Sometimes its just worth reading a text by an Israeli to start to understand the depth of the black hole this society is in.
The following text is by Netanel Elinson. He is (qoute from his website) " a scout and explorer of the Land of Israel and Israeli society " . He ran a big education pre army organisation, does programmes for Israeli TV and wrote several books (one on walks in the West Bank...). He has many followers online and is a known figure.
He is writing in this recent FB post (link in comments) on how the Israeli army is invading Palestinian(or Lebanese) homes,many times kicks out the families there and makes these homes into army bases. This means they graffiti the house, destroy most of its furniture and sometimes burn it completely after use.
I dont think one needs to add any comments.
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"The Bnaya ( a name of a soldier) method saves us even today in the fighting in Lebanon, but beyond that - it also has an important lesson for the lives of each and every one of us. A proven virtue to read today, and you are invited to add insights.
During our fighting in Khan Yunis, Syria and Lebanon, we got to stay in dozens of different houses. This is one of the methods. The houses are cleaned safely and professionally, and if there is a house that is in a relevant location, we may stay in it and make it our starting point for operations.
The thing is, we never know if we will be in a house for only a few hours or for several long days. How do we treat the time we stay?
So the method that Bnaya instilled in us, not to say commanded us, is this:
Every house that it was decided that we would stay in, we work on it, clean it and renovate it - as if we were going to live in it for the rest of our lives.
Already in the first house we entered in Khan Yunis, after 48 hours without sleep and after walking several kilometers of continuous fighting, Bnaya already instilled the method in us. He simply got up and did and moved and bothered and while we were all finished on the floor, he simply showed us how two hours of work transform a ruined ruin into a real estate gem that is both more comfortable and more operational. And so, from house to house in Khan Yunis, this spirit simply infected the entire team.
And today on missions in Lebanon?
You should see the Dadon team after we decide that a house we cleaned will be used for our operational stay. Instead of putting Thrasher in some corner and enjoying a few hours of quiet until the next activity, the entire house becomes a bustling anthill of work and tasks under the hands of the main employer, Bnaya. During those hours that Bnaya employs us, his power is stronger than the battalion commander and the Chief 11 of Staff combined, and like a good leader, Bnaya gives everyone the tasks that match their skills:
Ravkists with explosive strength like Yoni and Rabash do heavy construction clearance work that requires breaking walls and lifting Objects weighing a truck. High-tech geniuses like Ziv, Yinon and Busani stretch out optical fibers and wires that turn the entire house into a headquarters from space. Animal lovers or animal killers like Doron make sure to cleanse the house of rats and bees. Quiet and thorough workers like Azouri make sure to install a neat and well-designed kitchen for us, like in Master Chef. Our commanders Dadon and Zingo set a personal example with quality finishing work such as washing floors and installing urinals in the bathroom, and people like me, like Yuva and like Saar, who have no extraordinary ability, are sent for honor to forced labor filling and carrying sandbags.
An entire team of elderly people over the age of forty who would throw their socks in the living room at home, become a hotel-level cleaning team for a few hours.
Now, perhaps to many of you this cleaning fuss seems obvious when you enter a broken and dirty house. But the truth is that it is exactly the opposite of what is meant Of course. The normal state of mind of some of the units that enter the houses says the natural thing:
"This place is already a ruin, I'm only here for a short time and unknown, I'm already a soldier who is being dogged, so what reason do I have to invest here at all?"
And so many of the houses that we would enter from other units looked accordingly. The soldiers create some small and reasonable space for themselves among the mountains of rubble and empty tuna cans, and survive for a few days as needed.
And I don't say that disparagingly. On the contrary! If I and my kind were running this event, this is probably how all the houses we would stay in would look. This is the logical and normal mindset. And so this is where the conscious transformation that construction made for us comes in.
And this thing proved itself over and over again. Because sometimes houses that we thought we would stay in for a few hours became our home for more than two weeks, and our investment in tidying up the house made all those two weeks much more bearable, and especially more professional:
The operational positions were better, the makeshift kitchen was cleaner and so they didn't get sick, sleeping on the floor in a clean room was more reasonable and therefore we could function better.
The jug greatly affects what's inside. Bnaya's great effort simply changed the face of the war for us and it was not for nothing that he received the War Meritorious Service Medal after we left Khan Yunis.
And what happens if we worked on a house for a few hours and ended up leaving it pretty quickly? Did we work in vain?
Absolutely not. Because many times other teams would enter, would enter this house after us and enjoy the labor we did. Which is great. Like that old man who would plant carob trees knowing that he wouldn't get to eat their fruits but said that he was planting the trees for future generations.
And why is Bnaya's method so beautiful for life too?
Because this story of investing in something - even if it's temporary. is actually a great secret that can change your perception of life.
For example: We've been living in a rental for decades and we've had the opportunity to move into several houses in recent years. And at the beginning When we arrived at a house that we knew we would be in for a short period of time, we didn't invest, because why make a financial and emotional investment for something temporary?
But then, 11 years ago, Neta told me. I'm fed up. From now on, I treat every house we come to as if it were the home of my life. And we really did arrive at a small house in the Arava that was a bit neglected, except this time we changed our approach: As soon as we arrived, we hung beautiful pictures on the walls, installed shelves, planted a huge lawn, and tended a stunning garden. And all this in a rented house that we didn't know what a day child was. And we said - even if it's just for a year - we don't care. We want to live in a place that is home! And here we really ended up living there for many years and this decision simply changed that period of time for us and made it meaningful and homely.
And suppose we came to it for only a year? So what? So those who come after us would enjoy it, and if everyone behaved this way, then in such a vicious circle - everyone would be better off.
And this is of course not only in homes but in many decisions in life. For example, at work:
Some say - oh well, I'm only here for a temporary job. I have nothing to invest in. Then they go from rejection to rejection and from job to job when everywhere they are fired or leave when they tell themselves that "the place wasn't good enough". But the understanding of the Bnaya's method says:
"Even if I'm only here for a short time, I do 100 percent and treat it as if I'm here forever".
And this mindset is a mindset that changes everything: you enjoy the work you are in more, you make it meaningful, and that's how you benefit in any case: if you stay, you have benefited and your work will bear fruit, and even if you leave, this mindset blows with you wherever you are - and you will excel there too.
Aesthetics affect ethics. The jug sometimes affects what's inside. After actions, hearts are drawn.
Like the ancient desert nomads, our lives also sometimes involve wandering from place to place, from house to house, from job to job, from human encounter to human encounter. And if in each encounter you stop and invest as if you were here for a long period of time, eventually both you and those who come after you will see fruit.
This is Bnaya's method."
Photo- taken from an Instagram post by an Israeli soldier.
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