One Unadulterated Report - Tsvi Sadan, ISRAEL TODAY

One Unadulterated Report

Tuesday, November 03, 2015 |  Tsvi Sadan

Any professional report on the present manifestation of the Palestinian jihad is heard or seen only after editorial work that in many cases seriously distorts reality. 

At times this is simply a result of sloppy journalism. Most common, however, are reports deliberately slanted to serve political agendas. In either case, the result is a product that should be treated with a healthy measure of suspicion.

Amateur reports from those actually experiencing the violence demonstrate the stark difference between the real and the imagined. A Facebook report written on October 27 by Eyal Eshkol, a reserve IDF soldier, could serve as a showcase for this situation. 

The following is an excerpt of Eshkol's report that, clumsy as it may be, vividly conveys a sense of actual reality, rather than the synthetic "reality" produced by agenda-driven reports.

"The last mission for this morning was allowing Palestinian workers to enter their olive groves … in return not one but two explosive devices made from big propane gas tanks were waiting for us … Understand what this means – the terrorists who placed these explosive devices knew very well that we will not open the gate … they knew there is a big chance that someone from their village might trigger it unintentionally … thus ruining the olive harvest for dozens of their compatriots. You ask what one is doing about it? Are you assuming we told them they were screwed and should go home? No – we allowed them, their equipment and their children to pass through another gate."

"The situation is pretty shitty. Really. And may get worse before getting any better. Listen carefully to what I am telling you: the reserve soldiers that are taking care of you are giving their soul, but the true heroes are the army and Border Patrol soldiers constantly in danger, working around the clock, guys who are getting stabbed while helping a terrorist only to go on fighting without anyone knowing about it. And in the midst of all of that I am trying to rescue two horses held in abhorring conditions in Abu Tor [southeast Jerusalem]."

With this description of what's really going on, the writer remarks how proud he is to have the privilege of serving at such a time, of ensuring that Israelis are in good hands. He concludes with a call to show love for our soldiers who are keeping us safe. This kind of report and attitude, as the writer himself is well aware, is not heard on Israeli news channels, let alone foreign ones.

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