Former Israeli special forces soldier Ran Bar-Yoshafat@@http://www.standwithus.com/CHAPTERS/NORTHWEST/@@ and Israeli student and political activist Ranya Fadel spoke to students last night on what it is like growing up and living in Israel.
Bar-Yoshafat talked to the audience about what it was like serving in the Israeli Defense Force during the second intifada, a time when Israel was constantly under attack from multiple terrorist groups.
“I hoped everyday that one day I wouldn’t have to fight anymore,” he said. “There are many lies spread about the IDF.”@@uh huh@@
He said that many pictures depicting IDF atrocities are fictitious and don’t show how things really are.
“I think the main problem is lack of education and understanding. The way to solve a problem is to have a dialogue,” he said.
Bar-Yoshafat served in the special forces division of the IDF. He said that most people who go into the army don’t actually see combat.@@dude…you were in the special forces. they don’t bake cakes all day@@ Only 10 percent of the army receives combat training, and he was in that 10 percent. During his time in the IDF, his job was to track down terrorists and capture them with the least amount of force as possible.
Fadel, a Druze Israeli, studied at Bar-Llan University in Tel Aviv. She is currently a part of multiple organizations that work on opening dialogue between different constituencies across Israel so that people can put aside their differences and live in peace. She also serves on a council formed by Israeli President Shimon Peres, which meets to discuss the climate of issues between races and reports back to him on each topic.
“Terror has no target,” she said. “It has no enemies, and it has no friends.”
Fadel said that Al Jazeera doesn’t truthfully portray life in Israel by showing only one side. She talked about how it is unsafe for everyone when weapons are involved in a conflict.
She told a story of how her friend was badly hurt and others killed in a bus bombing that she was supposed to be on. She and her sister luckily missed the bus, but others weren’t as fortunate. Fadel said that these types of things happen everyday to Muslims, Arabs, Jews and Christians alike.
“We don’t live in a fairy tale, there is no bad or good side@@right@@ — each has its own reasons for conflict,” Ranya said. “We have to speak with each other and get information.”
After the lecture, the audience was able to ask the guests questions. Topics varied from political issues to religious and cultural traditions. This stop marked the second of an entire West Coast tour to share the positive message of what is actually going on in Israel. The event was sponsored by Ducks for Israel@@http://www.advocatesforisrael.org/ch_uoforegon.html@@ and put on by Stand With Us,@@http://www.standwithus.com/@@ an organization that is dedicated to informing the public about Israel and to combating the extremism and antisemitism it says distorts the issues.
“There is so much controversy in this region, and these issues are very relevant to a lot of the student body here,” Ducks for Israel member Joshua Losner@@see above link@@ said.
Losner, along with other Ducks for Israel members, thought that this lecture was worth putting on because of the diverse group of students here at the University.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity for people to hear about what daily life for an IDF soldier is like and what troubles they go through and experiences they have,” lecture organizer Caleb Zipperstein said.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Caleb+Zipperstein@@