I came to Israel more than forty years ago. I did not come for the same reason most Israelis came (they are Jewish), but for my studies and the eyes of a beautiful Israeli girl. But after all these years, it doesn’t really matter anymore why I came. Today, after having lived most of my adult life here, I am an Israeli. I have an Israeli passport, I have a wonderful family including four amazing children, I have developed a career here, built a wonderful house in a small Moshav and I am part of this society and feel at home here.
On October 7th this “home” took on a completely different meaning. All these years, there had been the hope and the belief that the seemingly endless conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would in the end be solved, and all would live here in some kind of “peace”. Twenty-six years ago, when my son was born, I promised him that by the time he grows up there would be no need for an army anymore. Today he is fighting in the Gaza strip, having returned from vacation in the Far East to fight alongside his mates. So when I promised my grandson the same thing, when he was born six weeks ago, would that again turn out to be a promise I will not be able to keep?
The road to possible peace in this land has been all but easy, and many obstacles had to be overcome, from the murder of Prime Minister Rabin (by Israeli fascists), the almost never-ending terror attacks, the wars in Lebanon and the never-ending rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.
But October 7th put an end to all hopes and beliefs that wars and bloodshed would indeed become something of the past, that it would finally end somehow.
The barbarian sub-humans that entered Israel with murder, mutilation and rape in their eyes have done much more than brutally slaughter more than eight hundred innocent civilians in their homes, kill babies in their mother’s arms and kidnap hundreds more into the Gaza Strip.
These animals have made it clear to even the most optimistic, maybe naïve “leftists” (which includes me), that the peace we have been hoping for and dreaming about for so many years, is nothing more than a big illusion. While we still must assume that most Palestinians are not like these barbarians, and that Israel will not stop the war until Hamas and its despicable leaders are destroyed, if such creatures could stand up and rule the human beings around them, there is every reason to believe that in twenty years this will happen again and with even more horrific consequences.
We will never live in peace with the Palestinians, we will never trust them again and all we can do is hit them when they raise their head or even think of again attacking Israel.
None of the above should be understood as a justification of Israeli actions over the years though. Israel has many times wasted opportunities to come to agreements and end the bloodshed and the hatred. But the events of October 7th have shown that not trusting the Palestinians may have saved Israel from much worse.
So forty years have gone by and this is not my home anymore? Or will not be my home anymore soon? The answer to that question is uncertain and full of pain. However, being over seventy years old, why should I worry? My children who have their lives ahead of them, their children, who are not even born yet (except one, who is still happily unaware of all this mess) will need to deal with this broken dream, in ways they probable had not foreseen but are forced to look at now.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
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