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The Saidian family: "When Itzik would enter a period of silence, we were most afraid" | Israel today

2021-04-23T20:40:36.531Z


Halomi Krav whose distress shouted Itzik Saidian shouted in an act of despair, arriving to pray for his safety and support each other | Israel this week - a political supplement


Halomi Krav whose distress shouted Itzik Saidian shouted in an act of despair, coming to pray for his safety and support each other • Brother, Avshalom Saidian: "

  • "We have a lot of pangs of conscience."

    Praying for his safety

    Photo: 

    Joshua Joseph

At the entrance to the burns department in Tel Hashomer, a table laden with drinking bottles, cakes, Psalms and Talmudic Tractates. Like a magnet he draws anxious hearts to him. Everyone is worried about Yitzhak Saidian, a strong cliff fighter who set himself on fire a week and a half ago in front of the offices of the Rehabilitation Division in Petah Tikva, and is now lying beyond the glass door, swinging between life and death. The seating area is crowded with family and friends, as well as people who did not know Yitzhak - Halomi Krav alongside ordinary citizens - who came to hug.



This is not a demonstration, although a Givati ​​flag was hoisted on the wall and shouts were posted on the floor that "do not leave wounded behind." But it is certainly a center of pilgrimage for the victims of the tormenting apparatus of the Ministry of Defense's Rehabilitation Unit, and a magnet for those who want to express solidarity with the man who physically protected us all, but failed to rehabilitate his soul. 



B., a young man, a former IDF fighter, does not speak. His silence is thunderous. His black eyes, which contain lakes of pain, are screaming. All he is willing to say is that he did not know Yitzhak personally, but he is also a "post". He is there, pours for everyone who deserves a drink, runs to buy refreshments with his money, sits and is silent. Ofra Yitzhaki also comes every day. For a moment she is silent and for a moment she talks painfully about her post-trauma, after 22 years in permanent service, There - about the humiliating process, about the suspicion, about the label affixed. ” 



Avshalom Saidian, Itzik's brother, raises his head from the Gemara and listens to the distress that is pouring around the table. "This support gives us a lot of strength, but it's also hard to hear everyone's pain," he says. 



"Isaac would always listen to every person, and would draw the pain of others deep into his soul. He was a fighter for justice who would be filled with anger against injustice. What he did he did not do for himself, but so that others would suffer less as a result of his sacrifice. My mother had a hard time hearing "Everyone's pain. She collapsed. We no longer allow her to sit here all day, it knocks her down." He himself did not move away. He has not been at his home in Be'er Sheva for a week and has not met his daughter Gaia. 



The constant fear of the committee The



parents, Lida and Parshad Saidian, immigrated to Israel in 1988 from Tehran and settled in Be'er Sheva, where they raised the four children: Leah, Avshalom, Goel and Yitzhak. "Dad was an aliyah activist, he helped forge passports, sat in the Iranian prison and was recognized as a prisoner of Zion," says Avshalom. "He died of a heart attack four days before Yitzchak's bar mitzvah. Yitzchak went up to the Torah on Shabbat, but the celebrations were done for him only a year later."



After his father's death, Yitzhak moved to Jerusalem, to the home of his older sister Leah. In Jerusalem he met Dudi Cohen, who became a close friend. "Since then, from the age of 14, we have been good friends," my uncle raises his head from the Psalmist. "Itzik always protected everyone. If you go to war, then only with a super fighter like him. Everyone says the writing was on the wall, but for me the writing was not really on the wall. Itzik broadcast business as usual. He wanted to surf, live, devour life. We were together in Sinai, we made a living, but Itzik had a hard time sleeping at night.



"When I started studying practical engineering, Itzik said that he also wanted to study, but something that would fill him, not something just for the money. On Passover he told me he wanted to fly to South America. Since the liberation he wanted to fly, but failed because of everything he went through. He passed it in front of the Ministry of Defense. It destroyed him from the inside. He did not talk about it much, he would just throw something and then move on. Itzik was a hero enough to survive Sajaiya, but what they did to him in the Rehabilitation Division in the last four years he did not survive. .



"He would tell me about the committees. He was afraid of it. He said, 'I have a half-hour committee, in which I have to cram my whole story, and if I make a mistake or forget something?'. Every meeting with them would flood him with things. Man There was a battle here, there is no one here who scribbles or tells stories. The whole country knows this battle. Instead of coming to it, embracing it and wrapping it up, he is the one who should sue the country. Itzik is a man of giving. He volunteered to renovate Holocaust survivor homes, was active In the surfing group, he was not able to be in the position of the applicant to which he was admitted. "



A woman arrives at the sitting area and sits down next to Avshalom, placing a hand on his shoulder. "This is Yitzhak's psychologist," says Avshalom. "Talk to her. She, too, is here every day, accompanying us."



But Anat Samson Yoffe, chairwoman of For Tomorrow, has no time to speak. She immediately goes to a meeting at the Ministry of Defense, which is investigating what happened. "I am not Itzik's official psychologist," she smiles. "But I certainly accompanied him through the process. Rehabilitation Division. The connection between us was created after he participated in the association's documented trip to Romania. Four days before the disaster I spoke to him on the phone. He sounded angry. Lately he is constantly angry. The Rehabilitation Division must undergo a fundamental change. He must change the attitude. They should respect their name, the Rehabilitation Division, and not the other way around. "



"Both Anat and Guy Duak, who accompanied Itzik closely and supported him so much, contacted the rehabilitation department several times," says Avshalom. "Itzik received a 25 percent disability and asked to be raised to 50 and twice was not approved. Anat and Guy warned them to do something before A disaster would happen, and all they were told was 'get out of here', just like that. I have a lot of pangs of conscience. We tried to support Itzik, we helped him with a lawyer, but in the end I was engrossed in work, a mortgage, taking care of a child. It is difficult and also learning, I had to support her. " 



The mental disability is transparent



to the entrance to the burns department comes Rabbi Menachem Kutner. "I am a Chabad emissary to the wounded in the IDF," he introduces himself. "We organize a prayer for Itzik's well-being in all Chabad houses in the world. "I even spoke today with a Chabad emissary in the Caribbean. I told him about Itzik and he immediately said that he would bring in the 300 Jews who live on the island, so that they could pray for his healing. Avshalom is moved by the gesture: "This is the most important thing - that everyone pray for Yitzchak Ben Lida. I beg you, please pray, this is what keeps him alive, the prayers of the people of Israel." 



Avshalom goes out with my friend's uncles to breathe air outside. Bat El, Yitzhak's sister-in-law, replaces her husband with a shift in front of the door of the Kuwaiti department. "Every time I enter Yitzhak I play our daughter Gaia to him. Even though he is unconscious, you can see that it affects him. The doctor told me 'look look, how his blood pressure rises when you talk to him'. Yitzhak loves his nephews so much. We told him. "Gaia is in the hospital. Yitzhak has an old scar on his forehead, so she thinks he's in the hospital because of it. Look how sweet she is, what she wishes for him," she shows a video of the daughter with two dimples and braids, wishing David to be healthy and go surfing again, And also assures him that she will no longer resist when he devours her, as always, with kisses.



"Are you Saidian?", A man about 50 years old approached the family members hesitantly. Bat El nods. "I came because I could not not come. I too was injured in operational activity. For years I did not understand what was wrong with me, that the mind was also injured, not just the body. I did all the treatments privately, I did not want this label of battle shock, I did not want the "This whole process in front of the Ministry of Defense. Only my wife knows what I'm going through, even the children do not know. How is Itzik? Is there any improvement?"



"He is still in danger of death," Bat El replies. "We should hope for a miracle. I'm waiting to hear them say he's out of danger. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you so much for fighting so we can live in peace. It's so sad that the mental disability is transparent. Isaac always said he would rather come back from Gaza in a closet or at least without a hand Or without a leg, because then it is easier in committees, so you are not transparent. "



"As someone who has been harmed both physically and mentally, he is right," says the man who wants not to reveal his details.



In the afternoon, mother Lida and sister Leah join the shift in the seating area. "I've been to the emergency room four or five times this week because I didn't feel well, so the children don't let me sit here next to Yitzhak much," she explains in an apology. "The war destroyed Yitzhak. He would always say to me: 'Mom, killing people is hard. Mom, I still smell the smell of my friends' fire, which I took out of the ADF with my own hands. This smell does not leave me. ' After the army he returned to live in Jerusalem and then came to live with me in Be'er Sheva. He later decided to move to Tel Aviv because of the sea. Surfing at sea calmed him down. " 



Her birth falls silent, she has difficulty breathing, her eyes run, looking for Yitzhak. "I can no longer speak. It's hard for me, but I will not leave the hospital until my son comes with me." "What's going on here is a kind of home, it's one big family," says the eldest Leah, her voice a little hoarse and considerable exhaustion on her delicate face. "It is important for us to be here with our friends, relatives, and with all the people who come to strengthen us." She says the support envelops them outside the hospital as well. This morning, while driving while interviewing on the radio, a truck carrying a long horn was behind it. "You Saidian, I saw you on TV. I just wanted to tell you we're with you," the driver shouted at her. 



The sin of the bureaucracy



"Do you understand what a good and beautiful people we have? Look what a lovely guy who has been sitting here for days," Leah points out to B. "It is important for us to hear more stories of battle victims. I have always marveled at Itzik's patience , Also not disabled IDF. He would listen to everyone, so we also listen to everyone and feel a great privilege to continue in Yitzhak's path. "



When did you realize that Isaac had returned from the battle wounded? 



"I think almost three months after he returned from the war (Tzuk Eitan) all sorts of outbursts of anger, closure, isolation began. It is a gradual process so it is sometimes difficult to identify him. Each time he fell one step and another step, and despite the difficulty he finished combat service until The end. Itzik really loves the country, very much wants to give everything for it. 



"He really insisted that he be brought to Gaza, even though he was only at the beginning of his military service. Isaac is the one who brings out, who speaks. He talked a lot in the media. After the periods of speech would come periods of silence. It scared us even more. It burned in his stomach so he would take it all out, vomit all the pain, and then run away. This time, unfortunately, he did not escape. " 



What message do you want to get out of here? 



Leah is in no hurry to answer. She thinks and then raises her eyes and turns to B. "I have an answer," she says, "but I want to ask you to answer that question in my place."



B. hesitates, and suddenly the words come out of him fluently: "There are a lot of problems in the rehabilitation department of the Ministry of Defense, and there is a lot of lack of awareness of combat casualties, but the problem starts in the IDF." A warrior who is released receives a gilded card of release certificate, but only his body is released, his mind remains in the army. I think the IDF should not release the combat casualties. They should set up a battalion or brigade and treat them inside the army.



"Medical tests should be done not only when entering the army, but also when leaving it. With the certificate of discharge it is impossible to pay a psychologist. There are commanders in the IDF, many of whom were fighters and understand. Check what we are going through. They need to take care of 'posts'. " 



B. regroups in his silence, Leah is also silent. Slowly chooses the words. "Our cry is enough for suffering, enough for the path of torment that a battle blow goes through. Enough for all this bureaucracy and lawyers who make money from this crooked mechanism. You have to understand that a soul can not be bought, it is a pain that is hidden and needs to be dug into. Rehabilitate and build life, and not lower the percentage of disability for those who manage to lift their heads above the water, work a little or find a partner. " 



"I want to say one last thing, to my dear brother Isaac," Leah's voice breaks as she turns to her brother again, and between sentences she struggles with the flooding tears. "I love you so much, my brother. I miss you so much. We are waiting to see you with us at the Shabbat table, doing us a kiddush on Friday night. You are our hero. You have won. For us you have won." 

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-04-23

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