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Not Safe at Home
"People that I know that live in the north, they either went to the center of Israel (which means Jerusalem or Tel Aviv) or they're right now living in some shelter and and they go out of that shelter once or twice a day just to get food or their basic needs."
By Liat Margalit
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As part of Youth Radio's ongoing coverage of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Stephanie Mansour, a student at Notre Dame University in Lebanon, and Liat Margalit, a student at Hebrew University in Israel, talked about their perspective on the fighting.
The last two weeks in Israel have been full with uncertainty. You wake up one day in the morning and you hear on the news that the terror organization called Hezbollah kidnapped two soldiers. And then a few hours later there is a war.
And for me as a young Israeli, it had two very clear meanings. One, is that a lot of my friends are going to go the army on reserve. And the second one is that life as we knew it before is not going to be the same. I have friends in Haifa, and I know that people that live there, their entire lives have been changed. People that I know that live in the north, they either went to the center of Israel (which means Jerusalem or Tel Aviv) or they're right now living in some shelter and and they go out of that shelter once or twice a day just to get food or their basic needs.
You know that someone who lives in Jerusalem is not any safer than someone who lives in Haifa right now. Because here we have the threat of suicide bombers and there they have the rockets of Hezbollah, and in Ashkelon and other Israeli cities there is the rockets of Hamas from Gaza. So if you really want to run away the only getaway you can get is if you go to live in the desert.
The way I see it, Israel is a nation in uniform, and most people have been in the army or are connected to the army one way or another. I know after being in the army, I can tell you that I trust the Israeli military. And I know that if I'll be called to the reserve, although I'm not a fighter, I'll be more than happy to go because this is how a country should act in times of war. Everyone should stick to one another. And I'm really proud of what our military is doing right now.
My outlook about politics has not changed. I am still a peace activist, I still believe that the only way to live here in the Middle East is if we finally sign peace treaties or complete any kind of negotiations with the neighbors. Peace like we have with Egypt or Jordan- I think that's a good example of how life should be here.
- Click here to read Stephanie's story.
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