Can love be everlasting?
25th November, 2005
Fresh soldiers from March '05 have joined our battery and I finally became a sergeant. Soldiers who served over 2.4 years in the army become "senior", or in Hebrew "pazamnik".
Me and my mates from August '03 no longer have to clean up the base every morning and evening, commanders don't check our magazines, our weapons or water flasks. We can now have our own room where we can put a TV, PS2, DVD and other electronic appliances. We are first priority in choosing our missions - usually senior soldiers are riding the Humvees or take part in special operations, it's obviously much better than standing in a roadblock or guarding the base.
The main benefit a senior soldier receives for his last 8 months of mandatory service is home release. Depending on the missions and the capacity of available soldiers, seniors get extra days at home whenever possible. For example, instead of 16/5 (16 days at the base, 5 days at home), Seniors get 4/3 9/5 (4 days at the base, 3 days at home, then 9 days at the base and 5 days at home along with their team)
Nonetheless, despite the fact that our current mission does not require maximum capacity, our battery commander was daring enough to enforce a change in the policy of awarding seniors, which has been active ever since this battalion had been formed.
Senior soldiers including Alpha commanders (who've become victims of the policy as well) have set up several meetings with the battery commander and other officers (platoon commanders), laying out the arguments, explaining why awarding them with home release is important. The battery commander, however, refused to listen and insisted on equality - nobody gets extra days at home. He blamed the seniors for not doing enough for the battery. "Your job is to motivate the younger soldiers, to teach them of your experiences and serve as a good example for them. Instead, what you do all day long is sit on your butts in your rooms, watch TV and sleep all day long."
29th November, 2005
I feel like I MUST buy Angel a present. On what occasion? No occasion. She simply deserves it! I haven't given her a gift for a long time now. With her, everyday is like a special occasion. Even though Christmas is just around the corner, I'm gonna buy her a gift today.
A few days later I received an SMS from Angel. She was thankful, telling me that I shouldn't have.
How would I describe my relationship with Angel at the moment? It's quite unclear. Over half a year ago she decided that it'd be better if we felt free to date other people. For how long? How long will our relationship will be in a suspended state? I wouldn't know. I only know this - I would do anything it takes to be with her, so if she ever decides that we're back together again, I will undoubtedly say yes!
12th December, 2005
Natalie contacted me. She says she's now in love with Dima, a guy she'd met online, he lives far away in the south, but after almost a year of contact they've finally met. I'm glad to see that she moved on.
She asked me if I could meet her and watch a movie together. For some reason, I felt like it was an offer I couldn't reject.
19th December, 2005
I've been thinking about this meeting with Natalie. When we were together, she was easily tempted to make out with other guys. What if the same thing happens with me?
How serious is her relationship with Dima? Is he, like Angel, simply wishes her to be happy and prefers to have an open long-distance relationship?
*a knock on the door*
She came inside my house and gave me a warm hug. I felt a sudden chilling wave, accompanied by old feelings that I used to have for Natalie. As we were watching the movie at my place, she leaned her head on my shoulder and hugged me with her arms. I hugged her back. I don't know why, but it was incredibly pleasant. It felt like we've just started a new relationship.
Me: "You're very tempting, you know that?"
Natalie: "Am I?"
She looked down at my lips, I looked back at hers. The first thought that came to my mind was "Oh, what I wouldn't give away to kiss those lips once again!"
Me: "I don't wanna do something you might regret later on, this is your decision."
Natalie: "no, it's yours"
Me: "Mine? I have nothing to lose. You're the one who might end up cheating."
A short while later we were sitting so close to each other that our lips were only a few inches apart.
Me: "What would Dima say?"
I don't remember if I received an answer or not, but an instant later we were making out.
I walked her home and we've parted. On our way home she asked me to forget about everything, but when we reached her place, she had a change of mind: "I'm a smart girl. I know how to use guys properly. I have a friend who listens to me, a lover (me) and a boyfriend (Dima) all at the same time."
Me: "You can't date both of us. You have to make a decision."
This is not right. I don't wanna be anybody's lover, to make girls cheat.
She says she truly loves him, yet she cheats on him and desired to keep on doing it in the future.
Me: "You must tell him. Your conscience will eventually force you to."
Natalie: "No, I won't! He'll kill you if I do. You know how strong he is?"
That's a disregard to my own strength. I hate it when a girl thinks that some guy is stronger than me.
We parted. The next morning I was back in the army again.
I'm really really drawn to her physically, but her stiff character eliminates any possibility of us ever dating seriously again.
Should it be my problem that she cheats on Dima with me? I don't know. This is wrong, I shouldn't let her cheat like that. Either way, I'd better move on and find myself someone.
22nd December, 2005
A radio show called "Mother's voice" will arrive here tomorrow. It's a show that interviews soldiers all over the country. They broadcast it on "Galei Tzahal".
Tonight I received a phone call from the show, a woman told me she was informed that I have a good story to tell. Apparently, someone from the battery had told them about my relationship with Angel. Oh man, I've never been interviewed, let alone live on the radio! Yet, somehow I couldn't say no.
Something else worries me though... Where is Angel? She hasn't replied to me for over 3 weeks. I've tried calling her on the phone, but she doesn't answer it. Has something happened to her? No! I don't care anymore if she has some bad news to tell me, I just want to know that she's alright.
23rd November, 2005
The radio crew has arrived to our base. We all gathered up in the dining room at 11am. My broadcast was about to begin at 12:30pm.
We had only 2 minutes to get ready. Me and Gil were up next. Gil was interviewed first. He talked about his relationship with Daniela, our battery secretary.
At the beginning it feels so tense, but once you start talking, you gain confidence and it even feels great!
Tami, the show hostess, asked me about how I've met Angel, what brought us closer together, our common interests and my trip to Germany. It was hard to explain everything briefly in a very short time interval, but I tried my best. Overall, I think it wasn't bad.
Only after my radio appearance was through have I realized that most of the soldiers were laughing the whole time. I couldn't believe it, but somehow I didn't really care.
The radio show gifted the battery with thermoses, t-shirts and a big TV screen.
24th December, 2005
Angel's absence has been bothering me a lot lately. I couldn't help but think of the worst. I couldn't take it anymore!
My mom kept Angel's home number somewhere. She wrote it down just in case, when I flew to Germany to meet her.
I called her home. Her brother had answered the phone after a few calls. He handed the phone over to his mom. She said Angel's out with friends, that she's alright. I thanked her and wished her a merry Christmas.
Phew! That's all I needed to know. But I still wonder why she doesn't talk to me...
25th December, 2005
I called her again. No answer. I called her home - Her mother answered, said Angel's in the shower.
A few minutes later I received a message from Angel: "Please don't call me at home again." Geez! "Ok. When can I call you then? I wanna talk to you." She wrote that I can call her mobile in a few minutes.
I could finally talk to her... She told me how she plans to quit her job, because her manager gets on her nerves and mistreats her. When I asked her why she didn't reply to my e-mails, messages and phone calls, she gave me the following explanation: when at work, she can't use her phone and she'd always forget to write or call back and she hasn't checked her e-mail for a very long time.
Of course I really wanted to believe that it's all a series of coincidences, but something didn't feel right. There was obviously more to it. I wish I knew what exactly.
If she really loved me, she would think about me and wonder how I'm doing, if I'm alright. But she didn't. It's like she doesn't care anymore!
We've known each other for 2.5 years. She'd always let me know how much she loves me, but not anymore. Maybe I'm wrong. I really want to be wrong about this, but since November it's no longer the same. Could it be that she no longer loves me? Could this be the end to our relationship?
Maybe it was over in March... What if I simply failed to read between the lines?
I've set out to prove that true love exists, that distance is not an obstacle in a serious relationship. If 2 people love each other, nothing can stand between them. This love... it can last forever. My friends keep telling me that I'm stupid, that I'm crazy, but I'm pretty confident in what I believe. "You'll see..." I tell them, "I'll be the proof of my own words."
It takes 2 to prove that theory. Don't change your mind, Angel. If you love me, give me this opportunity. Everything will work out!
Showing posts with label israeli soldiers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label israeli soldiers. Show all posts
Friday, September 12, 2008
Saturday, August 18, 2007
A rather boring month
12th January, 2005
After 3 (short) days at home, I'm back at the base. Our conditions have suddenly changed:
Instead of 16/5 (16 days at the base, 5 days at home) it's going to be 11/3 with less soldiers to stay on weekends. That means that after each 8-9 hour roadblock each one of us has to guard 1.5-2 hours at the watchtower and that would leave us just about enough time to clean the base, eat dinner, take a shower and have some sleep.
No free time for reading books or watching DVDs.... yes, I've finally bought the DVD after scrubbing some more money from the battery. I bought a Vertex 312B for 500 NIS. Mahsanei Hashmal had only one remaining Vertex DVD for sale... the one that was on display! The guys didn't even agree to give me any discount, not even when I told them that it's being bought by soldiers' money and that the DVD is for the army.
I was really disappointed with that store, especially when we've discovered some malfunctioning.
Nevertheless, the DVD proved to be a success in the long term! Many soldiers watched movies and TV series after coming back from their guarding duties.
26th January, 2005
I was sent to the marksmen course in the Negev, back at the base where I had my basic training over a year ago.
I got sick 2 days ago and thought of going to the city officer (the one that gives soldiers the permission to stay at home if their problems are serious enough... or if they're good liars), but then I decided against it. As much as I wanted to miss the marksmen course, they've been planning on sending me here for over 2 months and I didn't want to disappoint them this way, even though I reaaaaaalllly hate this weapon!
When I arrived at the central station in Beer Sheva, I entered an electronics store to buy myself earphones for my mp3 cd player. That's where I met Vitaly. He was buying a beret in that shop.
He was my teammate when we were still in basic training. He used to be a pretty good marksman - he had this exact weapon and he's like never missed a targed. After passing the commanders course, he was assigned to be a shooting tutor back at the training base. I couldn't believe it, but my teammate was about to teach me how to become a marksman!
I can't believe I was given 500 bullets back in Qalqiliya to carry with me to the training base. It's a damn training base! They ought to have enough bullets, don't they? It smells like bureaucracy to me.
The training was only 1 week. We had a lot of time spent at the shooting range. There was another guy from B battery who was sent here to do the course. Only he was a young March '04 soldier. His name is Dor. He's a good, normal guy, unlike most of his 'zoo' battery.
We weren't only 2 soldiers in this course. We did it together with the rookies who've just joined the army - soldiers of Nov '04.
I expected to be treated with respect, but that wasn't the case. Above Vitaly and the other tutors stood a female officer of my age. She was July '03, I was August '03, yet she told me to do whatever all the rookies did - stand in formation, repeat the orders and so on. Yes, it was humiliating!
Lying down in the sand while shooting made us look as dirty and untidy as all the rookies.
There was one female rookie who started crying when she's missed her target. Poor girl, she shouldn't take it too seriously.
When we had to return to the base for lunch, 2 soldiers had to stay and guard all the eqipment. Nov '04 rookies demanded that either me or Dor stayed this time. There were 18 of them and only 2 of us. I'm sure not all of them had to volunteer and stay to guard.
But it was not my decision. Ehud was another tutor of ours. He was from March '02. He told us one of us should stay. "It's either you or him." Dor volunteered to stay, since he was a younger soldier than me. I was really angry at the decision! When I was a rookie, things were so much different...
We had a literal exam on the last day. I got 98 out of 100 and 86 was my final mark. In order to pass the course, you needed at least 70. Dor got 69, but they gave him a certificate anyway.
Taking a bus back to Beer Sheva wasn't an easy thing to do. There were like 80 soldiers waiting at the station. One bus came but didn't even stop as it was already full. Why did it bother coming here if he didn't even stop?
Another bus came. This time it was nearly empty. Everyone started pushing each other like animals, eager to get on that bus. All the desk-workers didn't have any heavy bags to put in the trunk so they were the first to occupy the seats.
It's usually the desk-workers who get first on the bus. The combat soldiers and whoever stays a long time at the base would sometimes have to wait for the next bus and hope to get on it for a change.
It was almost my turn to get on when I suddenly noticed that my beret was gone, thanks to all the pushing. I gave up my place in the queue and started looking for the beret, then I saw it stuck between two people who were on the bus. They didn't even notice that there's a beret between their bodies. I tried to get on the bus through the back door, but the bus was already full. The door closed right in front of me. It hit a soldier's leg and his magazine fell out of the weapon. The door reopened, but there wasn't a single millimeter where I could stand. I picked the magazine and gave it to him before the door closed again. The bus left and I had to wait for another one.
I tried to call Avi - he's one of the tutors who managed to get on the bus. He couldn't help me. He was on the other side of the bus and the bus was loaded with people. Shouting didn't help.
I got this beret from a 34km journey that marked the ending of basic training. Too bad I'd lost it so foolishly. Now I'll have to buy myself one. I remembered Vitaly buying a beret when I met him at the central station. I'll have to buy it, because if I get caught by the military police, I'll be punished.
An hour later there was another bus heading for Beer Sheva.
My commander had asked me to call him when I finish the course. He told me I'm heading to the home base in the Golan again for another week of guarding. I had to visit our base near Qalqiliya to pick my things before leaving for the Golan. At first I was in the center, then I was sent south and now I'm gonna head north.
When I visited the base, I asked if someone could borrow me a normal beret that I could use. (berets that you buy in shops are too embarrassing to wear. you need to shave them and wash them a lot to make the look normal.)
Michael, my officer, gave me his own and asked me to take a good care of it, because he received this beret from his commander as a sign of excellence after the last, 34km-long journey.
I said: "Don't worry, I had mine from basic training and I've never lost it." "but now you DID lose it." Yeah. I guess he's right. I love Michael for his good sense of humor and his positive attitude. He's really a great guy!
6th February, 2005
It's Sunday. Desk-workers came back from home.
10:40am - my cellphone wakes me up.
12:30pm - I go to the dining room for lunch.
01:00pm - Uh oh! No cellphone!
It was nowhere to be found. There were no doubts that it was stolen.
I suspect Kobi. He's a guy from B battery. I know him from basic training. He's the criminal type... stealing things, hitting people. The funniest thing about him is that he pretends to be friendly.
He once told us that one of his parents is in jail, that he used to take drugs...
He was in his room during lunch. I remember how he warned me & the others to keep our room and bags locked at all times because he doesn't trust the desk-workers who reside with us.
Ron, a new guy from my battery decided to help me. He decided to search Kobi's bags when he wasn't around. Then he and I unlocked 2 rooms of desk-workers and took a look around. I decided not to search their bags though.
I told the commander about the theft and about Kobi being a suspect. I asked him not to let Kobi know about it, but he told him anyway. I later found out that Kobi was trying to help me by searching for my cellphone, but then he stopped when he found out I was suspecting him. But maybe that was just another lie, to make him look less of a suspect.
Ariel, our regiment's discipline commander wanted to call a special interrogation agency that deals with theft and criminal offenses in the army, but they told him they don't deal with cases like that in which the stolen property is less than 5,000 NIS worth.
The cellphone was never found. It was kind of old anyway - A Samsung 624. It had a partially broken display. The thing is it wasn't insured and my mom still had to pay 700 NIS for it.
* * * * *
The bunker is a large field, surrounded by fence. There are trenches with ammunition all around it. It's perfectly fine to guard over there during daylight, but as the night falls, it becomes a perfect spot to shoot a horror movie.
Foxes walk around, their eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Their howls send a chill down your spine. There is absolutely no light, so you can't see anything unless you bring a flashlight with you. You can only hear strange noises, some movement around you, but you can't see what it is. You're all alone and everybody eslse is asleep.
Soldiers don't dare going to the bunker at nights, especially when you have guard there alone. One visit there was enough for me to decide, once and for all, to never go over there again.
Monday night... Instead of guarding at the bunker, people go to some empty room to sleep, hoping they wouldn't get caught, that no one would visit the bunker at night.
I went to C battery's barracks. They're the closest to the bunker. It's a U-shaped corridor of 12 rooms, most of them are locked.
I entered the 4th room on the left side of the corridor. There's light, there are 4 double beds to sit on. I put the weapon aside, put my vest on the floor and take out Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" from the pouch inside the vest.
I sit there and read Da Vinci's code, letting my guarding time pass by. I sit by the window. It's slightly open so I could hear if anyone's coming. The door is closed.
Suddenly, I hear some talking... footsteps... it gets closer! Someone's in the corridor! 2 guys.
I sit quietly, trying not to move at all. The room is empty and so every move makes a lot of noise.
I can hear them twisting the handle of one of the doors in the corridor. They're going from the right side. Locked. Locked. Locked. Another one locked... I go for the weapon, helplessly trying to wear the vest before they catch me here.
I see the door handle move. That's it! The guy twists the handle, but the door won't open!!! He keeps trying over and over again. My heart beats like never before! Then he leaves the handle and moves on to the next door.
Within a minute they were gone. Phew! Even then, I kept standing there for a couple of minutes, not capable of comprehending what had just happened.
A few minutes later, I opened the door and realized why the door didn't open: there was no handle on the other side of the door! There was only a metallic cylinder showing out. When I entered this room, the door was already open. I closed it from inside, when there's a handle, but no one could open it from outside. Phew! That was lucky!
After about an hour, I saw a car passing near the barracks. It could've been on its way to the bunker. What if they're looking for me?
I decided to go to the bunker to see if the car headed that way. As I approached the entrance gate, I saw a heavy cloud of dense mist, blocking my sight. I couldn't even see the bushes a feet away, it was crazy! I might not find my way back to the base. I changed my mind and went back to the barracks.
I still remember how once a fox chased me out of the bunker's watchtower. It was protecting its baby-foxes who were kept warm inside the watchtower. I could still hear its howl, getting louder with ever moment, giving me goosebumps. I could not see it, but I could hear it coming closer, howling louder.
People say that Guy Hever, a soldier who mysteriously disappeared and had never been found since, was guarding at this exact bunker the day he disappeared back in 1997.
10th February, 2005
It's thursday morning. I finished guarding and got dressed, ready to go home. Something's missing..... oh, no! Not the beret again! The beret?! It can't be! I've hid it deep inside my bag. I've looked for it everywhere, but I couldn't find it.
I had to borrow a beret again from a guy who came here to replace me. Michael wasn't happy to know I'd lost his, yet he kept smiling. I really felt bad about it. He found himself a different one and I later found myself one as well. Still, I couldn't help feeling really bad about it.
12th January, 2005
After 3 (short) days at home, I'm back at the base. Our conditions have suddenly changed:
Instead of 16/5 (16 days at the base, 5 days at home) it's going to be 11/3 with less soldiers to stay on weekends. That means that after each 8-9 hour roadblock each one of us has to guard 1.5-2 hours at the watchtower and that would leave us just about enough time to clean the base, eat dinner, take a shower and have some sleep.
No free time for reading books or watching DVDs.... yes, I've finally bought the DVD after scrubbing some more money from the battery. I bought a Vertex 312B for 500 NIS. Mahsanei Hashmal had only one remaining Vertex DVD for sale... the one that was on display! The guys didn't even agree to give me any discount, not even when I told them that it's being bought by soldiers' money and that the DVD is for the army.
I was really disappointed with that store, especially when we've discovered some malfunctioning.
Nevertheless, the DVD proved to be a success in the long term! Many soldiers watched movies and TV series after coming back from their guarding duties.
26th January, 2005
I was sent to the marksmen course in the Negev, back at the base where I had my basic training over a year ago.
I got sick 2 days ago and thought of going to the city officer (the one that gives soldiers the permission to stay at home if their problems are serious enough... or if they're good liars), but then I decided against it. As much as I wanted to miss the marksmen course, they've been planning on sending me here for over 2 months and I didn't want to disappoint them this way, even though I reaaaaaalllly hate this weapon!
When I arrived at the central station in Beer Sheva, I entered an electronics store to buy myself earphones for my mp3 cd player. That's where I met Vitaly. He was buying a beret in that shop.
He was my teammate when we were still in basic training. He used to be a pretty good marksman - he had this exact weapon and he's like never missed a targed. After passing the commanders course, he was assigned to be a shooting tutor back at the training base. I couldn't believe it, but my teammate was about to teach me how to become a marksman!
I can't believe I was given 500 bullets back in Qalqiliya to carry with me to the training base. It's a damn training base! They ought to have enough bullets, don't they? It smells like bureaucracy to me.
The training was only 1 week. We had a lot of time spent at the shooting range. There was another guy from B battery who was sent here to do the course. Only he was a young March '04 soldier. His name is Dor. He's a good, normal guy, unlike most of his 'zoo' battery.
We weren't only 2 soldiers in this course. We did it together with the rookies who've just joined the army - soldiers of Nov '04.
I expected to be treated with respect, but that wasn't the case. Above Vitaly and the other tutors stood a female officer of my age. She was July '03, I was August '03, yet she told me to do whatever all the rookies did - stand in formation, repeat the orders and so on. Yes, it was humiliating!
Lying down in the sand while shooting made us look as dirty and untidy as all the rookies.
There was one female rookie who started crying when she's missed her target. Poor girl, she shouldn't take it too seriously.
When we had to return to the base for lunch, 2 soldiers had to stay and guard all the eqipment. Nov '04 rookies demanded that either me or Dor stayed this time. There were 18 of them and only 2 of us. I'm sure not all of them had to volunteer and stay to guard.
But it was not my decision. Ehud was another tutor of ours. He was from March '02. He told us one of us should stay. "It's either you or him." Dor volunteered to stay, since he was a younger soldier than me. I was really angry at the decision! When I was a rookie, things were so much different...
We had a literal exam on the last day. I got 98 out of 100 and 86 was my final mark. In order to pass the course, you needed at least 70. Dor got 69, but they gave him a certificate anyway.
Taking a bus back to Beer Sheva wasn't an easy thing to do. There were like 80 soldiers waiting at the station. One bus came but didn't even stop as it was already full. Why did it bother coming here if he didn't even stop?
Another bus came. This time it was nearly empty. Everyone started pushing each other like animals, eager to get on that bus. All the desk-workers didn't have any heavy bags to put in the trunk so they were the first to occupy the seats.
It's usually the desk-workers who get first on the bus. The combat soldiers and whoever stays a long time at the base would sometimes have to wait for the next bus and hope to get on it for a change.
It was almost my turn to get on when I suddenly noticed that my beret was gone, thanks to all the pushing. I gave up my place in the queue and started looking for the beret, then I saw it stuck between two people who were on the bus. They didn't even notice that there's a beret between their bodies. I tried to get on the bus through the back door, but the bus was already full. The door closed right in front of me. It hit a soldier's leg and his magazine fell out of the weapon. The door reopened, but there wasn't a single millimeter where I could stand. I picked the magazine and gave it to him before the door closed again. The bus left and I had to wait for another one.
I tried to call Avi - he's one of the tutors who managed to get on the bus. He couldn't help me. He was on the other side of the bus and the bus was loaded with people. Shouting didn't help.
I got this beret from a 34km journey that marked the ending of basic training. Too bad I'd lost it so foolishly. Now I'll have to buy myself one. I remembered Vitaly buying a beret when I met him at the central station. I'll have to buy it, because if I get caught by the military police, I'll be punished.
An hour later there was another bus heading for Beer Sheva.
My commander had asked me to call him when I finish the course. He told me I'm heading to the home base in the Golan again for another week of guarding. I had to visit our base near Qalqiliya to pick my things before leaving for the Golan. At first I was in the center, then I was sent south and now I'm gonna head north.
When I visited the base, I asked if someone could borrow me a normal beret that I could use. (berets that you buy in shops are too embarrassing to wear. you need to shave them and wash them a lot to make the look normal.)
Michael, my officer, gave me his own and asked me to take a good care of it, because he received this beret from his commander as a sign of excellence after the last, 34km-long journey.
I said: "Don't worry, I had mine from basic training and I've never lost it." "but now you DID lose it." Yeah. I guess he's right. I love Michael for his good sense of humor and his positive attitude. He's really a great guy!
6th February, 2005
It's Sunday. Desk-workers came back from home.
10:40am - my cellphone wakes me up.
12:30pm - I go to the dining room for lunch.
01:00pm - Uh oh! No cellphone!
It was nowhere to be found. There were no doubts that it was stolen.
I suspect Kobi. He's a guy from B battery. I know him from basic training. He's the criminal type... stealing things, hitting people. The funniest thing about him is that he pretends to be friendly.
He once told us that one of his parents is in jail, that he used to take drugs...
He was in his room during lunch. I remember how he warned me & the others to keep our room and bags locked at all times because he doesn't trust the desk-workers who reside with us.
Ron, a new guy from my battery decided to help me. He decided to search Kobi's bags when he wasn't around. Then he and I unlocked 2 rooms of desk-workers and took a look around. I decided not to search their bags though.
I told the commander about the theft and about Kobi being a suspect. I asked him not to let Kobi know about it, but he told him anyway. I later found out that Kobi was trying to help me by searching for my cellphone, but then he stopped when he found out I was suspecting him. But maybe that was just another lie, to make him look less of a suspect.
Ariel, our regiment's discipline commander wanted to call a special interrogation agency that deals with theft and criminal offenses in the army, but they told him they don't deal with cases like that in which the stolen property is less than 5,000 NIS worth.
The cellphone was never found. It was kind of old anyway - A Samsung 624. It had a partially broken display. The thing is it wasn't insured and my mom still had to pay 700 NIS for it.
The bunker is a large field, surrounded by fence. There are trenches with ammunition all around it. It's perfectly fine to guard over there during daylight, but as the night falls, it becomes a perfect spot to shoot a horror movie.
Foxes walk around, their eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Their howls send a chill down your spine. There is absolutely no light, so you can't see anything unless you bring a flashlight with you. You can only hear strange noises, some movement around you, but you can't see what it is. You're all alone and everybody eslse is asleep.
Soldiers don't dare going to the bunker at nights, especially when you have guard there alone. One visit there was enough for me to decide, once and for all, to never go over there again.
Monday night... Instead of guarding at the bunker, people go to some empty room to sleep, hoping they wouldn't get caught, that no one would visit the bunker at night.
I went to C battery's barracks. They're the closest to the bunker. It's a U-shaped corridor of 12 rooms, most of them are locked.
I entered the 4th room on the left side of the corridor. There's light, there are 4 double beds to sit on. I put the weapon aside, put my vest on the floor and take out Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" from the pouch inside the vest.
I sit there and read Da Vinci's code, letting my guarding time pass by. I sit by the window. It's slightly open so I could hear if anyone's coming. The door is closed.
Suddenly, I hear some talking... footsteps... it gets closer! Someone's in the corridor! 2 guys.
I sit quietly, trying not to move at all. The room is empty and so every move makes a lot of noise.
I can hear them twisting the handle of one of the doors in the corridor. They're going from the right side. Locked. Locked. Locked. Another one locked... I go for the weapon, helplessly trying to wear the vest before they catch me here.
I see the door handle move. That's it! The guy twists the handle, but the door won't open!!! He keeps trying over and over again. My heart beats like never before! Then he leaves the handle and moves on to the next door.
Within a minute they were gone. Phew! Even then, I kept standing there for a couple of minutes, not capable of comprehending what had just happened.
A few minutes later, I opened the door and realized why the door didn't open: there was no handle on the other side of the door! There was only a metallic cylinder showing out. When I entered this room, the door was already open. I closed it from inside, when there's a handle, but no one could open it from outside. Phew! That was lucky!
After about an hour, I saw a car passing near the barracks. It could've been on its way to the bunker. What if they're looking for me?
I decided to go to the bunker to see if the car headed that way. As I approached the entrance gate, I saw a heavy cloud of dense mist, blocking my sight. I couldn't even see the bushes a feet away, it was crazy! I might not find my way back to the base. I changed my mind and went back to the barracks.
I still remember how once a fox chased me out of the bunker's watchtower. It was protecting its baby-foxes who were kept warm inside the watchtower. I could still hear its howl, getting louder with ever moment, giving me goosebumps. I could not see it, but I could hear it coming closer, howling louder.
People say that Guy Hever, a soldier who mysteriously disappeared and had never been found since, was guarding at this exact bunker the day he disappeared back in 1997.
10th February, 2005
It's thursday morning. I finished guarding and got dressed, ready to go home. Something's missing..... oh, no! Not the beret again! The beret?! It can't be! I've hid it deep inside my bag. I've looked for it everywhere, but I couldn't find it.
I had to borrow a beret again from a guy who came here to replace me. Michael wasn't happy to know I'd lost his, yet he kept smiling. I really felt bad about it. He found himself a different one and I later found myself one as well. Still, I couldn't help feeling really bad about it.
Friday, June 15, 2007
The next chapter: Maccabim
27th September, 2004
When I came back to the army on 26th, my friends and a few other soldiers including my commander asked me about the trip. I brought pictures with me to show them... and to look at them myself once in a while.
On the next day, my battery was moving out of Hebron and getting ready to be replaced by other forces. I was in Telem settlement, doing some packing and cleaning up.
We had to wait in the parking lot for 3 hours until the bus came. It took us to Jerusalem, to "Beit HaHayal" - it's what you'd call a soldier's hotel.
Any soldier can spend a night at the hotel for around 35NIS ($8). Soldiers without parents, or with certain problems in the family are allowed to stay at the hotel for free.
There are such hotels in Ashqelon and Eilat that are primarily used for annual week-long vacations organized by the regiments. For example, 4 months ago - when I was in the middle of a commander's course, my regiment had a week-long vacation in Ashqelon.
This time, however, it was not a vacation. The next day we would proceed to our new home - Maccabim.
The same night, my throat hurt and I had temperature. I talked to our battery's medic, but he refused to help me, explaining me that all the medicine is packed and will only be unpacked tomorrow.
28th September-4th October, 2004
The regiment was ready to leave the hotel. Our battery would move to a small base on road number 443 connecting Modi'in and Jerusalem. The second battery would move to Maccabim - a base located on the Israeli side of the green-line border, next to the city Maccabim-Reut, close to Modi'in.
In Macabbim, soldiers have to prevent illegal Palestinian workers from entering the country. The fence is being constructed there, but it would take a few more years until it's finished.
The soldiers there are also responsible for the 443 roadblock. Thousands of people use that road every day, including Knesset members. Since the roadblock is located at the border between Israeli and the Palestinian territories, cars have to be checked.
Palestinian cars aren't allowed on that road, but Arab-Israeli cars are. If a soldier notices a car with Arabs or if he's not sure whether the man in the car is Arab or not, he signals the car to turn to the right-most lane for a routine check.
I know, this kind of selection is discriminative, but since not a single Israeli had yet carried out a suicide bombing, there is no reason to check them or their vehicles for explosives or anything of the kind.
As for Israeli-Arabs, they're checked only because you can rarely tell the difference between an Israeli-Arab and a Palestinian one, and sometimes Israeli-Arabs drive Palestinians into Israel.
But that's what the second battery will be doing in the following month, not mine.
I know it all because I served in that base for 2 months during my advanced training in the third battery. (4th battery is basic training. It doesn't officially belong to the regiment. 3rd battery is advanced training. 2nd and 1st batteries are where soldiers spend the rest of their military service, unless they leave for all kinds of reasons.)
My battery arrived to a small base, more of a post I'd say. There's barely enough space for the whole battery to fit in. I'd been here as well, during my advanced training, but since then the post has been re-arranged and improved. There are more containers now (Yes, in most bases we live in containers!), the entrance gate's been moved to a completely different location and the observation post has been upgraded with a monitor and a joystick.
It was an unbearable heat of around 45 degrees. The weather man said it was the hottest day of the year, yet we had to work without break during the whole day, unpacking the trucks, moving things from one place to another - beds, mattrasses, personal bags, army bags, vests, sofas, chairs, tables and a lot of miscellaenous battery accessories. Every 5 minutes I ran to the bathroom to drink water from the sink, despite my sore throat.
A while later, while the others were still unpacking, Aaron called me and a few others for a briefing... (Aaron is a very good guy from Ireland. He immigrated to Israel when he was a kid, just like me. We've completed both basic and advanced training together. Then he took the full commander's course and now he's assigned as a commander of the 2nd team of the 2nd platoon, while I'm in the 1st team of the 2nd platoon. My commander, Matan, also served the first 8 months of his military service with me. When he became my commander it felt really strange. But that's how it works here in the army. Even officers are younger than some of the regular soldiers. Never mind the rank, the younger ones should always respect the older soldiers, for they're usually more experienced.
When we all gathered, Yair, my officer, briefed us on the first mission. Normally, we would've been happy to skip all the unpacking, go on a mission and have a good sleep. But this mission wasn't something to be happy about: The regiment commander wants a team in one of the Palestinian villages. He wants us to be there for three straight days, guard on a terrace outside a Palestinian house, wearing a ceramic vest. No electricity. Peeing in bottles. The rest I'll leave to your own imagination. What was the purpose of this mission? Nobody knew.
It was madness! I've never heard of such things before.
We were waiting for a vehicle to take us there. We all hoped this mission would be cancelled.... and it eventually was. :)
I was assigned to guard at the observation post. An officer had given me a quick tutorial on how to use the joystick and the various camera functions, including night vision and I was happy to do the job. I became a regular observator - guarding from 2 to 6 am and pm and performing all the morning and evening cleaning duties with the other soldiers who were currently off their missions. Other missions included AV patrol and a foot patrol. The main mission is to protect the road and prevent Palestinians from throwing Molotov cocktails and stones on Israeli cars.
My throat was still sore, but nobody really cared about it. I couldn't drink anything cold, but the only drink that was available to us at dinner was ice cold raspberry juice. The medic gave me "Kalgaron" which is more like a candy-pill for little children. It obviously didn't help. My mom visited my on Saturday and gave me some medicine, honey and a thermos along with some fruits and sweets. Thanks Mom!
Lior officially became the battery's sergeant and inherited the job from one of the finest sergeants I've ever known - Avi. (If you ever watched the popular TV-Series "Lost", Avi is a COPY of Matthew Fox, the leading actor. The only two differences are that Avi's hair is already gray at age 21 and his voice is that of Vladimir Vysotsky, a famous Russian singer.)
Lior decided to show his authority on the second day of his duty. He asked everyone to wear a hat during morning and evening formation. (After morning/evening cleaning routine, soldiers have to wear vests with their flasks and magazines full, and stand in a U formation facing the commanders who check their flasks, their magazines, their weapons, the rooms, the toilets and the whole area of the base. A soldier is punished if he doesn't have his flasks or magazines full. If the base is not clean enough, soldiers have to keep cleaning until commanders are satisfied. Sometimes it depends on the mood and character of present commanders.)
On the next morning I had to wear a hat but I couldn't find it. I asked guys if they could lend me one, but no one had a spare hat. Standing in the formation without a hat resulted in a 1-day punishment. It means that one day of my vacation at home is taken away because of a stupid hat. He didn't accept any explanations. My commander supported me, but he couldn't anything about it. Lior wanted people to obey him, to fear his punishment. He needed an example to prove that he's serious. There I was.
Matan helped me nevertheless. He told me to come back from home a day earlier, but sometime in the evening. That way it would only be a few hours instead of a day.
I didn't hear any news from Angel, apart from one message. I don't want to bother her by sending too many SMS messages, but I do want to hear from her more often.
5th October, 2004
The whole battery gathered in the center and we spent a wonderful evening, playing games with music, barbecue and karaoke. November 2001 soldiers were singing the song "Gone till November" originally performed by Wyclef Jean, marking their upcoming release in November 2004.
The next morning we were released home at 8:30am. :)
27th September, 2004
When I came back to the army on 26th, my friends and a few other soldiers including my commander asked me about the trip. I brought pictures with me to show them... and to look at them myself once in a while.
On the next day, my battery was moving out of Hebron and getting ready to be replaced by other forces. I was in Telem settlement, doing some packing and cleaning up.
We had to wait in the parking lot for 3 hours until the bus came. It took us to Jerusalem, to "Beit HaHayal" - it's what you'd call a soldier's hotel.
Any soldier can spend a night at the hotel for around 35NIS ($8). Soldiers without parents, or with certain problems in the family are allowed to stay at the hotel for free.
There are such hotels in Ashqelon and Eilat that are primarily used for annual week-long vacations organized by the regiments. For example, 4 months ago - when I was in the middle of a commander's course, my regiment had a week-long vacation in Ashqelon.
This time, however, it was not a vacation. The next day we would proceed to our new home - Maccabim.
The same night, my throat hurt and I had temperature. I talked to our battery's medic, but he refused to help me, explaining me that all the medicine is packed and will only be unpacked tomorrow.
28th September-4th October, 2004
The regiment was ready to leave the hotel. Our battery would move to a small base on road number 443 connecting Modi'in and Jerusalem. The second battery would move to Maccabim - a base located on the Israeli side of the green-line border, next to the city Maccabim-Reut, close to Modi'in.
In Macabbim, soldiers have to prevent illegal Palestinian workers from entering the country. The fence is being constructed there, but it would take a few more years until it's finished.
The soldiers there are also responsible for the 443 roadblock. Thousands of people use that road every day, including Knesset members. Since the roadblock is located at the border between Israeli and the Palestinian territories, cars have to be checked.
Palestinian cars aren't allowed on that road, but Arab-Israeli cars are. If a soldier notices a car with Arabs or if he's not sure whether the man in the car is Arab or not, he signals the car to turn to the right-most lane for a routine check.
I know, this kind of selection is discriminative, but since not a single Israeli had yet carried out a suicide bombing, there is no reason to check them or their vehicles for explosives or anything of the kind.
As for Israeli-Arabs, they're checked only because you can rarely tell the difference between an Israeli-Arab and a Palestinian one, and sometimes Israeli-Arabs drive Palestinians into Israel.
But that's what the second battery will be doing in the following month, not mine.
I know it all because I served in that base for 2 months during my advanced training in the third battery. (4th battery is basic training. It doesn't officially belong to the regiment. 3rd battery is advanced training. 2nd and 1st batteries are where soldiers spend the rest of their military service, unless they leave for all kinds of reasons.)
My battery arrived to a small base, more of a post I'd say. There's barely enough space for the whole battery to fit in. I'd been here as well, during my advanced training, but since then the post has been re-arranged and improved. There are more containers now (Yes, in most bases we live in containers!), the entrance gate's been moved to a completely different location and the observation post has been upgraded with a monitor and a joystick.
It was an unbearable heat of around 45 degrees. The weather man said it was the hottest day of the year, yet we had to work without break during the whole day, unpacking the trucks, moving things from one place to another - beds, mattrasses, personal bags, army bags, vests, sofas, chairs, tables and a lot of miscellaenous battery accessories. Every 5 minutes I ran to the bathroom to drink water from the sink, despite my sore throat.
A while later, while the others were still unpacking, Aaron called me and a few others for a briefing... (Aaron is a very good guy from Ireland. He immigrated to Israel when he was a kid, just like me. We've completed both basic and advanced training together. Then he took the full commander's course and now he's assigned as a commander of the 2nd team of the 2nd platoon, while I'm in the 1st team of the 2nd platoon. My commander, Matan, also served the first 8 months of his military service with me. When he became my commander it felt really strange. But that's how it works here in the army. Even officers are younger than some of the regular soldiers. Never mind the rank, the younger ones should always respect the older soldiers, for they're usually more experienced.
When we all gathered, Yair, my officer, briefed us on the first mission. Normally, we would've been happy to skip all the unpacking, go on a mission and have a good sleep. But this mission wasn't something to be happy about: The regiment commander wants a team in one of the Palestinian villages. He wants us to be there for three straight days, guard on a terrace outside a Palestinian house, wearing a ceramic vest. No electricity. Peeing in bottles. The rest I'll leave to your own imagination. What was the purpose of this mission? Nobody knew.
It was madness! I've never heard of such things before.
We were waiting for a vehicle to take us there. We all hoped this mission would be cancelled.... and it eventually was. :)
I was assigned to guard at the observation post. An officer had given me a quick tutorial on how to use the joystick and the various camera functions, including night vision and I was happy to do the job. I became a regular observator - guarding from 2 to 6 am and pm and performing all the morning and evening cleaning duties with the other soldiers who were currently off their missions. Other missions included AV patrol and a foot patrol. The main mission is to protect the road and prevent Palestinians from throwing Molotov cocktails and stones on Israeli cars.
My throat was still sore, but nobody really cared about it. I couldn't drink anything cold, but the only drink that was available to us at dinner was ice cold raspberry juice. The medic gave me "Kalgaron" which is more like a candy-pill for little children. It obviously didn't help. My mom visited my on Saturday and gave me some medicine, honey and a thermos along with some fruits and sweets. Thanks Mom!
Lior officially became the battery's sergeant and inherited the job from one of the finest sergeants I've ever known - Avi. (If you ever watched the popular TV-Series "Lost", Avi is a COPY of Matthew Fox, the leading actor. The only two differences are that Avi's hair is already gray at age 21 and his voice is that of Vladimir Vysotsky, a famous Russian singer.)
Lior decided to show his authority on the second day of his duty. He asked everyone to wear a hat during morning and evening formation. (After morning/evening cleaning routine, soldiers have to wear vests with their flasks and magazines full, and stand in a U formation facing the commanders who check their flasks, their magazines, their weapons, the rooms, the toilets and the whole area of the base. A soldier is punished if he doesn't have his flasks or magazines full. If the base is not clean enough, soldiers have to keep cleaning until commanders are satisfied. Sometimes it depends on the mood and character of present commanders.)
On the next morning I had to wear a hat but I couldn't find it. I asked guys if they could lend me one, but no one had a spare hat. Standing in the formation without a hat resulted in a 1-day punishment. It means that one day of my vacation at home is taken away because of a stupid hat. He didn't accept any explanations. My commander supported me, but he couldn't anything about it. Lior wanted people to obey him, to fear his punishment. He needed an example to prove that he's serious. There I was.
Matan helped me nevertheless. He told me to come back from home a day earlier, but sometime in the evening. That way it would only be a few hours instead of a day.
I didn't hear any news from Angel, apart from one message. I don't want to bother her by sending too many SMS messages, but I do want to hear from her more often.
5th October, 2004
The whole battery gathered in the center and we spent a wonderful evening, playing games with music, barbecue and karaoke. November 2001 soldiers were singing the song "Gone till November" originally performed by Wyclef Jean, marking their upcoming release in November 2004.
The next morning we were released home at 8:30am. :)
Friday, April 20, 2007
Every action has a consequence
7th September, 2004
Great news - The commander of our regiment signed the form. Tickets are available! Which one should I choose? 14-21/9? or 15-22/9? The latter costs much more. I need to consult with Angel, but she's changed her cellphone so I can't talk to her about it for now. I guess I'll order 14-21/9...
Another shift at the checkpoint of Beit Kahil. The Safari took us to the bridge. As we arrived, a crowd of approx. 500 Palestinians were waiting there, on their way from Beit Kahil to Hebron. We replaced the soldiers who were here during the night shift and then started working.
Raleb tried to make the crowd form 4 lines so they could be checked one by one. They keep pushing each other, each trying to get ahead of the others and reach us to be checked first and pass as fast as possible. Being rude and selfish is always the fastest way to get ahead in line and pass a checkpoint without having to wait an average of 2-3 hours. Dozens were shouting and waving, trying to attract our attention to them so that they would be checked first. Everyone had his own story and reasons why he should be the first to be checked.
Raleb is a Druze officer so it's no wonder he knows Arabic. Palestinians don't know it. Most soldiers don't know the language and Palestinians are not afraid to say whatever they want in Arabic in front of us, so Raleb heard all kinds of things. He caught some in their lies, caught others who planned to go around the checkpoint after being told to turn back and head home.
When Raleb realized he couldn't make 500 Palestinians listen to him and stand in 2 lines, he said: "I won't be checking anyone. Not until you form 4 straight lines in front of me."
One Palestinian heard him and decided to help us form 4 lines, for the sake of his own friends. He became our translator. He addressed the crowd and asked them to form 2 lines of men and 2 of women. Part of the crowd listened to his words, others were still standing scattered all over the place. Raleb was not satisfied.
A moment later Gil, the battery commander, arrived in his jeep along with his driver and a medic. They were standing on the bridge above us. One of them threw a shock grenade at the crowd. Then they started firing empty bullets in the air. (What the f**k was that for?!) The crowd quickly dispersed, everyone was running back to Beit Kahil.
A minute or two later most of them were back at the checkpoint. Oren and the jeep's driver easily managed to form a queue of 2 rows each, by physically cutting through the crowd and splitting them apart. We started checking them, and after a short while whoever was allowed to enter Hebron was inside the city. The remaining crowd contained Hebron workers, hospital visitors and university students. The people who were allowed to pass were doctors, schoolkids and teachers. The Palestinian press was present. They photographed everything.
A patrol of two soldiers on and around the bridge prevented Palestinians from skipping the checkpoint. That's probably why there were so many Palestinians at the checkpoint today. There were still a few guys who crossed the road a few hundred meters away, out of our reach. There wasn't much we could do about it.
Me and Daniel went up there to switch places with the patrol. It was very hot up there, no shade to hide ourselves from the sun. We took 2 bottles of water with us. A 16 year old girl was heading our way from Hebron. She was holding hands with a 4 year old girl. They wanted to cross the road and go home. She kept talking to us in Arabic, trying to explain something, but we couldn't understand a word she was saying. We tried both Hebrew and English, but her reaction was the same as ours. We used the radio comm. to ask if she's allowed to pass, but Kobi gave us a negative answer. (Why? She's just a schoolgirl.)
She was only allowed to pass through the checkpoint. She tried to explain to me and Daniel that she lives right across the road. The road cuts through the hill. South and below the road is where Hebron lies. North and above the road is where Beit Kahil is located. We could see a woman in one of the houses on the hill waving to the girl. It was really close. But going around is just extra ~300 meters of walking.
Unfortunately, we couldn't let her pass. I could understand her point of view, and I could understand Kobi's point of view as well. If we let her pass, other Palestinians who keep standing on both sides of the road would be heading this way and trying to pass like she did.
But wait, they're just 2 schoolgirls. Schoolkids are always allowed to pass through the checkpoint ahead of the others, so why not allow them to skip the checkpoint in the first place?
Orders were still orders. We couldn't let her pass. We kept arguing with her and speaking 2 different languages without understanding each other. I couldn't shout at her, I can't shout at girls at all, lol. Eventually she realized it was useless. She gave up and went back down to the checkpoint and then up the hill back to her home.
I wish I had let her pass. Maybe I should have done so... Maybe I shouldn't have contacted Kobi.
A while later there were two more schoolgirls who tried to pass at the same place. This time we let them. :)
A few minutes later we noticed two 4-6 year old girls standing on the edge of the hill, right above the road. They were shouting something to us, trying to draw our attention. At first it looked like they were just trying to entertain us by jumping and clapping hands, but then things started to be a bit more shocking for us...
The 2 little girls were showing their middle fingers at us. We couldn't tell what they were shouting, but it may have been cursing. Then they picked stones and started throwing them at us. Fortunately, they were just 2 little girls who couldn't throw a stone further than a few meters. The stones could not reach us, they fell on the road... The road! Then I noticed that they were throwing some stones down on the road. An Israeli car was just passing by on the right lane, the one closer to the girls. Just as it was about to pass, one of the girls lifted a relatively large stone and threw it down the hill. The stone fell down, rolled a bit and then jumped on the road almost hitting the car!
I was shocked! We started running a few meters ahead just to scare them away and they ran away. After a while they came back, but did nothing dangerous this time. A while later they went home.
Daniel later told me that while he was checking people in the checkpoint, there was one woman who wouldn't give him identification papers. He kept asking her over and over again, but she kept mumbling something he couldn't quite understand. Then she simply showed him - She had no hands! He was shocked! He apologized to her and let her pass.
In the evening we were finally replaced. The Safari had to refuel so it took us to some base East of Hebron. On our way there, we stopped at some point on the road between Halhoul and Hebron. There was a small path leading from Hebron across the Israeli road to large grove fields east of Halhoul. Dozens of Palestinians were walking there, despite the closure. Raleb and Oren walked out of the Safari joined by the AV, and dispersed the crowd by shooting empty bullets in the air. They enjoyed it and laughed with each other. But there was nothing pleasant in seeing women and children running scared and hiding in the fields afraid to get shot.
The AV driver walked out of the vehicle and fired some rubber bullets at the crowd that was already quite far away, forcing them to keep running further away. The driver then laughed in enjoyment. He isn't even a combat soldier and he isn't allowed to shoot at all, unless his life is in danger. There were other soldiers there who participated in the shooting. Some of them were shooting in the air, others were aiming at the crowd. The crowd doesn't know whether it's real bullets, rubber bullets, or just empty shells.
I'm absolutely certain that after we'd left the place the traffic resumed. What good did it do? Did they do it for entertainment? Is it going to prevent militants from going in and out of Hebron? I kinda tend to think that it might only cause the opposite. More hatred, more suffering, more militants.
The word "Defense" in Israeli Defense Forces is not always that accurate. There's always enough idiots who forget why they serve in IDF in the first place.
7th September, 2004
Great news - The commander of our regiment signed the form. Tickets are available! Which one should I choose? 14-21/9? or 15-22/9? The latter costs much more. I need to consult with Angel, but she's changed her cellphone so I can't talk to her about it for now. I guess I'll order 14-21/9...
Another shift at the checkpoint of Beit Kahil. The Safari took us to the bridge. As we arrived, a crowd of approx. 500 Palestinians were waiting there, on their way from Beit Kahil to Hebron. We replaced the soldiers who were here during the night shift and then started working.
Raleb tried to make the crowd form 4 lines so they could be checked one by one. They keep pushing each other, each trying to get ahead of the others and reach us to be checked first and pass as fast as possible. Being rude and selfish is always the fastest way to get ahead in line and pass a checkpoint without having to wait an average of 2-3 hours. Dozens were shouting and waving, trying to attract our attention to them so that they would be checked first. Everyone had his own story and reasons why he should be the first to be checked.
Raleb is a Druze officer so it's no wonder he knows Arabic. Palestinians don't know it. Most soldiers don't know the language and Palestinians are not afraid to say whatever they want in Arabic in front of us, so Raleb heard all kinds of things. He caught some in their lies, caught others who planned to go around the checkpoint after being told to turn back and head home.
When Raleb realized he couldn't make 500 Palestinians listen to him and stand in 2 lines, he said: "I won't be checking anyone. Not until you form 4 straight lines in front of me."
One Palestinian heard him and decided to help us form 4 lines, for the sake of his own friends. He became our translator. He addressed the crowd and asked them to form 2 lines of men and 2 of women. Part of the crowd listened to his words, others were still standing scattered all over the place. Raleb was not satisfied.
A moment later Gil, the battery commander, arrived in his jeep along with his driver and a medic. They were standing on the bridge above us. One of them threw a shock grenade at the crowd. Then they started firing empty bullets in the air. (What the f**k was that for?!) The crowd quickly dispersed, everyone was running back to Beit Kahil.
A minute or two later most of them were back at the checkpoint. Oren and the jeep's driver easily managed to form a queue of 2 rows each, by physically cutting through the crowd and splitting them apart. We started checking them, and after a short while whoever was allowed to enter Hebron was inside the city. The remaining crowd contained Hebron workers, hospital visitors and university students. The people who were allowed to pass were doctors, schoolkids and teachers. The Palestinian press was present. They photographed everything.
A patrol of two soldiers on and around the bridge prevented Palestinians from skipping the checkpoint. That's probably why there were so many Palestinians at the checkpoint today. There were still a few guys who crossed the road a few hundred meters away, out of our reach. There wasn't much we could do about it.
Me and Daniel went up there to switch places with the patrol. It was very hot up there, no shade to hide ourselves from the sun. We took 2 bottles of water with us. A 16 year old girl was heading our way from Hebron. She was holding hands with a 4 year old girl. They wanted to cross the road and go home. She kept talking to us in Arabic, trying to explain something, but we couldn't understand a word she was saying. We tried both Hebrew and English, but her reaction was the same as ours. We used the radio comm. to ask if she's allowed to pass, but Kobi gave us a negative answer. (Why? She's just a schoolgirl.)
She was only allowed to pass through the checkpoint. She tried to explain to me and Daniel that she lives right across the road. The road cuts through the hill. South and below the road is where Hebron lies. North and above the road is where Beit Kahil is located. We could see a woman in one of the houses on the hill waving to the girl. It was really close. But going around is just extra ~300 meters of walking.
Unfortunately, we couldn't let her pass. I could understand her point of view, and I could understand Kobi's point of view as well. If we let her pass, other Palestinians who keep standing on both sides of the road would be heading this way and trying to pass like she did.
But wait, they're just 2 schoolgirls. Schoolkids are always allowed to pass through the checkpoint ahead of the others, so why not allow them to skip the checkpoint in the first place?
Orders were still orders. We couldn't let her pass. We kept arguing with her and speaking 2 different languages without understanding each other. I couldn't shout at her, I can't shout at girls at all, lol. Eventually she realized it was useless. She gave up and went back down to the checkpoint and then up the hill back to her home.
I wish I had let her pass. Maybe I should have done so... Maybe I shouldn't have contacted Kobi.
A while later there were two more schoolgirls who tried to pass at the same place. This time we let them. :)
A few minutes later we noticed two 4-6 year old girls standing on the edge of the hill, right above the road. They were shouting something to us, trying to draw our attention. At first it looked like they were just trying to entertain us by jumping and clapping hands, but then things started to be a bit more shocking for us...
The 2 little girls were showing their middle fingers at us. We couldn't tell what they were shouting, but it may have been cursing. Then they picked stones and started throwing them at us. Fortunately, they were just 2 little girls who couldn't throw a stone further than a few meters. The stones could not reach us, they fell on the road... The road! Then I noticed that they were throwing some stones down on the road. An Israeli car was just passing by on the right lane, the one closer to the girls. Just as it was about to pass, one of the girls lifted a relatively large stone and threw it down the hill. The stone fell down, rolled a bit and then jumped on the road almost hitting the car!
I was shocked! We started running a few meters ahead just to scare them away and they ran away. After a while they came back, but did nothing dangerous this time. A while later they went home.
Daniel later told me that while he was checking people in the checkpoint, there was one woman who wouldn't give him identification papers. He kept asking her over and over again, but she kept mumbling something he couldn't quite understand. Then she simply showed him - She had no hands! He was shocked! He apologized to her and let her pass.
In the evening we were finally replaced. The Safari had to refuel so it took us to some base East of Hebron. On our way there, we stopped at some point on the road between Halhoul and Hebron. There was a small path leading from Hebron across the Israeli road to large grove fields east of Halhoul. Dozens of Palestinians were walking there, despite the closure. Raleb and Oren walked out of the Safari joined by the AV, and dispersed the crowd by shooting empty bullets in the air. They enjoyed it and laughed with each other. But there was nothing pleasant in seeing women and children running scared and hiding in the fields afraid to get shot.
The AV driver walked out of the vehicle and fired some rubber bullets at the crowd that was already quite far away, forcing them to keep running further away. The driver then laughed in enjoyment. He isn't even a combat soldier and he isn't allowed to shoot at all, unless his life is in danger. There were other soldiers there who participated in the shooting. Some of them were shooting in the air, others were aiming at the crowd. The crowd doesn't know whether it's real bullets, rubber bullets, or just empty shells.
I'm absolutely certain that after we'd left the place the traffic resumed. What good did it do? Did they do it for entertainment? Is it going to prevent militants from going in and out of Hebron? I kinda tend to think that it might only cause the opposite. More hatred, more suffering, more militants.
The word "Defense" in Israeli Defense Forces is not always that accurate. There's always enough idiots who forget why they serve in IDF in the first place.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The closure of Hebron - A regular shift at a checkpoint
6th September, 2004
Today I had a shift at the new checkpoint under the bridge connecting Hebron and Beit Kahil.
Following the suicide bombing, IDF's high command has given orders to put Hebron under full closure. That means that no one can get in or out of the city without being checked by IDF.
The bridge of Beit Kahil was one of the roads leading out of Hebron and it had to be checked 24 hours a day. Everyday, early in the morning, there were 200-300 people waiting at both sides of the bridge, hoping to cross. Doctors and children were given passage immediately. The rest had to wait in line and be checked. Far not everyone was allowed to cross.
The checkpoint wasn't 100% effective. Dozens crossed the Israeli road above and alongside the bridge without a problem. To prevent anyone from getting in and out of the city, you would have to position a few hundred soldiers alongside the road, physically covering the whole northern part of Hebron. But there we were, blocking passage under the bridge as if suspects and militants would choose to come straight to us.
At first there was a DCO guy with us. He kept yelling in Arabic, aiming with his weapon and giving orders. Raleb and Kobi did the same thing. I talked to some Palestinians and they obeyed me and turned back without me having to yell at them. I guess there was enough yelling already. Wouldn't they obey without all the yelling and gun-pointing?
Or and Raleb went up the bridge and prevented people from alternatively crossing it. Raleb, according to Or's enthusiastic story-telling, pushed people, grabbed them by their neckties, aimed his weapon at their foreheads within close range while yelling at them. "Are you fucking with me? Don't you see that everyone else is waiting in line at the checkpoint?!"
But they weren't up there all day. The moment they left the place and went back to the checkpoint, a new wave of citizens began crossing over without being checked. It was useless. Wouldn't we have done the same? Probably. But then they would've done the same in our place as well.
At noon, at around 1:30pm, kids crossed the checkpoint. They were coming back from school. They were cute, smiling. There were two kids that didn't look like Palestinians at all - a blonde girl and a blonde boy. They had bright-white skin. That was a rare thing to me.
The building around us were rich villas. The kind of houses that an average Israeli citizen could not afford to own. But Palestinians are excellent builders, or so they say, so it doesn't cost them that much.
Some Palestinians carried goods. There were flour bags with "USA" entitled on them, other flour bags that came from "UNRWA" with a Japanese flag on them. There were cement bags with USA's Target trademark on them. They all passed through the checkpoint. Most Palestinians were carrying black plastic bags with them.
There was a woman that tried to cross the road alongside the bridge quite close to us. Kobi told her to go back, but she refused and started running towards the other side. She stumbled onto some wires and fell down. Then she stood up, but this time she was just walking ahead. Kobi shouted: "Allo! Allo!" even though she was already quite far away. She heard him and started running again until she reached one of the houses on the other side. Kobi burst into laughter.
After a short while, TIPH guys came to the checkpoint and wanted to cross, but we didn't let them. They were taking notes all the time and even threatened us that they'll file a charge against us for not letting them pass.
One guy came with a truck full of tomatoes. He offered us tomatoes in exchange for his passage, but that didn't really work and he had to go back to Beit Kahil.
Apart from all the yelling, the gun-pointing, the chasing, the necktie grabbing, I haven't witnessed any violence there. No one was beat up or shot at. At times there was a friendly atmosphere, Palestinians were joking with us, everyone was laughing - something pleasant for a change.
There were also Palestinians who spoke Russian. They told me they studied Medicine at Russian universities. It was nice to talk to them in Russian.
The 10 hours at the roadblock were horrible. The job was not boring, the opposite - it was too intense. You had to be on your feet all the time, talking, listening to people's problems, checking documents, vehicles, bags, maintaining order and so on. I had head ache from the tight casket, my back was in pain from all the heavy equipment, especially the ceramic vest. My legs were praying for some rest...
We were replaced in the evening, until the morning. I write this instead of going to bed, cause I don't want to forget anything.
I can't imagine myself having to stand in that damn roadblock everyday for like 10 hours.
I called my Mom. She told me there are still no tickets for September 13th and the waiting list is full! My ticket is only for 5 and a half days in Germany, 14-20/9.
I have to do something about it! I have to change the dates!
There was a flight from 14th until 21st to Frankfurt and from 15th to 22nd to Munich (closer to Regensburg, the city where Angel resides). I don't know if tickets are available. I asked Lital if I could change the dates. She said I could.
Lital is very beautiful and is extremely nice. Normally, I would've had a crush on someone like her, but now that I have Angel, I'm resistant to any kind of attraction.
I also talked to Yair. He said that most likely I'll be able to change the dates to 14-21/9 and 15-22/9. Yay!
6th September, 2004
Today I had a shift at the new checkpoint under the bridge connecting Hebron and Beit Kahil.
Following the suicide bombing, IDF's high command has given orders to put Hebron under full closure. That means that no one can get in or out of the city without being checked by IDF.
The bridge of Beit Kahil was one of the roads leading out of Hebron and it had to be checked 24 hours a day. Everyday, early in the morning, there were 200-300 people waiting at both sides of the bridge, hoping to cross. Doctors and children were given passage immediately. The rest had to wait in line and be checked. Far not everyone was allowed to cross.
The checkpoint wasn't 100% effective. Dozens crossed the Israeli road above and alongside the bridge without a problem. To prevent anyone from getting in and out of the city, you would have to position a few hundred soldiers alongside the road, physically covering the whole northern part of Hebron. But there we were, blocking passage under the bridge as if suspects and militants would choose to come straight to us.
At first there was a DCO guy with us. He kept yelling in Arabic, aiming with his weapon and giving orders. Raleb and Kobi did the same thing. I talked to some Palestinians and they obeyed me and turned back without me having to yell at them. I guess there was enough yelling already. Wouldn't they obey without all the yelling and gun-pointing?
Or and Raleb went up the bridge and prevented people from alternatively crossing it. Raleb, according to Or's enthusiastic story-telling, pushed people, grabbed them by their neckties, aimed his weapon at their foreheads within close range while yelling at them. "Are you fucking with me? Don't you see that everyone else is waiting in line at the checkpoint?!"
But they weren't up there all day. The moment they left the place and went back to the checkpoint, a new wave of citizens began crossing over without being checked. It was useless. Wouldn't we have done the same? Probably. But then they would've done the same in our place as well.
At noon, at around 1:30pm, kids crossed the checkpoint. They were coming back from school. They were cute, smiling. There were two kids that didn't look like Palestinians at all - a blonde girl and a blonde boy. They had bright-white skin. That was a rare thing to me.
The building around us were rich villas. The kind of houses that an average Israeli citizen could not afford to own. But Palestinians are excellent builders, or so they say, so it doesn't cost them that much.
Some Palestinians carried goods. There were flour bags with "USA" entitled on them, other flour bags that came from "UNRWA" with a Japanese flag on them. There were cement bags with USA's Target trademark on them. They all passed through the checkpoint. Most Palestinians were carrying black plastic bags with them.
There was a woman that tried to cross the road alongside the bridge quite close to us. Kobi told her to go back, but she refused and started running towards the other side. She stumbled onto some wires and fell down. Then she stood up, but this time she was just walking ahead. Kobi shouted: "Allo! Allo!" even though she was already quite far away. She heard him and started running again until she reached one of the houses on the other side. Kobi burst into laughter.
After a short while, TIPH guys came to the checkpoint and wanted to cross, but we didn't let them. They were taking notes all the time and even threatened us that they'll file a charge against us for not letting them pass.
One guy came with a truck full of tomatoes. He offered us tomatoes in exchange for his passage, but that didn't really work and he had to go back to Beit Kahil.
Apart from all the yelling, the gun-pointing, the chasing, the necktie grabbing, I haven't witnessed any violence there. No one was beat up or shot at. At times there was a friendly atmosphere, Palestinians were joking with us, everyone was laughing - something pleasant for a change.
There were also Palestinians who spoke Russian. They told me they studied Medicine at Russian universities. It was nice to talk to them in Russian.
The 10 hours at the roadblock were horrible. The job was not boring, the opposite - it was too intense. You had to be on your feet all the time, talking, listening to people's problems, checking documents, vehicles, bags, maintaining order and so on. I had head ache from the tight casket, my back was in pain from all the heavy equipment, especially the ceramic vest. My legs were praying for some rest...
We were replaced in the evening, until the morning. I write this instead of going to bed, cause I don't want to forget anything.
I can't imagine myself having to stand in that damn roadblock everyday for like 10 hours.
I called my Mom. She told me there are still no tickets for September 13th and the waiting list is full! My ticket is only for 5 and a half days in Germany, 14-20/9.
I have to do something about it! I have to change the dates!
There was a flight from 14th until 21st to Frankfurt and from 15th to 22nd to Munich (closer to Regensburg, the city where Angel resides). I don't know if tickets are available. I asked Lital if I could change the dates. She said I could.
Lital is very beautiful and is extremely nice. Normally, I would've had a crush on someone like her, but now that I have Angel, I'm resistant to any kind of attraction.
I also talked to Yair. He said that most likely I'll be able to change the dates to 14-21/9 and 15-22/9. Yay!
Friday, April 13, 2007
A quiet night at Beit Ula
4th September, 2004
I was guarding at the bunker of our base when Anton came and replaced me. I wondered why he did it so early, it was still my shift... He said I was chosen to be part of an arrest operation.
We trained for a while and departed after 3 hours. Wearing ceramic vests and loaded guns we arrived at Beit-Ula at 2am in the armored Safari.
All the soldiers left the Safari as quietly as possible, everyone took their positions around the house. The streets were totally deserted. Me, Or and Kobi had to go around the street to the back side of the house and cover for any possible attempts of escape. Or and Kobi faced the house, covering the windows and the roof. I was assigned to watch the alley for any unwanted guests, or whatever.
It was the first time I took part in such an operation. Most soldiers prefer these kind of things over regular guarding shifts. I don't know... It's exciting, that I admit. You can later go and tell your friends about all the cool things you've done in the army. Not like anyone gives a shit. But I don't like to see people getting arrested, see their families crying, or worse - seeing somebody get shot. I wouldn't want to witness such things, especially if I were to remember it all for the rest of my life.
But there I was, sitting at the assigned position, pointing my gun and ready for anything. I felt tense and nervous. My legs hurt from long time of kneeling. I had to keep shifting weight from one leg to another in order to relieve the pain.
It was so quiet that I could hear somebody snoring. After a short while, I heard Raleb shout: "Yiftah el bab!" (Open the door). He tried again and again, screaming louder, but nobody opened the door. Then I suddenly saw some movement in the alley. Some black shadow moving quickly in the night... How relieved I was to find out it was just a cat. Then a man's shadow appeared. After a second or two I could see him wearing a casket, a weapon in his hand. I asked: "Who is it?"
"Relax. I'm a soldier." - It was a driver. Although they're not combat soldiers, they're always eager to take part in all the action.
Several seconds later, the quiet atmosphere was interrupted by an explosion. It was a shock grenade thrown into the house. There was still no reply. No one opened the door.
The man we came to arrest stole a M-16 weapon from a settlement called Efrat. There were other 2 teams from another platoon (Officer's course platoon) who surrounded the house of his parents in a village called Hidna, in case he's spending the weekend there.
Our team was not authorized to break into the house so we left the village and arrested no one.
It appeared that there were some people sleeping on the roofs of these houses. One of the guys woke up from the noise and came down to say hello to the soldiers. He said that the guy we came to arrest stays at his parents' place. I don't know if he was arrested by the other platoon, but most likely he was.
After the operation, I'd been told that Yoav, who was part of the frontal "breaking-in" team, had thrown a grenade into the house without removing the safety pin! lol!
Basically, apart from the stolen M-16, the guy has a grenade now, as a gift from IDF. That is, if he hasn't been arrested yet.
At 3:45 we were back. At 9 I had to go to the kitchen and work there until 2:30pm. Then I had to get ready to leave for the pillbox.
We didn't stay for long at the pillbox. At 3-4am we were replaced by soldiers from the 2nd battery. Due to the current situation in Hebron, the 2nd battery will be assigned to this pillbox from now on.
When the commander of the incoming team was briefed about his duties in this pillbox - he didn't like the part requiring him to open the gate for humanitarian and international vehicles and other special cases: "I ain't no opening it to nobody! F**k them!"
Yeah, right! He'll probably have no choice but to open the gate. Yet, I may never know how much trouble this commander and soldiers from his problematic battery will cause. It's such a sensitive period, especially tough for the local Palestinian population. I know he might not care about Palestinians, but I hope he knows what responsibility lies in his hands - he controls the gate through which Hebron receives supplies of food and other humanitarian aid.
4th September, 2004
I was guarding at the bunker of our base when Anton came and replaced me. I wondered why he did it so early, it was still my shift... He said I was chosen to be part of an arrest operation.
We trained for a while and departed after 3 hours. Wearing ceramic vests and loaded guns we arrived at Beit-Ula at 2am in the armored Safari.
All the soldiers left the Safari as quietly as possible, everyone took their positions around the house. The streets were totally deserted. Me, Or and Kobi had to go around the street to the back side of the house and cover for any possible attempts of escape. Or and Kobi faced the house, covering the windows and the roof. I was assigned to watch the alley for any unwanted guests, or whatever.
It was the first time I took part in such an operation. Most soldiers prefer these kind of things over regular guarding shifts. I don't know... It's exciting, that I admit. You can later go and tell your friends about all the cool things you've done in the army. Not like anyone gives a shit. But I don't like to see people getting arrested, see their families crying, or worse - seeing somebody get shot. I wouldn't want to witness such things, especially if I were to remember it all for the rest of my life.
But there I was, sitting at the assigned position, pointing my gun and ready for anything. I felt tense and nervous. My legs hurt from long time of kneeling. I had to keep shifting weight from one leg to another in order to relieve the pain.
It was so quiet that I could hear somebody snoring. After a short while, I heard Raleb shout: "Yiftah el bab!" (Open the door). He tried again and again, screaming louder, but nobody opened the door. Then I suddenly saw some movement in the alley. Some black shadow moving quickly in the night... How relieved I was to find out it was just a cat. Then a man's shadow appeared. After a second or two I could see him wearing a casket, a weapon in his hand. I asked: "Who is it?"
"Relax. I'm a soldier." - It was a driver. Although they're not combat soldiers, they're always eager to take part in all the action.
Several seconds later, the quiet atmosphere was interrupted by an explosion. It was a shock grenade thrown into the house. There was still no reply. No one opened the door.
The man we came to arrest stole a M-16 weapon from a settlement called Efrat. There were other 2 teams from another platoon (Officer's course platoon) who surrounded the house of his parents in a village called Hidna, in case he's spending the weekend there.
Our team was not authorized to break into the house so we left the village and arrested no one.
It appeared that there were some people sleeping on the roofs of these houses. One of the guys woke up from the noise and came down to say hello to the soldiers. He said that the guy we came to arrest stays at his parents' place. I don't know if he was arrested by the other platoon, but most likely he was.
After the operation, I'd been told that Yoav, who was part of the frontal "breaking-in" team, had thrown a grenade into the house without removing the safety pin! lol!
Basically, apart from the stolen M-16, the guy has a grenade now, as a gift from IDF. That is, if he hasn't been arrested yet.
At 3:45 we were back. At 9 I had to go to the kitchen and work there until 2:30pm. Then I had to get ready to leave for the pillbox.
We didn't stay for long at the pillbox. At 3-4am we were replaced by soldiers from the 2nd battery. Due to the current situation in Hebron, the 2nd battery will be assigned to this pillbox from now on.
When the commander of the incoming team was briefed about his duties in this pillbox - he didn't like the part requiring him to open the gate for humanitarian and international vehicles and other special cases: "I ain't no opening it to nobody! F**k them!"
Yeah, right! He'll probably have no choice but to open the gate. Yet, I may never know how much trouble this commander and soldiers from his problematic battery will cause. It's such a sensitive period, especially tough for the local Palestinian population. I know he might not care about Palestinians, but I hope he knows what responsibility lies in his hands - he controls the gate through which Hebron receives supplies of food and other humanitarian aid.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, March 09, 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
The city and the people of Hebron
29th July, 2004
I called Angel and she seemed okay. She told me about yesterday. Her friend Anna and Anna's mother had a fight, and Anna told her she was going to runaway from home, but eventually she didn't. Instead, she and her have mother reconciled. Why is Angel so sensitive about her friends? She worries and cries at somebody else's problems and she really had me worried last night. I always worry that something bad might happen to her while I'm away, that I wouldn't be able to prevent it. Thank God everything's fine.
I plan to fly to Germany in August, when we get a "regila" (a week-long vacation). Only during a regila I can fly abroad, according to the military laws. But now Angel had told me that her mother, who refused to let her daughter fly to Israel to meet me, plans to go to Italy with Angel and her brother.
My mom gave me the phone number of that high ranking officer she was telling me about. That officer told her that according to military laws, I have the right to fly abroad during a regila. But officers from my battalion say that since it's a combat unit, the rules are more strict when it comes to vacations.
I called the officer and he told me I should fill in a paper - a request to fly abroad, and I should send him a copy so he'd hasten things. My unit should notify me a few weeks in advance so I could order tickets for certain dates (hopefully there will be tickets available). It all seems so unlikely to succeed, but I'm gonna try my best to see her. I always tell her that nothing is unachievable. Distance is not an obstacle, not in our modern world.
I moved to Adora again today, with Yoav and Or. Or asked me to switch places with him so he could patrol with Yoav in the settlement and visit that girl's house, and I would have an AV (armored vehicle) patrol on a hummer. I've gladly accepted his offer, knowing that AV patrol is considered better and far more interesting, although it's 8 hours, while the foot patrol is only 4. Of course after 8 hours of patrol you get the 8 hours of rest in return... theoretically speaking.
Bedouins near Adora reported to us about vehicles with armed Palestinians coming to their village. Our officers want to ambush them, but since I switched with Or, I won't take part in it.
Gunshots are heard daily from Hidna and Tarkumiya.
The ambush was eventually canceled.
30th July, 2004
After 2 1/2 hours of sleep I woke up for a long 9 1/2 hour patrol. It was very tiresome. We entered Hebron and it's neighboring village of Beit-Kachil. We were accompanied by our lieutenant's jeep. That's the rule - you cannot enter Hebron with only one vehicle, due to safety and operational reasons.
Everyone in the streets was staring at us. It was as if the time had stopped. People stopped walking or buying goods at shops. Instead they looked at our vehicles with clear hostility. Some people ran away, some signaled us to go away, others were looking at us from house entrances.
We obviously were an unwanted guest in a hostile environment.
Hebron provided a wide variety of buildings. There were old brick houses, unfinished deserted villas and rich, beautifully constructed.. mansions! (well, not quite mansions, but houses with at least 10-15 rooms) People on the streets were as varied as their homes - poor, moderate and rich - or at least they were dressed like that. Garbage was everywhere on the streets. The northern entrance to the city of Hebron welcomed its visitors with large commercial ads, beautiful buildings both of western-style and far eastern-style. The clean road with grass and palms in the middle gave the city an honorable look.
What was the purpose of the patrol? Why did we have to announce our presence to the citizens of Hebron? What good does it do? I know it's fun and exciting to drive in the streets of Hebron and see things you would never see as an ordinary Israeli citizen, but what does it have to do with defending my country? The commanders call it "demonstrating attendance" (or whatever you'd translate it...) It means that we have to show them that we're here, there and everywhere so that they will think twice before committing a hostile act.
I do not think that those who commit those acts are driven by fear and would change their minds when they see soldiers on their streets. If anything, it would make them be more cautious and more motivated to carry out their plans.
29th July, 2004
I called Angel and she seemed okay. She told me about yesterday. Her friend Anna and Anna's mother had a fight, and Anna told her she was going to runaway from home, but eventually she didn't. Instead, she and her have mother reconciled. Why is Angel so sensitive about her friends? She worries and cries at somebody else's problems and she really had me worried last night. I always worry that something bad might happen to her while I'm away, that I wouldn't be able to prevent it. Thank God everything's fine.
I plan to fly to Germany in August, when we get a "regila" (a week-long vacation). Only during a regila I can fly abroad, according to the military laws. But now Angel had told me that her mother, who refused to let her daughter fly to Israel to meet me, plans to go to Italy with Angel and her brother.
My mom gave me the phone number of that high ranking officer she was telling me about. That officer told her that according to military laws, I have the right to fly abroad during a regila. But officers from my battalion say that since it's a combat unit, the rules are more strict when it comes to vacations.
I called the officer and he told me I should fill in a paper - a request to fly abroad, and I should send him a copy so he'd hasten things. My unit should notify me a few weeks in advance so I could order tickets for certain dates (hopefully there will be tickets available). It all seems so unlikely to succeed, but I'm gonna try my best to see her. I always tell her that nothing is unachievable. Distance is not an obstacle, not in our modern world.
I moved to Adora again today, with Yoav and Or. Or asked me to switch places with him so he could patrol with Yoav in the settlement and visit that girl's house, and I would have an AV (armored vehicle) patrol on a hummer. I've gladly accepted his offer, knowing that AV patrol is considered better and far more interesting, although it's 8 hours, while the foot patrol is only 4. Of course after 8 hours of patrol you get the 8 hours of rest in return... theoretically speaking.
Bedouins near Adora reported to us about vehicles with armed Palestinians coming to their village. Our officers want to ambush them, but since I switched with Or, I won't take part in it.
Gunshots are heard daily from Hidna and Tarkumiya.
The ambush was eventually canceled.
30th July, 2004
After 2 1/2 hours of sleep I woke up for a long 9 1/2 hour patrol. It was very tiresome. We entered Hebron and it's neighboring village of Beit-Kachil. We were accompanied by our lieutenant's jeep. That's the rule - you cannot enter Hebron with only one vehicle, due to safety and operational reasons.
Everyone in the streets was staring at us. It was as if the time had stopped. People stopped walking or buying goods at shops. Instead they looked at our vehicles with clear hostility. Some people ran away, some signaled us to go away, others were looking at us from house entrances.
We obviously were an unwanted guest in a hostile environment.
Hebron provided a wide variety of buildings. There were old brick houses, unfinished deserted villas and rich, beautifully constructed.. mansions! (well, not quite mansions, but houses with at least 10-15 rooms) People on the streets were as varied as their homes - poor, moderate and rich - or at least they were dressed like that. Garbage was everywhere on the streets. The northern entrance to the city of Hebron welcomed its visitors with large commercial ads, beautiful buildings both of western-style and far eastern-style. The clean road with grass and palms in the middle gave the city an honorable look.
What was the purpose of the patrol? Why did we have to announce our presence to the citizens of Hebron? What good does it do? I know it's fun and exciting to drive in the streets of Hebron and see things you would never see as an ordinary Israeli citizen, but what does it have to do with defending my country? The commanders call it "demonstrating attendance" (or whatever you'd translate it...) It means that we have to show them that we're here, there and everywhere so that they will think twice before committing a hostile act.
I do not think that those who commit those acts are driven by fear and would change their minds when they see soldiers on their streets. If anything, it would make them be more cautious and more motivated to carry out their plans.
* * * * *
After the patrol, we had to clean the house. In Adora, we have a big villa with 7-8 rooms and 3 floors. Since we didn't clean it on time, we had to do it again by 5pm. At 5:30 I went to bed to finally get some sleep before the patrol at 7pm. But no, I didn't get no sleep because at 5:40 there was a drill: A terrorist had infiltrated the settlement. We'd been running for 20 minutes all around the settlement in this incredible heat. After that, I had just enough time to have a shower and eat dinner.
* * * * *
During the AV patrol, my commander, Matan, asked the Russian driver* to slow down. At night, we circle around the village to see if any part of the fence is cut and the driver has to drive very slowly so we won't miss anything. But he kept saying that it makes him sleepy and that it is taking up too much time. Matan insisted that he drove slowly, so the driver had decided to payback by driving 5km/h on the road as well. It took as half an hour to reach Telem that was only 3km away. He thought that Matan would run out of patience, but he didn't. Man, that was so boring and stupid!
*(AV drivers are not a part of our battery. They usually cause a lot of problems, because they have no commander in charge of them so they feel independent to do whatever they want. ie. If they get 7 hours and 50 minutes of sleep, they refuse to work. Well, not everyone, but most of them are very problematic and give our commanders a real headache.
When we arrived to Telem, we could see several different weddings being celebrated in 2 Palestinian towns. Shots and fireworks were fired. Technically, it's considered illegal for them to possess weapons. IDF (my battery and other forces in the region) wanted to enter the towns and arrest everyone who has weapons on them, but eventually they didn't do it.
Matan told us how once, during one of his AV patrols in a different area (Beit Sira) they had to cross a road where a wedding ceremony was being held - there was a wedding parade of some kind. They tried to cross, but the Palestinians began throwing rocks at them, they stopped the vehicles, threw shock and tear gas grenades at the crowd and fired rubber bullets. The crowd dispersed and the wedding couple, was probably injured as well. Then Matan started laughing at his own story. Damn, how it made me angry!
He also told us how once a Russian AV driver threw a smoke grenade inside a Palestinian store after the store owner yelled at the soldiers. Then the owner picked up a big stone, threw at the driver and missed. The driver chased him down and shot his back with a rubber bullet.
Another story involved the same Russian driver and a Palestinian boy who fainted right after he was shot by the driver with a rubber bullet.
*(AV drivers are not a part of our battery. They usually cause a lot of problems, because they have no commander in charge of them so they feel independent to do whatever they want. ie. If they get 7 hours and 50 minutes of sleep, they refuse to work. Well, not everyone, but most of them are very problematic and give our commanders a real headache.
When we arrived to Telem, we could see several different weddings being celebrated in 2 Palestinian towns. Shots and fireworks were fired. Technically, it's considered illegal for them to possess weapons. IDF (my battery and other forces in the region) wanted to enter the towns and arrest everyone who has weapons on them, but eventually they didn't do it.
Matan told us how once, during one of his AV patrols in a different area (Beit Sira) they had to cross a road where a wedding ceremony was being held - there was a wedding parade of some kind. They tried to cross, but the Palestinians began throwing rocks at them, they stopped the vehicles, threw shock and tear gas grenades at the crowd and fired rubber bullets. The crowd dispersed and the wedding couple, was probably injured as well. Then Matan started laughing at his own story. Damn, how it made me angry!
He also told us how once a Russian AV driver threw a smoke grenade inside a Palestinian store after the store owner yelled at the soldiers. Then the owner picked up a big stone, threw at the driver and missed. The driver chased him down and shot his back with a rubber bullet.
Another story involved the same Russian driver and a Palestinian boy who fainted right after he was shot by the driver with a rubber bullet.
* * * * *
We entered Hebron again. Young boys smiled and waved as we passed by. Older boys stared at us with hatred. Other people gave us an anxious, unwelcoming look.
We entered Hebron again. Young boys smiled and waved as we passed by. Older boys stared at us with hatred. Other people gave us an anxious, unwelcoming look.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The next stop: The Telem Settlement
25th July, 2004
This settlement (Telem) is like a summer vacation for soldiers. We have 4 hour shifts at night and morning and the rest of the day is off. We played soccer yesterday, everything was really fine, although everyday I feel myself more and more distant from the 3 team mates that reside here with me. They're totally different in their behavior, their interests and their life perspectives.
In one way, I'm happy to be left alone - listening to my own music, reading my books without being disturbed, but on the other hand I often find myself wondering whether I should change my behavior and get closer to them.
But how can I? They listen to music that I despise, they talk about things that annoy me more than anything else: sex perversion, chauvinism. They tend to give shit about everything but themselves (sometimes even about their own friends).
Palestinian workers, as absurd as it may sound, work in the settlement, paving roads, building patios, gardening and so on. Some Palestinians probably despise them for that, but what can they do, they need the money.
A young soldier from a Golani unit was guarding at the entrance gates to the settlement when the Palestinian workers approached him and asked for a permission to stay for 5 more minutes so they could finish their work. But what was even more absurd is they reply of another young soldier from Golani who received the notice via radio. He said: "Tell them they have 5 minutes only and no extensions!"
While there's not much guarding to do, time seems to slow down, switching to a lower gear. 10-11 more days until I'm home again. Can't help but count - an indication of a slow time-pace.
25th July, 2004
This settlement (Telem) is like a summer vacation for soldiers. We have 4 hour shifts at night and morning and the rest of the day is off. We played soccer yesterday, everything was really fine, although everyday I feel myself more and more distant from the 3 team mates that reside here with me. They're totally different in their behavior, their interests and their life perspectives.
In one way, I'm happy to be left alone - listening to my own music, reading my books without being disturbed, but on the other hand I often find myself wondering whether I should change my behavior and get closer to them.
But how can I? They listen to music that I despise, they talk about things that annoy me more than anything else: sex perversion, chauvinism. They tend to give shit about everything but themselves (sometimes even about their own friends).
Palestinian workers, as absurd as it may sound, work in the settlement, paving roads, building patios, gardening and so on. Some Palestinians probably despise them for that, but what can they do, they need the money.
A young soldier from a Golani unit was guarding at the entrance gates to the settlement when the Palestinian workers approached him and asked for a permission to stay for 5 more minutes so they could finish their work. But what was even more absurd is they reply of another young soldier from Golani who received the notice via radio. He said: "Tell them they have 5 minutes only and no extensions!"
While there's not much guarding to do, time seems to slow down, switching to a lower gear. 10-11 more days until I'm home again. Can't help but count - an indication of a slow time-pace.
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