family members and friends left their homes as refugees and are still scattered all around the country, as the days pass and no comfort is offered. Since the cursed Shabbat, the area and the house where I grew up, the landscape of my childhood and youth, has changed its face forever. Yesha is a small moshav between Kibbutz Magen and Kibbutz Kerem Shalom on Route 232.

During the first weeks of the war, the initial shock and grief led me to draw difficult illustrations (1-4) that are not typical of my naïve/optimistic style. Illustrations that depicted the depth of my pain and shock personally, and ours collectively, as people from the area. the last two illustrations (5-6) try to find the good despite this darkness of this period. The drawing style of "mandala" and repetition was and still is part of the healing process for me. The repetitiveness of painting for hours is meditative and helps me process the trauma. I wish we could find a way to the recovery and prosperity of the Western Negev and peace in our beloved country.