by Gil Hoffman
NJJN Israel Correspondent

January 1, 2009

Eight local high school students visiting Israel on an exchange program had an encounter of a lifetime on Monday night that brought Israel’s war against Hamas closer to home.

Quickly rerouted to Jerusalem after spending the Sabbath just miles from the war-torn Gaza Strip, the students were in a hotel room when news came of rocket attacks on the town they had evacuated just days before.

All are participants in Mifgashim (Encounters), run by United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ along with the southern town of Ofakim, the federation’s sister city under the Jewish Agency Partnership 2000 program.

Mifgashim brings Israeli teens from Ofakim to MetroWest; last week, the Israelis returned the favor by hosting their American counterparts in their hometown.

On Saturday, the New Jersey teens were in Ofakim, observing Shabbat, when word came that Israel had launched aerial attacks on Hamas strongholds in Gaza, less than 20 miles away.

Organizers evacuated the American and Israeli kids to Jerusalem after Shabbat ended on Saturday night.

The teens were flipping between a football game and the news on a TV in a Jerusalem hotel room Monday night when a report came on that Ofakim had been hit by a Grad missile. The Israeli students started panicking and calling their parents back home, while their friends from New Jersey consoled them.

“I knew things could escalate but I didn’t think it would happen while I was here,” said Daniel Moritz, a 16-year-old junior at Morristown High School. “My mom is a Jewish mother, so she’s obviously a little worried, but my parents are handling it well. They know I’m in Jerusalem and not in any danger. It was emotional and interesting. I feel like I am living history.”

Carly Freidel, the director of the Center for Youth & Teens at JCC MetroWest, who is accompanying the youngsters on the trip, said that had the organizers of the program known that a war would break out, the visit would have undoubtedly been delayed; meanwhile, they were making the best of the situation.

“They hear this kind of stuff on the news all the time but now it’s real for them,” Freidel said. “After getting to know the Israeli kids, they are like family for them, and they hope and pray that they will be OK. It was amazing to see a room of Israeli and American kids crying together and comforting one another. The kids from New Jersey definitely feel the reality of the situation, but they feel safe and right at home.”

Close connection

Three missiles hit Ofakim at 11:15 Israel time Monday night. One exploded in the front yard of the bus driver of the Mifgashim program, who was in Jerusalem with the students. His neighbor was moderately wounded from the glass of a shattered window, through which he watched the rocket fall.

Ofakim residents complained that an early-alert siren that had recently been installed did not go off, so they had no warning. At a press conference in Ofakim on Tuesday, IDF home front commander General Yair Golan apologized for the siren not working and said it had been fixed. He called upon residents of Ofakim and other southern towns to follow instructions to remain within range of shelters. He said two victims of the attacks would be alive today had they done so.

Schools in Ofakim were canceled for the duration of hostilities. The community center in Ofakim distributed activities to keep children busy in the 70 shelters across the town, many of which are in poor condition.

UJC MetroWest officials have held preliminary discussions about taking children from partner communities in Ofakim and the Merchavim and Sha’ar Hanegev regions out of the line of fire for respite weekends in partner communities further north, including Ra’anana and Rishon Letzion.

But Noy Bitan, an 18-year-old senior at Ofakim’s Mekif High School, said she had no interest in leaving her hometown, despite the dangers. She also said she was glad she was with her friends from New Jersey when she heard about the rockets that hit Ofakim.

“It was very weird to hear about it with them, but it was also good, because they hugged us and made us feel better,” Bitan said. “It made us understand how close the connection that we made was. We were safe when we visited MetroWest. But I like it here in Ofakim, and I don’t want to go anywhere else, not even New Jersey.”

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Sidebar - MetroWest supports 'defensive operation'

Gary O. Aidekman, president of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, and Max L. Kleinman, its executive vice president, released the following statement Dec. 29 on behalf of the organization:
United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ and its Community Relations Committee stand behind Israel’s defensive operations in Gaza, recognizing the right and responsibility of any sovereign nation to protect its citizens.

Israel came to the defense of the 700,000 Israelis now living within range of Hamas attacks. Since 2005, when Israel withdrew from Gaza, thousands of rockets have been launched by Hamas. In just the last few days, when the truce was unilaterally revoked by Hamas, hundreds more rockets were launched, including 80 in one single day.

Just as we condemn the Hamas attacks on Israel, we also mourn the unfortunate and unavoidable casualties and loss of life in Gaza, which are the result of Hamas’ cynical use of civilian areas for its terrorist activities. Although the government of Israel takes pains to direct its activities exclusively against terrorists, Hamas callously places Palestinian civilians in harm’s way. Even so, most of the fatalities have been Hamas operatives.

Israel has shown great restraint in dealing with this Iran-backed terrorist menace on its border. Even as Hamas unilaterally suspended the Egyptian-brokered “state of calm” with Israel by launching hundreds of rockets at civilian targets, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made an appeal on Arab television asking Gaza residents to stop the firing of rockets and mortar shells so that a military response could be avoided. Furthermore, out of concern for the civilian population of Gaza, Israel continues to deliver humanitarian aid across the border with Gaza.

Action by the Israel Defense Forces would be completely unnecessary were Hamas a true government in Gaza, seeking the well-being of its residents and abandoning the path of terror…

At this crucial time, steadfast support for Israel and its efforts to end terrorism emanating from Gaza is required from the American-Jewish community and all Americans.

We call upon the broader international community to understand and support Israel as it confronts terror and advances the interest of all those who wish a common desire for peace and coexistence to determine the agenda of the region…

We will keep the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces in our thoughts and prayers as they defend the State of Israel, and we will pray for a time of peace for all peoples in the region.

To read the full statement, go to www.ujcnj.org

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