What Will We Tell the Mothers?

April 22, 2007 - 3:00 PM by Stephanie

There is much irony behind Israel’s collective grieving during Memorial Day followed the following day by Independence Day celebration.

It is not lost in this reflective, alarming and somewhat scathing piece by Guy Ronen who makes the point: If we don’t grab onto current initiatives, what do we tell the mothers of soldiers going into the next war when it breaks?

The voices are coming from every home in Israel. He knows because his brother-in-law just returned from reserve service. His son also returned for his weekend vacation from the army bearing a similar message. Yes, she heard it too – her neighbor’s neighbor has a good friend at army headquarters. It’s been lingering in the air for a while and there it goes: Listen, Nissim, there’s going to be a war. And it’s really unclear whether we’ll win.

…further along in the column:

Once upon a time we were taught something else about the role of our leadership. We were told it’s supposed to do everything in order to prevent the killing in time. To think out of the box, turn crises into opportunities, identify gaps in the walls of hostility, pave the way for dialogue – change the course of history and avoid being dragged into wars of choice with open eyes. Nobody is renouncing the Golan Heights now or adopting the Palestinian right of return – we’re just talking about talking. Perhaps then the bullets won’t whistle

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