Anyone who passed through the assembly grounds during the past two months and attended the moments of rest of our brave soldiers could have documented a rare sight. Young people sit on the turret of the tank or under a canopy and read. Holding a newspaper and perusing thoroughly, including the photo caption at the bottom of the page. That's how it is when they neutralized their best friend, the mobile device, and left them like in "ancient times" with the ceramic vest and doubled.
This is not just another newspaper from those that can be obtained by explosion, but "in the camp." Seven years after its closure, the military weekly was revived and enlisted in the fighting. He comes every Thursday to the soldiers in the field, and the main thing is that he arrives on time. "When the truck with the newspapers is ten minutes late, I get a flood of phone calls," says Col. Shira Rodberg, head of the education system in the Education and Youth Corps, or if you will, the new publisher. "They're really looking forward to it. There's something about the written word and the unifying messages under the stretcher that everyone reads and feels it's theirs."
"For reservists, the newspaper is like meeting an old friend," convinces Maj. (res.) Tzachi Biran, editor of "In the Camp." "The logo hasn't changed, the content is familiar and they say, 'Wow, I know it.' It's a newspaper that accompanied them for years, in the good old days as well as in the difficult ones."
"Cheer up the fighters." Soldiers chanting "in the camp", photo: IDF Spokesperson
Until the outbreak of the war, no one thought that "in the camp" the Geniza would one day emerge. After all, the newspaper, which was first published 89 years ago, in December 1934, as an underground weekly of the Haganah organization, was closed at the end of 2016 when the IDF's Manpower Division decided to reduce the scope of printing. Since then, the print shows no signs of rash.
But "In the Camp" is a newspaper with history. This is a place where two former prime ministers, Yair Lapid and Ehud Olmert, passed as reporters, as well as National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi, former minister Nachman Shai, poet Leah Goldberg and quite a few prominent media figures such as Uri Dan and Eitan Haber, their memory is blessed, or Yoav Limor, the military commentator for Israel Hayom.
Col. Shira Rodberg: "'In the camp' entered Gaza, and Israeli flags or a note with the text of the oath of enlistment to the IDF said that reservists who received it said that they cried with emotion and said: 'We swore on this text, it brings back the meaning.'"
Biran, who was the last editor of "In the Camp," said at the paper's farewell ceremony: "It pains me mainly that the decision to close the 'In the Camp' unit and interrupt the tradition of training and decades of professional knowledge and heritage are hidden and silenced. The IDF command, which in recent years has been forced to close battalions and squadrons, obviously has the right to make such a decision – but why not stand behind it and not explain it? Why not honor the paper, its work and its legacy with a formal and respectful farewell rather than grasping subtle nuances?"
Biran, who became a citizen, was one of the founders of the Israel Broadcasting Corporation and in recent years manages marketing communications at IAI, "In the Camp" was a significant chapter in life. "I was running the IDF Spokesperson's website at the time, and one day in 2013 they needed an interim editor for the newspaper and I just came as a substitute," he recalls.
"As someone who comes from the digital world, at first I asked what I had to do with a printed newspaper, but a week later I called my commander at the IDF Spokesperson's Office and said: I want to run for the position of permanent editor. I saw that this place has a special charm. There is no substitute for a uniformed soldier who comes to interview uniformed soldiers. They feel that the conversation is at eye level, not afraid of it. So, as editor-in-chief, it hurt when the paper closed. We had guys whose dream was to become journalists and in the middle of their service they had to stop. There were civilian IDF employees who had worked in the camp for decades. The photography coordinator, Avi Simhoni, photographed during the Yom Kippur War. It was a big break for us."
"We collected materials and within a week the project was lifted." "In the Camp" system, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
"Sit down to the printed newspaper"
Then, on 7 October, war broke out. The soldiers of the spearhead units were asked to close their mobile phones, and even when they opened them, it turned out that there was no reception at the resting place, certainly not charging stations. "We realized that in order to reach commanders and soldiers in the field, we need to go out on a page, unlike what we are used to when everything is digital and every soldier has a communication center in his pocket," says Col. Rodberg, head of the education system. "The idea was to convey messages of what is happening on the home front and to present the IDF in full force, the mobilization of the reserves and the combination of the air, ground forces and Military Intelligence. We wanted to convey information about how everyone is concentrating under the stretcher for the sake of the effort, and we understood that we had to bring something written."
They began to think about possible directions, and then Chemi Cohen, a civilian IDF employee who is responsible for publishing in the Education Corps, suggested that the officer reissue "In the Camp" - a relatively simple and quick operation. He showed the attendees issues that the newspaper published nine years ago, during Operation Protective Edge, which certainly did the job then.
"This war puts us all in the same place." Reporter "in the camp" in the field, photo: IDF Spokesperson
That's where Byrne comes in, too. "I celebrated my 50th birthday this year and I really don't have to do reserve duty anymore, but two years ago I went back to volunteering because I felt I had something to contribute," he says. "When the phone came and the liaison officer asked, 'How soon can you arrive?' I said, 'In 37 minutes.' I've been waiting for it. It moved me so much, because there is also the possibility of a small correction of history, a return to doing what I loved and an understanding of the importance of the newspaper in times of war."
Tzachi Biran, editor: "I saw that this place has a special charm. There is no substitute for a uniformed soldier who comes to interview uniformed soldiers. They feel that the conversation is at eye level, not afraid of it. So, as editor-in-chief, it hurt me when the paper closed."
Biran immediately thought of adding Shirley Hecker, who was an outstanding reporter when he edited the newspaper and recently works at the recently established Internet television channel Relevant. Hecker didn't think twice, took out of the closet an old shoebox in which the "camp" straps had rested in recent years, which she keeps from regular service and can no longer be obtained, and hurried to the base.
"For me, it was a little weird," she admits. "Relevant, a new media outlet and in the early stages, but when the war began, I remembered the days of Operation Protective Edge, when I used to come to the field with the newspapers. I understood the impact this had on the soldiers and it was clear to me that I was saying yes."
Biran: "We have a closed Facebook group of BaMahane graduates that includes hundreds of people. I informed them that we were reviving the newspaper and I got a call from guys my age who wanted to join. I told them, 'But you have to run into the field, it's not office work.' The profile I was looking for were people I knew, who I could work with and who were relatively available. The rest of the guys who came, except Shirley, hadn't seen an army since liberation and came from one day to the next. I'm not a religious person, not at all, but every week that this thing goes into print is an open miracle. A weekly with minimal means."
"Everyone reads and feels it's theirs." A photographer "in the camp" documents, photo: IDF Spokesperson
When Biran edited "In Camp" ten years ago, it had dozens of employees and each field had a reporter in charge. The regular articles and sections would fill more than 60 pages. As Esau, he has seven employees, including him, a photographer and a designer. "You start working when there's no system, there's nothing. There aren't even connections," he laughs. "I explained to an education officer that when I was commander of the 'camp,' Shirley, the reporter, knew the Nahal brigade commander's phone number. Today she doesn't know anyone, and in her case it's been nine years since liberation. Forget that there are no reporters, we don't know who to call."
The first newspaper, which consisted of 16 chromo pages, was published on 26 October. They took materials from here and there. The logo announced: "In the camp in combat", on the first page appeared the combat page of the chief of staff and below it the editor's message. "In the age of smartphones and social networks, it seemed that a printed magazine was no longer relevant," Biran wrote to his readers, "but in every round and in every operation, precisely when the screens were turned off and collected during preparations for the fighting, hundreds and thousands of fighters returned to the printed newspaper."
"The first issue didn't look like the others, it came out before we even brought in the designer," Hecker apologizes for the relative paucity of material. "We took 'everything you wanted to know about Gaza' a bit, collected materials, and within a week the project was lifted. The Education Corps officers told us, 'We thought it would take a month before you could get a newspaper out.'"
Shirley Hecker, reporter: "When the war began, I remembered the days of Operation Protective Edge, when I would come to the field with the newspapers. I understood the impact this had on the soldiers and it was clear to me that I was saying yes. The Education Corps officers said, 'We thought it would take a month for a newspaper to come out.'"
"Amazing honesty"
The second issue has already been joined voluntarily by comic strip artist Uri Fink, who takes care of the popular page "Zbang in the reserves", and there is also a photographed DS from the soldiers at the front. "In the Camp," unlike traditional journalism, has a purpose in war: it comes to encourage the fighter in the field and not to bring both sides of the coin. "The newspaper is a great tool for telling what we're dealing with. Mainly issues of the fighting spirit, justice of the way, morality and protecting the homeland," clarifies Col. Rodberg, who supervises the system from above.
Therefore, don't look in the military newspaper for articles that raise arguments, divisiveness, or issues on which there is no consensus. It will appear on the Chief-of-Staff's combat page, tell how the army's actions contribute to the return of the abductees, and will not hold discussions for and against. The system has a preconceived understanding that they cannot deal with explosive materials.
"The press is preoccupied, and rightly so, with these issues. That's also what I would do if I wasn't sitting here in uniform," Hecker is convinced. "I would probably concentrate on the divided political system or what the budget they passed includes, but in combat we want the fighters to feel that they have their back, not disagreements. I sat with a platoon that came out of the fighting in Gaza and they said, 'We have someone who wants to return to Gush Katif, another who thinks we need two states, and we are fighting shoulder to shoulder and concentrating on the specific goal that is acceptable to everyone – toppling Hamas. Right now we have to, through our little prism, deal only with these things.'"
Byrne reinforces her words. "I went with one of the reporters to meet armored personnel who were in their first reserves," he says. "One of them wears a kippah and another comes from an immigrant family. I told myself that the connection was so strong that it would be very difficult to disconnect it later. I hope that after the war it will not be possible to separate people who lived in the same tank or to divide them, and I say this in my hat as a citizen who loves the country. When you walk around the IDF, no one knows who comes from where, and it doesn't matter."
But there are arguments such as whether to continue fighting with full force, or to concentrate on returning the hostages.
Hecker: "I try to see the statements of the IDF Spokesperson, and every time he is asked about it, I say, 'You are experienced journalists with combat skills, these are questions for the political echelon, why do you think he will answer?' This is the attitude of 'in the camp' – there are things that are in the political and political echelon, where they are and where the discourse should remain. The army needs to concentrate on its missions."
What if you hear soldiers criticize the military?
Byrne: "I don't think this is our place. If I were a journalist, a citizen, I probably would make headlines out of it. But the citizen press is also now behaving responsibly. If something comes up that provokes criticism, such as a lack of equipment, we will help the soldier find out. That's what we used to do in the past, too. When there were serious allegations, we would try to reach the commander."
Hecker: "I have not yet encountered anyone who criticizes the IDF. The only ones who criticized – it was towards themselves, which is amazing to me. I was recruiting female Home Front Command fighters and interviewed the battalion commander, who said: 'This is my responsibility. That's on me. I spent years in operational positions, I made lines, and the first time soldiers fell was in the hospital. The day of debriefings will come and heads will fly, but people like this battalion commander - I wish they were my commanders. He had incredible honesty."
"Proud of my identity"
To the hardcore journalist from the outside, it would seem a little strange that a military newspaper would devote almost a page to singles in uniform and their traits, but there would be no room for the fallen in recent weeks. It turns out that this is because of one of the main goals that the newspaper has set for itself - maintaining high morale.
"I assume that the soldiers will receive these messages even if they don't have a phone, through their commanders, but I don't think that's our place, and we also don't want to get down to these things while fighting," Biran explains. "We want fighting to be their top priority. In the second issue, for example, I brought a friend who is a reserve officer who talked about tips for strengthening the soul, because everyone is going through something. We are a traumatized country – and the soldiers even more."
Tzachi Biran: "We have a closed Facebook group of BaMahane graduates that includes hundreds of people. I informed them that we were reviving the paper, and I got a call from guys my age who wanted to join. I told them, 'But you have to run into the field, it's not office work.'"
Because of the limited manpower, she prepares an article in the north one day, and the next day she is in Gaza with the fighting forces. A jaded journalist who in an instant became a harnessed to the task. "It's mobilized journalism in every way," she laughs. "I'm usually a cynical person. I have a flowerpot that went everywhere with me and was also when I worked for the corporation, in a room without windows. I called him Gilad Shalit because he was still alive. Today I can't even joke about these things, because the event sits on all of our hearts.
"I have a sister who serves in the Ordnance Corps Reserve and she says, 'I suppress and try to do the best job, because I know that my friends are fighting in Gaza and every shell I work on helps them win.' You see, I bought myself a necklace with a Star of David when I never thought I'd go like this, but you realize that we were attacked just because we're Jews, and I should be proud of who I am and my identity. There's some inherent cynicism in a media person, and this war just puts us all in the same place."
You sound visceral.
"I went to the article and there was a young soldier with me. We stopped to eat at a home restaurant, and the guy, who enlisted two days ago, said he wasn't hungry. I told him, 'It's not for you, you're ordering so that the owner of the place will feel like he's feeding a soldier.'"
Shirley Hecker: "I sat with a platoon that came out of the fighting in Gaza and they said, 'We have someone who wants to return to Gush Katif, another who thinks we need two states, and we are fighting shoulder to shoulder and concentrating on the specific goal that is acceptable to everyone - the toppling of Hamas.'"
It wasn't just reading the printed page back into fashion during the war. The writing, it turns out, also stars - and not on the laptop. During the months of fighting, three collections of poems "I Am" have already been published, and a fourth is on the way. Some of the songs were written by soldiers on the battlefield and some of them also reached the pages of "In the Camp", such as the one written by Lt. Col. (res.) Moshe Tzachor of the Fire Brigade:
"When I finally get home, you'll have to accept me,
bring in whatever I bring.
I'll try to make it easier for you,
after the storm
we'll put the frustration underneath.
We will also find a blessing on a routine day.
We'll get back to breathing together."
"When the guns thunder, the muses are silent, it's a completely false cliché," Hecker is convinced. "A lot of emotion comes out of war, and in general writing is a good way to express oneself and do some soul-searching. Lots of people write, so we've posted how to contact us. There was a soldier who activated his division spokesman so that his song would reach 'In the Camp' and be published."
It's not just songs that come. For every soldier who was drafted, the Education Corps made sure to include a "personal war diary" in the command center. A kind of notebook that slips a stamp into the pocket of the trousers, in which the fighter is advised to keep a record of his experiences. There is a user guide on the start page that does sterilize any emotion, but is so appropriate for the IDF square:
1. Write a text that begins with a sentence: On October 7, 10, I was in...
2. Start writing: My department has...
3. Try to write 5 lines, each line exactly 5 words.
Then come instructions such as "Write a poem or story that begins with the sentence "I believe with all my heart that..." Not sure if David Grossman was an adopter, on the other hand not every fighter is an award-winning writer.
Accompanies the country. Sheet. "In the camp" from the Yom Kippur War, photo: from Wikipedia
"Wind power at its best"
In one of the last issues of "In the Camp," the fighters were even given a postcard to send home from the front. It is doubtful whether any of the young soldiers have ever encountered this prehistoric exhibit, but in any case it is recommended to explain to them that there is a possibility that the postcard will arrive only when the drone becomes an environmental sculpture.
"I said in the Education Corps: 'Maybe we should remind the soldiers how to do it, because when I was a kid in school they taught me how to send a letter, where to stick the stamp,'" Biran says, and he doesn't seem to be joking this time.
"I set up libraries in the field where I also put 'In Camp,'" says Col. Rodberg. "I arrived at one of the brigades during a refresher period, met fighters who had just left Gaza and I knew I had sent 700 books to them and asked them, 'Could it be that you haven't opened the library yet?' They replied: 'We opened, they took everything.' The fighters are in a place where they do not have digital communication as they are used to and they consume the written word, write war diaries and draw. If they bring their story to us, then we can use them to tell the story of the Givati Brigade, or Golani, in the war."
Do they remember how to hold a pen?
"I think we thought a lot of things about this generation with a lot of exclamation points, and we should have put more question marks. They are proving themselves, and it is a great privilege for us to provide an educational solution for these heroes.
"Beyond that, each department receives bags with tools that strengthen the spirit. The newspaper "In the Camp" entered, Israeli flags, a note with the text of the oath of enlistment in the IDF, which reservists who received it said wept with emotion. I asked them why, and they replied: 'We swore on this text 20 years ago, it brings back the meaning.' That's wind power at its best. They know how to write and hold a pen and a book, and they're certainly not afraid of them."
Victory sheet. "In the camp" from the Six-Day War, photo: from Wikipedia
"In Camp" doesn't deal with the end-stories that the traditional press usually wears. They also deal with munitions that handles shells, a soldier who sits at the checkpoint, and a teacher-soldier who is currently passing among the evacuees, and we hope that in the company photo they posted on the last page you will be able to identify the redhead who took a mech course with you.
"In my regular service, there were units I would go to and the battalion commanders would say, 'You know the IDF better than I do, because I know my little piece of God, and when I get 'In Camp,' I see the great IDF,'" Hecker says. "We try to bring in a variety of units, and even during the war you expose the soldiers to what someone else's experience looks like in battle, which is not necessarily similar to his."
Shirley Hecker: "When I was in regular service, battalion commanders would tell me, 'When I get 'In Camp,' I see the great IDF.' We try to bring in a variety of units, and during the war you expose the soldiers to what someone else's experience looks like in battle."
"Trip after release"
Currently, the "camp" is planned to appear only on days of fighting. When it ends, everyone will return to their normal lives, but there is still hope that success will translate into actions later on. The Education Corps says it will have to test the effectiveness of a written sheet even when soldiers pocket their mobile devices. Check if even then there will be a demand for paper. In any case, there will be a professional discussion about whether to ride the wave, or wake up the brand only in emergencies, in the hope that there will be none.
So far, the war doesn't seem to have an end imminent, and the paper, which began publication in October with 16 pages, grew over the course of weeks to 20. It has a circulation of 50,<> copies and is already examining the possibility of increasing its distribution, in light of the demand.
The gates of the "camp" that came out during the war, photo: IDF Spokesperson
Even if it is small and niche, it is still exciting and nostalgic to peruse. This is a brand that grew with us throughout the years of the state, was during its establishment and before them, got excited with the fighters at the Western Wall, crossed the Canal, came to Beirut and attended the Second Lebanon War. It's a bit of a shame that progress sometimes forgets tradition behind.
"There are all kinds of programs, such as the possibility of a monthly," Byrne says. "I would like my daughter's generation and younger children to be 'in the camp' when they reach the army. This is a relatively small and inexpensive project, which has a long tradition. I always share parts of the new issue with our group of alumni and they are excited. It brings them back to the days when they did things they loved. We'll be happy to accompany him in one way or another, because we probably won't be back in the army anymore."
Is it closed?
"Shirley and I are already talking about where we'll go after liberation."
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