StandWithUs Solidarity Mission 2006
Israel
The StandWithUs Solidarity mission is now in Israel and are delighted to be here,
showing support for the country during these most troublesome days.
Our first two days are in Tel Aviv, where the beaches are busy and the restaurants
are full, and one wouldn’t know that the country is at war. Unless, of
course, you turn on the news. The Israeli spirit is ever positive and strong,
about as impressive as one can imagine, accepting that this is a time for meeting
great challenges. We met with a group of children from Haifa today whose first
comments were more about coping with the stress and less about the stress itself.
When pressed, however, it’s clear that the constant bombardment is taking
its predictable toll. We will be going up to Haifa as part of this trip but for
now, we began in Tel Aviv.
We began our program in the sky from a small and informal helicopter pad in the
countryside not far from Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv. An air force general took
the group on a chopper ride of Israel’s vulnerable “waist” – the
nine miles or so between the “Green Line” border of Israel on the
West Bank (Samaria) and the Mediterranean coast at Netanya.
Shmulik, as everyone called him, showed the group how “the fence” has
succeeded in cutting down suicide bombings and threats of attacks from the Arab
town of Qalqilya. Running right alongside Israel’s main freeway to the
north of the country, Route Six, at some points, “the fence” is indeed
a wall where the boundary runs very close to the freeway and thus would make
driving hazardous if there were any shooting. Avihu, the Israel-based coordinator
of StandWithUs, pointed out that less than 5% of “the fence” is actually
a wall. Elsewhere it is a metal fence with a sand border to indicate footprints
from would-be intruders and a tarmac patrol road. The helicopter tour, after
flying low and close to the Israeli side of the fence, then headed north before
turning towards the coast on the outskirts of the town of Netanya. Shmulik pointed
out major housing construction projects that showed the town’s growth and
dynamism. Many of the new home purchasers in Netanya, the general told us, were
recent olim (“immigrants”) from France.
Next, the group had an opportunity to see first-hand where many of the emergency
donations to StandWithUs were being spent. Today, for example, 200 children from
the shelter-bound communities of Haifa, for weeks under rocket fire from South
Lebanon, were bused down to spend a day at Superland, Tel Aviv’s wonderful
amusement part. Against a backdrop of roller-coasters and carousels, the children,
wearing blue tee-shirts they had been given, expressed their appreciation for
the outing that they were given, helping them to feel a sense of normalcy.. Danna
Turbahan, 16 year old resident from Haifa explained, “It is not easy to
live like this. My father is in the army and in action. It is not easy to see
soldiers getting killed.” As part of this group of 200 children, approximately
50 were Bedouin children also brought down to the amusement park from a village
called Tuba Zungaria, near Rosh Pina. All the children enjoyed ice cream, pizza,
soda, tee shirts, and endless rides in the park. Our mission participants were
able to give out the pizza to the children and exchange smiles and words of hope
and support.
After looking after the interests of children, StandWithUs took some wounded
solders undergoing rehabilitation at Tel Hashomer hospital, out to lunch. Tel
Hashomer hospital, is Israel’s premier hospital for physical and mental
rehabilitation. After lunch our group presented DVD players, bought by SWU contributions,
to injured soldiers, including those who had come to speak of their experiences
at the lunch. We expressed our gratitude to the soldiers for their courage and
commitment to the defense of Israel. In response, the soldiers were visibly moved.
After our hospital visit, we met with a Druze officer, Lieutenant Shady, only
23 years old, who is the regional officer for Palestinian civilian affairs. He
explained how a tunnel had been built by the IDF at a cost of 11 million shekels
(approximately $2.75 million) to connect Qalqilya to a nearby Palestinian community
that the construction of “the fence” would otherwise have kept apart.
He also emphasized how difficult it was for young, recently trained soldiers
to make the judgment calls needed to ensure minimum civilian casualties when
they were under fire from terrorists. In several cases, he indicated, soldiers
had taken casualties, even deaths, refraining from firing on targets amid civilians,
especially among women civilians. In spite of great risk and the tremendous pressure
on Israel, that professionalism and sensitivity epitomizes the country as a whole.