by Justine Hemmestad
The Leader
10/19
Israeli tour guide Itamar Ben David shares a picture of a man who stands guard over children at a playground in Jerusalem amid war. Ben David says, “We are protecting them [our children] at all costs... Just now, Israel declared that all civilians in the north of Gaza must evacuate in 24 hours, but Hamas is forcing the people to stay...” His friend Eliyahu, a musician, additionally calls upon Palestinian citizens to rise up against Hamas. He tries to address them separately, hoping that Palestinians will hear him and heed his words. 10/14 When comparing Hamas’ attack on Israel to America’s 9-11, Ben David says, “We cherish the Americans who lost their lives on 9-11 and we always stand with America in the war against global terrorism, so I hope the comparison is clear…write to your politicians, let Israel finish the job of wiping evil from the face of the earth.” For context, according to the population size of Israel and America, 1,000 Israelis (approximate number murdered by Hamas) would be equivalent to 34,300 Americans. ABC news reports that recovery volunteers in Israel are still recovering bodies. Itamar says that Israel has historically been given a time limit with which to defend itself and achieve its objective, when what Israel needs is the same amount of time that other countries are given. “Israel needs time to collapse the Gaza State,” he asserts. Russia is already attempting to limit Israel. 10/15 Among the kidnap victims held by Hamas is a six month old baby, his picture nestled among many more victims’ pictures. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the military commander who led the war on ISIS, has said that Hamas’ attack was “worse than ISIS;” and Itamar affirms this by revealing that the translation of the Hebrew word hamas is violence. He adds that terrorism is all about “inflicting fear,” but Israelis are countering that fear with great courage. Itamar tells of a battalion of female soldiers who have killed dozens of terrorists since Hamas’ initial attack. “We’re going through tough days now.” He continues, “Things are warming up in the north (referring to Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel’s northern border).” As a statement to the other countries who see the wounding of Israel as an opportunity to attack, America has sent a battleship to deter them. Part of the Israeli operation currently is to gather information, Itamar says. He also makes a point to say that, “the Israeli army doesn’t target civilians.” However, in order to deliver its citizens from the threat of Hamas, both existential and looming, “the Israeli army may be less sensitive to Hamas’ common use of civilians as human shields.” As to the 300,000 Israeli Army reservists that reported to duty in the aftermath of the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust, Ben David is sure that Hamas “didn’t see that coming.” A main objective of the ground mission is getting Israelis who were kidnapped back. 10/16 Itamar says that Israel is “in the dark” after the attacks against it and he’s tired of, “trying to explain Israel online” (as audible exhaustion continues to tinge his voice). Conspiracy theories have wormed their way into a place where all three Abrahamic faiths converge. Make no mistake, he says, the underlying reason for Hamas’ attack is religion. To put the war into perspective he also says,“think about Britain supplying Dresden with supplies during World War II. It doesn’t make sense. Supplying aid in that way is prolonging the suffering.” He also addresses aid for Gaze in the past, which has always been diverted to Hamas. Money that has been “thrown at the Gaza strip to make it livable again has gone to the terror tunnels.” Hamas’ underground network of tunnels are “like a 5 star hotel,” as their people suffer. Itamar is certain Israel will invade Gaza, since the terror “has to stop.” He shares Israel’s sentiment of, “Besorot Tovot,” a Hebrew expression that means, “May we hear good news,” following the Jewish tradition of “shiva,” a seven day period of mourning; Israel, a country united in mourning.
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