Barbara Sofer
Posted on | November 3, 2008 | No Comments
Journalist and Director of Public Relations for Hadassah
I’ve been in rooms where people are taking care of terror victims while everybody around the table had to worry that day about being blown up as well—and at the same time, a terrorist would be taken care of. When people come into these hospitals, they move a switch inside and elicit their best selves. We’ll never have a future unless we switch off the static of all the anger and conflicts to move ahead to peace.
Israelis and Palestinians both say hospitals are places of equality.
The theme of the hospitals in Israel is that the enemy is really disease, but that’s
easier said than done. In the Hadassah Hospital, you have men, women, children, doctors, nurses, technicians, all mixed, with Jews and Palestinians together. This is the right world, where everybody gets along. As Jews, we are commanded, we are not allowed to stand by and watch the blood spill of somebody else. The movement that created healthcare is an expression of Jewish values. There’s nothing greater than saving a life.
You call yourself a writer. What do you write?
I’ve been writing since I was 15. I write newspaper articles, I have a column in the Jerusalem Post. I’ve written a novel called “The Thirteenth Hour.” I’ve also written half a dozen children’s books. I write scripts for movies, and I write speeches for people and myself.
People also say it is difficult for Palestinians to get to hospitals.
Often 75 percent of the children are Palestinian—from Nablus, Gaza, Hebron. I believe if you have a reason to get to the hospital, you can get here. Last week I asked a mother how hard it was for her to come from Nablus. She said it did take a little bit longer, but she took that in consideration when she set out in the morning. I don’t want these walls. I hate walls. I wish we could knock them all down.
On the other hand, I like feeling a little bit better protected. I hated going to work everyday looking right, left, and center because where my office is in the center of town, where at least 12 suicide bombings have taken place. We have other security measures. Every ambulance that comes to our hospitals, Jewish or Palestinian, needs to be checked. Whatever we can do to keep terror away from innocent people is very important to me.
Do you have units for emotional and psychological trauma?
Yes, we have units for emotional and psychological trauma. We found that many people who had suffered psychological trauma went into a passive state where even getting to the hospital became too much effort. If we just called them from the hospital and said, “Why don’t you drop by?” it often broke through their resistance.
We have joint teams of Jewish and Arab social workers, and psychologists, who work together here to deal with trauma. But of course it’s not enough; the situation in our part of the world requires greater resources than we can possibly have.
How do you see the situation?
The truth is Palestinians have not pulled themselves up as they need to in order to squash hatred. It’s easy to blame others, and that’s become a way of life among Palestinians. As an Israeli, I have extreme disappointment. When I see their first steps, I’m running towards them, but from my view, I’ve just seen complaints and a waste of human potential.
People say of Israel, “This is such an advanced country, with high-tech, full markets, nice cars.” We started at square one—before square one, minus six million, and people were so poor they were starving. Instead of talking all the time about the evils done to the Jewish people, we put our energy into building.
Our government is a democracy and absolutely represents us, for better or worse. We voted for a government committed to the peace process, not doing it with eyes closed, and that’s the government we have. And I think the Palestinian government, the terrorist government, represents the true will of the Palestinians. They voted for Hamas, they want Hamas.
You get the government you deserve, and that’s the government we have, and that’s the government they have. Still, I believe we will one day create an ideal society. From the beginning of the Bible, we are supposed to be here, two people. That’s part of the Divine Plan. Our effort on earth is to make it happen.
Of your five children, are any of them serving in the army?
My two sons were army officers. I have three daughters who didn’t want to serve in the army for religious reasons, so each of them did two years of service in hospitals working with abused children instead. They felt that the army was a patriarchal world in which women had too many men in power over them, so they chose the alternative in service so that they could give the same time to the country but without being within the framework of such a patriarchal system.
What does peace mean to you?
Peace for me will be the day when I can drive to Bethlehem and visit my friends and do my shopping without being afraid that someone is going to kidnap or capture me. Peace means that we won’t be wasting all of our resources on arms and protection. Peace for me means walking down the street and seeing a Palestinian young man behind me and not having to check to see if his backpack carries something explosive, but just smile and say “hello.” Peace means for me a world in which I won’t have to worry that my children will have to serve in the army, or my grandchildren have to serve in the army.
