Writing the Wound of War: John Kiss in the Novel Under The Floorboard

On October 7th, 2023, John Kiss, a transgender artist and budding author, found herself at home in Tel Aviv, preparing for a lecture about her art. The atmosphere was typical of the moments leading up to a talk: a mix of excitement, anticipation, and a desire to connect with an audience.

Kiss was with her 7-year-old daughter, Jasmine, engaged in the final touches of her lecture preparations. But that ordinary day was abruptly interrupted when the blare of air raid sirens filled the air, signaling an immediate crisis.

The loud, terrifying wail of the sirens shattered the calm. In an instant, the normal rhythm of life was replaced by an overwhelming sense of urgency and fear. The attack marked the beginning of a traumatic period for Kiss and her daughter, one that would transform their lives in ways they could not have imagined.

As the conflict unfolded in southern Israel and Gaza, Kiss and Jasmine spent days huddled in a bomb shelter, overwhelmed by the cacophony of explosions and the shaking ground beneath them. Anxiety hung in the air as they grappled with the uncertainty of what was to come.

The terror they experienced was not only physical but deeply emotional. “I didn’t want my daughter to endure the same traumatic experiences I did,” Kiss said.

While the explosions roared outside, Kiss did her best to shield her daughter from the immediate horrors of war. They found solace in small moments: dancing, sharing sweets, and playing games. These acts of normalcy, in the face of unimaginable fear, provided brief moments of distraction.

The attack, though shocking in its intensity, was not an isolated event but rather the latest chapter in a long and painful history of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. This violence, deeply rooted in decades of struggle, loss, and unfulfilled dreams of peace, has left an indelible mark on the region. For Kiss, the scars of conflict were not new. She recalls growing up during the 1990s Gulf War, when the fear of terrorism was a daily reality, and the necessity of wearing gas masks became ingrained in everyday life.

“This experience taught me to hate Arabs,” Kiss admitted. But it was a transformative experience at the age of 11 that began to change her perspective. She attended an art camp that brought Jewish and Arab children together—a rare opportunity for connection.

“Spending a weekend with Arab kids, painting together, laughing… I started seeing how much we have in common,” she said. This pivotal moment marked the beginning of her commitment to bridging the divide between the two communities. The shared struggles of Palestinians and Jews—displacement, violence, and the longing for safety—became central to her understanding of the conflict.

This realization led Kiss to a lifelong journey of peacebuilding. She pursued education focused on peace efforts, culminating in her attendance at the United World College, an institution dedicated to fostering global understanding among diverse youth. Returning to Israel, Kiss’s work shifted beyond the personal to the political, becoming a passionate advocate for both peace and transgender rights.

“As a transgender activist, I see the fight for peace as inextricably linked to the fight for equality,” she explains. “We cannot have peace without justice, and we cannot have justice without inclusion.” Her own experience as a transgender woman, navigating societal rejection and the fight for recognition, has deepened her understanding of the importance of embracing diversity and fostering acceptance.

Kiss’s activism found expression through her art, especially in her collaboration with the Bereaved Families Forum for Peace, an organization dedicated to fostering mutual understanding through shared stories of loss.

It was during this period that Kiss created the mural titled, Peace Kids in Tel Aviv, a striking piece featuring children from both Israeli and Palestinian backgrounds playing together. “Art was my way to speak to people, to push for peace,” she says. The mural symbolizes a hopeful vision of a future where differences are celebrated rather than feared.

Despite the embrace of the art world, Kiss felt a sense of unfulfillment. She turned to writing, seeking a deeper way to engage with the themes of peace, conflict, and human connection. “Writing gave me a new way to explore and express the complexities of the world,” she says. It was in writing that Kiss found a new channel for her activism, one that allowed her to delve into the emotional and psychological dimensions of conflict.

The October 7th attack, which exacerbated the already fragile relations between Israeli and Arab communities, pushed Kiss to return to her manuscript, Under the Floorboards. Set against the harrowing backdrop of Nazi-occupied Poland, the novel follows a young Jewish boy hiding beneath the floorboards of a Christian family’s home.

Through this story, Kiss explores themes of survival, resilience, and the enduring power of human connection during times of unimaginable despair. “Children are the future of the peace movement,” Kiss says, emphasizing the role of the next generation in healing and rebuilding. Her novel highlights the purity and openness that children bring to relationships across divides, underscoring her belief that peace can be cultivated from a young age.

In the wake of the violence, Kiss took action in her community. She organized a “Free Hugs” event in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square, an attempt to offer comfort and healing in the face of widespread grief and distrust. “People took the offer, and many cried in my arms,” she recalled. “It was cathartic, healing, and devastating at the same time.”

Amid the turmoil, Kiss’s message remains one of hope. “Much like the civil rights movement began to close the divide between Blacks and Whites in America, so too is a grassroots movement beginning to create a new future for the children of the Middle East,” she says. She points to organizations like Yad BeYad, a bilingual school where Jewish and Arab children learn together, as a model for what is possible in the region.

Kiss’s dream for the future is clear: a world where children from different backgrounds can grow up without the burden of fear, hatred, or division. Through her art, activism, and writing, she seeks to make that vision a reality, lighting the way toward a more peaceful and just world for generations to come.