Initial exposure to the war

As everyone is acutely aware, Israel is currently in a state of conflict that began on July 12th. But war is not new to this country. It has been fighting for its existence since the moment of its inception, entering into war approximately ever 7 years. Israel is a tiny country. It houses a population of only 6 million, is approximately the size of New Jersey, and has only been in existence since 1948. It is a miniscule democratic nation surrounded by a legion of hostile Arab states that openly state their desire to eradicate the Jewish state. For these reasons, Israelis are required to serve in the military immediately following their high school graduation. Boys serve for 3 years and girls for 2.

War affects everyone in this country. The country is too small, both physically and in its numbers, for anyone to escape the effects of war. My city, Kfar Shmaryahu, is a mere hour drive from Haifa, where the majority of the devastation has occurred. The farthest that Lebanese rockets have travelled into Israel thus far are the city of Hadera, which is a mere 19 miles from where I live. I've been told to listen for sirens, and I know where the bomb shelters are both in my home and the school (the school has 3).

Every day I see people my age and younger in military uniform on the streets, with automatic rifles slung casually across their chests. At night on the beach, I see a team of boys running on the loose sand of the beach with a stretcher piled with sandbags. My friends tell me they are doing this because they want to be sent to Lebanon in fighting units. The other day, our 50-year-old tour guide to the ancient ruins of Caesarea kept slipping up on his English. "I've been up for the last 36 hours," he said. He is a part of a volunteer reserve group that runs around chasing rockets being shot into Israel that have not been detonated for whatever reason. After the day's tour, he took us to his car and showed us a rocket that he had found with his team. Every evening, I see Israeli helicopters patrolling the coastline while I sit in the sand watching the waves. Many of my colleagues at school are Israeli citizens, with children in the army or in the reserves. The business manager of the school, a South African/Israeli, had his son volunteer for a fighting unit in Lebanon yesterday. His wife was devastated. She lost her first husband in the Yom Kippur war shortly after their marriage.

It's a difficult time to witness.