Never Again

Hamas may have won the battle, but it will lose the war. It has already lost its legiti­macy and the support of liberal democracies while carrying out its dreadful war crimes. US President Joe Biden in his speech this week re­called Israel’s “secret weapon” for the benefit of the world. Prime Minister Golda Meir had revealed it to him 50 years ago. It is not a nuclear bomb or any special technology, it is not a fighter jet or ultrasonic device. It is the fact that the Jews have no other country. Nowhere else to go. Kaheen bhee nahin. We don’t have a choice but to survive and fight. By now I hope the world has realised that Hamas is not a freedom-fighting outfit. They are barbarians like the Islamic State (IS). Like the Nazis. Israelis have a collective memory of thousands of years. The big­gest trauma of the past century is the Holocaust, the genocide of the Jewish people by the Nazis during World War II. In Israel, we compare our tragedies to the Holocaust. To call a person a Nazi is the worst curse. This week, we had flashbacks to the horror stories that we grew up on. Jews hiding with young children from the Nazis; the pogroms in the villages of East Europe. My grandma’s family in Poland was brought to the village syna­gogue and all of them were burned alive. Only my grandma, who had migrated to Israel shortly before the war, survived from a family of 10. I almost wasn’t here to tell the stories of the Jews in that war. The stories of October 7 that are gradually being re­vealed by the people who are still left to tell remind us of the Nazi atrocities. After the Holocaust the phrase “Never Again” was coined. It was mentioned again this week. We all understand that the threat to the Jewish people exists, but we will fight. We are a very resilient nation in survival mode.

Since the Holocaust, there hadn’t been a single day in which so many Jews died. The official count grows by the day as more bodies are found and identified. The official death toll at the time of writing is 1,200 people murdered and 150 kidnapped or miss­ing. Three hundred are wounded, many severely. For a nation of less than 10 million people, these are huge numbers. When I compare India to Israel, I always use the 140 multiplier. If we use this multiplier, it is like, god forbid, 170,000 Indians killed in one day. In the 26/11 terror attack, 175 people died and it was horrible. Each of you will remember that day.

I am writing this on the fifth day of ‘the war’. The name ‘Oc­tober War’ is already taken; it refers to the 1973 war of exactly 50 years ago. Whatever I write now can be dated by the time the story is published. Things are changing by the hour. Right now, the conflict is in the south of Israel. The fear is that the north­ern front led by Hezbollah will flare up too. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel has declared war. As I grow wiser, I understand the ramifications of such declarations better. Israel is a small country with an area of 22,145 square kilometres. A war means all citizens are involved. My young son is at the cyber unit; my husband decided that he could not sit idle, so he removed the dust from his old uniforms and asked his original unit to accept him. He is not combat-age but surely he could contribute from his experience? At the city centres, volunteer groups are collecting food and other essentials to deliver to the soldiers. My animator son teaches kids from the affected villages of the south with online animation classes. Yesterday, a group of friends and I prepared hundreds of sandwiches that were sent to soldiers at their assembly points, waiting to be deployed. It is anticipated that 300,000 people will join the reserves. Those not called up feel left out and try to find other ways to contribute. The Israeli army is not just the mandatory service; it has a big base of reservists called up in times of war. Most of us underwent military training. I am a lieutenant, my older son is a captain, and my husband is a major, all of us in reserve. In an unfriendly neighbourhood, we must be ready. The problem is that this week we haven’t been that ready. But, believe me, it is temporary.

Social media turned into an endless feed of obituaries; photo­graphs of missing persons, of the young children thrown from their cribs and taken as hostages; and heart-breaking testimonials of the survivors. ‘Survivors’ is the name we gave to people who survived the Holocaust. Again, we are talking about survivors of atrocities. The funerals are delayed. Hamas’ barbarity has made identification difficult. My friend Sharon lost her beauty queen daughter Eden, a champion swimmer who was shot by the militants. My deputy in the Chamber of Commerce, Nadav, lost his brother Itamar Ben Yehuda, in a heroic fight with the militants. Johnny Seidman, son of my friends, participated in the na­ture party that took place a few kilometres from the border. The party area turned into a battlefield full of bodies and abandoned cars. The survivors testify that it was like an execution by a firing squad. It was a massacre. Most of the hostages are people attending this party and residents of the vil­lages close to the border. The hostages were taken to Gaza. And I appeal to India to help us get the hostages released. Young kids, the elderly without their medication… I wonder how long they will survive. There are even Thai workers; Sri Lankan, Nepal­ese and Filipino caregivers are missing. We suspect they are among the hostages. The list of names is long and every hour more names are being released. Israeli television doesn’t show the brutal clips Hamas is re­leasing. Of the execution of children, the decapitation of soldiers. Again, in a throw­back to the Nazis, they took photographs of naked women and firing squads. I am trying to avoid watching those videos. It is too cruel. The little I have seen is horrific. I do watch the heroic stories of parents protecting their kids in hidden places or in panic rooms while terrorists try to enter those rooms, shooting at the door and, in some cases, setting the house on fire, hop­ing that the family will be suffocated and come out for the slaughter. Such heroism can serve a hundred Bollywood movies.

Since the commencement of the war, 5,000 rockets have been fired at Israel. This is not a cheap operation. It is all Iranian money. Hamas is the proxy. It has strong financial and moral backing from Iran. From time-to-time Qatar transfers money via Israel to the Palestinian authorities. But this money is not spent on the welfare of Palestinians. It goes to the he­donistic leaders of Hamas to pay for their life of luxury outside Pal­estine and for the acquisition of weapons. Blood is also on the hands of Iran and Qatar. Indians must remember that when shaking the hands of a business delegation from those countries. Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as Iran share the same mission—to eliminate the State of Israel. The motivation is sheer hatred. Israel has no territorial conflict with Iran or Hezbol­lah. The misconception that Palestine is not free must be clarified too. Protesters around the world cry “Free Palestine”, “Free Gaza”. Palestine has an authority that runs the municipal affairs of the ter­ritories. The Oslo Accords (1993-95) gave Palestinians’ autonomy in the Gaza Strip with a plan to establish a Palestinian state. The international community donated money for this state to build itself. But they bought missiles with that money. There is no Israeli occupation in Gaza. We do manage the entry of goods and people. But then, with the metal sent for construction, they build missile launch­ers. In the West Bank, Israel has had no choice because, instead of building their nation, Palestinians host terrorist groups that constantly try and often succeed in carrying out attacks in our city centres. Israel is not an occupier. We are not look­ing to invade and hold more land. We just need to protect ourselves.

The last 40 weeks in Israel were weeks of massive protest against the government. It was a period of conflict between the right and the left, between Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the liberal community. The liberals demanded that the Ultra-Orthodox start sharing the burden of military service and taxes which they hardly do. The Ultra-Or­thodox believe that praying to God is a greater contribution to the wellbeing of our nation. For 40 weeks, protests took place each Saturday. The theme was “We Need To Protect Our Democracy”. The Israeli government was trying to pass a judicial reform. The liberal base viewed it as an overhaul and the “end of democracy”. The divide was so wide that many protesters announced they would stop volunteering in the reserve units. Such claims gener­ated an even bigger debate between the right and the left. Deep down, we all knew that on doomsday, all would report to their units. The solidarity and the commitment to protect our coun­try are bigger than the political conflict. Doomsday came sooner than expected. Never again.

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