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Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Are you afraid?

[a guest post by Ariella]

Someone asked me if it makes me scared. No. I'm not afraid.

What I feel can't be described in a word. It's a bunch of different things but afraid is not one of them. Sad? Yes. Upset? Yes. Furious? You bet your ass. But not afraid.

But that's the way we are, we Israelies. We hurt. And we grieve. And we fume. But we do so quietly... and life continues, or else they win.

You ask what I'm fuming about? We'll besides the obvious, I hate the fact that my ten year old brother lives in this reality. That my mom can't come to the phone because she is busy consoling him. That he is old enough to understand. To hurt. That he IS afraid.

That my friends and I already know to do head counts when we hear that there was a shooting. To make sure we are all safe.

That I know too many stories, friends, families and names.

But I'm a twenty year old living in Israel. And I guess all this is all just part of the everyday life here.

But ask any other 10 year old, 18 year old or 20 year old in any other place in the world:

Are you afraid? The honest answer should not surprise anyone.

Posted by David Bogner on July 1, 2014 | Permalink

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Is there any hope for Israel to become more mature and stop wallowing in public emotion? We all know this only helps our enemies and we need to think strategically, not personally.

In the US, they never pay kidnappers and there are very few kidnappings. In Latin America, they pay and fight and there are kidnappings every day. Look up "Latin America kidnapping" on the web.

On the bright side, after three or four more rounds of kidnapping-and-public agony, Israel will learn to stop paying kidnappers. So the process is self-limiting.

As it stands, both the Shalit and the current kidnappings are total wins for Hamas, and they have no reason to stop trying. The only thing that might be strong enough to give pause to Hamas, is taking a chunk of territory and annexing it. But I don't think Israel is ready for a bold move like that.

But nothing less will win.

Posted by: Freddy | Jul 1, 2014 5:11:16 PM

Freddy... Without mentioning where you live or any other details as to your expertise in security matters, you have passed judgement on an entire society. Well done. We can debate the efficacy of negotiating with terrorists, but not the need for Israel to continue to 'wallow in public emotion'. When we lose our humanity there is nothing left to defend. I pity whoever strives for your spartan, emotionless existence. You see it as making us vulnerable. I see it as a reminder of our priorities.

Posted by: Treppenwitz | Jul 1, 2014 6:10:16 PM

Ariella, that was perfectly said. Thank you.

Posted by: alissa | Jul 2, 2014 10:47:30 AM

You make me proud of our new generation of Israelis, Ariella. You are fierce and ready to defend. Yet you are compassionate and level-headed. You are one of my heroines.

Posted by: Ruti Mizrachi | Jul 4, 2014 7:47:52 AM

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