On the Ground in Israel A personal view of our efforts in Israel from Amir Shacham, UJC MetroWest Director of Israel Operations January 7, 2009

More Stories from the Front Line

• On Saturday evening at sunset, our children, neighbors and friends — the IDF ground forces — started to march into Gaza. This is the second, more meaningful, and highly dangerous phase of operation Cast Lead. I will repeat what a vast majority of Israelis feel: This is an operation that was forced on us. Every country would do the same. Our hearts are breaking to see the casualties of innocent people and the massive damage to Gaza, but we can not tolerate an “Iranian fundamentalist, terrorist brigade” sitting on our southern border and continuously launching missiles on our cities. We needed, just had to, change the reality and create a new future for both sides.
  
  
• On Sunday morning, President Shimon Peres invited to his residence in Jerusalem a group of high school students from the bombarded cities. Since there are no classes being conducted in the south now, he volunteered to take up his old hobby of teaching and gave them a class on civil rights and Jewish history. In a very “Peres-like” way, he opened his lesson with the following illustration: “When I saw the ground forces last night marching into Gaza,” said Peres, “I couldn’t ignore the big ‘night-vision devices’ that the commanders were wearing on their eyes and foreheads. Although the immediate purpose of these devices is obviously to lead the forces in the dark, they are also symbolically leading us all, helping us to look for a better future in this darkness.” So true.
  
  
• The first IDF casualty of operation Cast Lead was Lutfi Nasser Al Din (38), a Druze staff sergeant from the Nachal Oz army base. I wrote briefly about him in my last report. Since then, there has been another Druze casualty. The story of Lutfi is the story of the Druze community in Israel. He was named after his uncle Lutfi Naser Al Din, who had been killed, as an IDF soldier, just few weeks before in the Jordan Valley. One of the main pillars of the Druze religion is reincarnation. They truly believe that whenever a Druze person dies, his soul is reincarnated into a new-born Druze. Lutfi the uncle and Lutfi the nephew were one soul and had the same destiny. Amel Naser Al Din, the father and grandfather of the Lutfis, is a leader of the Druze community, a former Likud Knesset member, and the chair of the Druze fallen soldiers society. He lost two of his sons in wars, and now his grandson. Just a day before his recent loss, he wrote a letter of support and encouragement to the minister of defense. This is the essence of the “blood covenant” between the Druze and the Jews in this country.
  
  
• I mentioned in my previous report that — as in other modern wars, so also this time — the front becomes home and the home becomes front. The best demonstration of this is the story of the Cohen family from Ashdod. Last Thursday, a Grad missile directly hit their apartment and destroyed it. The lives of Yael, her mother, and Yael’s baby were miraculously saved when they found shelter in the staircase. The husband, Rafi, a major in the Golani Brigade, heard the news while he was stationed near Gaza and rushed to Ashdod to hug his family before he went back to his troops. Two days later when his platoon entered Gaza, Rafi was hit by a Hamas mortar shell and was badly wounded. Yael rushed to the hospital to hug him before his surgery, and she said that, after what they already had gone through, she is 100 percent sure he will be all right. Rafi Cohen indeed is doing much better.
  
  
• About a year ago, a few families from our MetroWest community visited Kibbutz Erez and saw that the administration building of the Kibbutz was not yet protected. Within days, the Shedlin, Wieseneck, Wishnow, and Halpert families collected the money needed and sent it here, and a safe room was built in record time. Now this room is used as the main Kibbutz emergency headquarters. It is busy with soldiers from the home front command and Kibbutz leadership, trying to deal with the emerging needs of the situation. On Saturday, I received a voice mail from Alon Schuster, mayor of the Sha’ar Hanegev: “Shabbat Shalom, Amir. I am now in Erez, standing in front of the administration building security room. Kol Hakavod to UJC MetroWest for the vision and the ability to provide Erez with this needed room.” Later, on the phone, Alon read for me the wording that the four families put on the plaque: “May he who creates peace in the spheres create peace for us and for all Israel.
  
  
• Tuesday, UJC MetroWest-Israel staff — Michal Zur and I — visited our partners in Sha’ar Hanegev and Ofakim. We came to encourage, and we came out encouraged. The spirit is high, the regions are functioning, and there is a lot of governmental and official support. However, what was most impressive are the support and solidarity they are getting from hundreds of thousands of volunteers, both those coming there to help in spite of the danger and those opening their homes and organizations to host and create respite for families and kids. UJC MetroWest can take great pride in the one community — our own microcosm of partnerships — that we have created among the regions connected to us. I reported in my previous note about the fact that Rishon Letzion “adopted” Ofakim, and many of their people are working there intensely. During my visit in Ofakim, I heard so much praise for what they are doing there, and the name Rachel Eshel (Rishon’s liaison to Ofakim) was mentioned with great admiration.

The gush garbage track and mayor Goldstein.

The administration building security room in Kibbutz Erez.

• But this is only the appetizer of the UJC MetroWest connection. When I entered Ofakim, I saw the most surreal scene: a huge trash truck collecting Ofakim’s garbage. The sign on the truck read: “The Regional Council of Gush Etzion.” After checking twice, I positively identified among the garbage workers Shaul Goldstein, mayor of The Gush. Shaul joined forces with Tzvikah Force (Mayor Greengold of Ofakim) to make the town look better. They both believe that this is very important to the spirit of the residents, especially in times of emergency. The relationships between “our” mayors in Israel are something that we need to cherish. There is nothing like it in the world. When we add to it the fact that a solidarity mission from UJC is going to be here next week, we can proudly say: this is Jewish Peoplehood at its best.

Drishat Shalom

Amir

You can email Amir with your comments.

---

to receive "On the Ground in Israel" via e-mail.

On the Ground archive

• January 2, 2009
• December 23, 2008
• December 9, 2008
• November 24, 2008
• November 4, 2008
• October 23, 2008
• October 6, 2008
• September 16, 2008
• September 2, 2008
• August 11, 2008
• July 28, 2008
• July 15, 2008
• July 1, 2008
• June 6, 2008
• May 26, 2008
• May 12, 2008
• April 28, 2008
• April 14, 2008
• March 31, 2008
• March 17, 2008
• March 3, 2008
• February 13, 2008