As a kid, you’re taught in school not to bother kids smaller than you. Think for a moment what the average person goes through when walking down the street and seeing an adult hitting a little kid. The very first instinct is to break it up – you don’t need to be a genius to understand that an adult shouldn’t hit a child.
Even if the kid’s annoying, the adult is expected to be responsible and know how to behave rationally, or in other words – an adult needs to remain focused on the world of adults.
As a 14 year old kid, who lives in the State of Israel, the only home in the world for Jews, with an army whose job it is to protect us, I meet our soldiers everywhere – in town, at intersections, in parks. The order is that we kids deal with what kids need to deal with, parents take care of us, and soldiers protect us.
This all changed on Simchat Torah. Suddenly our prayers were stopped and we were brought back home. Something terrible happened in Gaza. We didn’t really understand, and after the holiday and in the days that followed, we were exposed to the great disaster. Around 1,300 were murdered, thousands wounded, and over 200 Israelis, including women, old men, and some 30 children were abducted.
Why did Hamas involve children?
The questions don’t cease to disturb us. Why did this happen? What will be with all the captives? How are the wounded? Will there be more killed? What will be in the end? The questions do not cease to come up. But what most occupies my mind is the thought of those children who were abducted and are with Hamas, and why Hamas even involved children.
War or no war, there are basic rules: you don’t involve innocent civilians, let alone children. Why do babies and young and innocent children need to be involved in the wars of the big guys? I sit here in my room in front of the computer at home, at a time where there are little and big children my age somewhere in Gaza – who knows what’s going on with them?
Without their parents who are supposed to protect them, in a strange place that is harasses them, which hates them for being Jewish – is someone there making sure they have what to eat? To drink? Do they have a warm blanket at night? How can one live with these thoughts and questions? It’s truly inconceivable.
Forget for a moment that even war has rules and innocent civilians should not be involved. People of Gaza, heads of Hamas – where is your heart? Where is your minimal morality? How can you sleep at night? How can you live at peace with yourselves, in a situation where you separated babies from their mothers, children from their families? In your actions, you are not human beings. This is a monstrous act, evil the Devil didn’t conceive, deeds for which there is no forgiveness.
Our army are not suckers. I hope those terrorists already regret what they did. Our army will destroy, eliminate, kill, turn every stone to return the hostages, so they should cut losses by freeing the hostages and the children now.
And to you, residents of Gaza, we send the message: if you want to live, help us help you, snitch and tell us where they’re hiding the captives. We are ultimately a peace loving people uninterested in wars. If you don’t cooperate with us, you will be considered collaborators with Hamas and if so, you will have crossed the red line and you’ll pay for it.
The People of Israel are strong. I am proud to be part of this nation. And the entire People of Israel – hold on a little more. Let us all pray that all the hostages return home safe.
Ilay Ben Yitzhak, a student in eighth grade at Yeshivat Maarav Shomron, ORT Elkanah