Late last night i wrote a FB post abut a beautiful concert by the amazing pianist Liz Magnes at her home in Jaffa, where the aim was to
raise money for the children of Gaza.
This morning at 8am my friend Michel called
and urged me to remove it as it had, in his words, offended many people, and
that it might start a new wave of hatred against me. He claimed there were
those who felt it was wrong to support the children of Gaza without at the same
time supporting the children of Sderot or other cities in Israel which had been
hurt by the war, and that I was “crazy” for waking up the dragon. He was worried about me,
When Michel called I was reading a book with my daughter in
bed, enjoying the soft morning sunshine and savoring the last hours with
her before leaving for two weeks of
concerts in Italy, a difficult and emotional moment for me. I was much too
preoccupied and exhausted (I had packed till 2 am) to argue with him and I knew
he meant well (Michel is a real friend) so I removed the post, but I felt very
bad about doing so and the feeling has been gnawing at me all day, as my heart
and conscience will not allow me to simply “let it be”.
This feeling has lead me to write the following
lines.
Over the 25 years of my career i have volunteered endlessly
for children everywhere, and for the children of Israel more than any. I have
sung for cancer associations, hospitals, special homes for battered women and their
children, for blind children, deaf children, mentally disabled youth , I have
helped raise money, I have visited, done workshops, taken photos, shaken hands,
hugged, kissed and what not. And I have sung for soldiers, sung in bomb
shelters, sung for bereaved parents, on and on the list goes. Believe me, I am not exaggerating. I practice
what I preach…”love your brother as you love yourself”. I do not flaunt these
things or boast of them (and it annoys me that I am doing so now), and I do not
document myself obsessively, I simply do the job.
When Liz Magnes wrote and said she was organizing this small
get together at her home , I was thrilled. I have long wanted to hear Liz play
live (she is amaaaazing!), and thought,
how wonderful to be able to help children while I’m at it, even if the help is modest
and symbolic.
Had I been approached by Liz or anyone for that matter, to
do the same for the children of Sderot, I would act in exactly the same way.
But none such opportunity presented itself last week. So, what should I have
done? Refused to come to Liz’s little concert because there was no “balancing
event” to give it legitimacy?? Or, attended but kept it to myself, because it
might offend someone?? My whole career has been a long series of offensive
events, from singing for the Pope to singing for peace to singing with Arabs to
singing in general (if you’re an ultra orthodox male) …is that reason to shut
up??
I find the whole issue mind boggling.
I am asking myself why it is so
difficult for some people here in Israel to support a simple act of charity and
compassion towards children who are suffering, our neighbors’ children? If for
example, I would be raising money for the children of Africa, would that be ok?
Or orphans in Russia or neonates in Naples? (I have raised money and
volunteered extensively for all three…as good will ambassador of th UN organization FAO, Amnesty
International Special Ambassador , Cavalliera de la Republica Italian , etc). I
imagine nobody would find it offensive, on the contrary.
But the children of Gaza?? “Shame
on you!” I am told, “they are the enemy!! How dare you show compassion towards
them!? Do you think they’d show compassion towards you?? they'll slit your throat! You fool! Stick with
your own kind! Israel Hater!! And anyway, the money goes to Hamas who build
tunnels to kill your children” (some add, “I hope Hamas kills you and your
children, Arab Lover”. Nice people.)
I feel truly sorry for people who
think that way. I understand their hearts and minds are crippled by fear (some
justified), tainted with prejudice and cynicism, and handicapped by short
shortsightedness. Further, I suppose, they think that helping the children of Gaza
means admitting in some way that we are responsible for their ill fate.
So here is a step by step
analysis of the situation as I see it, and an explanation for why I choose not
to delete the children of Gaza from my volunteering and raising money list:
1. 1. People from Gaza are treated in Israeli hospitals every day.
Why? Because we can. Because we have the know-how, the infrastructure, the
manpower. Because despite what governments think and do, people exhibit
humanity! I am proud if that. I heard that Abu Mazen’s wife was treated in an
Israeli hospital not long ago! I am proud of those hospitals, those doctors
(like my husband!), those nurses, who help save lives for the sake of humanity.
I don’t think they say to themselves: “hmmm well, I haven’t helped a Jewish
Israeli today, so I can’t help a Gazan. Sorry”. That would be ridiculous. And
the hospitals are just the beginning! There are endless Israeli initiatives to
help rebuild Gaza! From humanitarian aid to building products to technology,
etc. I am asking all my critics: why are you not PROUD of this fact?? You
should be! the same goes for raising money for the children of Gaza! I am proud
to be part of a society that can and will do something like that!
2. 2. The 500 children who were killed in the Gaza offensive, and the
3000 that were wounded, were most likely not armed terrorists or serial
killers. They were caught in the cross fire, just like any of us could have
been. They are not the enemy. The enemy, as I have stated many times before is
anyone who chooses death over life, anyone poisoned by extremism and fanaticism,
anyone unable to speak any language but violence, both verbal and physical, and
that goes for Arabs, Jews or whomever. A child is a child; I have three of my
own and feel deeply for every single one on the planet. Every child is born
pure of heart; hatred is not natural to the human species. I have always, and
will always, do everything I can to secure a better future for ANYONE’s
children.
3. 3. Recognizing the pain of another does not eliminate your own
pain. Recognizing the other’s tragedy does not erase or diminish your OWN
tragedy. Recognizing the Palestinians struggle for independence and their right
to self-definition within their own territory does not cancel your own right to
all of those things. And admitting you are to blame for the loss of human life
does not mean the other side does not share this blame. Self-righteousness and
defensiveness, without the courage to reach out, will lead us nowhere.
4. 4. Yes, it is true that for the moment, no Palestinian organization
will jump up and help the children of Sderot on the border with Gaza. On the
other hand, if a Palestinian state existed, if we were two equal entities
entangled in battle, I am sure citizens from the other side would feel
confident and strong enough to reach out beyond the fence, just as I do. For
the moment, sadly that is not (yet) the case.
5. 5. For whomever the purely humanitarian, compassionate and human-empathy
considerations are not enough, consider that our well being (including the children of Sderot!) depends on the well
being of our neighbors, whether we like it or not. Healthy children with a roof
over their heads, with a chance for an education and a future, are less likely
to grow into blood thirsty terrorists. It’s simple really.
6. 6. Anyone who has ever been involved in fundraising knows that you
ALWAYS take a risk putting your money into the hands of strangers that you HOPE
will get it to the needy. Unfortunately, there is often corruption, as a result
which money falls into the wrong hands, and no country is free of this illness,
including Israel. So yes, there is a chance some of the money might being
kidnapped by Hamas. But is that a reason not to try and raise it? No. Is the
fact that Africa is full of corrupt tyrants reason not to help the children of
Africa? No.
I will end with
something beautiful that Gil Dor once told me.
The Hebrew word
for responsibility, “Achrayut”, has at its core the word “acher”, which means
“the other, the different one”. Responsibility
is intrinsically linked to our relationship with “the other”, the one that is different from us, it
is he/she we must be looking out for, whether or not that sentiment is
reciprocated.
I believe only
if we create a positive dynamic, only if we give a personal example that will set
the butterfly wings in motion, as tiny as the first little flap may be, can we
hope for an eruption of positive change… somewhere, someday.
Noa, Oct 2014
(Liz Magnes at the piano at her home in Jaffa, my daughter Yum staring out into the ocean...)
