Hitching a ride on a Black Hawk

19th August, 2004

It's quite a sad day today. There's no word from Angel. No news regarding the application form. My mom is abroad. I'm here in the army, all by myself, thinking about her nonstop.

I had to prepare for tomorrow's operation: A Black Hawk chopper will take us on top of a hill a couple of kilometers north of here. We'll walk down the hill to a narrow road and erect a 2-sided checkpost.

Having some free time, I watched the 2004 Olympics. It's not all that interesting, but once you have a few countries to cheer for, you can have a sit and enjoy the show for a while. I cheered for Israel, USA and Germany mostly. Sometimes for Russia, Japan and Australia, too.

5:45am - We were awoken. A "Safari" took us to a remote place. (Safari - A big, well-protected truck that the army uses to transport soldiers in the Palestinian territories, deploy soldiers in Palestinian villages and so on.) We had to cross a hill to get to the landing zone. Shortly after, a Black Hawk chopper arrived and landed there. Even though we were 15-20 meters away from the chopper, its propellers raised a heavy cloud of dust over us. We had to cover our faces as small stones were flying all over the place. I got in once it was my turn. We sat on the chopper's floor, grabbing onto anything there was in order to maintain our balance.

It was my first ride in a helicopter. It was fun, especially whenever it turned and curved and you could see the earth close in on you. The view was beautiful.

We got off 3 minutes later near Beit Ula. Next, we had to go down a very steep hill, treading cautiously, as one could easily fall down and get a serious injury, considering all the equipment we were wearing. (heavy radio MKs, vests and weapons, gallons of water, checkpost equipment , a stretcher and means of dispersing crowds) Each one of us fell down a few times. It seemed impossible not to.

After passing this densely forested hill, we've finally reached the road, sweating like pigs. I could finally drop the stretcher off my back.

We've assembled the checkpost and started checking cars. I was accompanying Or, checking the western side of the road. Our weapons were loaded and ready to fire. The Palestinians looked unhappy and mad, but as we checked more cars, they seemed nicer and nicer with time. There was a wedding couple along with their relatives. After checking their car, Or wished them a happy marriage. There was a car with a small boy in the back. He had his eye bandaged. We checked the car fast and let them go before all the other cars who were ahead in the line.

Even though the checkpost must have caused a lot of frustration among the Palestinians, we treated them nicely. They'd smile back and talk in a friendly manner. They have to understand that we do it for a reason, that it's not like we want to make their lives harder. By checking these roads, we may prevent all kinds of illegal activities. We're like the police of the Palestinian territories. Until they will have their own police strong enough to inherit the authority.

After some time we've opened the road and rested for a while. My head hurt from the pressure of the casket.

The Lieutenant wanted to make another checkpost but in some other place. We walked a short distance to the east where we had our breakfast. Then it was decided to go back and make another checkpost at the exact same place.

There was a truck that wouldn't start. We opened the checkpost, stopped one of the cars and asked the driver if he could help us push the truck. What a pleasant moment it was for the eyes - me, along with several other soldiers (or all of them?) and a Palestinian guy, pushing the truck down the road, helping the Palestinian truck driver start it. A dozen of Palestinian cars around us, waiting for the truck to move and free the road. The truck driver thanked us a lot for our help. It was one of those rare occasions that made me feel really proud of myself and my mates. Finally we did something good for both sides, right?

So it was a pleasant moment that was followed by an unpleasant one - we had to go all the way back uphill. We had to take a break for 3 times, consuming gallons of water. When we reached the top of the hill, we waited for the Black Hawk's arrival. It took us back to an open field close to Border Police's base of Tarkumiya. Then the Safari took us back.

I called my mom. She says it's really incredible there, in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). So much has changed since we left it in 1991. I was 5 then. I barely remember it anyway.

Tomorrow my Angel will fly to Croatia. I didn't receive any messages from her, except an email from yesterday which I couldn't read because the file was too large for my phone. I SMSed her twice. Hopefully she'll reply.

The food's been bad for the last two days, but on Friday evenings the food is always better (a Shabbath meal)

I keep thinking about my Angel. I hope she's doing great and that I'll hear from her today.
I love her soooooooooooo much!

And the answer is...

3rd August, 2004

No. Apparently it was not my last AV patrol. We arrived at Hebron's bridge. The bridge connecting Hebron and Halhoul had a pillbox (watchtowers here are called "pillbox") in the middle, overlooking the bridge. It was constructed after several violent incidents, one of which involved throwing a washing machine on Israeli cars down the bridge. Between the two cities, below the "north-south" bridge there's a "west-east" road connecting Israeli cities of Kiryat Gat with Jerusalem, and Kiryat-Arba (a very big settlement near Hebron). There is also a Palestinian Coca-Cola factory near the pillbox.

Matan stopped a car near the factory and waited for something. I had to stand outside the AV and guard him for about an hour and a half. After an hour, he lost his patience and we left the car keys and the IDs of those who were in the car at the pillbox. Police borber guard soldiers came a while later and arrested the men as the vehicle was identified as stolen.

















Later on we did a checkpost on the bridge. Palestinian photographers came and took pictures of us checking cars. It looked as if they were waiting (if not begging) for us to do something illegal, show some form of brutality.

















The next vehicle was a bus full of Palestinians. Matan asked me to accompany him. The moment we went up the bus, the photographers started acting like paparazzi, pushing their cameras through the windows, taking dozens of pictures. After checking the bus, I asked one of the photographers what paper these pictures were for. He said he's independent and these pictures go to all the papers - Ma'ariv, Yediot, Haaretz, etc. The next day I checked the papers out of curiosity - what could they possibly write about us? There was no article. It didn't really surprise me.

4th August, 2004

Tonight we set an ambush beneath Telem, sitting quietly and hidden, ready for any possible attack. But it's nothing special really. It seems like a waste of time - no Palestinian militants ever walked there, no warnings of planned attacks were reported. Maybe it's just a way to use soldiers at maximum - let them guard night and day and rest a minimum of 4-6 hours, it's not like they can do much about it...

Ari is my sergeant or how should I call it... a sub-officer? Some commanders become sub-officers after serving a certain period of time in the army. Ari was the commander of my team and when Matan joined the battery he became my commander instead and Ari became a sub-officer. Anyway, Ari told me that the battery plans to give me a permission to fly to Germany at around 16th September just as I asked! =)

Angel's mom has ordered tickets to Croatia for 21st August until 4th of September. I won't be able to talk to Angel in that period of time and it might make things a bit difficult. It becomes more and more difficult with time as nothing is certain. When can she meet me? When exactly does the army let me fly abroad? Are there tickets available for those specific dates? What about Angel's school? (She's a year and a half younger than me)

I asked Ari to find out if they can let me fly abroad a little after Angel's arrival from Croatia. The first day of her school year is 16th September. I hope that her mother will let her skip school for 5 days (the period of time that I'll be with her, not including the weekend)
I can't wait to meet her and be with her for a week! It's going to be so great!!!

Everyone thinks I'm crazy, having a girlfriend from Germany whom I've never even met, flying abroad just to be with her for a week. A friend of mine joked about it: It's probably a 40 year old male named Jurgen who likes to rape little children. =)

5th August, 2004

This is the last day before we go home. I had an AV patrol and in the evening most of the battery (except the guys who're at home and those who guard) gathered at the house in Adora and we had a little celebration: Music, barbecue and soft drinks.

A mute witness

31st July, 2004

(1) On our way to the gas station we saw an abandoned car on the road. A police truck came and tucked it away saying that it was a stolen vehicle.

















(2) On our way back, Oleg, the AV driver had suddenly lost control of the steering wheel as he approached a curve while driving too fast. We went off the road, but lucky for us the hummer didn't hit anything, and we could resume our patrol.

(3) Matan, Oren and Oleg decided to drive to a Palestinian grapevine to steal some grapes. I remember a few days ago when I was in Adora Oleg brought a lot of green grapes to the house and one of the lieutenants asked him where he had taken it from. He claimed he'd taken it from the neighboring houses in Adora (there are indeed some places in Adora where you can see grapes growing outside the gardens, covering the walls, free for the taking) but this version didn't seem to stick, because the grapes in Adora needed at least another month to look like the ones he had brought with him. Now I'm convinced that he lied, that it's not the first time he steals grapes from Palestinians along with a commander and other soldiers (a commander is always present in the AV)

All I could do is sit in the backseat of the AV and watch them steal. Any comment on their behavior would be regarded as leftist. I was trapped: I could either sit and do nothing, which is like taking part in their theft, or I could tell all about it to an officer of a higher rank, and be regarded as an informant which may end up being far worse. The one thing I did do was take pictures of it.
















































The problem is, these soldiers don't see it as a crime. They're like the same kids they were at school - excited at causing some damage, at doing something illegal. There's one thing that they forget - they're not kids anymore, they wear an IDF uniform and they represent the Israeli army and Israel as a whole. They're no longer free individuals and they must abide by the rules of the organization they're a part of. That is mostly why IDF looks the way it does - individuality.

They don't think about the consequences of their actions or of what the other side must feel like. I can imagine what would happen if a Palestinian stole fruits from Israeli settlers... What can Palestinians do when they see armed soldiers walking on their property and taking whatever they want? There were several kids, women and old men looking at us as Oleg drove further into the vineyard to get some more grapes of a higher quality. I guess that's when Matan felt a bit of shame and decided against stealing in front of these people.

(4) We did a random checkpost on a narrow Palestinian road in order to check some cars. A TIPH car came. TIPH - Temporary International Presence in Hebron - these are guys with cameras who watch IDF soldiers carefully to see if we commit any injustices towards the Palestinian population. Soldiers hate them, but something tells me this hatred is genuine. There are many organizations of that kind in the territories. This is just a local one.
































(5) Yesterday we saw 2 ambulances pass by. Our lieutenant stopped them with his jeep in order to check them out. It's said that sometimes Palestinians use ambulances to smuggle terrorists and weapons from one place to another. Not today - the medical team said there was a traffic accident in Hidna in which 4 people were smashed to death.

(6) We arrived at a big house (or perhaps a small mansion) at the entrance of Halhoul, just above the bridge connecting the 2 cities. This big house was more like a safehouse for a Palestinian family that cooperates with IDF. This is something real strange: They live on the first floor and the other floors are populated by soldiers who watch over Hebron and Halhoul.
I had to patrol in the garden and the terrace with another soldier. It was a beautiful garden with a fountain, a marble-made floor and beautifully carved stone walls. I felt like a bodyguard of a mafia mob!

















We've waited until the plumber fixed the pipes and then left.

(7) We did another checkpost on the bridge between the two cities. We've been standing there for an hour while Matan and Tal (another commander from the nearby pillbox) checked 2 lanes full of cars. It doesn't matter what was its purpose, obviously the frustration of the mile-long line of cars along with hundreds of pedestrians weren't worth it. Dozens of Palestinians left the cars and started walking by foot.

We didn't find any kind of suspects or criminals among the Palestinians, but we surely gave them a good reason to create some. Why do we check IDs and cars on a road that leads from one Palestinian city to another? (Especially when it's completely ineffective as there are a hundred alternatives routes that connect the two cities which Palestinians use on a daily basis)

















Sometimes I don't understand the decisions that our officers make. But then I'm just an ordinary soldier - they don't owe me an explanation. They give me orders and I have to carry them out. Unless the order involves committing violence towards an unarmed civilian or any other illegal actions that count as illegal in IDF's ethical code, I must obey at all times.