One Woman Can't Do It Alone

For my last task, I had to compose an opinion piece on a current issue, which has evoked an increasing amount of anti-Israeli sentiment in the UK press. Below is a copy of the article I produced...

"Too much death has been seen in the current Middle East conflict, too many parents have lost their children, too many women have lost their husbands, and too many children have lost their parents. The question is: what are we doing to prevent lives of innocent Israelis
being lost?

As Karnit Goldwasser marks the first anniversary of her marriage to captured soldier Ehud Goldwasser, saddened and alone, we find ourselves asking the question; why? Why are the international community not more involved? Why are we not fighting for the release of Ehud and the others who have been taken?

Hezbollah captured Ehud, 31 from Nahariya, along with fellow soldier Elad Regev, 26 from Kiryat Motzkin, just south of the border of Lebanon on the 12th of July 2006. Ehud and Elad now join the long list of names, of those innocent Israelis who have been kidnapped in Israel. With the list of names forever increasing, surely something needs to be done to prevent it escalating even further. The day Ehud was captured was his last day of service. At the time of his capture Ehud was on reserve duty; “He had a life. He is just 31 years old and had a life waiting for him,” Karnit told reporters on her arrival to the United Kingdom.

Karnit is a wife on her own fighting for a valid cause. “We need proof that he is alive. We need proof that he is not injured or, if he is, they are taking care of him,” Karnit told Sky News. “Once I told him I would bring him the moon. Now I am trying to bring the moon for him.” Karnit is passionately rallying for her cause, the return of her doting husband, and many alike him, but it is needless to say that it is going to take more than the voice of a lonely, heartbroken young woman, to bring these innocent and heroic soldiers home and put an end to this ongoing battle which has spellbound the Middle East.

The Goldwasser family have gone to great lengths to ensure there son remains in the public eye and is never forgotten. They themselves are trying to put pressure on the Israeli government and the world community by organising a rally in memory of Ehud and the many others who have been wrongly kidnapped. Nevertheless Karnit and the rest of the Goldwasser family can’t do it alone. They need our help. They have held intense and emotional meetings with Israel’s top government officials, including Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, but even Olmert himself could not provide them with answers. “He represents Israeli action and we still have no answers as to Ehud’s condition or even whether he is still alive. It’s his responsibility to give us these answers.” Surely this is a cry for help. If Olmert can’t give the Goldwassers the answers they need maybe we can. We need to help them and others alike.

We need to support the safe return of these innocent Israelis who have been cruelly captured. In doing so we will be showing our support for democracy amongst nations. We will be showing our support against the deadly Hezbollah, a terrorist organisation who are not only capturing the lives of innocent Israelis but are capturing an entire nation. These are innocent lives they are ruining, lives that are being fooled around with like dolls in a doll’s house.

Israel herself is not doing enough to help those who have been captured. Their withdrawal from Lebanon without the return of the captives to safety is very disappointing. The fact that Hezbollah is consistently trying to cover up these kidnappings provides us with even more reason to fight against them and make these kidnappings public knowledge. Why it is that kidnapped Iraq soldiers barely make the papers?

Israel is currently facing a nightmare situation: they need international support on all levels. Instead of fighting a one front war in Gaza in order to try and free their kidnapped victims, like Ehud, Israel have now found themselves fighting a two front war. In addition, instead of fighting a war against Gaza’s Hamas militants alone, Israel is now also fighting against Hezbollah and its sponsors: Syria and Iran. Surely this new development should be putting vast pressure on the global community to resolve this crisis as soon as possible. The longer we stand on the sidelines doing nothing, the longer these troublesome times will drag on, and the more likely matters are going to escalate beyond Israel, and the rest of the world’s control.

We as a country need to realise that one woman cannot fight this conflict alone. We cannot expect Israel to fight this ongoing battle single-handed; they need our help. They are a country under the attack of a brutal terror organisation; they need the support globally to bring home their soldiers, to prevent the lives of innocent civilians being lost. Political leaders in this country should be using their influence and power to prevent future attacks, to prevent Hezbollah spreading its poison, and to prevent like Karnit facing a
lifetime of solitude and heartbreak."