(IsraelNN.com) Hello,
While
the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home which
remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you that
someone was in your home while you were away.
I am that someone.
I
spent long hours imagining how you would react when you walked into
your home. How you would feel when you understood that IDF soldiers had
slept on your mattresses and used your blankets to keep warm.
I
knew that it would make you angry and sad and that you would feel this
violation of the most intimate areas of your life by those defined as
your enemies, with stinging humiliation. I am convinced that you hate
me with unbridled hatred, and you do not have even the tiniest desire
to hear what I have to say. At the same time, it is important for me to
say the following in the hope that there is even the minutest chance
that you will hear me.
I spent many days in your home. You and
your family's presence was felt in every corner. I saw your family
portraits on the wall, and I thought of my family. I saw your wife's
perfume bottles on the bureau, and I thought of my wife. I saw your
children's toys and their English language schoolbooks. I saw your
personal computer and how you set up the modem and wireless phone next
to the screen, just as I do.
I wanted you to know that despite
the immense disorder you found in your house that was created during a
search for explosives and tunnels (which were indeed found in other
homes), we did our best to treat your possessions with respect. When I
moved the computer table, I disconnected the cables and lay them down
neatly on the floor, as I would do with my own computer. I even covered
the computer from dust with a piece of cloth. I tried to put back the
clothes that fell when we moved the closet although not the same as
you would have done, but at least in such a way that nothing would get lost.
I
know that the devastation, the bullet holes in your walls and the
destruction of those homes near you place my descriptions in a
ridiculous light. Still, I need you to understand me, us, and hope that
you will channel your anger and criticism to the right places.
I decided to write you this letter specifically because I stayed in your home.
I
can surmise that you are intelligent and educated and there are those
in your household that are university students. Your children learn
English, and you are connected to the Internet. You are not ignorant;
you know what is going on around you.
Therefore, I am sure you know that Kassam rockets were launched from your neighborhood into Israeli towns and cities.
How
could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would
say "enough"?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch
rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like
you? How long did you think we would sit back without reacting?
I
can hear you saying "it's not me, it's Hamas". My intuition tells me
you are not their most avid supporter. If you look closely at the sad
reality in which your people live, and you do not try to deceive
yourself or make excuses about "occupation", you must certainly reach
the conclusion that the Hamas is your real enemy.
The reality is
so simple, even a seven-year-old can understand: Israel withdrew from
the Gaza Strip, removing military bases and its citizens from Gush
Katif. Nonetheless, we continued to provide you with electricity,
water, and goods (and this I know very well as during my reserve duty I
guarded the border crossings more than once, and witnessed hundreds of
trucks full of goods entering a blockade-free Gaza every day).
Despite
all this, for reasons that cannot be understood and with a lack of any
rational logic, Hamas launched missiles on Israeli towns. For three
years we clenched our teeth and restrained ourselves. In the end, we
could not take it anymore and entered the Gaza Strip, into your
neighborhood, in order to remove those who want to kill us. A reality
that is painful but very easy to explain.
As soon as you agree
with me that Hamas is your enemy and because of them, your people are
miserable, you will also understand that the change must come from
within. I am acutely aware of the fact that what I say is easier to
write than to do, but I do not see any other way. You, who are
connected to the world and concerned about your children's education,
must lead, together with your friends, a civil uprising against Hamas.
I
swear to you, that if the citizens of Gaza were busy paving roads,
building schools, opening factories and cultural institutions instead
of dwelling in self-pity, arms smuggling and nurturing a hatred to your
Israeli neighbors, your homes would not be in ruins right now. If your
leaders were not corrupt and motivated by hatred, your home would not
have been harmed. If someone would have stood up and shouted that there
is no point in launching missiles on innocent civilians, I would not
have to stand in your kitchen as a soldier.
You don't have money, you tell me? You have more than you can imagine.
Even
before Hamas took control of Gaza, during the time of Yasser Arafat,
millions if not billions of dollars donated by the world community to
the Palestinians was used for purchasing arms or taken directly to your
leaders' bank accounts. Gulf States, the Emirates - your brothers, your
flesh and blood, are some of the richest nations in the world. If there
was even a small feeling of solidarity between Arab nations, if these
nations had but the smallest interest in reconstructing the Palestinian
people – your situation would be very different.
You must be
familiar with Singapore. The land mass there is not much larger than
the Gaza Strip and it is considered to be the second most populated
country in the world. Yet, Singapore is a successful, prospering, and
well-managed country. Why not the same for you?
My friend, I
would like to call you by name, but I will not do so publicly. I want
you to know that I am 100% at peace with what my country did, what my
army did, and what I did. However, I feel your pain. I am sorry for the
destruction you are finding in your neighborhood at this moment. On a
personal level, I did what I could to minimize the damage to your home
as much as possible.
In my opinion, we have a lot more in common
than you might imagine. I am a civilian, not a soldier, and in my
private life I have nothing to do with the military. However, I have an
obligation to leave my home, put on a uniform, and protect my family
every time we are attacked. I have no desire to be in your home wearing
a uniform again and I would be more than happy to sit with you as a
guest on your beautiful balcony, drinking sweet tea seasoned with the
sage growing in your garden.
The only person who could make that
dream a reality is you. Take responsibility for yourself, your family,
your people, and start to take control of your destiny. How? I do not
know. Maybe there is something to be learned from the Jewish people who
rose up from the most destructive human tragedy of the 20th century,
and instead of sinking into self-pity, built a flourishing and
prospering country. It is possible, and it is in your hands. I am ready
to be there to provide a shoulder of support and help to you.
But only you can move the wheels of history.
Regards,
Yishai, (Reserve Soldier)
The
above was a letter that was originally published in the Hebrew-language
daily newspaper Ma'ariv, and translated into English by the Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA).