CO-EXISTENCE AND LONE SOLDIERS

At the age of 16, my granddaughter, Ophir, who is an excellent student, was accepted to an innovative programme called “MEET” (Middle East Education Through Technology). The selective programme (out of 800 applicants only 10% are chosen)  brings together Israeli and Palestinian young leaders through the common language of technology and entrepreneurship. Working in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 2004, MEET’s goal is to educate and empower the next generation of Israeli and Palestinian young leaders (age 15-17) to take action towards creating positive social and political change in the Middle East.

The programme comprises 3 consecutive summers with volunteer instructors from MIT, and a weekly programme at the MEET centres in Jerusalem and Nazareth, taught by MEET alumni. Run entirely in English, the programme provides MEET’s 200 high school students with the skills, values and network to become “agents of change” in the region.

Ophir’s family have been living in the U.K. for the last two years and will be living there for, at least, another two years. After finishing her high school exams (in the U.K.), Ophir was determined to come to Israel in order to fulfil her army duty as a “lone soldier”. With her excellent record, Ophir had no problem being accepted  into one of Israel’s airforce bases as an operation’s room coordinator.

A “lone soldier” is an IDF soldier with no family in Israel to support him or her. A lone soldier may be a new immigrant, a volunteer from abroad, an orphan or an individual from a broken home.

Every day, tens of thousands of soldiers are defending the State of Israel and its citizens. These soldiers regularly spend weekends and holidays at home where their parents provide for all of their needs: food, laundry, and even a hug.

For more than 6,300 lone soldiers, there is no immediate family in Israel to support them. Though highly motivated and proud to serve, when on leave, many of them struggle with basic needs that a family would solve.

Although Ophir does not regret having joined the IDF, she is finding it very hard to cope without her family. She was given the choice of, either  being “adopted” by a family living in a neighbouring kibbutz, or joining a group of lone soldiers who spend their weekends on a kibbutz which caters for such a group. She chose the latter option and, although the kibbutz is a long way from her airforce base and the travelling is hard, she is with young people like herself  who are a long way from home. She is perhaps a little better off than they are since she knows the country and, of course, speaks fluent Hebrew.