LHamas’ surprise attack on Israel has pushed Canadians to take up arms. The duty spoke with three Israel Defense Force volunteers who speak to an unprecedented crisis.
“At first, I didn’t believe it. The images are so violent. We are used to war, but… we didn’t want to believe it,” said Jacob Assaraf, reached in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv.
“I can’t talk to anyone. I can’t answer my mother’s call. I tell him that I’m fine, but I stayed tuned to all these videos, all the testimonies, all the friends who send you messages to find out if they have news of people who we will certainly not find. »
The Montrealer volunteered in the Israeli defense forces from 2017 to 2019. But on Monday, faced with the “nightmare” of the last few days, he said he contacted all his former commanders to take up arms again. “95% of my friends and family are in the military right now. I think it’s much harder to worry about people than to be helpful. »
95% of my friends and family are in the military right now. I think it’s much harder to worry about people than to be helpful.
Jacob Assaraf was in the south of the country when the attack took place. He explains that, with his Israeli father – based in Canada but on vacation in Israel – he had to help his grandparents take refuge in the bomb shelters. “It’s a total state of war for which we weren’t really ready, at least not on the Gaza front. ” He points out that the attack took place on Shabbat and just after the Sukkot holiday, which he said delayed the Israeli response.
Losing friends in war
Contacted by The dutyDanny Judkowicz says he cannot reveal his exact location, indicating however that he is in the West Bank and that his unit will head “soon to northern Lebanon”.
The soldier specializing in search and rescue believes that “the situation at the moment is a little more tense. “It’s a little scary knowing that the situation can change from one second to the next.”
“There’s this feeling of not knowing what’s going to happen. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” says also Temima Silver, from Rehovot, in the southwest of the country. “We always hear stories from elders in Israel about how they lost friends in war. But now they’re your friends [qui disparaissent]. »
After serving in the West Bank, the 21-year-old Ottawan, who had since lived north of Tel Aviv, responded to the mobilization call sent by her former commanders. While waiting to help, she spends her days indoors, comparing the situation to confinement during the pandemic. “If you leave your house, it’s not just the fear of getting sick, but knowing that a rocket could fall on your head. »
When asked if she thinks she will reunite with her family in Canada, Temima answers in the negative, without any hesitation. “There’s something to be said about watching your friends and family get kicked out of their house, [se faire] rape and kill. And to leave that without a fight, personally, I couldn’t do that. And I think it’s the same for most Israelis. »
Make mischief “
Danny Judkowicz, who left Vancouver in 2022 to join the Israeli army, is delighted that different Israeli communities have united to fight. Jacob Assaraf, for his part, hopes that the attack will not further divide the people.
“The country has been very divided politically for a year and a half. Israel is truly a multicultural country between all Jewish nationalities, but also between several Arab and Muslim faiths. Then this kind of event sows a bit of discord,” he says.
The one who studied political science believes that the war will be “very long”, but that it will not resolve the conflict, calling instead for everyone to love each other. “We must avoid falling into anger and generalizations, but with these images, it’s really not easy. »
Deserted streets
Another part of the Israeli population, prey to “a combination of anxiety and fear”, remains at home, testifies to Duty a Quebec intern living in the big city closest to a massacre perpetrated by Hamas at a music festival. “The authorities are telling us to avoid leaving our homes. The streets are deserted. […] People are scared. It’s the unknown that’s stressful,” underlines Olivier Marceau.
“I think I’m experiencing a little post-traumatic stress,” says Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, professor of the Department of Dance at the University of Quebec in Montreal, from Seoul, who participated in a dance festival in Jerusalem at the beginning of October. . Saturday, while she was in Tel Aviv to catch the plane, Mme Laurin-Beaucage did not realize the extent of the crisis. Neither do the Israelis, it seems. “I think at first people thought it was like an attack by a few rockets, like they are used to experiencing. »
It was only after a few trips to bomb shelters and with the advice of festival organizers, as well as a Canadian public affairs employee she met at the show, that she quickly took a taxi to from the airport, then a plane to South Korea. Today she says she is “super privileged” to have been able to leave the country, and thinks “of all those people who [y] remained”, seeing their flight cancelled.
Two days after the start of Hamas’ surprise attack against Israel, sirens announcing the arrival of missiles continued to resonate on Monday in the Beersheba district, where Olivier Marceau is based. He has been living in Israel since August 2022 to do his master’s degree. He now interns with a judge of the Supreme Court of Israel. “There was a missile that hit about two kilometers from where I am,” he explains calmly, recounting the shocking events of the deadly weekend.
For the 25-year-old from Gatineau, the day began with a missile alert around 6 a.m. “I put on shorts and a t-shirt, then I went to the ground floor of the building, where we can find shelter,” he said, two days later. “When I looked out the apartment window, I could see rockets being fired into the sky above me and being intercepted by the Iron Dome [le système de défense antimissile israélien]. In short, it was very stressful, and seeing it with your own eyes is quite striking. »
A friend of his girlfriend was at the Supernova music festival, where some 250 people died, including a Quebecer. She was not injured in the attack. Other friends of his girlfriend, or friends of colleagues, were not so lucky and are among the official victims.
“It surprised everyone, greatly. The fact that they returned to Israel and took women, children, civilians hostage… I think everyone was caught off guard. »
Despite everything, he intends to stay in Israel at least until the end of his internship in December.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.