by Tiffany Razzano
He contacted the United Jewish Appeal Emergency Mission, an organization with which he had traveled previously, to help plan a trip for Aug. 20-25. By the time the group arrived in Israel, however, it had missed the end of the war and the start of a United Nations-brokered cease-fire by 10 days.
"Originally, the main goal was to be there in time of war and to visit the soldiers and people who were in bomb shelters and were victims, but that changed," Schwartz said. "By the time I got there, it was over."
He added, "I thought that it wouldn't be as important to visit them afterwards as during [the war], but I realize it was more important to be with them now. They need support more than ever before, moral support and psychological support. They needed to know they are not alone."
Rather than witnessing the war firsthand, the group Schwartz traveled with found itself touring the rubble of the hardest-hit cities in northern Israel - Haifa, Nahariya and Kiryat Shmoneh. The mayors of those cities took the group on tours of the destruction. The mayor of Kiryat Shmoneh met them in a bomb shelter to give them a sense of what that was like. "Some people were in those shelters for 33 days," Schwartz said. "This was a very scary and unpleasant experience."
The rabbi said that two of the trip's highlights were his opportunities to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz. The group also met with Carnit Goldwasser, the wife of Ehud Goldwasser, one of two Israeli soldiers whose abduction by Hezbollah in mid-July sparked the conflict.
Though the war appears to be over, Schwartz said the Israeli people still "live in trepidation that Hezbollah will be rearmed by Iran and Syria with even longer-range missiles." He added that Israelis are "frustrated and losing hope in the United Nations," which, he said, does not seem to be fulfilling the terms of the resolution that brought about the cease-fire.
Now that he is back in the U.S., Schwartz said, he and his congregation will be "praying for peace" in the Middle East.
He said it is always inspirational to travel to the Holy Land. "I've been to Israel many, many times, but this was the most emotional and dramatic of the trips," Schwartz said. "I was there during the scud attacks and the first war in Lebanon. I would say that the difference in this war is a great moral dilemma, because Israeli soldiers are trying to fight morally and never injure civilians. But how do you do that when the enemy hides behind civilians? This is a very difficult question for a civilized army."
He added, "There's a great, great desire to have peace. These rockets landed on people who are not fighters. They just want to live side by side with their neighbors."
The trip was especially poignant for Schwartz as the U.S. gears up for the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. "I think it's an issue of how the world is going to treat terrorism," he said, "because what happens in Israel happens in London, and it happens in New York. It happens all over the world. If you let it simmer, terrorism will take over. The world should be a little bit more forceful in calling terrorism what it is, calling terrorists what they are and be a little less concerned about political correctness."
The trip, Schwartz said, reminded him that terrorists can strike anywhere. "No one is safe," he said. "No one who espouses democratic principals will ever be safe as long as the world doesn't collectively attack [terrorism] and boot it out, hopefully by peaceful means."
Comments about this story? TRazzano@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 x221
