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Beacons or Not to Be | Israel Hayom

2023-05-08T08:49:49.756Z

Highlights: This year's list of highlighters warmed my heart, and I'd love to be moved by them. La Familia's youth are a classic case of complex reality with shocking PR. And the cure for the rift in the nation is speech, on both sides of the rivalry. What I was happy to see the list of beacon highlights this year. And with all the intense criticism I have of Minister Regev, I have a full-trailer truck full of criticisms of her – her belligerent language, her improper appointments.


This year's list of highlighters warmed my heart, and I'd love to be moved by them • La Familia's youth are a classic case of complex reality with shocking PR • And the cure for the rift in the nation is speech, on both sides of the rivalry


What I was happy to see the list of beacon highlights this year. After all the talk that had taken place before, disappointed speech in advance, came the list of dignitaries, who would stand on Mount Herzl, trembling with cold, and my heart warmed.

Worthy one by one. And with all the intense criticism I have of Minister Regev, and I have a full-trailer truck full of criticisms of her – her belligerent language, her improper appointments, her priorities in the world of transportation, and much more – she was accurate in this regard. I know that she was merely required to approve the choice made by an advisory committee, but getting good advice is also a considerable ability.

Most of all, I was happy to be informed that the Hashomer Hadasha movement, to which I am bound by bonds of love, has received the recognition it deserves, and that initiation in the movement will carry a torch. Hashomer Hadasha, founded by my dear friend Yoel Zilberman and his partner On Ripman, is, in my opinion, the most interesting force in Israeli society at this time. You may have heard how they help farmers preserve their land with the help of tens of thousands of volunteers, who leave warm beds at night and set out to thwart agricultural terror and looting.

But that's just the tip of the new guard's activity. This movement entered the existing educational vacuum in the country and established the "Adam and Adama" school network, in which youth learn values and work the land at the same time, and become connected people to their country and people, which in the regular education system almost never happens.

In addition, Hashomer Hadasha established a huge youth movement, which already has tens of thousands of youth members, including 3,000 Arabs. Yes. Because the new guard wants to bring everyone into the Israeli story, to connect to the land, and from it to grow. Under this umbrella, for example, Haredim come to volunteer days in the field and experience manual labor for the first time. They fly on it. Hashomer Hadasha also established a company to encourage agricultural startups, an app for volunteering, and much more.

The head, Yoel Zilberman, underwent a traumatic event about a month ago. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor. All of a sudden, in the middle of a marathon. I was deeply worried about him because I expect him to lead the people of Israel in 20 years. After long days of uncertainty, the tumor was removed from his shiny brain and deemed benign. It was my best joy this year.

There is talk on the left about boycotting this year's torch ceremony, and about the fact that those who participate in it are actually taking part in the regime revolution. And I say - in light of the list of highlights, and in the hope that there will not be a humiliating political show at the ceremony, I will be very happy to be moved on the eve of Independence Day with the elected representatives. They are most worthy. You can move on to the next difficulty.

La Familia

One person entered my heart this week. David Mizrahi, formerly a member of La Familia and today a good man. He spoke at a demonstration in Kaplan, and his words must awaken us all. This brave man told of his childhood as the son of a disabled begging father and a sick mother. Thus he became a juvenile offender, and at the age of 16, with the establishment of La Familia, the sympathetic organization that became a terrorist organization, he joined its ranks and became a major activist. What touched me most was his report on the sense of belonging that this organization gave him, with no other belonging.

In his moving speech, which is worth searching for online and watching, David Mizrahi frankly testified that his sole goal and that of his friends was "to sow hatred and fear, racism and violence, especially against Arabs." He reported how he would beat up ordinary Arabs who came within his reach, because they were the enemy, and that's what he was taught. I wonder who taught, and why he's free right now.

Mizrahi later befriended Palestinians at his workplace and realized that they were human beings, like him. Then he had the power to make the big change and get out of there. Today he lectures on racism, violence and La Familia.
First, I have an immense love for people who are sober. Disillusionment always has a heavy price in the immediate term, and good results come only later.

Second, I connected with his poignant words, which ask: How is La Familia still legal in the State of Israel? Just a few days ago, several activists in the organization were arrested on suspicion of setting fire to the Hapoel Tel Aviv club about a month and a half ago. These guys, looking for identity and belonging, become terrorists for all intents and purposes, but because of the alleged connection to football they accept the discount reserved for hooligans in the name of sport. They have nothing to do with sports, it's just an excuse for sickening displays of racism, unexplained violence, the existence of a criminal militia under the auspices of the Public Security Minister.

But most of all, I heard the cry for connection. All the young men wearing black, wearing hoodies even in the days of a rabbi, are detached young men. They have no anchor in the state, so they can be molded into agents of domestic terrorism in exchange for a sense of togetherness. So after decisively dealing with the leaders of this group and throwing them in prison for many years, after outlawing this organization and designating it as a terrorist organization, its members must be given a sense of meaning, a sense of embrace and connection, something to get up for in the morning that does not include spreading raw hatred into our already tormented society. It's time to rehabilitate the members of La Familia, to bring them back into society as useful citizens, not as a terror-walking gang. After all, they are brothers on full.

New Circuits

This difficult period, which we are all going through here in the country, yields many new and surprising connections. This is not only a descent into the abyss, but also a surprising rise from new directions. So much so. I got to be invited to forums that pop up like pretzel sellers at demonstrations, and to meet with a variety of people I usually don't get to spend an evening talking to.

The existential anxiety that landed on all sectors opened channels of attention that were completely rusty and that no one planned to use anymore. Suddenly, people step out of their comfort zones and go looking for what can be done to stop the violent tearing of the fabrics of our lives together.

Thus, left-wing activists, protesters, reform supporters, national-religious and many ultra-Orthodox Jews gather for joint emergency discussions on what to do to continue living together. And I sit there, at round tables with the best people of this country, and see that despite the great differences between the people and their views, there is another life force in this nation, there is a desire to live together and pay significant prices for this togetherness.

On the other hand, there is a growing movement of citizens who are talking about dividing the country into districts. Stage 1 before separation into different countries. A book on the matter, by Sagi Elbaz, called "Emergency Exit", was also published, with the idea of dividing the state into autonomous regions: secular, national-religious, ultra-Orthodox and Arab. Each province will be run according to the ideology of its citizens, it will have a great degree of independence, and security and economic matters will remain shared.

I realize that many who despair of the situation are captivated by this solution, which seems easy and magical, but will, in my eyes, herald the end and destruction of the State of Israel with incredible speed. The supporters cite countries in which there are such regions, cantons, such as Switzerland, where it is precisely the partial separation of populations that allows for coexistence. But with all due respect to the Swiss, and their lives, chocolate and strawberries, what works for them won't work for us. If we don't talk and meet and compromise and find tracks to hearts, we will become enemies. It's in our genome. We have no tradition of living in mutual respect without consent. It's all or nothing.

The cure for the condition at the moment is speech. Circles of dialogue, encounters between opponents, listening to ancient pains and accepting them. This mine we boarded could be neutralized before it finally explodes. When you talk, that's how I experience in all the meetings I attend, relax. Not everything is solved, but love is rekindled. What's good for relationships is also good for society. Talk to someone you've never talked to before, and you'll see: even when the mind resists, the heart can make up.

avrigilad@gmail.com

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Source: israelhayom

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