Frume Sarah's World

Writing from a 10,000 mile distance, I can’t fully comprehend the mindset of those who are living under the constant threat of terrorism. The following essay, written by the 17-year-old grandson of one of my colleagues, gives voice to his reality. It’s simplicity is both powerful and profound.

He explained his goal as follows:

My idea is to tell everyone what we feel in Israel without
any mention of politics, but as a human beings. Like if you watched the movie “A Time to Kill.” In the lawyer’s closing speech, he tells about the
brutality of what happened to the little black girl and he said something I will always remember “And now think that it was not a black girl, but your girl.” I think that sums up the way that I want to try going about with what I want to do. To show them what goes on here as people who get rockets launched at them and to not involve the politics of the struggle for Israel.

Here is Meir’s piece:

Growing up, I have learned that asking questions is a natural thing.
Little kids, as they grow older and acquire a deeper understanding of their surroundings, ask questions. Why is the sky blue? Why do bees collect pollen? How does the grass grow? This is a natural phase as people mature.

Even older people ask questions. Their questions are on a higher level, but the purpose is the same. These questions are also meant to try to get an understanding of something. What is our purpose in life? Why did my friend have to die from cancer when he was sixteen?

I live in Israel, and I am a counselor in our youth group called Bnei Akiva. The group that I counsel is in 6th grade. We try to do social
action projects in the community. One day, we went around collecting candy, books, toys and other things to put in gift packages for the children in Sderot who have to stay in bomb shelters instead of going to school because they get rockets shot at them daily from Gaza. The kids in my youth group also ask questions. “How can it be that they are in 6th grade and don’t go to school when we are in 6^th grade and do go to
school?” “Why is it that nobody does anything to help them?” “Is there anything we can do to help them?” “If we go to sit in the bomb shelters with them and play cards, will it help?” How am I, as their counselor, supposed to answer such questions?

I too have questions. In my school, there are approximately 15 kids to a
class. The school has been around for ten years, so that makes approximately 150 students who have been graduated from the school. On
our walls, two plaques commemorate dead students. One is for a student who got killed coming to school on a public bus that blew up due to a terrorist, and one is for a student who fell in Lebanon, fighting terrorism. That makes a ratio of 1:75 dead students due to terrorism. Why in my school? Does that mean that I am not supposed to take public transportation? How should I feel walking past these two plaques on a daily basis?

I am 17. I will probably start serving in the army in two years time. Some of my friends are already serving, and most of my friends have brothers in the army. That too raises questions that need answering.
What do I tell one of my friends when his brother is called in the middle of Saturday to go fight? What happens when one of my friend’s brothers doesn’t return? How am I supposed to feel knowing that I am
going to be called up to the army soon? How will I react when faced with the actual fight against terrorism and terrorists?

My questions do not all originate from my immediate surroundings (my friends, my little brothers and me), but there are constant questions a lot more grave than the ones I have been asking. Why is it that the city of Sderot can get shot at with rockets for eight years and the world
will say nothing? Why is it that kids in Sderot cannot study in school like normal kids? Why is it that playgrounds in Sderot are built with concrete so that they function as bomb shelters too? How am I supposed to feel when daily there are people crying on the news, talking about dead sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers—all dead because of terrorism? Why is it that I feel worthless, unable to do
anything?

Yes, asking questions is a natural thing in the growth of a human being, but, in my opinion, I shouldn’t have to ask these questions. My younger brother, friends and the 6th graders I counsel shouldn’t have to ask these questions. We should be asking the natural questions. Why is the sky blue? How does the grass grow?

–Meir Armon, age 17, Israel

If any more musicians give into their obligation to speak out against the matzav, I’m going to be forced to limit my listening to my dead white guys (e.g. Handel, Bach, etc).

I mentioned Brian Eno (of Roxy music fame) earlier this week. Now Annie Lennox has made it her mission to speak out against the atrocities being visited upon the innocents, calling for an end to the “slaughter and systematic murder” of Arabs living in the area.

Claiming to be horrified by the tragic civilian deaths on both sides, I have to wonder why she didn’t feel it necessary to raise her voice at any point during the past eight years that Hamas was firing upon the civilian population in Israel.

A few misconceptions require some clarification.

Proportional Response
With the number of casualties rising with every passing day, Israel is being accused of delivering a disproportionate response.

Did you know that “proportional response” is an official military term? According to the US Army Counterinsurgency Handbook,
“proportionality requires collateral damage to civilians and civilian
property not be excessive in relation to the military advantage expected to
be gained by executing the operation.”
The definition makes no mention of the sophistication of the weapons. Nor of the number of deaths. No score card of who has sustained the greatest casualties.

Over 11,000 mortars and rockets have been fired upon the civilian population of Israel these past eight years. What would be the proportional response to such egregious actions? This was not Israel’s first response to the violence nor was it the desired reaction. But the targeted assassinations of Hamas leadership have failed to prevent further qassams from killing, maiming, terrorizing the residents of Sderot.
The sole objective of Operation Cast Lead is not to kill the people of Gaza but to protect Israelis by putting a permanent end to the violence. There is no question that the death of innocent Palestinians is a tragedy, but that is not he question. The question is whether or not the Israeli response is excessive.

If the IDF had this reaction to one qassam or one katusha, the answer would be a very different one. For this reaction is in response to the thousands and thousands of rockets fired into the sovereign land of Israel.

Occupied??
The media continues to refer to the Gaza Strip as being an occupied territory but it fails to take history into consideration.

Israel technically does not occupy Gaza and the West Bank. A country cannot occupy land that it already owns. The areas in question were assigned to Israel as a part of the british Mandate established by the League of Nations and upheld by the successor organization to the League of Nations, the United Nations, under Article 49 of the UN Charter. When the British Mandate came to an end in 1948, Israel was attacked by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. When the fighting ceased in 1949, Egypt occupied Gaza and Jordan occupied the west Bank. Interestingly, these seizures of land were never recognized by the international community INCLUDING the other Arab nations. The only exceptions being great Britain and Pakistan. It came under Israeli control as a result of a defensive war in 1967 — which, under international law, it a legal means to acquire territory. (As opposed to the offensive war, which was the method by which Jordan and Egypt occupied the land in question.) In other words, Israel did not acquire the territories as part of any imperialistic campaign.

To apply the term ‘occupied’ is simply
Inaccurate and meant to be inflammatory. Given that both the Israels and Palestinians can make legitimate historical claims to these territories, a more honest and appropriate term is ‘disputed.’

Language is powerful and the misuse of words can mislead, confuse, and inflame.

אלהי, נצור לשוני מרע ושפתי נדבר מרמה.

Dear God, protect my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully. (From the daily liturgy, based on Psalm 34:14)

When do the announcements come at your shul? Right before the real praying gets started? Before aleinu? Just prior to closing song?

I am trying to imagine myself as a rabbi in Israel this Shabbat, delivering the following announcements:

*location of nearest bomb shelter
*length of time it takes to get from the sanctuary to the bomb shelter once the “tzeva adom” (code red) siren is sounded.
*the oneg, which was to be hosted by the Plonis in honour of their 63rd wedding anniversary, is cancelled as we have been advised to disperse as soon as we have completed our worship.

Of course for those civilians residing within a 10km radius of Gaza, prayer services are must be held inside the bomb shelters per the instructions of the Home Front Command.  Shabbos candles may not be lit inside the shelters so residents are advised to light their candles at home. Within a radius of between 10 and 30 kilometers, service can only be held in a building with a concrete roof, and with the participation of no more than 100 people at a time.  Within a radius of between 30 and 40 kilometers, prayers must be held in a building with a concrete roof, and with the participation of up to 300 people at a time.  Shuls without protective areas and roofs that are unsuitable for the current situation may not hold minyanim this Shabbos. Parents have been advised to leave their small children at home for their own safety.

In the event of an emergency, instructions will be aired over the radio. Because listening to the radio on Shabbos is a violation for many observant Jews, radios should be set to the “Quiet Wave. Stations on the “Quiet Wave” broadcast silence, except for when an air raid siren occurs.  

This is Jewish life in southern Israel this Shabbat. This is what the civilian population must endure as the targets of Hamas. We light our candles at home. We leave our children at home. We pray in bomb shelters. We do what we must in order to protect Judaism.

So when your rabbi makes the announcements during services this Shabbat, imagine yourself in a different place. And pray for peace.

Keyn y’hi ratzon — May this be God’s Will.

For some reason, situations in Israel motivate just about everyone to not only have an opinion but share it too. Roseanne Barr has been blogging extensively about Gaza but since she sounds completely crazy, I am hopeful that rational people won’t take her seriously.

Brian Eno is another story. The musician/music producer penned an article which appeared on Counterpunch. Not only is it extremely biased, but it is filled with inaccuracies and blatant lies.

It’s a tragedy that the Israelis – a people who must understand better than almost anybody the horrors of oppression – are now acting as oppressors.

It is unclear what Eno means by “oppressors.” As the ruling government, Hamas is responsible for the economic and social oppression in Gaza; not Israel.

As the great Jewish writer Primo Levi once remarked “Everybody has their Jews, and for the Israelis it’s the Palestinians”.

Citing Primo Levi here is misleading as Levi died in 1987. He was voicing his well-known opposition to the 1982 Lebanon War. The circumstances were quite different and there is no way to know what Levi would have thought about this particular situation.

By creating a middle Eastern version of the Warsaw ghetto they are recapitulating their own history as though they’ve forgotten it.

As I noted in an earlier post, use of Holocaust rhetoric is meant for inflammatory purposes only. The current economic and social conditions in Gaza are a direct result of the mismanagement of millions and millions of dollars in foreign aid by Hamas. And the UN-refugee camps? Who is keeping the Palestinians in them? The surrounding Arab countries refuse to come to the aid of their Palestinian brethren, preferring instead to keep them as refugees.

And by trying to paint an equivalence between the Palestinians – with their homemade rockets and stone-throwing teenagers – and themselves – with one of the most sophisticated military machines in the world – they sacrifice all credibility.

Again, Eno paints a misleading picture. Teenagers are not the only one involved on the side of Hamas. Furthermore, “homemade rockets” leaves the reader with the impression that these weapons are incapable of inflicting mortal damage. Certainly Qassams are not the most sophisticated weapons. However, they are constructed with the express intent to maim and kill. Though many of them are in fact manufactured in residential areas, the use of the term “homemade” is meant to both minimize their dangerous impact as well as portray Hamas as the military underdog. Make no mistake; the weapons fired by Hamas onto the Israeli civilian population for the past eight years are deadly.

The Israelis are a gifted and resourceful people who fully deserve the right to live in peace, but who seem intent on squandering every chance to allow that to happen.

Living under fire for the past eight years cannot be considered “squandering every chance” for peace. Let us remember that it was Hamas who broke the six-month cease-fire.

It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that this conflict serves the political and economic purposes of Israel so well that they have every interest in maintaining it.

While some have suggested that an IDF operation will have a positive effect on the upcoming elections, it is preposterous to think that this defensive action serves any economic or political purpose. Israel will continue with Operation Cast Lead until it can be assured that its civilian population is safe.

While there is fighting they can continue to build illegal settlements.

I am no apologist when it comes to the settlements and have long felt that they are an impediment to the peace process. That being said, there is no construction occurring at this time. All of Israel’s efforts are going towards the protection of her citizens.

While there is fighting they continue to receive huge quantities of military aid from the United States.

While bombing the innocent civilian population of Israel, Hamas has continued to receive millions of dollars from many of the world’s countries. Money that has been used not for establishing necessary infrastructures but for the purchase and construction of deadly weapons aimed at Israel.

And while there is fighting they can avoid looking candidly at themselves and the ruthlessness into which they are descending. Gaza is now an experiment in provocation.

Provocation? Israel has stood by for EIGHT YEARS while her children have grown up in bomb shelters! Who is provoking whom?

Stuff one and a half million people into a tiny space, stifle their access to water, electricity, food and medical treatment, destroy their livelihoods, and humiliate them regularly…and, surprise, surprise – they turn hostile.

The population density of Gaza has been bandied about quite a lot these past couple of weeks. And while there are a lot of people living in a small place, Gaza has the same population size and square mileage (less 4 square miles) than Philadelphia (city-proper)! And its population density is far less than that of the city of Manhattan. This is not meant to minimize the real population concerns. It is meant, however, to clarify and correct the claims that Gaza is the most overpopulated place on earth — a claim repeated often in the mainstream media.

As for access to necessary supplies, it is Hamas who has prevented access to food and medical treatment. For months, international humanitarian organizations have reported that there are ample food supplies in Gaza. While the current situation does make it dangerous for the civilian population to take a quick trip to the store, the IDF is now designating a three-hour safe period each day to allow Gazans to replenish their supplies. (A safe period during which time Hamas has kept up its offensive against the citizens of southern Israel.) Or, I suppose, Hamas could allow its extensive tunnel system to be used for the transport of something other than weapons. As for the electricity, Israel *continues* to supply the Gaza Strip with over 70% of its electricity. You read that correctly. Even as it is bombing the Hamas terrorists, Israel is providing necessary electricity to its citizens. Finally, Israel has always provided medical care to terrorists. I have witnessed this at both Hadassah hospital and Shaarei Tzedek hospital. This is, in fact, one of the most basic beliefs we have — the saving of a life. Even when it means that the medical team goes to any and all lengths to save the life of an individual who has blown up Israeli civilians. In the case of Gaza, Hamas (and to some extent the PA) is preventing most of the civilian victims in Gaza from accessing Israeli care, rerouting them to Egypt. Who, by the way, hasn’t appeared very enthusiastic about accepting the wounded.

Now why would you want to make that experiment? Because the hostility you provoke is the whole point. Now ‘under attack’ you can cast yourself as the victim, and call out the helicopter gunships and the F16 attack fighters and the heavy tanks and the guided missiles, and destroy yet more of the pathetic remains of infrastructure that the Palestinian state still has left. And then you can point to it as a hopeless case, unfit to govern itself, a terrorist state, a state with which you couldn’t possibly reach an accommodation.

.

The people of Gaza are responsible for electing a terrorist group as its leadership. It is irresponsible to blame Israel for the weak infrastructure given how much financial aid Israel has poured into Gaza for the express purpose for building up an infrastructure. It is in Israel’s best interest to have stable neighbours and therefore makes no sense for her to weaken it.

And then you can carry on with business as usual, quietly stealing their homeland.

When there is nothing left to say, end with an inflammatory and untrue statement. What is Eno’s suggestion? For the Israelis to pack up and leave their ancestral land? Israel has already disengaged from Gaza. Both Gaza and the West Bank are under Palestinian control. What more does Eno want? An Israel free of Israelis?

Last year, in addressing a group of Southern Californian rabbis, Rabbi Daniel Gordis said that most people tend to limit their reading to authors with whom they are in agreement. Since then, I try to expose myself to opposing points-of-view. It is usually difficult, but it helps me clarify my own views. What I cannot abide is the blatant manipulation of the truth.

When we say something, we really mean it. So when the Israeli government says that it is targeting Hamas terrorists and not the people of Gaza, it isn’t lying. Not only did Israel cease its operations for three hours in order to allow the citizens of Gaza a safe environment in which to stock up on supplies, but it plans on doing this on a daily basis. It also has continued to supply Gaza with 70% of its electricity during this operation. And as always, Israel has provided safe passage to its medical facilities AND top-rate medical care to acute Palestinian patients. Of course, Hamas is preventing the Gazans from accessing this care much of the time and is insisting on sending them to Egypt.

Who fights a war like this? Who else takes deliberate actions to ease the plight (when and where they are able) of the civilian population in the area the army is targeting?

For ongoing reports from around the web, you must head over to Jack. How he finds time to sleep is beyond me as he puts together posts several times each day.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and those who love her.