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Orna Raz

Day 485 of the War: My Heart Remains in Gaza

A photo from the protest at Begin yesterday. I got the consent of the protester to take the picture.
A photo from the protest at Begin yesterday. I got the consent of the protester to take the picture.

After the hostages Arbel Yehud and Agam Berger were released on Thursday, we were informed that the next hostages to be released would be men, including Yarden Bibas. It was unbearable to accept the fact that his wife, Shiri, and their young children, Ariel and Kfir, were not coming back with him. Although we were relieved to see the hostages Gadi Mozes, Keith Segal, and Ofer Kalderon, watching Yarden return alone yesterday was also heartbreaking.

Yifat Kalderon, Ofer’s cousin, who is very active in the Begin Front—a protest rather than a rally—asked everyone to come to Begin on Saturday night, so of course, I went. And despite the fact that her cousin had just returned hours earlier, she was there as well, together with Merav Svirsky, whose brother was murdered in captivity, Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod, a soldier still in Gaza, and other activists. They emphasized what we all know: the hostages were released despite Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been stalling and sabotaging every attempt to reach an agreement with Hamas to end the war and bring back the hostages—all to appease his coalition partners

Merav Svirsky called us “The Begin People”—quite an ironic name if we consider what Begin stood for. But Begin was also a brave man who was not afraid to reach a peace agreement with Egypt.

There were many interesting posters at Begin last night. One of them made me stop and think. It featured the blue and white flag next to a map of greater land of Israel (without the Green Line). It bore the words: “Israel will never be whole without the hostages”. In Hebrew there is a pun as the phrase referring to the greater land of Israel is  “the whole of Eretz Israel”.  At first, I was deeply moved by the message, but then I began to wonder whether the man holding the sign was actually expressing support for the idea of Greater Israel.

I asked him, noting that it was a complex message  with a controversial subtext . He told me that he had designed the map  with that message at the beginning of the war when people started wearing necklaces with the map of Greater Israel. He explained that it was a plea to those who believe in that notion—to try to start a dialogue and perhaps to get them to change their minds about the agreement to release the hostages.

That brave man was right. We should try to reach people who don’t necessarily think like us in order to do the right and moral thing, so that we can all have a better future in Israel.

About the Author
I hold a PhD in English Literature from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, specializing in writing about issues related to women, literature, culture, and society. Having lived in the US for 15 years (between 1979-1994), I bring a diverse perspective to my work. As a widow, in March 2016, I initiated a support and growth-oriented Facebook group for widows named "Widows Move On." The group has now grown to over 2000 members, providing a valuable space for mutual support and understanding.
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