I could feel the intensity of Danny Edino Abba's pain from reading Toro "Do not buy your tears" (27.07), in which he compared the attitude of the police to the demonstrators against the Prime Minister in Balfour, compared to the attitude of demonstrators from the Ethiopian community, Arab citizens of Israel, ultra-Orthodox, etc. 

I just wondered a bit about two things: first, the generalization, that is, the perception that all the protesters against the prime minister are "elites." Well I also take part in demonstrations in Balfour and do not belong to the "elites". And in addition, do Edino Abba and others really think that the "elites" deserve to be beaten by the police, just because the sectors mentioned suffered from the battering arm of the police? It's hard for me to believe.

I am a 65-year-old Jew, I was born in Kibbutz Shefayim, I served as an officer in the IDF permanently and in the reserve. Most of my adult life I have been involved in education (30 years) and make a living from teaching history in high school. And never - I never considered myself an elitist until opponents of the Balfour protests gave me that title. I do consider myself a humanist and in favor of people of all races, colors, religions and genders. I will not detail my volunteer resume here, but I will say that I have known, for many years, the wonderful community of Ethiopian Jews in the country. This affair began when I worked for the Scout movement, 18 years ago, alongside a dear man, Danny Adamsu, with whom I worked extensively in volunteering and volunteering for the Ethiopian community. Hadar, a member of Kibbutz Shefayim, who ran the association.

So why is it important for me to respond? That generalization in the form of "elites" or "anarchists" towards demonstrators, and in general, is the mother of incitement and superficiality, and it serves only the governmental electorate or the forces that are interested in a conflicted society. I am in Balfour just for that purpose - to protest and warn against the incitement, against the corruption and carelessness of the government that harms, most of all, the weak. I am not an "elite"; I am an honest, decent and law-abiding person who cares deeply about all sectors that have suffered degrading treatment or police violence. And I will come back again, I am not an anarchist or an elitist. These are inciting words that do not contribute to any legitimate debate about the future image of the State of Israel.

We both - Danny and I - come from a common place of opposition to generalizations, each in his own way. This is the formula: get to know the people we think about in inclusive terms, see them, meet them, and understand the complexity. Not just in these tense days, but as a way of life. 

Avner Giladi is a member of Kibbutz Shefayim