October 18, 2012 | 1:34 pm

Gilad Shalit’s first full interview

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

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A year after his return home, Gilad Shalit gave his very first full interview about his time in captivity and the emotional return home. The documentary film: Gilad Shalit- In front of the camera, was created by Tal Goren and Tamar Pross, and was aired on the Israeli Channel 10, on October 17th, 2012.

Thanks to the gracious help  of Channel 10, I got the full transcript of the interview, and translated it all to English, so you can also get a hint of what the child of us all was going through for more than five years under Hamas' captivity.

*Notes in brackets made by me*

 

Gilad Shalit, do you remember the last time you saw your family before being captured?

Yes. I remember my mother drove me in the morning to the bus station. I saw my father the night before. I went to bed and that was the last time I saw him. It was a Thursday, three days before I was taken, and we didn't get the chance to speak during those three days. I tried calling them on Saturday, but either they missed the call or I didn't complete the call because it was noon and I didn't want to interrupt. I don't remember. Then we went to the boarder.

 

Were you afraid of being kidnapped?

I remember when I was on the border of Lebanon. Then I was afraid of Hezbolla because I assumed they were more trained and had more abilities. I couldn't believe that Hamas could perform an operation on such a scale and in such a perfect way. I had no idea what they were capable of. I was also inside of a tank, which is known as an immune tool, something no one can get into. This perception applied especially to me. As someone who was right inside the tank, I felt like it was protecting me. I never imagined that someone could get inside and take me. I thought I was safe.

 

Have you had any idea it would last for such a long time? Yes. I remember I thought at first it would last several years. I knew the negotiation process could last for years. So, yes, I had an idea of such. I said it might take a few years and with time, both sides would get "softer". After what happened to Ron Arad (Another Israeli POW who was captured in 1986. His whereabouts and physical situation is unknown), I hoped this would end differently. In his case, the negotiation has gotten irrelevant with time. There is no one to talk to and negotiate with. No one knows where he is. I was afraid the same thing would happen to me. That people would forget me and there would be no one to talk to.

 

Were you afraid you would be forgotten? Yes. I was afraid that my takers would make me disappear, so that no one would know where I was. At moments like this, I tried to be optimistic. Maybe, if there's even the slightest chance, than I still have a reason to keep living. To grasp the smallest good things I still had there. To try and enjoy what I have, because things can always get worse.

 

What are those small things?

Everything that they allowed: television, radio, proper food. Also the fact they did not abuse me so much. Stuff like that.

 

What did you do to keep your sanity?

The secret is to maintain a constant schedule, a daily itinerary, activities. Being active, and not lay in bed all day and do nothing. I was really trying to avoid that, but it took me some time. At first, while I was still adjusting, I had a rough time. Besides that, I was constantly active. I would get up and go to bed at the same time every day, and do the same things almost every day.

 

Did you get much sleep? I didn't sleep well. There were noises and things that bothered me, and I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night. The sleep wasn't that good, but I slept. And even if I didn't I would catch up with my sleep during the day, even though I didn't like sleeping during daytime.

 

Why not?

Because then I wasn't tired at night, and I wanted to maintain the order of my daily routine. It's very easy to do nothing and then go to sleep during the day, but you must have a pre- set routine and maintain it. Besides, I had fewer options at night, fewer things I could do. Right from the beginning I started following the days, the dates. I always knew what day it was, always knew what the date was. Soon, I also learned how to recognize the time of the day, what hour it was.

 

How did you recognize the hours of the day?

I tracked the sunrise and sunset, and also according to their prayer times.

 

So you also knew when the holidays are?

The holidays were harder to recognize because they occur on Hebrew dates, but I tried calculating them as well. I wasn't always accurate, but yes.

 

Did you celebrate any holidays?

No. I had no one to celebrate with and no way to celebrate.

 

While you were there, did you know what's going on here?

Not at first. I had almost zero exposure to what happens in Israel or in the world. At some point, they let me watch the news in Arabic on television, so I knew what was going on in the area. At some point I also got a radio, so I could hear the news in Israel.

 

Before that, you listened only to Arabic? Yes.

 

And did you understand? Not at first, but with time I began to understand a little Arabic. There was also some sort of a communication that was created with my captors. There were moments when an emotion of some sort was created, like laughter or something. There were times when we watched a sports game on television, or a movie. One time we happened to watch a soccer match between HaPoe'l Tel-Aviv and Lion. It was one of HaPoe'l's best matches. There was a famous goal by Zehavi, and I remember the guards' reactions. They were in shock with this goal, and were amazed of how good an Israeli team is. It was one of the things that helped me maintain my sanity there, I think. As a sports fan, I drew so much of my strength from it. Sport is an international language and it helped create a better atmosphere with the captors. It was something I could talk with them about. And sport is something that projects hope. Even when you're behind, you can always get out of your mess, go back out there, and win. There is always hope. During the day I would play games with my captors, games such as Chess, Dominos…And I also playwd games with myself, all types of strange games.

 

Such as?

Sport related games, mostly. Games with a ball. I would make a ball out of socks or a shirt, and throw it to the trash can, for instance. I would make stuff up, and also write things, playing Eretz-Ir (a common game in Israel, involving a pen and paper).

 

Did you keep a journal? No. I had some lists, things I've done to help me remember things. I would follow sports events, or draw sketches. I would draw the map of Israel, the map of Mitzpe Hila (Shalit's home town), all of the houses. I did that so I can remember, visualize the places, stuff like that. I started doing that at the beginning, so that if I forget something, it won't be it.

 

Did you hang your sketches on the wall? No, no. I would hide it sometimes. Some of them didn't like it, they thought I was collecting information.

 

Do you remember the day they filmed your tape that was sent to Israel? Yes. There were an audio tape and a video tape. There were also more stuff they filmed, but didn't send them to Israel. On the day of the video tape, a group of people I haven't seen in a long time arrived. They wrote what I needed to say, and asked me to add a personal story, so that my family would be able to recognize me. A story only I can tell.

 

Did you want to add a little something of your own while filming? Have you thought about it?

No. I knew they would double-check everything I say, and I was also very nervous.

 

Have you thought the whole thing would come to an end while they made those tapes? That your release is near?

Yes, at first. But later I started to get used to being filmed and that it was yet another procedure. I knew it might make my release closer, but I also knew it didn't help before. I knew that most probably nothing would happen.

 

How did you handle the disappointment?

It's rough. There were times when there was optimism, but then it faded. With time, you learn how to deal with it, how to recover. With time, I learned not to get easily optimistic every time something happens, every time the media reports on a progress or a nearing release deal or any other false reports over the years.

 

How were you informed on your release?

I found out the same time with everyone else, when it was reported over the media a week before the release.

 

Did you cry?

No. After being burned before, I said that you can never know what might go wrong along the way.

 

Did the time passed from the announcement on your release and the moment you went out  seem to last forever? That week felt like forever. It passed very slowly. In the last couple of days I didn't sleep. I don't remember me sleeping. Maybe one hour-tops.

 

What happened on the day of your release? They brought me shoes. White Puma shoes. A pair of jeans. The first pair they brought me wasn't my size, so they had to bring me something smaller. Same goes for the belt, they had to punch more holes in it to make it smaller. They also brought me the famous shirt, the non-trendy shirt, whatever you call it. If I would tell them it was ugly, I guess they would have brought me something else to wear. But I really didn't care what I was going to wear on the day of my return. It was the last thing on my mind.

 

What was on your mind the minute you got out? It was a strange feeling, being outside, looking up to the sky, seeing the sun. It wasn't too hard for me, even though people were asking why I was wearing sunglasses.

 

It's quite unbelievable not seeing the sky for five almost and a half years, isn't it?

Yes, it is. Though I have seen the sky on television, and you can also use your imagination.

 

What did you feel at that time?

During the drive to Gaza's border, I was nervous. I didn't know if something would happen, if someone would try and hurt us, or if something would go wrong the last minute. The second I went out of the car and moved to Egypt, I felt relieved. Suddenly, I saw dozens of people in front of me, maybe hundreds, after not seeing more than a few people at a time during all those years. There was such a fuss there, and I was a bit in shock. Then we entered a room, I was recognized and then was the interview (with an Egyptian journalist. This interview got many negative reviews and the reporter was accused of being insensitive.)

 

What was in that interview? Did the reporter hug you when she saw you?

No. She shook my hand. She was the first woman I saw after more than five years.

 

What was it like? Seeing a woman, hearing her voice?

Her? Of all women? I'm joking…It felt different, but wasn't such a shock for me as I thought it would be. However, my blood pressure was low, and I started to feel bad. You can also see it during the interview.

 

And when you arrived to Israel?

This was the moment when I felt this was it. That this entire experience is coming to an end. This pit I was locked up in- that's it, I'm out. I was relieved and realized that something huge is revolving around me. Everything that happened there, the media coverage, the enthusiasm…I knew it would take me some time to recover from it. I couldn't just go outside right away and meet everybody. I needed some time, taking it slow. I was thrilled and happy. But on the other hand, couldn't contain everything, all the people, the enthusiasm. I was also shut down. I didn't talk much. What I'm saying to you now, this conversation, is more than everything I said in those five years.

 

Really?

Yes. The amount of words I am saying now is just about what I was saying in a year.

 

How did it feel to sleep in your own bed for the first time? Did you sleep well on your first night?

Yes. I was really tired, so I slept well. I went to sleep at around nine-nine thirty. But at 2AM I woke up and started walking around the house. I was wandering around, looking through the windows. I saw guards, IDF soldiers, walking around.

 

Was your house like you remembered?

No. It was different, because it was renovated. So I just peeked in some places, looked around. The house was packed with food, presents. There were so many things I wanted to do that day, like using the computer, surfing the web, walking outside, riding a bike- this was one of the first things I did. I also wanted to catch up with my friends, and with everything I missed on television.

 

What was changed about you while being held captive?

I think that what is changed is the way people treat me, like I am someone else. Of course, there are things I took from that time which made me stronger and more confident. It is also a process. It takes time. With time, I'm adjusting, getting to know more people. At first, I was all about thinking, remembering and reminiscing, processing everything. I was also questioned and met with a shrink. Now I am less occupied with thoughts.

 

Do you feel good now?

I definitely feel better after everything I've been through the last five years. How can I not feel good? I always try to be optimistic, even when I run into some sort of a problem. All problems are nothing compared to what I've been thought…

 

Will you send your children to the army?

It won't be easy, but the bottom line is the state released me. The deal was made and the state paid the price, so I have no doubt my children would recruit. I hope that until then, recruitment won't be a necessity, but I believe it would be.

 

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October 17, 2012 | 10:30 am

All about my IDF (part one)

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

I've wanted to tell you about my military service for a while now, but I never knew exactly what I want to say. However, since foreign media take a very negative, false approach towards the IDF, and more and more false accusations pop up every day, I feel I can't wait any longer and will tell you what the IDF is really like through my personal story.

I think I'll begin at the end: a couple of months after my release from the IDF (after a two years long service), I went to a summer camp in Georgia, US, as an Israeli delegate of the Jewish Agency. While mostly having fun and telling exciting stories about Israel to the young campers, my fellow Israelis and I had to also deal with some tough questions asked by our American co-counselors. Most of their questions involved the IDF and its actions, and were based on information they got from the media. Some stood behind what they heard and read, and accused us with some terrible accusations, involving murder and intentions of killing innocent people for kicks. Those people were mostly adamant in their beliefs. They believed they already knew everything about the IDF, even better than we, and were positive of every part-truth they heard over the news. They had no intention of hearing us out, and mainly wanted to give us a piece of their minds for all the evil we've done.

As hard as dealing with this was, the other type of questions was much harder to deal with. Those questions were asked by Israel fans who heard all those things over the news, and weren't sure how to handle it. They were torn between their support of Israel and the horror stories the news handed them on a daily basis. Their questions weren't easy to deal with, because unlike the former group, this one was eager to hear what we had to say, and waited for a straight forward, decisive answer. My replies to them started with the sentence: "what you hear on the news is not entirely incorrect, but the world is not black and white." Then, I started explaining how the IDF's purpose is strictly defending Israel and its people, and never attacking or conquering. I told them that when they read a story of a school in Gaza being attacked by the IDF, it is usually what really happened, and then I explained how our enemies do a very good job in making us look bad by hiding wanted terrorists inside schools and hospitals and by doing that, making the IDF attack those places, which later does not look god in the eyes on the media. Questions like that are very hard to answer, especially when the person asking those questions expects a somewhat different answer. Later in the day, things got much easier when I would sit with my eight-year-old campers and tell them, decisively, how heroic the IDF soldiers are. No complications and in a black and white perspective. 

Things are never simple, and there is always far more than the eye can see. Nothing and nobody is perfect and people always make mistakes, but there is no question in whether the foreign media supports the IDF. I am not going to try and explain to you every single move the IDF makes, but I can say that throughout my military service, I never questioned my commander, not once, and neither did my friends, some of them in Combat units. What I do want to tell you, that is if you belong to the second group and are open to hear what I have to say, is that besides special missions and heroic battles, there is so much more in the Israeli military service.

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October 15, 2012 | 10:30 am

This week from Israel

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

* A group of Pro-Palestinians protested during a concert in Berlin, while the Israeli singing group, the Givatron, performed. The Israeli folk group was performing at a Jewish National Fund and Israeli House fundraiser when 10 protesters disrupted the show immediately after the first song, causing a riot and crying: "Free Palestine". The protesters included Palestinians residing in Germany, Iranians, a Spanish activist and two Israelis. They hurled JNF boxes and Givatron CDs and knocked over signs. But the performers did not let the provocateurs confuse them, and continued their performance to the applause of the audience.

 

* Yad Vashem Chairman, Avner Shalev was appointed by the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, to be a Vice Chairman of the International Council of the Auschwitz- Birkenau State Museum. The council was founded in the year of 2000, and was tasked with advising the Polish government on the preservation of the memorial sites at former Nazi death-camps in Poland. The Council includes 21 members from Poland, the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

 

* Nowadays, somewhere after Sukkot, is the time of the year when the weather goes crazy. In the natural order of the world, the summer is coming to an end by the end of August (give or take a week), and make room for fall and then winter. But our small Israel, has always refused to play by the rules. Each year during the months of September and Ocboter, no one really knows what to expect. In the past week we've had two storms that took us all by surprise, both followed by scalding hot sun. I believe there wasn't a single Israeli left dry when the sky opened up in the middle of the day, while everyone was wearing shorts and sandals, hanging out in the beach or the park…

 

* An archeological excavation conducted by the Israeli Antiquities Authority exposed prehistoric finds. The excavation, which was conducted on behalf of the National Roads Company prior the widening of Highway 79, encompassed an area of about half a mile on both sides of the road and lasted this past year. While digging, the archeologists found Prehistoric settlement remains that range in date from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (c. 10,000 years ago) to the Early Bronze Age (c. 5,000 years ago). The findings include a string of colored beads in a bowl, images of ostriches carved on a stone plaque and more, and are now presented in Ein Zippori site near the Sea of Galilee.

 

* A Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) aircraft landed at Ben-Gurion Airport for the first time this past Tuesday, with a commercial Ethiopian Airlines' flight from Addis Ababa. This progressed and highly developed aircraft originally intended to land in Israel on October 16th, but due to operational reasons, it made its first landing Tuesday morning. A special ceremony will be held next week. The spokesperson of Ethiopian Airlines said they chose to bring the plane to Israel as a gesture to their Israeli passengers who have faith in the company. The modern plane is built from composite materials and was built with a "green" vision, allowing for significant lower air pollution than other aircraft. /An Israeli family has recently founded an aid organization called "Israel for Africa", which purpose is to get Israeli and Jewish backpackers who travel in Africa to help around where needed. Voluntarily, of course. The Milo family, who founded this private organization, also donated the money to help it get started.

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October 12, 2012 | 11:19 am

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

Mashina is The Rolling Stones of Israel. They are considered Israel's most influential rock band, as they stand behind many of the music milestones in Israel. They have taken over the playlists in 1983, and have been making hits ever since (except of a break they took from 1995 to 2003). Their songs are all rock, moving on the scale from soft ballads to hard-rock, and I love almost every single one of their songs. The members of the band, which are considered very respectable musicians, are: Yuval Banai, Shlomi Bracha, Iggy Dayan, Avner Hodorov and Michael Benson.

I really love all of their songs, but here are my favorite two:

 

Ein Makom Acher (there's no other place)- Every time I listen to this song I start jumping around

 

 

Ba'Rechovot Shelanu (in our streets)

 

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October 10, 2012 | 10:21 am

Israel in HD- the photo album

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

After spending eight days in Israel, as a part of the Once in a Lifetime program of the Stand With Us Fellowship organization, ten influential Instagram users from all over the world returned to their homes, carrying memories of an unforgetable trip from north to south (including a meeting with the President). In those eight days, the ten Instagramers captured every aspect of Israel, and shared their best creations with their total of three million followers. Two of the talented modern cameramen, Carli Liene (@inkedfingers), a 28 year old from Austin, Texas; and Dave Temple (@kewiki), a 36 year old from Chicago, Indiana, agreed to share some of their best work with Israelife readers. They collected what they thought captured Israel in the best way, through their eyes, for you to enjoy.

Dave, a first-timer in our beautiful Israel, sure won't forget his visit: "My time in Israel was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The history, food, architecture, and most importantly the people, make this place one of the most incredible places I've ever visited. It is a photographer's paradise and I definitely will be back! I thank Israel for being such a wonderful host and helping me to understand more about the country. The Once in a Lifetime HD group should also be commended for acting as excellent ambassadors for Israel and showing our group that Israel is full of life and love."

The full photo albums of all ten Instagramers are presented on their pages.

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October 8, 2012 | 10:30 am

This week from Israel

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

* Israeli achievement at the Computer Olympics: students from 81 countries worldwide competed in Italy on various computer-related tasks such as solving complex algorithms. The level of problems the contestants solved was higher than what grad-school computer students are facing in class. The Israeli team was ranked 19, and won a total of two silver medals and one bronze medal. The US team, if you were wondering, came in first.

* Apple's flunk turns to Waze's success: Waze is an Israel start up combining GPS system with a social network. Waze's users contribute map data, and report traffic incidents, delays, police ambushes, etc. ,which can help other users find alternative routes or directions and get to their destination as soon as possible. This Israeli program initially operated only in Israel, but slowly started to grow and expand. In perfect timing, Apple's new "Maps" feature for IPhone brought frustration upon millions of users, due to bugs and errors. This lead Apple CEO Tim Cook to recommend Apple users to use competing software such as the Waze, while the issues are being fixed. This recommendation came in just in time for Waze's founders, and gave the Israeli mapping application a huge boost.
After the Red Hot Chili Peppers rocked Israel last month, we received some more great news: Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morisette will land here in December for a single performance, as a part of her "Guardian Angel" international tour. It's always great news when an international performer considers Israel in a tour, and when the performer is Alanis Morisette, the news  is even greater!

* The Barcelona soccer team has recently invited former captive IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit, to attend the October 7th match against Real Madrid. This lead Hamas calling for a media boycott of the soccer club, and caused quite the shenanigans. In response, the team has invited three Palestinians to also attend the match:  soccer player Mahmoud Al Sarsak, who was held in an Israeli jail for three years until being released this year following a hunger strike, along with the president of the Palestinian Football Union Jibril Rajoub and the Palestinian Authority ambassador to Spain.

 

* The day of the recruitment to the IDF is usually far from making anyone dance. It is long and tiring, and on top of it all-it's the day you say goodbye to your free will for two to three years. That is why everyone in the recruitment center was surprised when Ran Bronstein, on his first day as a soldier, started to dance. 24 year-old Bronstein, who made Alyiah from the States in 2007 to join the IDF, took a camera with him to the first day, and captured every moment of his process of becoming a soldier. Since he couldn't hold his excitement of finally serving his country, he started to dance in front of the camera and didn't stop until the finalization of the recruitment chain. The five minute long video clip was approved by the IDF spokesperson only recently, and Bronstein uploaded it on YouTube. It's been online for about two weeks now, and has already become a hit, showing  everyone that recruitment can also be a positive, fun experience.

 

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October 6, 2012 | 11:00 am

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

Maya Isacowitz is an Israeli singer-songwriter, who performs in English. She released her first single, "Is it Alright" in 2011, and since, she continues to grow a mass of loyal fans, and has more and more recognition on national radio stations. In spite of her success, Isacowitz is far from being a Diva or a larger than life rock star. She stands aside of the spotlight and maintaining an image of a serious artist, while creating a hight- qualit soulful Folk-Rock-Indie music that goes straight to your heart. 

 

Is it Alright

 

 Rehab (a cover to Rihanna's song) 

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October 4, 2012 | 3:09 pm

Back to the 50’s

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

When I read the paper this morning, I found something rather disturbing, which grew worse when I noticed no one else addressed the issue: a magazine called Family Circle held a cookie contest between the incumbent First Lady, Michelle Obama, and the opposing candidate's spouse, Anne Romney. Apparently, this has been going on since 1992, but I just heard about it today. This contest took place right before the first presidential debate, and got coverage almost as serious and profound. No one mentioned the burning issue of the matter, but I sure hope someone noticed. If not, we, as a society, have some serious problems. As the men of both houses discuss the very serious matters of foreign policy, financial situations and stability in the Middle East, the wives compete in baking. In other words: as the men compete for the title: Leader of the Free world, the women compete   for the title: Best Frosting. Did someone build a time machine that brought us back to the 50's? As much as I would like to believe in that, I will have to settle for what this really is: sexism and humiliation in disguise.

Since I am not from the States, and our pre-election time runs quite differently, I might sound like a crazy person to some of you. After all, this has been going on for a decade now, and no feminist organization is yet to shut it down. So with my foreign point of view, let me tell you this doesn't look good. This contest points out the wife stereotype women fought for so long to make disappear. The only reason I can think of for why this is still going on is the cultural differences between us. To you, this is a routine campaign event prior the election. The wives are addressing potential electors who don't show interest in the debates, by making something much simpler than world peace. In a way, this is completely okay, and even admirable, because in Israel there are neither debates nor any particular interest in the wives of the candidates. Our pre-election culture is not nearly as developed as yours, and yet, I can't relate to some of your choices for what's proper for that time.  Perhaps you find it right to put the fight for women’s equality aside for a day, for the important effort to find the next US president. Perhaps this is the day when even the most radical feminists put down the torches, because this baking contest is a way to get more people to vote.

I'm not in any place to say if this is right or wrong in your eyes, the same way I don't like it when people put themselves ahead of us, deciding for us what the best strategy with our neighbors is. I am just sharing my thoughts with you, and telling you what I, the foreign newspaper reader, saw today.

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