After we heard Amir Tibon from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, I would like to share pictures of history from the kibbutz.
In 1961, a group of 16-year-old male and female students from Tel Aviv went to Nahal Oz for two weeks, and I was one of them. It was to help the members of the young kibbutz in agriculture. We came on behalf of the United Movement, a youth movement in Tel Aviv.
We lived in a small room in the kibbutz and ate together in the common dining room. Early in the morning we got on the platform and went to the fields to pick carrots and potatoes.
We came with a mission, goodwill and ideology and these were our goals.
We received, of course, wonderful treatment from the members of the kibbutz, who were also young people and ideologues. The kibbutz was founded in 1956 by a core of youth from Tel Aviv.
Between the years 1956 and 1967 (the Six-Day War), there was no terrorism in the region. Since the Six-Day War, the place has become the target of operations by terrorists from the Gaza Strip. Since then, the residents have suffered from rockets, mortar bombs and penetrations.
And on Oct. 10, 2023, there was a massacre in the kibbutz and the rest will be written on the pages of history.
Pay attention to the pictures. In those years, there was desolation in and around the kibbutz.
The statue in one of the photos is in memory of a 21-year-old young man, Roy Rotberg, who was a member of the kibbutz and was the commander of the area. He was murdered by Palestinian infiltrators from the Gaza Strip who dragged him across the border and abused his body.
It happened on April 30, 1956.
His body was returned through the mediation of the United Nations. Moshe Dayan eulogized him. The eulogy served as a key to understanding Israel’s position in the conflict with the Palestinians.
After half a year, on Oct. 29, 1956, we embarked on Operation Kadesh, the Sinai War; we captured the Gaza Strip and captured the murderers.
Since then, the wars and terrorism from the Gaza Strip continue to this very day.
And I will end with hope for quiet days without wars, operations, dead and prisoners on both sides.
Am Israel Chai!
Rutthi Goldman is a member of CJP’s Boston-Haifa Peoplehood committee.