by Michael Puah, head of the "Choosing Family" organization and long-time nationalist camp activist, writing for Arutz-7/INN.co.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.
It's been over 100 days now that I've been dreaming. Actually, it started the very day after the Hamas massacre that set off [what I call] the Holy Temple War. I started day-dreaming that Israel gave the following message to the entire world:
"All of the hostages being held in Gaza are our citizens! For as long as even one of them is still stuck there, and for as long as there remains a threat to any citizen of our State, there will be no life in Gaza! No water, no fuel, no food, no communications – nothing. This is our ethical obligation towards the citizens of the State of Israel and towards anyone who can no longer tolerate surrender to the evil and death promoted by Islamic terrorism around the world."
The announcement in my dream concluded with this:
"We will allow all residents of Gaza who wish not to be involved in the Hamas war against Israel, to emigrate and build their lives anew in any country that wishes to help them."
At the same time, I imagined the oil reserves in Gaza, and the water supply plants, and communications and electricity installations, all being bombed and rising up in flames. This could be done without the need for smart bombs from the United States, but simply with the dumbest bombs we have; all they have to do is hit their targets and demolish them. A simple, straightforward dream.
But unfortunately, this simple, quick, ethically-just, dream method of dealing with evil met up with reality. Instead of destroying Gaza, the official idea was to "dismantle Hamas." And instead of targeting all those who had any part in nourishing the atmosphere of terrorism, a strange distinction was made between the population that breathes terrorism and raises generations of murderous hatred, and those who actually put into practice, on that sad Sabbath of Simchat Torah, the cruel education with which they were inculcated.
This differentiation between those who are supposedly "non-involved", and the active-duty terrorists paved the way for the flood of truckfuls of food, water and fuel into Gaza, with the promise that this aid would be given only to citizens and not to the terrorists of Hamas. But soon afterwards, the extent of the aid began to increase, with the clear knowledge of everyone involved that Hamas had placed itself in charge of the supplies coming from Israel. This is not the way to win, and not the way to free hostages. It is rather the way to perpetuate the "conceptions" that everyone has been talking about. We provide "humanitarian aid" to those who slaughtered us, who continue to hold our brothers, sisters, and children captive, who kill our heroic soldiers each day, and who continue to fire rockets on Israeli towns and cities whenever and wherever they get the chance. The "aid" we give them is their oxygen; it is what allows them to continue to torment us, instead of surrendering once and for all.
But on Erev Tu B'Shvat, this past Wednesday, suddenly, the nation arose! Everything seemed to have changed. Hundreds of citizens, including soldier's fresh off 100+ days of combat, together with family members of hostages and citizens from the Gaza-adjacent communities and the entire country, stood at the checkpoint in Kerem Shalom and simply did not let the trucks pass into Gaza. They said, "No Trucks!" – and they succeeded!
To these precious people, I say: "Thank you very much! With your bodies, you blocked the oxygen pipes to our Gazan enemy – pipes that were opened, to our shame, by the Government of Israel. You are not protestors, as was mistakenly reported in the media; you are leaders. You have set the target, and paved the way, and marked a new ethical challenge for the Government of Israel.
In this war, we have learned that true leadership comes from the bottom, from civilian initiatives, from simple soldiers and low-ranking officers – people who are ethical and brave. These leaders at the checkpoint have proven this once again. May they see blessing as they increase bravery and valor in Israel. We are awaiting their leadership, for they are the hope of the dream.
Translator's Note: As this is being prepared for publication, the latest news is that the Kerem Shalom area has been declared a closed military zone, forbidden to civilian entry. Among the many who arrived today to try to stop the trucks carrying "humanitarian aid" from entering Gaza where it would be distributed according to Hamas priorities, several were arrested – including a mother of two IDF fighters, as well as a soldier in reserves. In the end, 129 trucks entered Gaza through Kerem Shalom today, and another 97 through the Nitzana Crossing on the Sinai border between Israel and Egypt.