Inspiration from Zion: This is a Love Story

A view from Israel

By Forest Rain, Lionheart July 12th 2006

Today has been horrible, for Israel that is. For the Hizballah it’s been fantastic. 

The feelings I have right now can not be contained by mere shapes, creating symbols on a page. There is so much to say, all the words are all jumbled in my head. I wish I could go to sleep and wake up in a different world, one more sane and comfortable to live in.  

Hizballah shot rockets at Israel’s northern towns, injuring civilians, instilling fear, causing property damage and loss of income. Hizballah attacked Israeli soldiers, killing eight. They took two soldiers hostage and injured others.  

Children were forced to spend the day in bomb shelters rather than playing outside, enjoying the beautiful summer day. Friends worried about friends they could not reach on the phone – were they ok or had they been hurt in the attacks? Parents worried about their children – were they safe or was there going to be a knock on their door, officials coming to say that it was their son killed? Their child, brother, husband taken hostage? 

Terrible or fantastic? It’s a matter of perspective. 

For the past two weeks I’ve been thinking about Gilad Shalit, taken hostage by terrorists in Gaza. Is he really alive like they tell us? Is he being tortured? Does he understand Arabic? Do his captors speak Hebrew? If he is alive, they are probably communicating in English… After today’s events I wonder how Gilad’s story will end up. In comparison to the battle with Hizballah, Gilad’s predicament is much less dramatic or important. Of course that too is a matter of perspective. For Gilad, his family and friends there can be nothing more important than seeing his safe return home. 

Now three soldiers are missing. Three families ache with uncertainty. Other families ache with knowing, left to bury their dead and pick up the shards of their broken lives. 

One of the hostages is a Druze. People seem to prefer to think about Israel in black and white terms. It’s too hard to understand the complexities of the gray. How can they possibly understand it all? For example, how many people around the world know that there are Israeli soldiers who aren’t Jewish? That there are even Moslems in the IDF? Did you know that? 

This is a difficult time for the world, not just for Israel. Open hearts and minds are needed to be able to see different perspectives and create new alternatives. What we’ve been doing so far hasn’t been working all that well…  

I have so much more to say but just don’t have the strength.  

Please continue your prayers for healing, safety and comfort for all innocents (if you don’t pray, light a candle or wish on a star).  

Hug someone. Express your love to someone today. You never know what tomorrow will bring….