Remembering Ori Goldberg

Our hearts are with Ori’s family and those closest to him. We send them our deepest love as they face this heartbreaking loss, and we hold them in our thoughts as we mourn alongside them.

When we first announced Kulna, Ori reached out and offered to help, even while living with stage 4 cancer. What began as an offer of support grew into friendship, shared purpose, and a deep sense of belonging. He became our teammate, our friend, our brother.

Ori brought rare integrity, moral clarity, intellectual courage, and an extraordinary gift for words. He called genocide genocide. He refused to look away, yet never lost his capacity to be shocked by cruelty or moved by suffering. His clarity never came at the expense of his humanity.

Standing against your own society takes enormous courage. Ori did so even as he became increasingly isolated among Israelis. He told us that he had found a new home within our team. We are grateful he knew that he belonged with us, and grateful for everything he brought into that home.

Ori wanted to live. He also spoke openly about death. As his health worsened, he continued to give his energy to a future he hoped others would live to see. With Iyad El-Baghdadi, he explored visions of liberation in Israel-Palestine. With Ramy Essam and the Shefa team, he worked on trauma, healing, and spirituality, sharing deeply personal reflections on cancer and illness. He described these as the most important work he had left to do.

It was an honour to work alongside him. It was also a privilege to be trusted with some of his hardest days, to listen, to share that time, and to know him beyond his public voice. We will carry that trust with love and gratitude.

He leaves us with work we began together: podcasts, recorded conversations, essay drafts, and journals. In time, and with care for his family, we hope to share these in ways that honour his wishes, his wisdom, and his voice.

For now, we mourn. We pray for him. We hold his family, and everyone who loved him, close in our hearts.

Ori, we wish we had more time with you. Thank you for finding us, for trusting us, and for becoming our brother.

We will carry your memory into the work ahead and keep fighting for the future you believed in.

We’re not free until we’re all free. We’re not safe until we’re all safe.

-The Kulna Team