Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: 2009 has been Israel's quietest year in the last decade

Un riservista spiega il perche'
Reserves and Rhodes
Jan. 20, 2010
DOUG GREENER , THE JERUSALEM POST
This year, my wife Trudy and I went on a five-day vacation to the Isle 
of Rhodes right after I finished my 12 days of volunteer reserve duty in 
the IDF. I preferred that order, having a restful vacation after 
sleeping on a cot with four other snoring men in the room. But Trudy 
says that she would have preferred a vacation from me after being on a 
vacation with me!
My stint in the army reserves brought me to the center of Samaria, to a 
little base manned and womanned by soldiers from the Home Front Command. 
These young soldiers are primarily trained for search and rescue 
operations in case of emergencies. But in the meantime, they perform 
vital security tasks along the Green Line.
I was sent with four other volunteer reservists to help them. Mostly, 
the pleasure was all ours. These were the best of Israeli youth, doing 
an incredibly responsible job.
A few brief observations:
• While not fully an "equal opportunity employer," the army is still 
taking progressive steps. The young man giving out equipment at the 
reception center was a uniformed soldier with Down's syndrome. He was no 
less responsive to our complaints than any other soldier in the 
Quartermaster Corps.
• The integration of women into the army - at least in this unit - is 
full and complete. On three of my assignments (one involving 48 hours in 
a very cramped "pillbox" watchtower), the commanding officers were 
19-year-old girls. For the guys under their command, their officers' 
gender was irrelevant.
• The pillbox watchtower where I stood guard overlooks a military road 
which is off-limits to all civilian traffic. One morning, I saw a white 
minibus speeding toward us. When it passed the tower and stopped at a 
nearby Arab house, our female officer went over to tell the passengers 
they were not allowed on the road and had to leave. Through my 
binoculars I saw that some of them started a vehement argument with her 
before they finally got back on the bus and drove off.
When our officer returned, she was in tears. "It was a group of 
left-wingers from Tel Aviv." she sobbed. "They said what we were doing 
to the Palestinians was worse than what the Germans did to the Jews! We 
sacrifice two years of our lives to serve our country, and that's how 
they talk to us?"
I tried my best to calm her down, with little success. But I was also 
thinking, "If this is what the Israeli left has become - a spokesman for 
our worst enemies, expressing their contempt for young people who 
exemplify Jewish affirmation, then it's no wonder they collapsed in the 
last election."
• The figures are just in that 2009 has been Israel's quietest year in 
the last decade. This was not a decision made by the Palestinians; this 
was a decision made by Israel to stop them. To do this, we need to 
gather accurate and up-to-date intelligence on what is happening in the 
West Bank.
On one of my assignments, we set up a roadblock near the border of an 
area under Palestinian control. Our job was to stop every car and bring 
the identity cards of all men to a team of plainclothes personnel. They 
would then tell us which of the passengers should be "invited" over for 
a short talk. I don't know what was discussed. But I do know that this 
was the nuts and bolts of intelligence gathering that goes on 
continually - and that is why our years are quiet again.
• The privilege of serving in the IDF still moves people across oceans. 
Within my little group, there was one volunteer from Seattle and another 
from Frankfurt, Germany, who came here twice a year to do reserve duty. 
Among the young soldiers on the base, there were two girls who came from 
the US without their parents to serve in the army. Each one felt the 
need to help Israel in a tangible way. I stand in awe of such motivation 
- but I tried not to let them know.
AFTER MY reserve duty, we flew to the Isle of Rhodes. We enjoyed roaming 
through the Old City and the ruins of the island's two acropolises, and 
a tavern night of Greek music, song and dancing. One morning I swam in 
the icy waters of the "wine-dark" Aegean Sea (as per Homer), along with 
a handful of crazy Greeks who start every day like that.
On a day trip to the town of Lindos, we had a local guide, a young 
woman, born on Rhodes and well versed in the island's history. Like 
Israel, Rhodes has had a parade of conquerors. After achieving fame as 
part of the Greek empire, when the wondrous Colossus was built in the 
harbor, Rhodes has been ruled by the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, 
Crusaders, Ottomans and Italians.
After the guide went through this two millennia procession, she added, 
"And after World War II, Rhodes was returned to Greece."
These old ears perked up. "Wait a minute," I interjected. "What do you 
mean,' returned'? The island wasn't ruled by Greeks for over 2,000 years."
"Ah," she answered, "but there were always Greeks living on Rhodes and 
they never gave up their dream of living under Greek sovereignty 
someday." With a grin, she added, "And that is why we have to sympathize 
with Zionism."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147941170&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 "Ah," she answered, "but there were always Greeks living on Rhodes
solo i sionisti trovano delle guide talmente ignoranti da non saper
spiegare la differenza tra Rodi e la Palestina. I Greci non hanno solo
vissuto a Rodi per 2000 anni, ma sono stati la stragrande maggioranza
della popolazione di Rodi per quei 2000 anni. Non mi pare si possa
dire lo stesso degli ebrei in Palestina da Masada alla Nakba.