One Woman and a Forgotten War Zone

July 5, 2024

by: Nathan J. Minsberg ~ JNS

Friday, 5 July 2024 | The Israel’s northern front remains a volatile warzone, largely overlooked by international media. In the past week alone, Hezbollah has fired more than 300 rockets into Israeli territory, resulting in five civilian deaths and dozens of injuries. [This article does not include the roughly 200 projectiles launched by Hezbollah yesterday, in which a soldier was killed.]

The number of displaced Israelis from the north has now surpassed 70,000, with no clear timeline for their return. Despite diplomatic efforts, tensions continue to escalate, with the Israel Defense Force [IDF] reporting many thwarted infiltration attempts along the Lebanon border.

This latest escalation follows devastating wars between Israel and Hamas, with Hezbollah, backed by Iran, growing increasingly powerful.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has failed to prevent Hezbollah’s entrenchment along the border.

Kiryat Shmona, a city nestled in the awe-inspiring mountainous region of the western Hula Valley, now echoes with an eerie silence. For nine months, this once-thriving community has stood as a ghost town, its residents among those displaced by relentless attacks from Hezbollah in support of their Hamas terrorist comrades embroiled in the Gaza war.

Amid this chaos and uncertainty, one woman’s story of resilience and unwavering commitment to her community stands out: Dr. Aviva Zrihan Weitzman.

Weitzman is no stranger to the challenges faced by the residents of Kiryat Shmona. With a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Haifa, she has dedicated her career to serving the community as a social welfare worker, educator and researcher.

As head of the Field Studies Unit at Tel-Hai College, Weitzman coordinates volunteering efforts that have become a lifeline for the beleaguered northern region. Her research into domestic violence, stress, trauma and resiliency has taken on new urgency in the face of the current war.

For Weitzman, a mother of four, the past nine months have been a relentless struggle to maintain a semblance of normalcy for her family. The Weitzman family, like many others from Kiryat Shmona, now calls a Tel Aviv hotel room home—a far cry from the comfort of their northern abode.

In their cramped quarters, the absence of a kitchen means family meals are often hurried affairs in the hotel’s crowded dining room. The toll of this prolonged upheaval is etched on the faces of Weitzman’s children, their education disrupted, their routines shattered.

“Nevo, my eldest son, just finished his [military] service and saw some horrific things in Gaza,” Weitzman shares, her voice catching slightly. “He’s flying to a faraway destination to take his mind off it all.

“He’ll probably return to fight as a reservist, but the thought of him potentially fighting this time in his own backyard, in the north against Hezbollah…it’s almost too much for a mother to bear.”

A Cry for Recognition and Support

As tensions escalate along the Israel–Lebanon border, with over 7,400 rockets, kamikaze drones, missiles, artillery and ground infiltrations directed by Hezbollah at Israel since October 8, Weitzman fears that Kiryat Shmona teeters on the brink of an even greater catastrophe. The world’s attention has turned away from the suffering of northern Israel’s citizens.

“The attention was seldom there throughout this war. That’s the thing that is so shocking,” Weitzman laments. “The north doesn’t have a unified voice in the government or geographically. We’re a patchwork of communities—Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin—spread across villages, kibbutzim [collective community], towns and cities. This diversity, which should be our strength, makes it hard to advocate for our collective needs.”

Weitzman stresses the importance of international support to end the conflict and allow northern residents to return home safely.

“Israeli leadership must bring security back and implement projects to bring young families to the north,” she states emphatically. “We need to push Hezbollah away from the border. A [border] breach in the north could be even more devastating than what happened in the south.”

Regarding the American government’s role, Weitzman is pragmatic.

“I don’t expect others, not even the Americans, to defend Israel. We must defend ourselves. But we do expect full backing from America for the process Israel is going through to ensure its security.”

Posted on July 5, 2024

Source: (Excerpt from an article originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on July 4, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Ayal Margolin/Flash90/jns.org