to support Oz and other people I meet every week:
This week he dreamed he would be able to help his father, take good care of the herd. Inshallah many lambs will be born in the spring and then there will be great joy from the new born and from the family property that will grow. This will allow for a better life, medical care for those in need of the family, and may also allow one of his sisters to be sent to school, expand horizons and help the family in daily survival.
Then, in the dream, Oz felt a strong pull on his arm and suddenly found himself lying at the entrance of the cave and the dream of a rosy future was shattered to pieces. There were soldiers standing in the doorway, he did not understand how they got there, because he was dreaming, viz.he was a sleep. Only he and his sisters were then at home (in the cave). The soldiers ordered him to bring the weapon his father possessed.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. "What weapon?"
"Like this", a soldier pointed to his own weapon.
"We have no such thing and never have," Oz replied.
"It cannot be," the soldiers replied. They tied his hands and eyes and went into the cave with a dog, to sniff between the sacks of flour and lentils where Oz's father was hiding a weapon. The dog, which is considered unclean animal for the Muslims, did not miss a single bag of food and its nose sniffed all the bags as well as mattresses, clothes and household items.
When they did not find what they were looking for, the soldiers dragged Oz, blindfolded and hands binded with a rope, and a weapon to his back, to the cave where his 75-year-old grandmother lived. An elderly woman who is not in good health. They threatened not to release him until they brought his father's weapon. No other adult was there at the time, the grandmother began to cry, and her heart pounded to see her grandson so humiliated and frightened.
Even in her house, no weapons were found and after they exhausted their threats, the soldiers went as they came. Since then, Oz has not slept well and gets up several times every night, to check on his sheep.
I met him yesterday. His eyes are lowered to the ground, a feeling of endless anger and sadness on his face. He stopped the tears, to try to look "like a man." I tried to comfort him, to tell him that whoever was weak in this whole story, were the soldiers who were unable to act without hatred and violence.
He listened and bowed his head, without words.
And we, we live in the privilege of a material world, where we have everything we need for our daily lives. Although we are laden with the Corona news and politicians who send out different statements, living between lockdowns, between rumors and facts that are not clear, we still have relative confidence in our lives. What we (Israelis) may sometimes forget, is the delicate fabric of our lives in this area - the situation that was here before the establishment of the Israeli state, was here before the Corona and will probably be even later.
We may sometimes forget that we do not live in a vacuum; Our neighbors are experiencing suffering, and they constantly have to give up their basic human rights. Their opinion is hardly ever heard and is pushed by the media and politicians to the "corner of unimportant things."
Perhaps sometimes we also forget the history of the Jewish people - that in every generation "we are about to be destroyed" and yet, we have managed to establish a home here. In the meantime the house stands, if we succeed in not destroying everything around us and open our hearts to see a little further from the bubble of our daily lives.
This story will not be told to you in the news. Because no one was killed or physically injured. It is also possible to continue to establish an entire state full of conflict of interests that creates separation, annulment of the other and domination. All this, instead of establishing true peace, human connection and understanding.
I called the boy Oz (a Hebrew name which means might, strength) here, because I saw both the courage of his soul and the tear of the sadness of life out of the corner of his eye.
A hero is not a rough bully with formidable force, but one who can see the pain of the other as if it is his own and shed a tear.
I hope Oz will be able to recover from the trauma soon and forget about the hatred he experienced. I usually try to write you good news that brings hope and optimism to our prospect of peace and a better life, but now the situation is getting worse and I can not ignore what is happening right here with my neighbors, and no one is telling us.
I hope I will not have to tell you more stories like this and we can really help each other live here together better and better.
With a tear and a pinch in the heart,
Eyal
"Because suffering is infinite we can change it.
Because happiness is infinite, we must learn how to nourish it. "
Thích Nhất Hạnh
to support Oz and other people I meet every week: