After the release of four hostages, Israel breathed a sigh of relief, writes columnist Bert de Bruin.
Nachat either náches , is a combination of satisfaction and tranquility. We often wish parents (grandparents) to have a lot nachat of his (grandchildren) children. On Saturday afternoon, Israel had something to do. nachat . After the release of four hostages, a sigh of relief filled the country, a feeling that outsiders cannot understand. Older friends told me that this reminded them of the summer of 1976, when Israeli commandos freed the hostages in Entebbe.
The liberation operation in the heart of Gaza was extremely complicated and reportedly one of the most difficult operations ever carried out by the Israeli army. The fact that a BBC journalist asked a former army spokesman whether the army had warned Gazans in advance shows less hostility towards Israel than ignorance about the nature of these types of military operations, the success of which largely depends on measure of the element of surprise.
Palestinian journalist
According to Israeli security services, three of the hostages were being held captive in the home of a Palestinian journalist. If that’s true, maybe the military should have sent him a press release first. Hostage takers are not innocent, accidental bystanders; In addition to endangering themselves, they also endanger their families and neighbors. Hamas leader Sinwar mentions this ‘necessary sacrifices’ .
Military success was a characteristically Israeli mix. nachat and sadness. First we learned that the father of one of the hostages had died a few hours before his release. It was then announced that Arnon Zamora z”l, an officer in the police anti-terrorist unit and father of two young children, had been killed in the action in Nuseirat. Another typical Israeli story was that of a nurse in charge of the Sheba hospital, who cared for the hostages after their liberation. Her daughter had been murdered at the same dance where the four had been taken hostage.
Two days before the liberation action, eighty years after the Allied troops began their heroic attack on the coast of Normandy, I participated in a seminar organized by a program for Arab and Jewish teachers (m/f) at the Shalom Hartman Institute. In conferences, group discussions and working groups we talk about the role of education and teachers “in the shadow of war.” I want to share with you three brief impressions of lectures and stories I heard in Jerusalem last week.
scolded
First, Suhair, an Arab teacher, recognizable as Muslim by the veil that covers her head, told how she had recently gotten lost in an unknown (Jewish) part of the Holy City. People started banging on the roof of her car and verbally abused her. She told us that this, if anything, made her even more determined to participate in these types of peace projects.
Professor Eva Iluz, sociologist, born in Morocco, trained in Paris and Jerusalem, told us that it is currently impossible to maintain a decent and constructive dialogue on French and American campuses. She laughed approvingly when I pointed out the irony that we, at the center of the conflict, were doing precisely that.
Finally, Rabbi Donniel Hartman spoke about prophets and the importance of self-criticism. Most of the biblical prophets have been ignored and excluded, but we need to listen to those who are different and think differently than us, especially when they warn us and bring us messages that we do not like to hear. Otherwise we will expire le’umiyut (national identity, ‘healthy nationalism’). le’umanut (chauvinistic and extreme nationalism), which would mean the end of Israel and Zionism as a legitimate defender of a State of its own for the Jewish people, in addition to a State for the Palestinians. I think the joy for the freed hostages is part of it. le’umiyut The lack of guilt for the deaths of Palestinian civilians is proof of le’umanut . Shabbat shalom.
Bert de Bruin is a historian and English teacher at the Leo Baeck Educational Center in Haifa. He has lived in Israel since 1995. Comment? bertsbril@gmail.com
Bert de Bruin will give a lecture on Sunday June 30 at De Doarpstsjerke in Nij Beets. Free entry, from 2 p.m. You can register via redactiesecretariaat.frieschdagblad@mediahuisnoord.nl
