Sitting, not cowering
Events come thick and fast in this part of the world, and the past week has provided the various media outlets with more material than they seem able to cope with. Thus, in the wake of the IDF’s incursion into Lebanon, accompanied by its advice to residents there to leave in order to avoid civilian casualties, the far-from-objective Sky News correspondent bewailed the exodus of the population there after having ignored the similar fate suffered by tens of thousands of Israelis in the north of Israel for the past year. Needless to say, that news channel failed to mention the tunnels and weapons stashes discovered in Lebanese villages, providing physical evidence of Hezbollah’s plans to attack Israelis along the lines of the Hamas assault of 7th October 2023.
The alarm that sounded in my phone as we were watching the evening news programme a few nights ago came from the IDF and was accompanied by a message telling us to take ourselves to the nearest shelter. Luckily, our home has a basement within which a bomb shelter with reinforced walls was incorporated at the construction stage, in accordance with the building regulations in force at the time.
Accordingly, my OH and I went downstairs, making sure the doors, windows and shutters in the house were closed, and were able to listen to the news on the TV set in the basement (which is also my private gym). We sat side-by-side in the shelter, waiting to be told that it was safe to leave. This took almost an hour, during which time we were able to hear the distant thud made as rockets were intercepted by our Iron Dome defence system.
The next day, when the various TV news channels reported the event (201 ballistic missiles fired towards Israel from Iran, the vast majority intercepted by Israel), it was clear that they were impressed by Israel’s ability to defend itself, but the Sky reporter could not help herself and described Israel’s residents as ‘cowering in their bomb shelters.’ Well, madam, I have news for you. We were sitting, not cowering. And so, I believe, were most of our compatriots throughout the land.
Naturally, parents of young children have a more difficult job and have to deal with the various moods, reactions, fears and nerves that a child will display. But cowering is not part of the response that Israeli parents will be displaying to their offspring. Distracting their attention, playing with them and doing what they can to soothe unsettled minds and nerves are rather what parents should have been doing, and to the best of my knowledge that is what they did.
Hezbollah’s attacks by means of rockets, drones and artillery began immediately after the Hamas assault in southern Israel a year ago. Civilians, including women and children, were killed and injured, and many thousands of Israelis had to leave their homes. Ever since then the bombardment has continued, causing destruction and devastation to the towns and villages of northern Israel. Families have been living as refugees in crowded conditions in other parts of Israel. The suffering is acute and ongoing, but not as photogenic as the vehicles standing bumper-to-bumper on the roads leading out of southern Lebanon.
When the dire situation of so many Israeli families first became apparent, two enterprising young women, Daniella Koffler, who happens to be my daughter-in-law, and Talya Tomer, wrote and illustrated two booklet aimed at helping children forced to leave their homes and children with family members called to reserve duty to understand and cope with the situation. The booklets are entitled “A Family without a Home” and “A Family in Miluim/Reserves,” respectively, and the first was distributed free to as many displaced children as could be located, with the aid of the voluntary agencies set up to alleviate their plight.
It is now over six months since the booklets were published, The demand for it was so great that the first run sold out, as it were. The authors have received a great deal of positive feedback, and the booklets have been able to help many children — and their families — come to terms with the situation. Whether anyone believed that the crisis would last as long as it has — it is now a year since the assault by Hamas and Hezbollah’s supporting bombardment — is open to question. Maybe it’s time to produce a new booklet for children in bomb shelters.
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The booklets are available for purchase here.
