The Anti-terror Volunteers

(Viewer discretion is advised when viewing certain links: may contain violent images and/or text etc)

Imagine living in peace and your neighbor comes and kills you just because they have been indoctrinated to hate your race and ethnicity. That is what the life of an average Israeli, and an IDF soldier is like.

You cannot reason with somebody who believes and glorifies death. If somebody believes that once they die killing people they will go to heaven, it is extremely hard to reason with them. That’s the concept that the majority of the Palestinians hold. The Israelis on the other hand, most of them, believe in celebrating life and preserving it. So much so, that they often trade lots of Palestinian criminals and terrorist prisoners in exchange for a single IDF solider or an Israeli Citizen.

Israeli is the only democracy in the Middle East, where people have a considerate degree of freedom of speech, women rights and fun and entertainment. The people living in Israeli territories regardless of their religion or race, are thriving and free, and enjoy it there. On the contrary, majority of Palestinians even little children are taught to hate Jews and chant “death to Jews” at every possible event.

If you look at the internet, you see pictures of bloodshed and children’s dead bodies killed by IDF. However, it doesn’t take much research to see whether or not those pictures and news are real. Some were from Syria, some from Iraq, some from Pakistan. Where terrorist are always killing innocent people. The more I researched, the more I saw a huge media propaganda by the terrorists to play the Victim card. The media keeps blaming the IDF and not the other way round. Just because they are educated, and smart and not poor, whereas the Palestinian terrorists are not all that so they get the benefit of being the “miserable” people. Apart from the terrorist organization Hamas, which carries out coordinated attacks, the local citizens never stop attacking by stabbing, or throwing stones or whatever is in their capacities.

The more I looked into what IDF is and does, I was surprised and saddened because the kids serving in the IDF are all volunteers. What would convince a young teenage girl or boy who could be enjoying in college and going out clubbing and having the time of their lives to go and volunteer in the IDF and fight terrorists? It is because they are for fighting survival to ensure that they can regain their identity and remain safe after the holocaust. 

I have one such brave and empathetic IDF soldier with me here tonight.

Aylia: What made you decide to join the IDF?

Dmitry Braun

Dmitry Braun: "I got tired of the way Israel was misrepresented in the media and I wanted to go out there and fight terrorism. It was harsh. My commander got killed by a sniper. It was painful. But I think the IDF is the most morally sound army in the world in my opinion. It is based on values of peace and self-defense and respect for all people, and we even have women who serve in combat units. Hamas, on the other hand uses human shield and makes women suicide bomb themselves. The reason why the Israelis don’t suffer so many casualties is due to the bravery and defense provide by IDF and the Iron dome. Whereas, when the IDF retaliates in self-defense and kills these terrorists who are hiding among civilians, there are casualties and the media goes berserk about it. I have never had to use real weapons, and it is very rare that we get to do that because we are defensive not aggressive. I have used tear gas and pepper spray mostly in many situations, even though I had guns and grenades. 

The media portrays us as beasts but we are just a bunch of kids who want to contribute in defending their people and the only tiny place in the world that Jews can call their home. Not only that, we have so many non-Jews also who come to help us fight terrorism."

Aylia: Tell me a little about the culture of hate against Jews and Israelis?

Dmitry Braun: "People need to understand that it’s not an even fight. There is a whole nation of people whowere brought up on hating Jews. When I was standing guard in Hebron, Palestinian children would throw rocks and me and steal my food etc. and we would just smile and ignore them, and sometimes offer them food that they don’t have to steal. But it is so much worse out there. There are priests in mosques who preach hatred in their sermons. When Donald Trump says one sentenced full of hatred, we all are always there to condemn it. Why does the world show a cold shoulder when so much of preaching of hate is being done in mosques? I have lived with people who hate my existence even though I have done nothing bad to them. It is sad. What’s more sad is that little children are growing up with all that hatred. Having said that, there are some Liberal Palestinians who do not hate the Jews and the Israelis and they demand a peaceful solution to this war-like situation we are constantly in. However their voices get drained by the lessons of hatred preached in the streets of Palestine."

The conflict of the land of Israel is no doubt complex and there is bitter history associated with it. But the way the media ignores the terrorist activities carried out against the Israelis and portrays the IDF as a monstrous organization bent on killing innocent people is just outrageously misguided.  

At the end of the day, they are just trying to defend their country and people, and at some point they will have to use force because you can’t negotiate with terrorists whose aim is to remove each and every Jew from the face of the earth.