That Was the Summer that Was:
History Took No Vacation
Will Students Rise to the Challenge?
by Israel HighWay Staff

For anyone living or visiting in Israel this summer it has been one of the most eventful in recent memory.

On June 25, Palestinian terrorists tunneled under the border between Gaza and Israel and attacked an Israel Defense Force post. They killed two IDF soldiers and dragged Corporal Gilad Shalit back to Gaza. He has not been heard from since. The armed wing of Hamas, the Izzedin al Qassam Brigades, took responsibility for the attack that was months in the planning.

The Israeli army responded with Operation Summer Rains. The objectives were to locate and free Shalit and to break the terrorist infrastructure that had grown ever since the Israelis left Gaza. The terrorists were manufacturing and launching Kassam rockets against Israeli population centers. The Kassams were no "homemade" nuisance weapon as some in the media portrayed them. They were lethal weapons of war.

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Media: Hizballah Recruiting Martyrs' Children by Roee Nahmias

Egyptian weekly Roz Al-Yusuf reported that Hizballah has set up armed militias comprised of more than 2,000 children of shahids aged 10-15 and that the Hizballah-affiliated "Mahadi Boy Scouts" organization is training them to sacrifice their lives. "Hizballah took pure children and established armed militias," the report said. "Prior to the recent war with Israel these children made annual appearances as "December 14 Units" only in the framework of the Jerusalem Day celebrations, but today they are referred to as "future suicides." (Ynet News)

'Hizballah Is Arming Gaza for a New War on Israel', says Israel's Spy Chief by Michael Hirst and Clancy Chassay

Israel's spy chief has given a warning that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip are garnering increasing numbers of weapons and tactical expertise from Hizballah fighters since the war in southern Lebanon erupted earlier this summer. Yuval Diskin, the director of Shin Bet, said Egypt's Sinai Peninsula was being used as a terrorist base and fast becoming a haven for arms smugglers preparing to shift their wares into the Gaza Strip. "If we don't move to counter this smuggling, it will continue and create a situation in Gaza similar to the one in southern Lebanon," he said at a meeting with Israeli Members of Knesset last week. (Daily Telegraph)

Making the Call for Israel by Margi Herwald

At age 15, Sari Leventhal is a seasoned fundraising volunteer. The Hathaway Brown student has been accompanying her mother Laura to Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland fundraising phone-a-thons since she was small, starting as a "runner" and eventually graduating to making solicitation phone calls. On Sunday, Aug. 27, Sari volunteered again, this time making calls on her cell on behalf of the Israel Emergency Campaign to help victims of the recent rocket attacks in northern Israel. "Some people want to donate right away, but some people take more convincing," she said. "I tell them even a small sum would be helpful." Sari was one of more than 300 volunteers. (Cleveland Jewish News)

Making the Grade

Over 3,500 immigrant youth and children are starting their first school year in Israel on the right foot thanks to the "Making the Grade" initiative of the Jewish Agency. They are able to choose and stock up on school bags and supplies from the Israeli branch of Office Depot. The children and youth, first to twelfth grade students, live in Jewish Agency absorption centers throughout the country. Funds for the children were donated by the UJC through various Jewish Federations, as well as the Fund for Youth At Risk. (Jewish Agency)

30 Teenagers, 7 Short Movies, 1 Dream of Peace by Matthew Hays

The organizers of this summer's Peace It Together Camp never expected it would be easy to bring together 10 Israeli, 10 Palestinian and 10 Canadian teenagers to make several short films in a spirit of dialogue and collaboration. But they also never expected to do so in a time of war.

But the Creative Peace Network decided to use filmmaking as a way to promote cross-cultural understanding and cooperation after being approached by the Gulf Island Film and Television School. In early August the 30 adolescents arrived from Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and Canada to get to know one another while creating a series of short films. "Our point has always been to use dialogue and creativity as a means of breaking down barriers and changing lives," Mr. Hamael said. (New York Times)

My Western Wall Experience by Leah Cohen

There are many preconceptions I had about the Western Wall when I went to Israel. I imagined it to be this huge amazing phenomenon like nothing I had ever experienced in my life. When I arrived at the Western Wall on the second day of my BBYO sponsored trip this summer, I was extremely disappointed. Not only was it much smaller than I had imagined, I was also intimidated by the large crowds there. I felt self-conscious up close to the Wall, with everyone praying intensely around me. I did not want to disturb anyone, and therefore felt uncomfortable praying myself. I concluded that praying at my room at home, in a small northern suburb of Chicago, was much better for me than being at the Western wall.

Because of this, I was not very enthusiastic to return there at the conclusion of my three week trip for Kabbalat Shabbat one Friday evening. I figured that once again, it would not be anything special.

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God Was with Us that Night in the Negev by Daniella Kaufman

I had just arrived in Israel that week for a four-week tour with 34 other California teens in Group Three of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) summer Israel program. And we were about to spend three nights in the middle of the Negev Desert with nothing but food and sleeping bags - definitely a sight to see. We would soon find out that the experience of sleeping on our ancestors' land would set the tone for our whole trip.

We unloaded the materials from the bus including dishes, food supplies, sleeping bags and our own personal bags. Once dinner was made and served, our group began to gather for Ma'ariv, the evening prayer service.

This was by far the most spiritual moment in my life. I gazed up at the stars as I chanted the V'Ahavta prayer with amazing new friends, standing around the same rocks that our people had wandered past thousands of years before. My eyes couldn't help but tear up as we moved on to the Mi Chamocha, the song of freedom. At that moment I felt as though God truly was with us.

The writer is an 11th grader at New Community Jewish High School. (Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles)

P2K Teen Trip to Israel by Emma Clark

The first day we arrived, I got off the bus at the Moatzah, the building that would serve as our meeting place for the next two weeks. As soon as I stepped down, the Israeli teens that stood outside to meet us began clapping, and that started off the feeling of welcome that I would continue to experience throughout every second of my stay there. Even writing it now, 'welcoming' doesn't feel adequate to describe the way that the entire country seemed to engulf me in warmth.I was, in their opinion, already one of them, and as a Jew, this was my home. That went completely unquestioned. My American peers and myself quickly discovered that there was almost no language barrier whatsoever. (Jewish Agency)

Gap-Year Kids Leave to Study For A Year in Israel by Ali Austerlitz

Many college-bound high school graduates are packing up their inflatable sofas and plan to stay abreast Middle East news using wireless laptops. But some of their peers will get a real-time glimpse of current events as they prepare for a year of study in Israel. In the wake of the recent eruptions of violence in the region, the resolve of students intent on spending a "gap year" between high school graduation and freshman year of college engaged in study or service in Israel has remained strong. While most are relieved that the cease-fire has eased immediate threats, they know that the situation is far from over. The war in northern Israel has left her feeling "no different than before" about studying in Jerusalem, said Adina Stohl, who graduated from the Yeshiva of Los Angeles Girls High School (YULA) in June and is starting at the Michlalah women's school in Jerusalem in September.

The author (pictured) is in her senior year at Milken Community High School. (Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles)

Attending Israeli School Is a Leap into the Unknown
by Daphna Berman

Coming to a consensus in a family with five kids isn't simple. Take the Brodericks, for instance, who immigrated earlier this summer from Long Island, New York. Yehuda, 16, says that he was forced onto a plane by his parents and doesn't understand why he had to move to Israel in the first place. Rachel, 13, on the other hand, thought that aliyah (immigrating to Israel) was a great idea and already feels like she belongs.

The Broderick family, of Cedarhurst, arrived last month on a flight from New York chartered by Nefesh B'Nefesh, together with the Jewish Agency. With just over three weeks to get themselves ready for school, they also spent some time touring and brushing up on their Hebrew. Since the family decided to move last year, the Broderick children have been taking private lessons in Hebrew once a week. (Ha'aretz)

Natalie Portman Visits Israel's Wounded

Actress Natalie Portman, who has starred in such films as V is for Vendetta, Star Wars, and Closer, visited Israel's Tel HaShomer long-term rehabilitation hospital with OneFamily Area-Coordinator Nava Formansky.

After Israel's war against Hizaballah in which more than 3,000 were wounded, Ms. Portman expressed interest in visiting wounded victims to show her support. She didn't want to draw attention to herself; she only wanted to bring comfort to the victims. And that she did. Natalie spoke to the wounded soldiers, most of whom were her age, in Hebrew on their level. She spent five hours with OneFamily field workers and visited more than 40 soldiers, spending time with and delivering a small gift to each. (One Family Fund)

Thinking the Unthinkable by Gary Rosenblatt

Over the last several years, Israel's very right to exist as a Jewish state has been questioned openly in Europe, first among academics and then in the media and later among the populace. Now that same insidious line of thinking has found its way to the U.S., and not just among those on the far left. Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen recently described Israel as "a mistake," noting how "creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism of the sort that we are seeing now."

The writers are not enemies of Israel, but their premise - that the Jews seized Arab land to create a state - negates thousands of years of Jewish history and the moral rationale for the Jewish people to have a state of their own. It drags us back to the question of Israel's right to exist almost six decades after it was answered - or should have been - once and for all. (Jewish Week)

Breach in the Dam by Ariel Beery

The bad news for the Jewish state and people is that this generation of American Jews have taken from their education that acting Jewish means doing justice without regard to nationality or peoplehood.

While it feels good to support all peoples and all victims, the nature of the world in which we live in - where Hizballah amassed thousands of rockets and attacked Israel; where Iran edges towards nuclear weapons; and where over a third of Israel's Jews, and, surprisingly, 20 percent of New York Jews live under or close to the poverty line - makes an ethics of universalism simply irresponsible at the moment.

It is at times like these that we who care about our families need remember the inherent obligation of peoplehood: Justice means providing full support to those whom you live with, those who would die for you, and the people whom you came from, no matter what the world thinks. (Jerusalem Post)

On July 12th, Hizballah, Hamas' terrorist ally in Lebanon conducted its cross-border raid into Israel. In its well-planned attack, Hizballah kidnapped two IDF reserve soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, and killed three. Five more soldiers were killed as IDF soldiers rushed across the border to rescue the abducted soldiers. Hizballah's attack was preceded by Katyusha rockets fired into Israel, which, according to Prime Minister Olmert, were used as a diversionary tactic to avert attention from the cross-border attack. When Israel rushed to secure their soldiers, Hizballah unleashed a massive barrage of rockets against Israel that would last 30 days and number almost 4000 rockets. By the end of the war, 39 Israeli civilians and 117 IDF soldiers lost their lives, and many more were injured.

Hizballah's head, Hassan Nasrallah, said the initial attacks were aimed at securing the release of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails. Nasrallah had personally called for the release of Samir Kuntar, a terrorist who murdered three Israelis in 1979, including a four-year-old girl whose head he smashed against rocks in front of her father before Kuntar shot him at point blank range.

Who Is Responsible for Hizballah's Attacks?

Israel held the Lebanese government responsible for the Hizballah attacks. Not only had Lebanon allowed an independent army to thrive and attack another country, but Hizballah, with two ministers, was also part of that government.

Many commentators see Hizballah as a proxy of Iran that works against Lebanon's interest. As Avraham Tal wrote in Ha'aretz, "One explanation is that this network was intended to deter Israel from intervening should Iran, busy developing its nuclear capability, be threatened. Another explanation: this is the basic phase that will prepare the stage for an offensive attack on Israel, supported by Iran, that is intended to liquidate the Jewish state - what its enemies call the 'Zionist entity'."

On August 14th a cease-fire went into effect. As yet there has still been no word on the kidnapped prisoners in Lebanon, not even a confirmation that they are still alive. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1701 which sought to bring an end to the hostilities on a long-term basis by disarming Hizballah and demanding that the Lebanese army and a UN contingent move into areas controlled by Hizballah in the south.

Side Effects and Lessons of the War

The attacks from Gaza and Lebanon were from areas that Israel vacated – in the case of Gaza just last summer, from southern Lebanon six years ago. This fact dispelled in the minds of many Israelis the explanation that violence against Israel was the result of Israeli "occupation." Put simply, Hamas, Hizballah and their sponsors object to Israel's existence. Period.

If Israeli withdrawals only feed the insatiable appetites of Israel's enemies, why withdraw from more land? This is the question now raised in response to Prime Minister Olmert's campaign platform of another disengagement from the West Bank. Today, a large majority of the Israeli public is opposed to such a withdrawal. Mr. Olmert, himself, has signaled that he is taking the proposal off the table.

Meanwhile, reservists returning from the front are complaining about the IDF's poor preparation for and execution of the fighting. Residents of Israel's north are bitter over the government's poor planning and failure to provide them basic services while they hunkered down in the shelters. In fact, many of these services were provided by non-profit organizations and hundreds of volunteers from other parts of the country, even some from abroad.

The Olmert policy and public dissatisfaction over the handling of the war has led to a drop in support for the prime minister and his Kadima party. Coupled with public revulsion at various political scandals plaguing several ministers, the public dissatisfaction could lead to major changes in Israel's political structure in the next year.

The Other War

Another front in this war was the battle for public opinion. Israel's spokespersons were constantly pressed to explain and defend Israel's actions, almost in "real time." Hizballah's aggression against Israeli civilians and its take over of Lebanon were often ignored. The conflict became known as the "Photo-shop war" as a result of the manipulation of photos by respected media outlets to exaggerate the destruction in Lebanon. According to one analyst, the photo exploitation "shows the lengths to which Islamic extremists and their sympathizers will go to manipulate media coverage. They also show the widespread acceptance of such tactics by many in mainstream media."

Terrorists understand that they cannot defeat armies, but that they can win the battle for public opinion, especially if they can manage to manipulate the media.

The Challenge to Students

Some of these issues will be faced by Jewish students as they return to the classrooms. Jewish organizations are already preparing material for students so that they can respond to the anti-Israel rhetoric they will likely encounter at school and university.

"This is an incredible opportunity to educate [your] peers [and] to become a meaningful pro-Israel asset," said David Harris, the Israel on Campus Coalition's executive director, outlining a list of more than two dozen "great ideas for pro-Israel campus initiatives." Those include starting a pro-Israel petition to creating a pro-Israel advertisement series on Facebook (an online directory that connects people) to organizing a pro-Israel teach-in in your community, to passing a pro-Israel student government resolution in your school.

Over the next few months, the Israel HighWay will highlight such efforts in high schools and youth groups across the U.S. Help spread the word to other teens by letting us know about your projects. Email info@israelhighway.org with details. (Israel HighWay)

Action Items:

1. Click to watch the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs online film, Hizballah: Attack by Proxy.

2. Forward the Israel HighWay to three friends and encourage them to watch this important film so they will be better educated about the events of this summer.

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