Rochelle R. was her name. I met her in 1959 when I joined
the Russian Club at the University of Miami. She was a remarkable woman in many
ways. A former member of both Irgun and Haganah (these Jewish organizations
were sometime allies and sometime antagonists) she was by her own admission a
freedom fighter for Israel. She made no apologies for her activities though
often said she regretted the young soldiers she helped to kill. In the “Mandate”
it was illegal for Jews to carry weapons, so one or her tasks was to carry guns
or grenades under her skirts, knowing that the British soldiers were too polite
to search a woman’s legs. She had a British soldier boyfriend/lover who was
killed in this hell of confusion and oppression, and she never forgot him. Her
ethnic roots were Russian and she arrived in America in the 50s. She was fluent
in Russian, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Yiddish and English. She was married to
another Israeli and had two daughters. She
tutored me in Russian and Israel.
 |
| My friend Rochelle might be in this photo of Begin with Irgun |
Israel has been fighting for survival from the days before
it was Israel. The desire of the Jewish people for a homeland burned then as
now, and thwarted at every turn, still came to pass. During the constant fight
for freedom from the “Mandate”, millions of Jews were murdered (along with my
gypsy family) and millions more were displaced. They fought on and the desire
for freedom never wavered. And they fight on today. Early in the history of
these people the philosophy, more a doctrine really, of “Active Defense” became
operational. It still is. Everybody in the Middle East knows this truism: If
you mess with Israel, there WILL be consequences.
Which brings me to this point: When rockets flew from Gaza
and rained on the land of Israel, everybody knew what would come next. Hamas
knew. Israel knew. The whole world knew. Active Defense. Like everyone with a
heart, I mourn for the dead innocents of all aggressions. In Syria. In the
Ukraine. In Gaza and in Israel. The blame game is a losing game to play. The
real game is actions and counter actions, and that is the reality in Israel.
The people of Israel are the descendants of Rochelle, her
husband and daughters, and thousands of other freedom fighters, and of the indomitable
Jews of the world. If the world has learned nothing else it should have learned
this: If you mess with Israel, there WILL be consequences.
Image:Begin with Irgun Members: 1948. http://kresy-siberia.org/hom/files/Begin-with-Irgun-members-1948_public-domain-1024x682.jpg
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