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| Forum bears hearts of
Israeli students |
Justin Boulmay
Multicultural Beat
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Foster Hunt | The
Appalachian
(l-r) ASU sophomore Erez Cohen
listens to audience questions directed toward panel members
Tali Lesser and Eli Novershtern Wednesday.
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The Jewish Students
of Appalachian (JSA) hosted the “Israel at Heart” forum
in the Multicultural Center last Wednesday.
The panel, which is part of a nationwide tour,
consisted of three Israeli students sharing their experiences of
living in Israel.
Fleeing to Israel
Nurit Tezazu was the first to share her experiences.
At the age of 18, Tezazu chose to take on volunteer work over joining
the military. All Israelis, when they turn 18, are required by the
government to choose one or the other. |
She worked
at a junior high school her first year and in the Jewish community
during her second year.
Tezazu was not born in Israel but Ethiopia. At only 3 years old,
she and her family, along with several others, fled the country.
They walked on foot through the desert for two-and-a-half months
before they settled in Sudan.
Tezazu said she and her family had to keep their ethnicity and religion
a secret for fear of persecution, since Sudan is a Muslim state
with no relation to Israel.
“You worry every day that no one will find out you’re
a Jew and that someone will do something to you,” she said.
Tezazu and her family eventually left Sudan for Israel when she
was 5 years old.
‘It became my reality’
Tali Lesser, 24, has been a college student for only two years.
She opted to join the Israeli military when she was 18 years old
and decided to stay for longer than the usual two-year requirement
for women when she was promoted to officer.
At the end of her service, Lesser said she went traveling and explained
that most people her age did the same. She spent seven months in
South America.
Lesser shared the story of her friend who had been preparing to
leave home for class when the police arrived at her house to tell
her that her family had been killed.
They died in a suicide bombing during last year’s Passover.
The attack claimed 29 people.
“Until then, I could watch [the attacks] on a television, but
I could turn it off,” she said. “This time, I could not
turn it off.
“It became my reality, and I didn’t know what to think,”
she said.
‘How evil could you get?’
Eli Novershtern was born in Jerusalem. He joined the army when he
was 18 years old and served for six years. During his tenure, his
activities focused on counter-terrorism.
“It was not an easy thing to do,” Novershtern said. “I
had left my home … to go live in a tent, sleep very little
and work very hard. I had orders shouted at me and was responsible
for doing difficult tasks.”
Novershtern said it was rewarding to know what he was doing was
for the protection of his country and his family.
Novershtern went to Hebrew University after he left the military.
While he was there, a Palestinian man bombed the campus cafeteria.
The man had worked for the university and had known most of the
students on a first-name basis.
Eight people were killed.
“It was quite a grave shock … it happened in my home.
I thought to myself, ‘How evil could you get?’” Novershtern
said. “This was a person who had known us.”
One student in attendance asked the speakers what they thought was
the best way to completely stop terrorism.
Novershtern did not have an answer.
“If I knew,” he said, “I’d run for [the Israeli
Parliament].” |
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