An Important Day for the IDF: The Return of Gilad Shalit

In 2006 Hamas captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Today at 6am, October 18,2011, he has been released.

1941 days he was held in captivity. He's back.
In exchange for Gilad, Netanyahu agreed to releasing 1027 convicted terrorists. All of whom have murdered Israelis.
The families of the victims have sent many failed petitions asking not let these terrorists go free.

This is Gilad with his new rank and in the arms of his father and Benjamin Netanyahu(Israel's Prime Minister).

Going to bed last night you could feel the difference in the air. It was filled with anticipation. We were all wondering what would happen. Would everything go as planned? Will he really be coming home? 

There was also fear. Now that 1027 convicted terrorists are free- what will happen? What will happen to these families? What will these terrorists do? Hamas said that they would return to their struggle. 

The only thing that can be done now is to wait. To wait and see what happens. How many will live? How many will die? Who will attack again? When will they attack again? We know, we feel it that they will attack again. They swore their lives to the destruction of Israel.

As happy as I am to know that Israel does not leave a soldier behind and that Gilad is home and safe- what will happen to us? Was the correct choice made?

I personally have mixed feelings because I don't know whats going to happen. Im happy he's safe- but what will the terrorists do?

Here are some websites covering Gilad:

His first interview on Egyption TV

The Guardian(UK website) full coverage and timeline of the past 5 years

The start of today

Now we wait and pray for the best.

(תודה אלדד) :)

Serious Subject Matter/Issue

Now this blog for me is rather difficult to write. But I think as a female in the army it is important and crucial to bring this subject up. I haven't really seen too much of this issue anywhere. I feel like it is one that no one really wants to talk about. It's also very difficult to talk about. Writing this blog is a very very big step for me. Im not looking for responses back. I just ask that you read it and think about it.
This subject being SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
For me this is a very touchy subject. I have been a victim of harassment and molestation in high school. What pains me more now is that I can now say Im a victim of it in the army. I feel like this is an international problem that is never brought up because people are too scared.
You have to ask questions like "Was she teasing you?" "Did she ever say stop, please dont touch me?" "Please don't say those things to me?" "Please leave me alone?" How can one justify who's telling the truth or now. How can one justify if one is just crying "Wolf" for revenge out of anger? One can't.
Also it is not only females who are victims but yes as surprising as it is, males can be too. We can be just as cruel and malicious as they are.
When one makes steps towards stopping such actions against oneself from someone else, they tend to get harassed from the accused friends/family. It makes things that much harder. This isnt a subject that everyone wants to be made public. No one wants the scrutiny of people knowing. The subject of sex is already such a private matter that this makes it even worse. It makes the victim feel horrible, disgusting, betrayed, violated and so many other things as well as frightened and alone.
You can't stop someone from looking at you. You can say something but that just provokes them even more. You cant be nice about it- they think you won't mean it. You can't be forceful and mean about it- then they see it as a game and they get embarrassed and then want to gain their dignity back and fix their ego. It also makes a big scene. I have tried both ways of dealing with. There is no correct way. But how far is too far? How far are we willing to let people get away with such despicable actions? Since high school my life has been forever changed with the fear of men. Including those my age and those younger. It forever alters your way of thinking.
I came to Israel not expecting such actions but I was foolish to think that this subject is just in America. My situation is being taken care of with the proper authorities. I tried dealing with it myself when it was just words. The moment it got worse to where this person tried to touch me I went to the proper authorities. I felt that this was an important issue that needed to take notice.
I understand I can't stop people from staring. I can't stop them from yelling things at me and puckering their lips and whistling at me. For me this does make me uncomfortable. Im not used to such attention. It is also unwanted. I can tell them to stop but that wont do anything. This isn't an issue that will go away either. Until life ceases to exist it will be a problem. But maybe we can make it somewhat more bearable to deal with. Nobody realizes how it will truly affect you until you become a victim yourself. As I said previously your mind is forever altered. Your trust with people are forever altered. It haunts you forever. Everything about you is different. I have had such relationship issues that it makes me hard to open up to anyone of the opposite sex. It makes it that much harder to just have a normal relationship. To wonder "why is this man with me?" "Does he like me for me or does he think Im easy?" It makes you scared and it makes you want to hide(Kind of what Im doing now. Hiding in my room writing this blog just so I dont have to have the chance to run into him or his friends). It makes you want to be alone when thats the last feeling you want to feel. When you need someone the most. But what if youre being harassed by a member of the opposite sex and you want to run to the person who you trust the most and feel the safest with? What if that person is also a member of the opposite sex? How do you stop the feelings that come up of disgust? The sex that hurt you the most is also the sex that you trust the most. What do you do? Who do you turn to? How do you make the feelings go away? How can you help yourself and hopefully help others? Thats why I want everyone who reads this blog to think about this situation. How can people feel so victimized and scared? How can we help them? What I have to say is you arent alone. There are millions of us out there who all feel this way. We are all too scared and nervous to say something and do something. We don't want the drama and the after affects. We think by ignoring it, it will go away. It wont. YOU NEED TO SPEAK UP AND SAY SOMETHING.
Thanks for your time and remember to the victims who may read this- You arent alone.

Aunt Marylou

My Aunt Marylou is obviously my aunt. :P

She is such a strong wonderful person. I am so happy for her. She has beaten cancer. She has just told me that she underwent surgery and it was successful!(you can read about it in her blog ;) Here is the link. http://web.me.com/marylou.stewart/Wellness/Blog/Blog.html read it you will definitely enjoy. There is a picture in almost every post.) During the surgery they said there was no tumor there even though in the scans there was a slow growing tumor!

I am so happy that she has beaten this.

Aunt Marylou is a professional photographer. I like to think I follow in her steps. I hope I can be as good as her one day. As long as I can remember she has always been photographing everything. Everytime I saw her there has always been a camera in her hand. She has a picture for every occasion, every day, and every year. She has more then just one picture, she has tons.

Her pictures helped me when I was down. After coming to Israel I felt very alone and isolated. I felt like I had no one. None of my family was here. Of course I had my boyfriend, his friends and family, and some people I met in the program but I didn't have my friends and family. I didn't have the people who have known me since diapers and dare I say knew about me before I even knew what I was.

I asked her for just a few pictures of her and my cousins, instead I got so much more. They made me so happy. I got so many pictures. Pictures of my family I have never seen before. Of my Grandpa and his Dad! That was a wow moment. I never knew what he looked like. I had pictures of my father and uncle, both of my grandmothers, all of my aunts and cousins. I also got birthday pictures from when I was young.

I still have all of these pictures.

I showed my boyfriend a photo of my uncle in his army uniform and his reaction was priceless. I think that was the best reaction I've ever seen to someone in my family. His jaw dropped and said "Woah so hes like a major major general. I dont want to mess with him. Hes an army god." To me hes my Uncle Tom an extraordinary man who has done alot. Him and my Aunt Marylou are a huge inspiration to me. They are both my heros and people I look up too. Im very proud to be in their family.

Im thrilled that my Aunt has beaten cancer. I hope I can see her soon.

Hopefully this time I will have some photos for her.

Here are some photos of my family that she sent me.

This is my uncle and my grandfather. They were both in the army. This was during the Kings Park Memorial Day Parade.



This is my brother and I at the Memorial Day parade when we were really young.



This is my dad, great grandmother Omi and I.



This is my Grandma and my Omi. They both came over from Germany because of the holocaust. Grandma I think was only 12. They are mother daughter so this is of me with my Grandma and Great Grandma. They are from my moms side. I never got to meet Aunt Marylou's mom.



This is my father and Aunt Marylou. Aunt Marylou is holding me.



I have more photos so I think I will do another post about my family. :)

You know I must say Im rather glad I started this blog now I have something to do. My Passover Break or back in America SPRING BREAK! has just started!
NOTE! if you click on the title of this post it will take you to my aunts blog.
Its all about her life and her struggle with cancer. This blog was created a few years ago. It is an excellent blog. You can really see how strong of woman she is and how great she is.