by Justine Hemmestad
The Leader
11-2-23
Itamar Ben David, tour guide and teacher from Jerusalem, says “We’re still processing the national trauma, not all the victims are buried.” He recognizes the selfless volunteers of Zaka, who are still working tirelessly to recover victims. The attack is devastating, but Itamar says he’s mentally prepared for Hamas because he saw what was going on with Isis. Ben David explains that Hamas has a grassroots leadership, having risen solely out of the fact that they wanted someone to do battle against Israel. “They chose leaders that reflect the national sentiment,” he says. Hamas has been in power in the Gaza strip since being elected by the people in 2006, and there has not been an election since. He relates heroic stories of Israeli service during the nationtion’s collective nightmare, including one serviceman who threw grenades back at the terrorists until he could no more. He knows that when Israel is in transition, enemies see it as weak. But Ben David has faith in his country and knows that Israel has fused together for a war that, “is for our families, for our children; we know what we’re fighting for.” The violence the terrorists unleashed on Oct 7 was on a “universal-scale,” he says. The sheer brutality of the attack on the Jewish people was unbelievable. Just talking about it helps to process it. He’s grateful for the many volunteers and says “no one is waiting around.” He explains the ongoing, “initiative to sit with someone, to be together to process the natural trauma.” He says that public health experts help children cope, and there is a lot of emphasis on mental health. Ben David tries to drive home the fact of how many people in the middle east are antisemitic and are actively expressing antisemitism following the attack on Israel. In addition, he says the middle east sees Israel as an extension of the west. One of his main concerns is for the Jewish diaspora, who may not be safe as war rages in Israel. On Oct 30, CBS reported that a plane carrying Jews was threatened by an antisemitic mob in a Russian Airport. Ben David describes a successful refugee in his mother. Born in the ‘50s and smuggled out of Morocco to Spain then taken to Israel at six years old, his mother is the prime example of a productive refugee, and not someone who ever felt she was a victim. Hamas’ strategy is to put on a show of ‘the refugee’ for the world in order to captivate public sentiment, when their true intentions are violent. In fact, Itamar says that the Hebrew word for violence is hamas. He says the IDF is right to put unrelenting pressure on them. CBS news reported on Oct 30 that much of the war may be fought underground in the “Gaza Metro,” or the terror tunnels of Hamas. It is in these tunnels that the hostages seem to be. ABC news reports that Hamas is playing a psychological war with Israel. Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, Chair of the Taub Center Health Policy Program and Head of the School of Public Health at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, is involved in working for the release of the hostages. He has said, “International efforts are taking place with all international health organizations, most importantly with the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, to give the hostages medical care, to provide information to the families who are living with tremendous uncertainty, and to return all of the hostages home as quickly as possible.” As everyone in Israel waits for their safe return, life must return to some semblance of normalcy - amid rocket sirens - for the kids. Itamar says, “These days you’re just considering how fast you can run before a rocket hits you. We get alarms,” he says of his neighborhood in south Jerusalem, which gives him, “about 90 seconds before the rocket hits or the interception missile of Iron Dome falls somewhere - that’s why you have to find a shelter.” He’s been picking his child up from kindergarten earlier than normal because he’s not sure the kids can be woken up from their naps and brought to the shelter in time if a rocket were to strike, so he and his wife have opted to let their child sleep at home. Itamar has submitted a license to get a gun, as he was in the army and he knows how to use it, but he’s afraid a gun wouldn’t be entirely safe with a toddler in the house. Hamas, he assures, is not only in Gaza, but also in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, though on a smaller scale. He recognizes their graffiti. Given the level of danger and violence that surrounds them, Itamar is happy that when he picks his child up from kindergarten, Tavor still has his head attached to his body (such is the fear when in close proximity with Hamas). Itamar asks, “Do you think it’s fair that parents have to worry about missiles and rockets f lying over their heads as they think, where should I run - I have 90 seconds?” This question frames his family’s reality. Be n Dav id reit e r at es Hamas’ disinterest in living in peace: “Their goal is to eliminate Jews and teach their children [to eliminate Jews]. He punctuates this reality by saying to those who support Gaza, “they’re really interested in killing my child.” Itamar has been proactively volunteering to teach school children in a Kibbutz how to share impact videos. He was invited by an organization called Pico. He talks about how difficult it is for him to see the kids, knowing how their friends were killed. As though in support of Ben David, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas’ founder, says, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, “Hamas just wants the destruction of Israel.” He says, “They cannot accept Israel or Israel’s right to exist.” Hamas, Yousef says when recalling his own childhood for the Jerusalem Post, “demonstrated their lack of concern and willingness to sacrifice Palestinian children and civilians.” That tactic has, “opened the gates of hell on the Palestinian people.” About the pro-Palestinian activists who put all blame for the conflict on Israel, Yousef says, “They care the least for the Palestinian children and their future…the Palestinian children, the Palestinian society, have been hijacked by these criminals, and anybody who takes their side is participating in their crime.” Yousef adds that Hamas uses human shields and puts up roadblocks to prevent people from leaving Gaza. Yousef says to the pro-Palestinian protesters, “You are going to regret taking the side of those criminals who are killing the Palestinian people.”
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