Sobering yet fascinating thoughts from the front

I have lost count of the articles, books, interviews, blog posts, speeches, presentations, etc. I have read and/or attended about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I've tried reading histories, current events, political and military analyses, etc... but none of them has captured the most recent intafada in a more human light than a blog that is being serialized on Jpost, Chayal Boded. The author is a non-ideological American who made aliyah (ie, moved permanently to Israel) in 2001. He spent six months in an ulpan (a intensive Hebrew instruction course), and then was drafted into the Israeli army (like everyone else his age). He ended up getting into an elite commando unit, and the blog is a serialization of bits from letters home.

The blog brilliantly shows the dilemma being faced by soldiers in the IDF. The IDF prides itself on attempting to be the moral army of the world, but they are always faced with contradictions between the need to secure their country, and always adhering to a strict ethical code.

The latest entry was very powerful. An excerpt:

For all of us, but especially for Tomer, it all seemed like a big game. Tomer was the crew's medic, and he breezed through training with a funky kipa and a grin so big that it threatened to swallow his whole face. His pants were always a little too baggy and his helmet a little cock-eyed, and before long, his careless happiness and trademark smile earned him the moniker "Joker" from the other recruits. He was our mascot. Even in basic training, our officer would catch a glimpse of Tomer in rank in the midst of reprimanding us for one thing or another, and he'd have to turn and walk away in a vain attempt to stifle a smile. On our final and most difficult march before "graduating" to operation status, when everybody was pushed to the limit and absolutely exhausted, there was Tomer, singing and skipping along.

Then, on one of our first missions inside the Palestinian cities, Tomer killed a kid, or at least he thought he did, and suddenly it wasn't fun anymore.

At the bottom of the linked page are the previous posts, which are all uniquely fascinating. I found Sabrinah, a post about apprehending a female would-be suicide bomber, to be particularly interesting. He explores some of the most difficult issues facing the IDF counter-terror operations today from a first-person perspective.

If you have to read anything I've written or linked to on this website, read this.