To the editor:

Greatly upset by the Oct. 7 atrocity and the events that followed, I decided to act. Organizations have been sending volunteers to work in Israel for decades. I signed up with an organization (Sar-el) that has been providing volunteers to military bases since the 1980s. From Sunday afternoon until Thursday afternoon, we lived and worked on military bases. Our group consisted of Jews and Christians, old and young, men and women, from around the world. People came from France, Germany, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Columbia, Brazil, Hong Kong and all parts of the United States. We slept in barracks or tents, one for men and one for women (husbands with the men and their wives with the women) and ate with the soldiers. While the soldiers were younger than us, like us they were male and female, Jews and non-Jews, and a mixed multitude of national origins. We met soldiers who came from the United States, Scotland, Australia, Brazil, Columbia and Russia to mention some, in addition to those born in Israel. We saw soldiers with tattoos and piercings, as well as wearing skull caps, fringe, having side curls, and some who wrapped tefillin for prayers before starting work in the morning, plus Druze, Bedouins and Arabs, all one group. A fact expected in a pluralistic welcoming society and not compatible with widespread accusation that Israel is an “apartheid” state. All the meals were kosher. This was accomplished by eating dairy for breakfast and supper in dining areas near where we slept, with lunch being a meat meal in a dining area near where we worked. The first two weeks my group, and there were a number of groups going different places, worked on an assembly line packing boxes of food, about 7,000 a day. Each box provided one meal for four soldiers. All the boxes were “kosher for Passover.” This meant no bread was allowed in the building where we did the packing. They told us it was always “kosher for Passover” so there was no need to have repeated ritual cleanings. The boxes had fruit, vegetables, dessert and protein. The main protein was tuna packed in oil. We learned that the soldiers opened the tuna can and used paper to soak up the oil. They then lit the oily paper to generate a hot meal. The boxes also had three garbage bags — no Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) littering, even in time of war. The days were long, starting with breakfast at 6:30 a.m., a bus ride to the warehouse on the base where we worked, then lunch, work and the ride back. After supper we would have an educational meeting talking about Israel, the IDF or learning about each other, ending around 9 p.m. Assembly line work is either boring or hectic. During the boring times we were able to talk with the soldiers working next to us, at least the ones who spoke English. Most were new recruits and about half female. All were friendly, interested in learning about us and thankful we came to help. All were looking forward to their future in a peaceful Israel. None were angry or fearful. None seemed upset by the media portrayals that had bothered me.

My third week was spent cleaning, sorting and organizing uniforms, tents and other equipment recently back from the front. After telling a soldier who we met at dinner why we were there and what we were doing, she thanked us for coming and especially because we were doing the work they were “usually given as punishment.” We all laughed.

The third week, since we were closer to the front, our evening meetings were often with Gaza veterans. That was the biggest lesson. Unlike the violent, hate filled Hamas fighters and worldwide pro-Palestinian demonstrators seen on TV, the soldiers I met in Israel were not angry. They did not hate Palestinians, if anything they were upset at having their lives interrupted by people wanting to kill them. They were confident they could win and anxious to be able to return to their individual pursuit of happiness. They did not appear impacted by the media portrayal that upset me. They appreciated our traveling to help them. Their attitude lifted my spirits and their stories confirmed their lack of malice.

One of the soldiers told us about entering a Gaza refugee camp. He came across an old woman and described her as being “like my grandmother.” His team treated her like they would want to have their grandmother treated, giving her food, water, medical attention and taking her to safety. How different from the Hamas attackers who did not see “grandmothers,” only non-humans to be kidnapped or brutally butchered. Another soldier told of finding a lost 6-year-old girl wandering the deserted streets in the war zone. Beside questions of how she was left unattended in a war zone, after the bomb sniffing dog checked her (a sad commentary that she could have been unattended for the purpose of performing a suicide bombing), they placed her in the hands of social workers. Later it was discovered she was carrying the cell phone detonator that had been used the day before to set off the bomb that started a Hamas ambush where one Israeli soldier died.

During one of our sessions, upset by surveys showing over 70% of Palestinians supported the Oct. 7 rapes, murders and kidnappings, one of the German Christians in my group spoke up. He expressed his view that just as ordinary Germans who voted for and supported the Nazis needed to be held accountable, the Gazans who voted for and support the actions of Hamas should be held accountable. By this reasoning the civilians were not innocent but complicit. He wondered why Israeli soldiers were not bombing first to limit their own risk. Rather than agreeing with the questioner or shrugging his shoulders to imply, “It doesn’t make sense to me either but we do what the higher ups tell us,” the soldier replied, “That is not who we (the Israeli army and people) are.” He then gave this example of restraint. Following a battle, his group was told that an ambulance was coming to collect the enemy dead and they should not fire on them. When the ambulance arrived, his team watched as Hamas fighters climbed out and planted bombs while the ambulance crew removed the bodies. One can imagine the frustration of watching the enemy planting bombs and being ordered to hold your fire because they were part of a humanitarian mission. But as the soldier said, “That is who we are.”

The only worry expressed by any of the soldiers was that the United States would not let them destroy Hamas. That U.S. politics would lead to Hamas fighters surviving in Gaza only to regroup and, as they promise, attack again. They are concerned the United States will not take Hamas at its word, i.e. that they will regroup to repeat Oct. 7 — as is shouted on U.S. college campuses — 10,000 times more. The concern among Israeli soldiers is that the United States and others do not acknowledge that until destroyed, Hamas operatives will kill anyone working for peaceful coexistence with Israel. This was confirmed when Hamas fired rockets at U.S. soldiers trying to build a pier to deliver aid and again at the crossing which provided aid for the people of Gaza. There can be no peace for Israel with Hamas or other Islamist group controlling Gaza or the West Bank calling for the destruction of Israel (i.e. a Free Palestine).

Unfortunately, the compassion for the suffering caused by war has led to more suffering. Protests are empowering Hamas, enabling them to resist freeing the hostages and surrendering to end the war. The pressure on Israel gives hope to Hamas that by holding out their goal of surviving to destroy Israel remains alive. The humanitarian concerns driving marches for peace have been manipulated by adding the chant to “Free Palestine.” It is unlikely the majority of college students know that a “Free Palestine” means a land free of those who do not adhere to Islamist theology, i.e. an Islamist theocracy. The protesting college students do not seem to know that the “Free Palestine” chant does not refer to the West Bank or Gaza but all of Israel (and probably Jordan and Egypt), i.e. land not currently under an Islamic theocracy. The protesters do not seem to realize they are chanting for the replacement of a nation (Israel) where citizenship is not related to gender, race, religion or national origin by a theocracy (like Iran or Afghanistan) which would end LGBTQ+ rights, subjugate women, and oppress or murder anyone (Muslim, Christian, Jew, et cetera) who disagrees with being subjected to the Islamist version of Sharia law. To the Islamists manipulating the protest mobs, the Hamas rapes, infanticide, beheadings and kidnappings did not go far enough. So, they added chants of “Hitler had it Right,” “Gas the Jews” and “worldwide intifada,” i.e. kill all the Jews around the world. Chants then echoed by the mob and now college professors who also march in their support.

That brings me to how I ended up volunteering in Israel. In the face of pro-Hamas murderer protests, I attended a multi-denominational community Hanukkah menorah lighting in support of Israel. One of the people I met spoke of traveling to Israel as a volunteer. He asked why I did not go too.

Over the next few weeks, I became increasingly upset by the anti-Semitic rhetoric. People were protesting against Israel to end the suffering in Gaza while ignoring the Israelis displaced from northern Israel whose homes are being bombed to rubble by Hezbollah. The protesters ignored that it was Hamas, not Israel, that broke the cease fire in place on Oct. 6. It is Hamas that refuses to release the hostages or even allow the humanitarian act of letting the American Red Cross see them. Hamas continues to launch rockets at civilian targets in Israel. Hamas operates from inside schools, hospitals, mosques and private homes making those buildings military targets. Ignored are the reports of Hamas fighters threatening and shooting at civilians who try to leave combat areas while at the same time stealing the humanitarian aid for themselves or stealing and selling it to the people the protesters believe their chants help. It is Hamas causing the suffering and they are the ones that need to be appealed to, not Israel. Yet, around the world there is little condemnation of the Hamas rapists compared to multiple calls for Israel to protect the Palestinians.

Equally upsetting is to have people make a moral equivalence between the death of children intentionally burned alive and the death of children who die in the explosion of a munitions dump after Hamas prevented them from leaving the combat zone. It is wrong to compare Israeli civilians specifically targeted after months of planning with those who are warned and given an opportunity to leave, and later die when a Hamas command center or sniper post is destroyed. When contemplating hostage exchange, it is also wrong to equate a person arrested, convicted and in jail after an unprovoked stabbing attack or for throwing stones at women and children as equivalent to someone kidnapped from their home. If the pro-Palestinian protesters want to end the war and suffering their chants should simply be for Hamas to release the hostages. Sadly, college students who believe they are calling for compassion do not call for Hamas to let the Red Cross see the hostages and do not see their own hypocrisy.

All these things in the news created a concern in me that those in Israel would feel isolated. I decided to go and show them they were not alone. It turns out, I was not alone. Most of the Sar-el people I spoke with felt the same. They were upset by the media, politicians and misinformed but well-meaning protesters. Perhaps years of redefining terms like “occupier,” “apartheid state” and “open air prison” allowed for easy manipulation of college students by Islamists who hate all Jews and are guiding the protests and chants. However, years ago universities should have countered the anti-Israel propaganda with the truth. Professors should have been wise enough to read the Oslo Accords. By that 1990s agreement, Palestinians agreed to give Israel control of the majority of the West Bank. It is not “occupied land.” The agreement called for the cessation of attacks on Jews as a “trust building” measure, after which more of the West Bank would be given to the Palestinians — unfortunately the Palestinian authority continues to fund attacks on Jews so no trust emerged. They should have pointed out that there have been no Israelis in Gaza for a decade, so also not “occupied.” Because there are checkpoints to prevent rockets, used to attack Israeli citizens from entering Gaza, does not make it an “open air prison” any more than taking off your shoes to fly or stopping at customs when driving from Canada to the United States makes the U.S. an “open air prison.” Because those educating our young did not point out these absurdities, Hamas is not confronted and we see the suffering of war prolonged.

There is a path to peace. The model to bring peace should mimic World War II. Starting with the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan, soldiers started helping the civilians by providing food and water. Then a multinational occupation to prevent violence stayed in place and helped rebuild while a democratic civilian government was established. This is a solution that starts with the unconditional surrender of Hamas. It will require politicians and world leaders to commit to the decades needed to re-educate those indoctrinated in the Islamist hatred of Jews, but it can be done. For the sake of peace, the sooner Hamas is gone and the process begins, the better for everyone.

Meanwhile, I believe, we should do what we can to help the Israeli soldiers complete their mission to destroy Hamas in Gaza and end the daily threat of rocket, knife or car attacks by Hamas indoctrinated martyrs so all children in the area can grow up free of fear.

Michael Raab

Sanibel