Last week, in a summary written by Hayuta, we read about three young people who joined the “circle”.
The hosts of the “Lighthouse” last week did a good job, two of the young people came back again this week and brought two more with them … but not only them, this week we were in a circle of participants so much that the water tank for coffee was completely empty! (Do not worry, there were two …).
Well as mentioned, four young men came to the circle and Rami who opened and discounted, gently directed his words so that they would appeal to young ears, as they probably did, even those who spoke after him …
Ramy said he got up in the morning with the question of what can already be renewed in the world? After all, life is a bit repetitive … when the young people arrived he felt that here, there is something new … we do not start anything anew, he says, we continue anew. He told about the “lighthouse”, about a place where a light is lit that the very knowledge of its existence, allows hope. Tells about our rationale in relation to space, Gaza Area on both ethnic sides. Today Gaza for him is a big question mark, he adds. Long time of quiet. Relatively long time of course … Gaza is also hope and love.
Ravid says that Gaza is a place of pain and despair but there is also hope, she believes it is possible. Do not know how and therefore came here to get closer to the answers, to get closer to the area where Gaza and its neighbors are, to satisfy the curiosity. “Lighthouse” is a great name in her opinion …
Tal arrived with Ravid and he too feels connected to “Lighthouse”. A lighthouse is something that looks at you. And when something looks at you – you exist. Tal wants to look at Gaza.
I directed my words to the young people and said that the first reaction to hearing the word “Gaza” is an emotional response (fear, anger, pity, hatred, etc.). It is therefore important to bring to the guests of the “circle” any kind of information about Gaza, information that will shake the negative initial feeling a bit.
Rami accepted the challenge and added information …
For Yogev, Gaza is something “of an enemy”, as the environment in which he grew up broadcast. If Gaza wants to hurt me, I’ll hurt her. His knowledge, does not come from examination and inquiry but from random hearing. To learn more, he came back again this week …
Meitav came because the friends told about their visit last week and persuaded him to join… Gaza is sad for residents born to this situation. Can not get out of this life and the boredom and suffocation bring them to do bad things.
Omer sees Gaza as a friend that can be benefited from but also harmed. The residents there are fighting for their lives and there is incitement to violence.
Ofek: When I think of Gaza, I get a picture of a fence, of a separation, a partition. In difficult days of fighting the immediate thinking is about Gaza as a terrorist organization. In calm thinking this is not the case. Ofek likens the citizens of Gaza to “orphans.” Without father and mother they are led into an impossible situation. It’s not their fault.
Roni, a neighbor of Gaza. In the past, during the period when Israel controlled the entire area, it had friends but these ties were severed. Even today, Roni is a neighbor of Gaza (from another direction …) and has once again made connections through which she handles requests for help that come to her from Gaza. It’s very easy to hate an enemy you do not see, she says. Over the years, She established connections between schools in Gaza and in Israel. When you see, connections are formed … continued to a theatrical connection between teenagers. She became acquainted with what was happening in Gaza in the social spheres. Tells a bit about them and the relationship with them. Brings examples of her activities … transferring a piano to a musician, a donation project for sewing and purchasing schoolbags (“one child, one schoolbag, one hope”), and not only hope for the child the project brought, also hope for changing the consciousness of his environment.
During the war, Roni received a message from a friend in Gaza asking if she had been hit by Qassam and at the same time she heard the helicopters going to bomb in Gaza and the friend that has no shelter. A feeling of helplessness. She called the friend from Gaza and made sure she was OK. “We all need to remember that the two peoples are not going anywhere. We are all staying here,” she concludes.
It was important for Roni to add one more thing: she accepted groups from religious preparatory schools, girls only. They were very “sloganic”, reciting sentences that were assimilated into them, but listened to her closely and approached before they left and said that despite the disagreements, the things she said evoked thoughts in them.
Malki: What is happening here today justifies our existence! (I guess the intention is to have the “lighthouse” … against the background of the discussions in recent weeks). It’s exciting to see young people coming and going again with friends and there is also some sensitivity in them. It’s a lot of importance.
Mirahleh is studying in a Judaism studies class and was asked to define what prayer is for her … Her answer was “Hope”!
Bella says that today in Gaza is quiet. She thinks what causes this silence, will it continue?
Uzi notes that his kibutz was established without violence and without dispossession. Roni’s stories excite him. He met a lot of Arabs in his life (mostly, not in the wars …) He was in Egypt in Jordan and in meetings abroad. Today he can say with certainty about the Arabs of Israel that they are not similar to Arab peoples but mainly to us Israeli Jews. This is a very strong figure in his eyes. Nobody’s going anywhere … In the past, he dived on the shores of Gaza, and wandered alone, unarmed, through the streets of Gaza. Today, the sadness is deep and a sense of missing out. The blame for the lack of solution lies with the other side as well, But we, as the strong side, need to initiate the solution.
Dina is surprising, she’s never been to Gaza! “Go to Gaza” was a curse … intriguing to be there. She was an Israeli orientalist secretary and drafted press articles for him. Gaza needs to be on the agenda all the time. The insistence on the existence of the “lighthouse” is justified. Dina talks all the time, everywhere, about Gaza. It interests her to know what others think… it can be great to live in peace. Too bad we keep miss it …
Shmulik: After a difficult period of few people, happy for the people who came today.
Maharan: Justifies Uzi’s opinion that Israeli Arabs are similar to us … Mansour Abbas understood that this is what needs to be done, to deal with citizens, similarly. The silence is maintained because there are Arabs in the government … Hamas, too, quietly, thinks it is good. The departure of workers to Israel is welcome. If employees leave, it is a sign of lowering the level of danger and suspicion. Thinks there will be a Hudna for 10 years and gets responses of joy mixed with cynicism … In his opinion this silence is committed by the forces in the area. The world is tired because of the corona. The world is trying to rebuild economies at the expense of wars.
Nahshi: The conversation today reminded him of something from the past. When he was 7 during the 1967 war. The waiting period, Nasser expels the UN forces. Obviously something is going to happen. As a child, he does not understand, excited. Dad invited him to go up to the tower and look out over Gaza. Nahshi was sure he would see monsters … See Bicycles and people traveling. Asked Dad in amazement is it intense? And his dad tried to look at some ditch … It collided with everything they told him. He later made good contact with Gazans and he is convinced that living together will return.
Neta does not know what Gaza is for her … confused. She has vague memories of visits as a little girl. On the one hand she knows and understands that there are human beings there but there is a cover of ignorance that obscures rational thinking. The hope and despair of recent years is confusing. The young people who were here today give her back hope. You do not hear such talk as theirs … The fact that they are back is exciting and wonderful and really not obvious. Turns to Roni and tells her how important her acts are, meetings with groups and the view, literally, to Gaza. At the request of the public, she talks about the visit of Women Wage Peace in the Knesset and the law they are trying to promote, the “Political Alternatives First” before any decision to go to war.
Have we already said many participants? … Here are the names: Mirahleh, Neta, Rami, Ravid, Tal, Ofek, Omer, Meitav, Yogev, Uzi, Malki, Bella, Dina, Maharan, Roni, Shmulik, Nahshi, Oded .
Wrote: Oded.