Hilary Freeman

Hilary Freeman is a Zionist writer and journalist.

Becoming more Zionist on October 7:

Until October 7, my relationship with Israel was an ambivalent one. To me, Israel was like your slightly embarrassing uncle. He was family, and I was glad he existed, but I didn’t want to hang out with him, and I didn’t appreciate a lot of the things he did. I merely tolerated him.

That all changed when Hamas launched its murderous assault, killing 1,200 people – including one of my relatives – and kidnapping 200 others. Suddenly, like many diaspora Jews, I felt personally attacked – a visceral reaction that is hard to articulate, but which I can only describe as a re-ignition of a Jewish collective consciousness spanning centuries of persecution and pogroms. This was an existential threat, and it altered my relationship with Israel overnight.

A biographical note states:

Hilary Freeman lives in Camden Town, London with her partner and their baby daughter. Her latest YA novel, When I was Me, is published by Hot Key Books, and she has also had six books published by Piccadilly Press, including Loving Danny, Lifted and the Camden Town Tales Series. She has been shortlisted for several book awards.

Currently the agony aunt for The Jewish Chronicle, she has also dispensed advice in teen magazines, such as CosmoGirl! and online, for Youthnet and Sky.com. An award-winning journalist, she contributes regularly to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and many other newspapers, magazines and websites, and she makes regular appearances on radio and TV. When she isn’t writing, she likes singing karaoke, doodling, shopping and most things French, especially Tarte Tatin and Beaufort cheese. Although she’s only 5ft 3, she was once a leg model for a charity campaign and appeared on posters all over the London Underground.

Education

• South Hampstead High School

Affiliations

• Jewish Chronicle | GesherEU

Resources

• https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06042314
• https://www.thejc.com/life/my-daughter-and-i-were-targeted-at-her-school-for-being-zionists-ect4twn9
• https://www.thejc.com/life/how-hamas-and-its-apologists-made-me-a-true-zionist-mvql7hzv
• https://x.com/HFreemanauthor