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I Am a Member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, 1 1/2 Miles from Gaza

(Forward) Jonathan Dekel-Chen - As a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, my home is approximately 1 1/2 miles from the border with Gaza and faces the Friday protests that have erupted over the past five weeks. Like most kibbutz members, I am dedicated to defending the country. Kibbutzniks living on Israel's borders would benefit the most from peace with our neighbors, yet are the most endangered of all Israelis by the current state of affairs. Generations of Israelis have suffered murderous cross-border attacks perpetrated by Palestinian terrorist organizations or individuals since the early 1950s, many of them originating in Gaza. After the Oslo agreements were signed, waves of terror attacks from the West Bank and Gaza flooded Israel, forcing the construction of barrier walls and fences. During the Second Intifada alone, more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Finally, Hamas and other terrorist groups have indiscriminately launched massive numbers of mortar shells and rockets at our communities, sparking three deadly rounds of large-scale operations by the IDF. As a result of these historical truths, Israelis along the border and the IDF have good reason to believe that our lives would be at risk if thousands of enraged Gazans tore down the border fence. The writer is a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2018-05-04 00:00:00
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