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The Beginning of Operation Good Neighbor on the Syrian Border

(Times of Israel) Lt. Col. A [name withheld] - At 3:00 a.m. in the freezing cold of the Golan Heights, we noticed them walking along the fence. Then 25 Syrian children, holding their mothers' hands, passed through the gates. You could see the suspicion in their eyes as they met IDF soldiers for the very first time, we who had been so demonized by their culture. After many conversations with Syrians, I have come to realize that up until the day they received our help, many Syrians genuinely believed IDF soldiers had horns and tails. Since then, every day and every night, 24/7, we operate a system that does only good. We provide flour, baby food, medical supplies and medicine in huge quantities. We have been given the opportunity to reshape reality and to be remembered as the ones who did the right thing. That very first moment at the fence was historic - a moment of Israeli pride and Jewish compassion. A week into the winter, during a severe rainstorm, we decided, at the request of the Syrians, to go forward with a plan to take in sick children although the harsh weather dictated otherwise. At the end, I stood with a Syrian doctor in one of the villages in the area, the two of us soaking wet. "I told you it would be difficult," I said. He replied, "Every day hundreds of bombs fall on the Syrian people - a little rain will not break us. Every time you accept us, we will come." The author is the commander of the IDF's Operation Good Neighbor, providing humanitarian aid to Syrians harmed in their country's civil war.
2017-08-03 00:00:00
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