I walk through streets with few people, it’s four o’clock in the afternoon and very hot, but the intense humidity weighs most heavily. Suddenly there are alarms about a missile attack. I continue walking quietly, but I see people running across and disappearing into secure areas of buildings. I realise that people take the alarms one hundred percent seriously and everyone, everyone runs for cover. Cars stop and people get out and lie on the ground as far away as possible. Surprised, as I hadn’t looked for shelter with the alarms so far, I find myself in a car park of a building, under a roof and at the back, well protected by three walls, and above me is the building. The alarms go off and a couple of seconds after a loud explosion in the sky, almost on top of us. A mother who was in the Gan Meir (Park in the centre of Tel Aviv) shows a small round cloud in the sky just above us. I understand that this is the result of the missile being blocked by the Security Dome that covers every city and neighbourhood in Israel, and thanks to which very few missiles manage to land on Israeli soil. By the way, the Dome is not infallible, and on Saturday several Hamas missiles hit buildings, squares and Israeli soil, causing serious damage apart from deaths and injuries. And yesterday several landed in the port city of Ashkelon.
Wednesday 11:
I leave Israel with a certain degree of contradiction, as I was enjoying being here, feeling part of something very important that is happening, being able to talk to friends and help lift spirits. But my daughter Tanya is distressed in Chile, especially watching the news which is truly terrifying, scenes of a bloody and violent war. Today’s journalism tends to highlight the most heinous and delights in showing violence at its most extreme. Many images that Israeli television does NOT show, either out of respect for the families of the victims or so as not to further affect the feelings of the Israeli population, appear on networks or channels in other countries, and they are certainly shown in Chile (where the journalism is especially lurid). And there are serious threats that in case of Hezbollah attacks from the North, the airport could be closed and thus be blocked in Israel, which I would not want to happen to me either.
So, I decided to contact the Chilean consulate in Israel, where they quickly signed me up as a passenger on the third flight of the Chilean Air Force, which is being used to rescue Chileans who want to leave Israel. And here I am, on a flight to Crete where we will refuel, and then on to Madrid. There, my country’s Foreign Ministry will take charge, and we’ll see what will happen …….
Next to me on this flight is a Jewish lady who insists on criticising the Chilean government. I made it clear to her that she is being rescued thanks to an initiative of President Gabriel Boric and our Foreign Ministry ……, she looked at me with an expression that communicated the phrase “I was next to a communist” ha,ha,ha,ha!
The Tel Aviv airport was full of people. A religious man offered me to put the tefillah and pray I told him: “You should be defending the country with the army” and he got angry. Obviously, I walked away quickly, I didn’t feel like getting into an argument, much less with one of these religious fundamentalists who are not willing to hear reason, since for them the only thing that counts is the Bible and their study books.
The last thing I witnessed in Tel Aviv was groups of people in three restaurants preparing meals for Israeli army soldiers. I find this astonishing as I would assume that the logistics of feeding soldiers should be an essential issue in any army, especially the Israeli army which has a reputation for being so well organised and coordinated. However, I then see the photos and videos of soldiers receiving these food packs and thanking them with letters and videos, songs, and salutes. All this aid to the army is organised not by the government but by civil society, mostly the people who usually participate in protests against the current government.
So much for my live “reporting” from the war zone. Soon I will be in places where other conflicts are taking place and where different forms of violence, as well as compassion and solidarity, are being experienced.
