Diary of a Kibbutz. Together we are stronger

Dear readers, another week has passed without anything being particularly resolved or without a major paradigm shift. Anxiety continues to hover over the region, either because there has been no major news about the release of those kidnapped (except for the confirmation of the death of a soldier in captivity, and the discovery of two bodies of civilians believed to be in the hands of Hamas) or due to the gradual escalation of military activity emerging on the borders with Lebanon and Syria by Hezbollah and small groups of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants.

Audiovisual evidence of crimes by these terrorist groups is mounting, in particular those committed against ‘their’ people in Gaza, whether in the streets, hospitals, schools and other public places. Media outlets associated with various Islamic groups blatantly distort the facts, literally turning their heads to testimonies from innocent civilians in Gaza taking shelter in hospitals when they mention that Hamas operatives “hide among the crowd”, or even denying the veracity of the horrors reported in Israel.

School programs, including those carried out in United Nations-funded schools, that teach children how suicide bombers against Zionists should be glorified; that the destiny of the Israelite Jews is their extermination; that the ‘martyrs’ who fight against the ‘infidels’ will have a place in paradise and the right to a reward; who use Chemistry classes to teach water and salt solutions during hunger strikes to Palestinian prisoners, etc. And, with this, evidence of statements on social media by their teachers ‘glorifying’ the horrendous acts committed. The analysis of these school programs was carried out by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education {IMPACT-SE}, a non-profit organization that disseminates school programs from the 1st to the 12th year of schooling in accordance with educational principles and rights human rights defended in UNESCO and United Nations declarations, and can be found on their website (impact-se.org), so I leave it to you the opportunity to see and read it with your own eyes.

As much responsibility as Israeli forces have for the safety of innocent civilians in Gaza who are close to the combat zones (since for the people who govern them, this is by far the last priority), and for avoiding unnecessary escalation in areas in the West Bank (not necessarily just now, but at times in the recent past), I hope that people become informed and realize that we cannot trust radical organizations like Hamas to be able to build a relationship of peace and prosperity for both peoples. It is no longer easy between two democratic (and increasingly nationalist) governments, given the number of conflicts in recent years, let alone this… And remember that the war of the State of Israel is not against Palestinian civilians who want to educate their children to be upstanding human beings and live a dignified life, but against those whose ultimate purpose is to cause pain and suffering to the ‘Zionist occupation’ and to all those who suffer throughout the world from the singular attacks of their supporters.

Throughout these forty days of tragedy, I have heard and read the saddest stories of massacre, of the trauma these people went through while in their protected rooms, of the broken heart that is carried in their chest. This week, my wife went to the memorial for a family whose 22-year-old son was killed while trying to escape the music festival in Re’im, consoling his parents and grandparents. This young man’s grandmother is a Holocaust survivor… Is there any way to imagine such grief? Grandmother and grandson, present in the two most heinous crimes committed against the Jewish people (and the most violent crimes committed against any race or group of people) in this century. There are also reports that one of the women held hostage in Gaza may have given birth to her baby in these days. Will she and her child ever be able to return to Israel and live in safety?

On the other hand, and trying to bring a little lightness and hope to this text, it is with great joy that I hear, from time to time, about the well-being of several friends who are serving in the armed forces. Despite the little rest time, they manage to remain minimally balanced and with good energy, and that is always a consolation for those who care about them ‘from the outside’. And another thing that has brought a smile to my face is seeing the huge number of schools whose students have volunteered to collect fruit and vegetables from fields near the Gaza Strip and the northern borders, which are sold in small markets a little across the country. Together we are stronger, and the resilience and mutual help I have seen is truly comforting.

I also want to inform you that this Diary of a Kibbutz segment will become biweekly, that is, an article every two weeks, due to the fact that developments in the war occur at a slower pace than the initial one, and because I, fortunately, am not find yourself residing in an area with intense military activity. However, when the development of events warrants writing another passage from this diary, I will do so.