My son’s letter

My son Nadiv is a student at Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva. His studies were disturbed too many times by rockets sent from Gaza. When the current hostilities started, he felt compelled to share his thoughts with his friends, particularly those residing overseas. I want to share them with you.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

At around 4:30pm, on November 14th, Israel time, the IDF attacked and successfully killed one of Israel’s greatest threats. Israel has been following Ahmed Jabari for quite some time now. Ahmed Jabari was the head of all armed forces of Hamas, in charge of weapons supervision and all attacks on Israel. On November 14th, when we identified where he was, we followed his car and targeted it from the air killing him and his son; no civilians were injured in the attack.

Israel has been under fire from Gaza since October 2001. In August 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza strip in the hopes, that by doing so, the rockets would cease. When we withdrew, we did so, vowing, that if ever again rockets were to be fired upon Israel, we would retaliate with full force. The rockets did not stop, over 8,000 hit Israel since it’s disengagement, two and a half years after Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Ahmed Jabari, on December 27th, 2008, after Israel was being fired upon, around 60 rockets a day, the Israeli government decided to enter Gaza, with forces in the aim to stop rocket fire once and for all and to retrieve Gilad Shalit. After 22 days of fighting in Operation Cast-Lead, and negotiations via many diplomats from all over the world, Israel decided on a unilateral cease fire on January 18th, 2009. After Israel withdrew and on the same day, Hamas still fired 15 rockets on Israel.

Since then, and to this day, thousands of rockets (Over 2,600 since 2009) have been fired on Israel and Israel’s main response if any, has been to fire upon the rocket launcher to put it out of use, and when possible fire upon the terrorists that fired the rocket. Israel has been pleasing with the U.N., the United States and many countries around the world to use their influence on Hamas and the organizations around the world to get Hamas to stop firing upon Israel’s civilians. If Gaza and the Palestinians truly wanted peace, the first stage is to stop shooting at the person you want to come to the table. The world has done nothing and Israel kept getting fired upon.

My name is Nadiv Schorer, some of you may know me, I have met some of you during my travels across the U.S or in Israel, through friends, or during a program we may have been on together. I, too, have fled many times, running to bomb shelters. Had I not done so, I may not have been alive today or capable of writing this letter. To be sitting and studying, talking to a friend, out at a party, walking to class, in the middle of a shower, or even sleeping and all of a sudden to be pulled out of everything and go running for shelter praying that you will make it on time before you hear the ear shattering blast, the sign that the rocket has fallen. You don’t have time to think whether you are decently dressed, or what to take. Some of us, when in cars need to think which of our children we can save before running out of a car or house to shelter. I cannot describe the fear that one feels, nor do I wish this upon anyone, Israeli, Jew, friend, foe, it makes no difference. The worst part is, that the feeling of fear had already started to numb, becoming second nature.

I recently came back from a trip to the United States with some friends from Ben Gurion University, and while there, the looks we gave each other when hearing an ambulance go by, the fear in our eyes, the questioning of each other of: “Is this an ambulance, or is it a siren”, is not natural.

Ahmed Jabari, was the man in charge of all militant operations of Hamas. After the world turned a cold shoulder to Israel’s pleas to stop Hamas’s brutality and rocket launching against Israeli civilians, Israel once again, was left with no choice other than to take matters into our own hands.

If you ask me, and many of my friends whether we want to fight Gaza, the answer will be no. I do not want to have to watch my friends, my brothers and my sisters being called to reserves to join their brothers and go to war. We do not want war, but if called upon to defend ourselves we will do it. As Golda Meir once said: “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us”. I, my brothers and my friends, long for that day, but for the time being, in our State, in our homes, in the place where we feel the safest, we run for shelter. I do not know what anyone else would do if a neighboring country were to fire on them.

I have seen the graces of G-d first hand. Since Jabri’s death, over eighty missiles have been fired upon Israel in the span of a few hours, and all Israeli’s are alive and well.

We here at Ben Gurion University pray for the fighting to end, for a time of brotherhood and peace among all Jews, and among all of Israel’s neighbors.
“לא יישא גוי אל גוי חרב, ולא ילמדו עוד מלחמה”

Nadiv E. Schorer
dvschorer@gmail.com