[yshavurah] FW: Article from The Cavalier Daily - pls fwd
- From: "Cherie Kurland" <kurlandc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Paul Kulback snippets" <paulkulback@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 06:47:37 -0500
This is going to be this week's "snippets" as I get ready to go to the
General Assembly in Jerusalem 11/15. It may also serve as the Thanksgiving
week "snippets" unless I have a fine burst of energy upon my return
11/23/03! So, just in case - Happy Thanksgiving to all!
--- Cherie Kurland
--- kurlandc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
--- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.
> [Original Message]
> From: Cherie Kurland <kurlandc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Susan Romer snippets <sromer@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 11/5/03 8:08:26 PM
> Subject: FW: Article from The Cavalier Daily
>
> I'm proud that my alma mater, the University of Virginia, published the
article below in the 11/4/03 edition of its student newspaper, the Cavalier
Daily.
>
> --- Cherie Kurland
> --- kurlandc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: <kurlandc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <kurlandc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Date: 11/5/03 9:28:16 AM
> > Subject: Article from The Cavalier Daily
> >
> > The following article is sent by the Cavalier Daily by request of the
following person.
> > Name: Cherie
> > E-mail: kurlandc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Message from the sender: fwd to?
> > Article:
> > Date:11/4/2003
> > -- Hear O Israel --
> > An Israeli student shares unique experiences, perspectives
> > By Elizabeth Katz
> > Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
> >
> >
> > Petite and feminine with bright eyes and a big smile, it's hard to
imagine first-year College student Michal Duvdevani serving as a lieutenant
in the Israeli army.
> >
> > It's hard to imagine how she felt when her mother was rescued from a
bombed building or how she feels when she reads the news and sees the names
of her friends listed among the casualties.
> >
> > At 22, she has seen more tragedy and has been under more intense
pressure than most of her fellow first years probably will experience in
their entire lives.
> >
> > These experiences have forced her to mature more quickly than many of
the American students around her, giving her a unique perspective on the
value of life, the importance of family and citizenship and the meaning of
the college experience.
> >
> > Michal's family immigrated to Israel generations ago and has been very
supportive of the country that saved them from European persecution. Her
father's parents escaped anti-Semitism in Poland and Russia, and her
mother's grandparents escaped the Nazi regime to come to Israel.
> >
> > Her mother currently serves Israel as a colonel in the police force
while her father, a retired general, is involved in humanitarian work and
once worked as an attaché for the Israeli government.
> >
> > In this position, he represented Israel to Uruguay, Paraguay and
Argentina, so Michal lived in Buenos Aires for three years, where she
learned English.
> >
> > It was in Buenos Aires that she also first learned about terrorism. She
remembers one shocking day when the Israeli embassy exploded because of a
car bomb. Her mother was the last person to leave the building alive.
> >
> > "That was probably the first time I remember seeing something like
that," she said, noting that she was nine or ten at the time. "We went to
see the building because I didn't really understand what did that mean -- a
bomb. It was not good to see. It smelled of blood. Half of the building was
there and half wasn't."
> >
> > After remaining in Argentina for another year, Michal's family returned
to Israel where her father is employed by a wealthy Russian Jew. His main
objective is to alleviate some of the terror which Israeli children cope
with every day.
> >
> > "The whole idea is to bring smiles to the kids in the settlements and
wherever else citizens get hurt," she explained. "His job is to organize
things for them because they are the future of our people."
> >
> > In addition to organizing fun children's programs, Michal's father also
grants special requests to hospitalized children.
> >
> > "Once a girl a few weeks ago said, 'What I really want is for you to
take away the fear I have when I go from school to home, so I won't be
afraid anymore on the bulletproof bus.' And she was only like 10 years old,
not even 10," Michal said, her face showing concern and understanding.
> >
> > This ten-year-old girl, like Michal and every other Israeli, is
expected to join the army after graduating from high school.
> >
> > "In 10th or 11th grade, you all think about which school you want to go
to," she explained. "We all think about what job it is we want to do in the
army."
> >
> > After Michal graduated, she was granted the honor of joining the
brigade her father had created in 1983.
> >
> > Although most girls join brigades in which they go home every night or
every weekend, she chose to be in a fighting unit, which meant being away
from home for weeks at a time, she explained
> >
> > "It's not like GI-Jane unless you end up in a fighting unit," she said
proudly. "If you end up in a fighting unit, you see the real stuff."
> >
> > Pride is an extremely important component of how many Israeli youth
view serving in the army.
> >
> > "You go to find a job in Israel and before they ask what your major is,
they ask what did you do in the army," she explained. "It's like everything
is controlled."
> >
> > She hesitated before continuing thoughtfully.
> >
> > "If you don't go to the army in Israel, it's like you're bad. I would
never be caught going out with someone who wasn't in the army. That's like
a big no-no," she said with a look of disapproval, wrinkling her nose.
"It's just a very social thing."
> >
> > After serving as a soldier in her unit, she decided to become an
officer and went to a special training school to become one.
> >
> > "It was one of the toughest times in my life," she admitted. "It's just
a lot of pressure. They teach you how to handle tough situations, how to be
under pressure by being under pressure all the time."
> >
> > For her, being an officer meant more than merely serving her country.
It meant bringing even more pride to her family.
> >
> > "It's like your parents brag about my son or my daughter is at U.Va.,"
she said. "That's what the parents in Israel say: 'My son or my daughter is
in this unit or are officers.' It's a great pride, especially for my dad."
> >
> > Of approximately 300 women in the officer training program, Michal was
one of 12 selected to become a personnel officer and one of two to join a
fighting unit.
> >
> > After spending two and a half months in the women's officer school, she
began training with the male officers for an additional two and a half
months.
> >
> > "We were probably tougher than they were because they took the toughest
girls there," she said, laughing. "It was pretty fun."
> >
> > After successfully completing the school, she returned to her original
unit at her commander's request, an occurrence that rarely happens in the
Israeli army.
> >
> > "It was like closing a circle," she recalled.
> >
> > Michal remembered her father coming home during the creation of the
brigade and asking her and her older sister what color the brigade should
be.
> >
> > "We chose purple," she said giggling. "That's why it's purple. Because
we were little girls, and that's the color little girls like."
> >
> > Her brigade consisted of three units with about 200 people in each. Of
these, two or three members of each unit were women, and she was the only
female officer in the entire brigade. And unlike most female soldiers who
serve in the army for under two years, Michal served for close to three.
> >
> > Despite being in a fighting brigade, however, Michal and the female
soldiers were not expected to actually participate directly in combat.
Instead, they assumed support roles, coordinating military strategies and
helping soldiers deal with their personal lives.
> >
> > "To be honest, I don't think girls need" to be fighting, she said
matter-of-factly, dismissing the idea that the women may resent their safer
roles.
> >
> > "It's very --" she paused to think before responding quickly. "GI-Jane
is not real, you know what I mean? The Americans have girls fighting, but
the Americans are not really in war." They are not "constantly" in war, she
clarified.
> >
> > Michal said although she has a great deal of respect for the American
army, she thinks its focus is more on training than actual fighting.
> >
> > "I'm not underestimating [the American army] at all because we work a
lot together, but there's a huge difference," she said. "We're in the
reality of war and the American army is not in the reality of war. They
just send people to other countries."
> >
> > She conceded that Iraq was a real war, and explained how it had
affected her personally.
> >
> > "I was visiting here when everything happened and I was called back to
Israel two times because I'm on the reserves now," she said.
> >
> > She was able to postpone her return because she was attending
Shenandoah University, but when she returned to Israel for the summer, she
briefly returned to the army.
> >
> > Throughout her service, Michal primarily was stationed in the Gaza
Strip, an extremely stressful and high tension area.
> >
> > "I came out of the army much more religious than I was because you just
end up seeing so many things," she said. "You end up going to the Gaza
Strip and your car has been bombed and everybody is screaming and whatnot
and you just end up needing something to help you go through that."
> >
> > Despite becoming more religious, she said she still questions aspects
of her Jewish faith.
> >
> > "I don't like when you're blind and you believe in everything because
that's what God told you," she said. "The Bible never tells you to do that.
The Bible always tells you to ask questions."
> >
> > She said her experiences in the Gaza Strip caused her to question life
and death, profoundly impacting her views on the subject.
> >
> > "Now I feel like if someone dies it's because God needed him up there,"
she said with assurance. "It's because God takes the best people. It was
just meant to be."
> >
> > Seeing so many of her friends injured or killed also gave her a unique
perspective on events outside Israel, such as the sniper attacks.
> >
> > "It was like 'What are you guys doing?'" she said in amazement. "It was
like, stop your life because of a little threat? I don't know. I've seen
some nasty things."
> >
> > She said she decided to come to the United States to form her own
opinions about the world.
> >
> > "My dad is like the figure that I admire," she explained, glowing with
pride. "I wish I could be only half of what he is. And I wish I could give
as much as he gives to my country at the end of my life, but I just want to
have my own opinion."
> >
> > She mentioned her father has Arab friends, but she has very little hope
for peace in Israel in the near future.
> >
> > Until peace can be secured, she thinks a separation of the Israelis and
the Palestinians is the only reasonable solution, although she expressed
doubt about the effectiveness of the wall Israel currently is building.
> >
> > "[The Palestinians] can bomb it like they bomb everything else," she
said with mild sarcasm. "It's part of the separation I believe there should
be. I truly believe that's the only solution," she sighed. "I'm not saying
it's a good solution or a bad solution, but I think for now that's the only
solution because we hate them and they hate us."
> >
> > She clarified that although she was brought up not to hate, her
experiences in the Gaza Strip have made that difficult.
> >
> > "If I go in the Gaza Strip and I see this 10-year-old throwing rocks at
me and giving me the finger, and I look in his eyes and he absolutely hates
me -- you can see it in his eyes -- that was it for me," she said, growing
tense. "When I looked at him, when I saw his eyes -- there's no hope."
> >
> > She expressed disappointment at the boy's being out on the street
instead of being educated to pursue tolerance, peace and respect.
Furthermore, she was disgusted by the encouragement such behavior receives
from older family members.
> >
> > "He's out there in the corner throwing rocks at me and his mom is
telling him to do that because she knows that we'll never shoot the kids,"
she explained. "We'll shoot BB guns at the adults but not at the kids, so
what they do is they put the kids in the front row, and then they stand
behind them."
> >
> > Her frustration with this practice has been intensified by the bias she
said she observes in the media.
> >
> > "I don't care what the news shows. I saw everything," she insisted.
"They take the pictures from the Palestinian side and they show the Israeli
soldiers shooting and they don't even say that it's BB guns. They just say
that we're shooting at them, at little kids. We're not shooting at little
kids."
> >
> > She further explained that preserving lives on both sides of the
conflict is one of the most important values in the Israeli army. In fact,
she said that Israeli soldiers who disrespect the value of life are jailed.
> >
> > "But the media doesn't show that," she said with frustration.
> >
> > Despite her current skepticism of a forthcoming peace in Israel, Michal
said she tries to remain hopeful.
> >
> > "I'll be optimistic and say that if I raise my children not to hate and
if they raise their children not to hate. I don't think?" She trailed off.
> >
> > "I'm not going to raise my children to hate, that's for sure," she
continued emphatically. "But I am going to raise my children to protect
their country no matter what, and if that side is trying to kill me, it's
not hatred, it's go and protect your land that my grandfather died for, and
I will never dishonor his death by not protecting it."
> >
> > She did concede, however, that the Palestinians should have their own
country, although she does not hold Israel fully responsible for their not
yet having one, specifically mentioning that 70 percent of the Jordanian
population is Palestinian.
> >
> > "We wanted a country in '48, and they're doing the same thing," she
said. "They want their own country. The thing is, I would even give them my
own house, my own land if I know they'll be at peace with me, but I don't
trust them. I just don't."
> >
> > Furthermore, Michal said she believes that if the other Arab countries
in the Middle East wanted a Palestinian country, it would have been created
already. Instead, she suggested the other countries benefit from
Palestinian unrest because of the harm it causes Israel.
> >
> > "They give them all the support that they need to bomb us, but they
won't give them land," she said with frustration. "They won't let them into
their country. Nobody wants the Palestinians."
> >
> > She concluded that she would give the Palestinians the Gaza Strip and
parts of the West Bank if it were her decision.
> >
> > Until peace can be reached, however, she said she feels Israeli
settlements are absolutely necessary, and if she were in Israel now, she
would live in one.
> >
> > Instead, she chose to come to the University and pursue a degree in
Middle Eastern Studies. She again broke the mold for Israelis with this
decision because most take time off between the army and college.
> >
> > "They just need to find themselves and who they are," she explained.
> >
> > Many go backpacing through South America, Thailand or India during this
time, and return to Israel ready to pursue an occupation or continue school.
> >
> > "They go to school much more focused than whatever I see here," she
observed. "Eighteen-year-olds can't know what they want to do in their
lives. And I think it's so much pressure on the youth of the United States.
I mean, you're kids, why would you know what you want to do now and the
rest of your lives?"
> >
> > Michal's experiences have led her to believe taking time away from
school before returning to college allows students to realize who they are
and who they want to become. In Israel, undergraduate degrees take only
three years because students are expected to know their interests before
arriving.
> >
> > "In Israel you come to school because you know what you want to study
already," she said. "If you don't know, don't come to school."
> >
> > Michal's age also sets her apart from other first-years although she
said she gets along well with her younger suitemates, roommate and resident
advisor.
> >
> > She said having a younger RA has not been a problem because they get
along well and she has learned through her military experience to base
respect on titles in addition to age. For example, she said that as a
19-year-old officer, she once had a soldier in his forties under her
command, and he respected her because of her position.
> >
> > "If they have a title, that means they earned it, so I should respect
them," she said.
> >
> > Although she has made great friends, Michal said she has noticed many
differences between Israeli and American teenagers.
> >
> > "I'm not trying to be above anyone at all at all, but I feel like
they're very childish," she said, seeming disappointed yet understanding.
> >
> > She said students seemed younger here than in Israel because of their
vastly different experiences.
> >
> > "It's not every day you see your friend killed and you have to go and
tell their parents that their son died or it's not every day that you
bandage a soldier that just got hit and take care of him," she explained.
"It's not every day that you're under pressure and you have to get results
right away. You have so much to handle. It makes you grow up really fast."
> >
> > She said most students she has met at the University have been
supportive of her experiences although she conveyed some concern about
Palestinian students she has met.
> >
> > She expressed frustration with their willingness to elaborate about
their problems with Israel without giving attention to how they can make
positive changes.
> >
> > "I can stand here and say you guys have killed seven of my good friends
-- more than seven -- you guys have killed so many of my friends," Michal
said with growing intensity, her bright eyes darkening and her smile fading.
> >
> > "You have destroyed so many families," she said, her voice cracking and
her throat growing tight for the first time. "I can say that, but I don't
say that. I just try to sit there and say, 'Okay, there's no peace between
us. What can we do to settle this down or to stop it?'"
> >
> > She said while at the University this semester, six of her close
friends were hospitalized and one was killed.
> >
> > "The hardest is not going to the funeral and being with your friends,"
she said.
> >
> > "I've lost a lot of friends actually," she continued with an
uncomfortable laugh and uneasy smile. "I mean I'm laughing at it because
that's just a way to -- I don't know. It's really tough. It's really tough.
You have to be a tough person."
> >
> > She said in addition to loosing friends, the violence was brought close
to home as recently as last week, when three Israeli soldiers were shot by
an Arab gunmen. During the attack, two female soldiers were killed while
sleeping in the bunk where Michal had lived for over a year.
> >
> > She said her first impulse after hearing about the attack was to watch
the news, but she tries to avoid watching CNN because she believes it is
biased against Israel.
> >
> > "We had signs all over Israel saying 'Ban CNN,'" she said.
> >
> > She remembered being angry after her close 19-year-old friend was shot
a few weeks ago because CNN only reported 11 injured Palestinians, failing
to mention the death of her friend or the critical condition of five other
Israeli soldiers, including a top commander.
> >
> > "You can't just ignore that," she said with disgust. "They never
mentioned anything."
> >
> > In addition to banning CNN, Michal said Israelis ban both France and
McDonalds because they give money to Palestinians.
> >
> > "I mean, how can you go to France when your neighbor has been killed
because they give them the money to bomb us?" she said.
> >
> > However, she did not place blame solely on the Palestinians and their
supporters.
> >
> > "Those values that we used to have, that I was brought up with because
my dad has those values, unfortunately you don't find them in every house
in Israel," she said.
> >
> > At this point she again noticed a difference between American and
Israeli culture. She said she was raised to do everything for her friends,
neighbors and country, so she was shocked to find that Americans are
generally more self-centered.
> >
> > "I would do anything for my friends, anything whatsoever, without even
asking if they needed help," she said passionately. "Here I'm going to have
to beg and explain, and I would get a crooked face until I get help from a
friend, you know what I mean?"
> >
> > Returning to her original topic, she said if Israelis today stuck to
the values the country was founded on, there would be fewer problems.
> >
> > "We need to resolve our own problems first and then confront the
borders of the Palestinians," she said, referencing conflicts between
various Jewish groups in Israel.
> >
> > She recognized, however, that she must focus on her own contributions
to Israel to make a difference.
> >
> > "I'm going to hopefully represent Israel the best that I can," she
said. "That's how I was brought up. That's my goal in life -- to hopefully
bring honor to my country in any kind of way."
> >
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