A Letter From Israel
Dear friends and relatives, July 28-30, 2014
It’s been a while. We have hesitated writing recently because
there is really no way to explain the “situation - the matzav”
here in Israel. Yet we know the power of words, and the
unfortunate misunderstood power of images.
Having said that, we have chosen to share with you a number of
our thoughts and feelings from the past 6 weeks of horror,
sadness, anguish, pride, frustration and even joy. In no
special order.
There is evil in the world. Terror is evil, sometimes more in
what is said than what is done. Terrorists are evil. You can
stop here, because up to here, we are not being “political.”
OK, so you kept reading: Hamas is a terrorist organization. It
is evil.
Our soldiers, Tzahal, waiting to defend Israel in Gaza, and
coming out for a brief respite, are being “love-bombed.”
People are driving South with cars loaded with food, snacks,
cards with good wishes, posters, Israeli flags, ice cream,
pizzas, new underwear, toothbrushes and every thing you can
imagine.
There are pictures of soldiers in tanks that are
covered with letters written by children wishing for their
safety. At the same time some of the soldiers have asked
permission to distribute their gifts to the local residents,
who have lived for 14 years under the constant daily threat of
rocket fire from Gaza.
Israelis are deeply saddened by the civilian death toll in
Gaza. We wish it would stop. We have tried to tell and show
the world that we NEVER knowingly aim a weapon at a civilian,
UNLESS they are guarding an active rocket launching site; or
they are sitting on a bed with rockets stacked up under the
bed; or they run out to greet us with a suicide bomb strapped
under their jacket; or they climb out of a tunnel dressed in
an Israeli soldier uniform with weapons in their hands aimed
at us ; or they set a bomb then run into a waiting Red
Crescent Ambulance for their get-away; or they protect Hamas
terrorists inside their homes, in their own underground
bunkers, in every single house in a neighborhood, every house.
Tunnels, to date 32 that we know their locations, 10 we know
exist but can’t find them, and how many more? Some are 1.5
miles long and end inside a Kibbutz or small town, inside
Israel.
So far, we know there have been 4 attempts by Hamas
terrorists to infiltrate Israel and murder and kidnap innocent
Israeli men, women and children. The terrorists killed and
caught have been dressed in Israeli uniforms, carrying
multiple handcuffs and syringes to inject sleeping medicine.
We are not talking about tunnels dug in the dirt. These
tunnels are built with reinforced concrete. Some have railroad
tracks for small mining cars. Most have electricity, water,
food storage, ammunition storage, and untold number of
entrances. Their estimated cost is $1,000,000 per .6 mile. It
has taken years to build this maze of intro-connected tunnels
underground.
Even if Israel is able to destroy all these tunnels, what
about the ones we did not find?
Rocket factories have been found inside homes, schools,
mosques, stores and public buildings.
OK, here we get a little “political” again, so stop reading,
unless... UNWRA has already admitted finding 20 rockets inside
each of 3 schools they have built and run. What did they do
with the rockets? They handed them over to “local authorities,
(Hamas)” according to UNWRA rules.
Israeli children play a game, in which they hear a “boom” and
try to identify what the boom “tells them” - run for cover,
watch the sky for a rocket interception (Iron Dome), count the
number of seconds they have to run for cover from the shrapnel
which might fall out of the sky. (It varies depending on where
you live to no seconds, 15 seconds, 30, 45, 1 minute to 1 and
½ minutes to get to safety.)
The Home Front has created multiple systems to warn Israelis
of incoming rockets: sirens, beeps and locations on their cell
phones, flashing traffic lights, location numbers popping up
on every T.V. screen and being announced on every radio
station. Signs have popped up on every street directing people
to the nearest bomb shelter or “protected room,” or if you are
driving, signs telling you to pull over to the side of the
road.
Why so few deaths of Israeli civilians? Because Israel
protects it’s citizens with the Iron Dome system and bomb
shelters built in every mall, office building, hospital,
apartment house, etc. Here goes that “political” slant again.
Beware - Hamas uses their civilians, especially their
children, as “human shields” - their “Children Dome.”
Teenagers and young adults are taking off time from summer
vacations (and work), to drive to the South of Israel and run
fun activities inside the bomb shelters.
Famous artists, musicians and singers are heading to the
hospitals in the South to perform for the injured soldiers.
Famous chefs are going South to cook for the soldiers.
As you may know, Israel has a CIVILIAN army. Tzahal has very
few full time soldiers. OK, every boy and girl at age 18 is
drafted. Some religious Jews opt out, but Tzahal consists of
secular Jews, “Haredi” Jews, Moslems, Druze (who demand to be
drafted), Christians, Religious “light” Jews, - well, you get
the idea. Then we have a “reserve army” of a million citizens
who are ready to be called up for service.
A co-worker of our daughter came to Jerusalem with her
children. The children refused to go outside and play in the
park next to Rena’s office because they were afraid there
might be a siren and where would they find shelter. They live
in Tel Aviv and do not go outside to play because of the
threat of sirens (rockets).
An 8 year old boy was asked on T.V. how to solve the problem
in Gaza. He replied, “We just have to turn all of them into
Jews.”
In the North, 30,000 Israelis showed up at the funeral of a
“lone soldier” from the U.S. Then a few days later, over
30,000 Israelis showed up at the funeral of a lone soldier
from Texas, at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem.
Thousands of Israelis turned up for the funeral of an
Ethiopian Jewish soldier at Mount Herzl. The family asked that
> they be allowed their privacy, so they all walked to the house
of the Ethiopian, lining the streets for miles.
The first Israeli civilian killed by Hamas was delivering food
packages to soldiers across from Gaza. Everybody we knew
called us to make sure he did not work for us.
Israeli tanks are riding into Gaza with Coleman Ice Chests,
painted Tzahal colors, which Yashar LaChayal bought for them a
few years ago.
Last year, a female major-general in Tzahal, who has the job
of going to the house of a fallen soldier to tell the parents,
was asked in a T.V. interview, who would be good for this kind
of job. She said, “Don’t recommend anybody you love.” Last
week, her assistant showed up at her house to tell her about
the death of her own son, killed in battle in Gaza.
The man in charge of the “Southern Regional Council,” was in
Sorroco Hospital in Beersheva when they brought in his son,
wounded in Gaza. A few minutes later, when asked how his son
was doing, he replied, “My son is okay, but my people are not.
I need to be there for them.”
When asked what was the first thing soldiers asked him when
being treated for wounds, the Emergency Room Dr. replied,
“They all asked, how soon can I get back to my unit?”
The commander of the Golani 13 brigade, was wounded badly over
his eye. His face is a mess. When the reporter asked his
father if he was proud that his son was the first Golani
commander who was a Druze, the father replied, “No, I am proud
that my son was considered good enough to receive that
position.” The next day the commander threatened to sue the
army if he wasn’t released immediately to return to his unit.
Tzahal took the threat seriously, and he returned to command
his unit the same day.
And here we go political again. CNN reported rightfully that 2
Palestinian boys from Jerusalem (East, of course), were
attacked and badly beaten by a gang of 10 Israeli boys. He got
that part right. When the Police investigated the incident, it
turned out that the 2 Palestinian boys had tried to rape a
Jewish girl a few minutes earlier. CNN did not report that -
it doesn’t make good news. The 2 Palestinian boys were treated
and arrested, as were the 10 Jewish boys.
A bus load of nurses from Hadassah Eyn Kerem, drove down to
Sorroco Hospital in Beersheva to give the overworked nurses
there some free time. The Sorroco nurses wouldn’t leave the
bedside of the wounded soldiers, so the nurses doubled up on
their rounds. The nurses included 14 male nurses, and among
all of them, 13 Arab nurses.
Alida took three of the grandchildren to Jerusalem to Cinema
City. On all the roads were signs which said, “If you hear the
siren, pull your car to the side, get out, go 10 meters from
the car and lie down on your stomach with your hands over your
head.” Imagine doing that with your grandchildren.
A bride from our neighborhood is “maybe” getting married in 1
½ weeks. Her “groom” is fighting in Gaza. Another bride who
is getting married in 3 weeks is marrying a boy from Netivot,
near the Gaza border. The wedding is supposed to be in
Netivot. They do not know yet if they can get married there,
or if they need to move the wedding to a safer location.
Here in Maale Adumim we have only had two sirens go off. One
rocket did land near the outskirts of our city. How has our
lives changed?
1. We watch the news all day and night...
2. We rarely go into Jerusalem, and if we do, only in daylight
hours since the road between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem has
had several incidents of rock throwing. One rock hit a Maale
Adumim Egged bus hitting the bus driver, with severe damage to
his face - he was Arab, and saved the passengers by continuing
to drive.
3. We asked Rena to let us know if the kids are home with a
babysitter in case the siren sounds, so we could run over
there so the kids won’t be scared.
4. We do not go to the beach, Tel Aviv, or anywhere on the
coast of Israel.
5. All outdoor concerts and events have been cancelled.
6. We check in with our friends to see if their sons have been
called up and if they are okay.
7. We are deeply saddened by the reckless disregard for human
life by the terrorists, on their own people.
8. We cry watching the funerals of Israeli soldiers every
night....
We have said to the March of the Living participants, “One
does not know what is worth living for, until one decides what
is worth dying for.”
A woman who lives in the Kibbutz Nahal Oz, was notified that a
Hamas terrorist came out of the ground from a tunnel some 500
yards from her house. He was killed by Israeli soldiers in a
guard tower who spotted him coming out of the ground. When she
was asked if she would be traumatized in the future when
thinking of that moment, she replied, “I am a Holocaust
survivor from Romania. I would be traumatized if we let Hamas
think they had won.”
Yesterday was a quiet day - only 50 rockets fell on Israel,
and 5 terrorists were killed coming out of a tunnel INSIDE
ISRAEL, we didn’t know about.
We pray for peace; we pray for the safety and well being of
all people; we pray for the success of Tzahal in protecting
the Jewish people, and all citizens of Israel.
Israel is feeling more isolated in a world which equates a
terrorist entity with the only true democracy in the Middle
East.
“Stand up for what is right, even if you stand alone.”
B’Shalom,
Name Removed by me
Stand up for what is right even if you're standing alone!
Chloé Simone Valdary @cvaldary 
