Was it really only 29 days ago that I began writing these daily notes? I had been walking along the curved path around Lake Merritt and listening to an article about the Roman conquest of Judea, like you do. I had been looking up the date when the Romans officially razed the second temple. I needed names and dates. I thought then and keep thinking facts matter. And yet, we’ve learned that the facts don’t matter to the right, and I’m learning they don’t matter to some on the left. Part of it, I think, is the emotional trip a person takes, and how many resources it would take them to journey back from it.

Is this why people post images and videos of Lebanon before verifying whether or not they are accurate? Is this why groups of masked protesters can call for the death of israelis? We began with freedom from capitalism by any means necessary, and it seems now that message has been warped into any number of targets. It worries me.

Today I walked again by the curve of the lake, to the half arc of concrete where people stop to drink coffee or eat mustard and cheese sandwiches, or a man takes off his shoes to feel the grass. He watches from the back as I sit at the front on the ground. The sun is a noonday sun, and it’s painful on my pale arms as they press the butterflies over the graffiti. Only the part that spits on peace. The butterflies float over the paint to where I’ve left the words Free Palestine because I do want Palestine to be free.

I don’t know how so many mistruths coalesced. I know it has been gathering for a long time, and I did not even notice. And now I am trying to help put out a conflagration that better people than me have not been able to combat for thousands of years.

Today I learned about micro energy grids in Israel. Like most technological advancements there, micro energy grids have received concentrated attention and capital because of war. While it used to be the threat of Egypt and Jordan, Israel has long since signed peace treaties with them. Hamas took up the crusade along with Hezbollah and numerous other small militias funded by the IRGC.

I have never heard the word Zionist or the term Zionist Entity more in my life as a Jew than I have this year, and it still sounds clownish to me. I cannot hear it without thinking someone is joking, right?

But these things have a life of their own. And surviving as a member of several minority groups I must learn both not to be shocked by the duplicity while also never giving up the fight.

Micro energy grids in Israel are being pioneered by a specific kibbutz in the north, which is a hilly region with no arable land.

Kibbutz Ma’ale Gilboa launched a pilot program this year for what they’re calling an energy island. Their goal is to ensure energy stability in the event that the country’s national energy grid is damaged by rockets or other attacks. Ma’ale Gilboa uses an array of renewable energy, including wind turbines, solar and a huge dome storing biogas to power its grid.

Israel’s overall goal is to support communities in becoming independent from the country’s energy grid much in the same way it has helped build bomb shelters and safe rooms. This is particularly important in border communities who face daily rocket barrages that threaten the above ground energy grid.

While the attacks and the war has sped up the need for realizing micro grids, the expensive pilot program will provide energy-insecure countries around the world with a free proof of concept. So while the call for destruction is loud, the urge to preserve and build is stronger. This gives me hope. If we can’t win everyone over to peace, we can find ways to thrive that empower the average community. Micro grids of light and hope.

A reminder: Deligitimizing Jewish or Palestinian connections to the homeland is a bad look. Peace is the right look. Let’s focus on that.