We are used to thinking of Israel as a very special country on multiple levels. On the national and political spectrum, after 2000 years of statelessness, living dispersed all over the world, the Jewish nation was reborn as an independent state, becoming the only democracy in the Middle East. In the eyes of many believers and from the Biblical viewpoint, the children of Israel are the apple of God’s eye, called to be the light to the nations and a chosen people, from the midst of whom God has brought forth salvation for the entire world.
Israelis are a unique nation also in some more atypical ways. It seems difficult to believe that anyone could be used to recurring hostilities, terror, and violence, but that is the reality millions in the Jewish State have grown up with and are living in.
The most recent round of hostilities in Israel also affected the work and staff of the Heaven TV7’s office in Jerusalem. We are all used to the violence erupting mostly in the South, with rockets fired and incendiary kites and balloons sent by Hamas from Gaza towards adjacent Israeli communities.
This time the conflict escalated and spread almost all over Israel, with rockets directed also towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and with rather serious riots and clashes breaking out in East-Jerusalem and other cities in the country not only between the Arab residents and the Israeli Police, but also between Arabs and Jews.
When the rocket alert sirens sounded in Jerusalem on Monday, 10th of May evening, many of our staff members were in the office having just finished the last Jerusalem Studio recording of the day. Bureau chief Jonathan went immediately into war mode and started planning what needs to be done and who needs to be contacted for us to be able to portray the events to our viewers in the right light, yet objectively, making sure they get the right information and have the necessary “ammunition” to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of Israel.
At the same time PA Nahtalli was in the bus on the way home to Har Adar where also Office Manager Yair’s family lives and whose wife Anna had to take their two daughters to the bomb shelter in their house for the first time. Having grown up in Israel and being used to similar events themselves, as young parents they had to face the new reality of attempting to explain what is going on to a 3-year-old Ella for whom they had hopes of a slightly different world, where hostilities and rockets flying would not be normative.
In addition, Har Adar is also adjacent to an Arab village where the residents started fires during the riots which threatened to spread into residential areas and there was a danger of being forced to evacuate and leave their homes.
Being used to the role of a “standby war correspondent“ due to the high likelihood of erupting conflicts between Israel and its enemies, and having experienced many of them personally, Content Writer & Researcher Erin’s first instinct as a mother and human being is to ensure the safety of loved-ones. After that she also enters the professional reporter-mode, trying to portray the events as accurately and calmly as possible. Interestingly, every time, after the initial apprehensive exhale when another shaky ceasefire is established, she has heard a specific song in her spirit, which often carries the sadness over frequently recurring reality where soldiers are returning home from combat. This time the song was by an Israeli singer Idan Amadi, called Nigmar and you can listen to by clicking on this link.
Sadness is also the sentiment echoed in the heart of Erin’s neighbor, News Director Sergei, in addition to the grave fact of many civilian casualties resulting from the rocket attacks, the recent conflict took on new dimensions with Arabs and Jews fighting among each other inside the country. Although his area of Jerusalem, which is also adjacent to an Arab village from where terrorist acts have emanated in the past, was relatively quiet this time, the intensity of the looming danger forced him to exercise his right to carry a gun, desiring to be in a position enabling him to protect his family in case of need.
As one of the positive lights in the end of this “frequently reoccurring violence” tunnel, Sergei and all of us see and are grateful for our jobs, where we can enlighten people about what’s really going on and to counter the multitude of misinformation spread in the world by Israel’s enemies.
To spread the light and to cover the events truthfully, during this intense 2-week period, we produced an extra 1-hour long Jerusalem Studio Special which was recorded and aired the same day as well as an additional Editor’s Note program, calling our viewers in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and elsewhere in the world to join us in prayer for the situation.
As the ceasefire, mediated by Egypt, USA and UN, holds, concerns for loved ones and friends being hit by rockets have subsided and the summer approaches, we continue to pray for the emerging Israeli government, which is facing many challenges in these tumultuous times, and look to God, who is the ultimate source of peace and security, for some times of refreshing from heaven.
–-By Monika Jaaguri