Ben Carasso returns with a message for Jewish children

“Our childhood is not a normal childhood if it’s waking up a couple of times a night because of sirens. It’s being afraid that the rocket might fall on your house any second. Friends losing their parents, their siblings losing your friends. This is our childhood.”

That is how 11-year-old Ben Carasso described growing up in Israel, when talking to The AJN. 

Carasso, known as the “Spokeskid”, is back in Australia to mark the third anniversary of October 7, just months after his first trip in March.

Carasso started posting on social media after a friend’s father went missing at the Nova music festival and was later found to have been killed.

Speaking to The AJN in March, he said he was sharing his story “so the whole world understands what kind of childhood we have”.

He explained he has lived through five military operations since he was born. And that was before October 7.

On the morning of the attack, his family was on a Simchat Torah holiday near Israel’s northern border. They fled home under rocket fire. It’s a part of his story that Carasso hasn’t yet shared properly. 

“I remember how I came home and it was so scary. Nobody was on the streets,” he told The AJN.

The next day, his friend Yahav Yablonka, from the border city of Kiryat Shmona, rang to say his family was being evacuated. 

It was on his first visit to Australia that he began hearing from Jewish children here. He met children and teenagers who had experienced antisemitism but rarely spoke about it. One of them was Summer Britvan, whose 10-year-old sister Matilda was killed in the Chanukah massacre at Bondi Beach.

“I met so many children and teens who experienced lots and lots of antisemitism and they didn’t talk about it at all,” Carasso recalled. “So when a child at their eye level came and said, ‘I experienced antisemitism’, they felt they could tell me more, because I understand it the same way. So I saw how important it is that I come here.”

He and Britvan will meet again during this visit.

“I asked her to join me for the last minute of one of my speeches, so together we can shout our message, the message of the Israeli and Jewish children, that we both suffer from antisemitism and it’s not talked about at all,” he said.

Carasso will also meet Jewish children who are running 7km to support Israeli children affected by trauma in the north of Israel.

“For me, when I heard about this project, I was really, really happy about it,” he said. “I call it children for children. I think it’s an amazing project.”

When asked how adults can help the children in their lives, Carasso has a message for them too.

“Ask them, listen to them and try to see what they can [do to] help,” Carasso said. “[Understand that this is] not a normal childhood [for] an entire generation of Israeli and Jewish children … help us build a better future. This is what we’re fighting now. Building a better future for the next generations and a better world.” 

Carasso also said that broader society needs to understand that there are real people behind the stories and headlines, and real children who are being impacted by everything going on around the world. 

And for Jewish children across Australia, for Carasso, it’s about being proud and finding your voice.

“Be proud of being Jewish. Be proud of your religion. And stand strong. Don’t be afraid to use your voice.”

He finished the interview with a message for the whole community.

“To all the Jewish community here in Australia, stand strong. Unite together. Don’t be afraid to use your voice. Together we will win. Am Yisrael Chai.”