August 1, 2006

Ola Joffe, former member of the Federation’s Israel & Overseas Committee, is traveling in the Federation’s partner region in the Upper Galil with her family. This is her first-person account of what she and her husband Alex have seen and heard and the people she has met during her travels.

We are in Israel now, staying with our family in the central area of the country. Life in Tel Aviv is almost as usual, just more traffic and more people. For someone who did not know, it would be hard to believe that the war is taking place not far away, in the northern part of this very small country.

After six quiet years on the Lebanon border, we wanted to believe that the hard days for Kiryat Shmona were in the past, but today's reality is worse then ever. Just yesterday more then 100 katyusha rockets landed there.

Yesterday, Alex and I visited Kiryat Shmona. We spent a couple of hours with Orna (Rayn, the Federation’s Upper Galil coordinator) trying to identify and learn the needs of different groups of people in the town these days. We found that Russian immigrants are probably in the most critical situation.

The city has been almost paralyzed for almost three weeks. Most of the population (about 80 percent) with relatives or friends elsewhere in the country has left. Essential services, including medical centers, food suppliers and banks are operating for very limited hours. On the other hand, there is no panic, and people from the municipal services, police and volunteers are in full charge and are not showing any distress.

Orna met us with a smile, but with some sadness in her voice. Although she has been out of her home for almost three weeks (Metula is now part of the military zone), she is working much harder than usual. She is busy every moment with multiple calls, meetings and tasks. I was thinking about our last visit in the area and it was hard to believe that this is not a bad dream, but a real war going on.

Among the 1500 Russian immigrants who have remained in the city (about 30% of the total Russian population), about half are senior citizens. Many of them don't speak Hebrew and are afraid to leave their homes. They are staying in their apartments or shelters, and after three weeks they are out of basic supplies like food, medications, soap, etc. They are not asking for help, as they don't know how or who to ask.

To help understand what this community needs, we talked with Boris, an emergency-room doctor who is also a member of the city’s government, and with Tamara, who is spending most of each day answering questions on the emergency telephone line set up by the city. Based on our conversations, critical needs include basic supplies for those who cannot to take care of themselves and transportation assistance for those who need “a vacation” from the conflict in the region — either for a week or until the bombing ends.

There are many lessons to learn from the current situation. First, no one thought that such a long, non-stop emergency situation was possible, and as a result there is no special infrastructure to take care of immediate needs. Second, Israel was, and always will be, a place where the impossible becomes reality and where people face situations with dignity and hope for a better future.

It's especially important these days to demonstrate not only our community’s financial support to the people of Israel, but also to show our solidarity and moral support by letting them know that we in the San Francisco Bay Area are with the people of Israel in our minds and our hearts.

—Ola and Alex Joffe