What to expect when you’re expecting… missiles

Dreaming of Peace, preparing for war – MORE war, that is. When will it end?

November 4, 2024: Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated on this day, 29 years ago. Some of those who incited and encouraged his assassination sit as ministers in Israel’s cabinet today.

Today we mark Day 395 of the Oct. 7^th war.

Today 101 hostages remain trapped, dead or dying in Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza.

Today in Israel we brace for Iran’s threatened attack. We have no idea of the actual intentions of the Iranian leaders, surrounded as we are by the rants of warmongering leaders on all sides, including our own. We hope much of the rhetoric is bluster, but we brace for impact.

photo: Nili Bresler

Today, police continue to probe the complicity of those closest to Prime Minister Netanyahu in the theft of a top-secret military document. The document was used by Netanyahu himself to scuttle a possible hostage deal. Hostage family members and supporters like me have been shouting for many months about the many ways our current government has delayed and disrupted hostage deal negotiations.

And …

Today, all the world awaits the results of the presidential election in the USA, where a reasonable and capable candidate faces off against a tyrant disguised as a buffoon.  I choose to live in Israel but I still care deeply about the USA where I was born and raised. I am proud to exercise my rights as a dual citizen. I voted by absentee ballot. I voted early.  I voted for Kamala Harris because of my concern for my family: my mom, siblings, cousins, and friends. My mom turns 98 and my beloved aunt turns 99 this month. These two amazing women have taught me by their example as they both have fought for justice for almost a century. Today, I continue to be inspired by their activism and their actions.

photo: Nili Bresler

Today: a decisive moment in history. Just another day in our surrealistic reality.

I am a Zionist. I want to live in peace. Who doesn’t?  If you ask any Israeli, they will tell you that they want peace. No question. There’s just that sticky point about being able to live – and not get killed by neighbors who do not wish for peace. None of us seem to know how to achieve that. Meanwhile, I march and struggle for peace. I hold up my signs and join the protests stopping traffic nightly on a main Tel Aviv road. Shout till I am hoarse. As I write these words I sip my ginger tea with honey, trying to regain my lost voice…

6 am: First light of day. My quiet time. Before I start my morning teaching sessions, before my afternoon shift greeting visitors at Hostage Square; before the evening protests. This is my time to think, to dream. And I dream of peace.

I am a Zionist who wants to live in peace. I find myself saying this at least once a week. I say it to visitors at Hostage Square. I say it to the journalists who still wander around looking for people they can interview in English. And now I read the well-worn quotes about peace I’ve written down over the years, tacked up on bulletin boards, taped to the wall in my home office.

“War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.” Thomas Mann

How well this sentence fits into the picture in Israel today. In Israel we are plagued by a leader willing to do anything to stay in power, refusing to work on a plan for the day after war, thus avoiding ‘the problems of peace’.

“In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.”

Guess who said that? Who’d have thought I would be quoting Neville Chamberlain, appeaser of Nazis? But if the quote fits…

My dreams of peace bring me back to my corner of the world, back to Israel. And I go back to my own Zionist origins. When I came to live in Israel Golda Meir had just become Prime Minister. I was lucky enough to be one of Golda’s adopted newcomers.

I had the privilege to meet Golda several times, even being treated to coffee and home-baked cookies from time to time at her house in Ramat Aviv. Golda was a pretty busy person when we first met, her being Prime Minister and all. But somehow, she made time to ‘adopt’ a few lone immigrants. In 1970 I arrived in Israel with my Samsonite luggage and a letter of introduction from Golda’s sister, Clara. Clara lived in my hometown of Bridgeport CT and she played cards with my Grandma Kate. When Grandma learned that I wanted to come live in Israel, she decided that it might be helpful to bring along a note from Clara. I called and explained to Golda’s secretary that I wanted to come deliver the note. I was surprised to get an invitation for that same week. Turns out the only thing Golda loved more than arguing about politics was encouraging new immigrants. Golda gave me useful advice for newcomers, taught me some rude words in Hebrew, and insisted that I join the Histadrut Labor Union. “Don’t come back here until you have your red union card,” Golda said during my first visit.  I was in awe of her. I still am.  And so I close this post, this dream of peace, with Golda’s words.

“We hate war. We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown, and when strawberries bloom in Israel. When peace comes, we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons.”   Golda Meir