The People Held the Line

Music video: A tribute to the heroic people who hold the line

We all get caught up in the headlines and sometimes we forget the big picture. I will never stop thanking, thinking of and shining a light on HaShem and ...the people who held the line. 

For the past two years, I've been living in a war zone that was/is the target of thousands of rocket attacks including being on the receiving end of the largest intercontinental ballistic missile attack in human history. In addition to this, as part of my small contribution to our national survival, I've been producing films for various clients at The TRIBE Group (www.thetribegroup.org) related to the multi front war against Israel, both kinetic and information. At times it has been emotionally challenging to say the least. I will just mention a few illustrative examples.

- For one short film I had to listen at least 100 times throughout the edit process to the audio of a civilian medical first responder's last 30 seconds of her life crying for help while Hamas filled her with bullets. She was unarmed wearing a medic white coat with her hands up exiting a dental office hoping there was an ounce of humanity in the demons. 

- Another film required me to sift through more than 1,000 images and videos of gore and war including heads split open, corpses, women being raped, demons playing with the head of recently murdered human, and demons doing unthinkable and unspeakable cruelty to a pregnant woman. One can't unsee these things.

- Also, I've interviewed victims and heroes and heard heart wrenching personal stories. In military bases, I've met  new and old friends. Some are husbands and fathers who were away from home for 100's of days and who once ran lucrative businesses helping impoverished nations irrigate arid land. One new 50 year old friend's once vibrant and meaningful business has dried up and sunk into the ground because his clients were forced to find help elsewhere during his deployment. 

- I've interviewed couples who were in their first year of marriage and their 20th year of marriage and after many hundreds of day of reserve duty they are now putting their lives back together as best as they can, trying to leave the rage and devastation of battle on the battle field and not bring it into the home. My clients' missions are incredible and I'm proud to have played a small role helping uplift civilian first response teams, post war family therapy, digital warfare efforts, and investigative reports.

These are just a few of the countless untold stories of heroism, tragedy and suffering. The magnitude which cannot be accounted or repaid in any way.

Since I've been focusing on my incredible clients and the people they serve, I've gone silent over the past year at TRIBE Journal (www.tribejournal.org). It is frustrating to watch pundits chase headlines and misslead the public due to a blatant disregard for truth and attention seeking, stupidity or bias. I've had major global media networks visit and learn from my website. On one occasion I met with a senior producer and Pulitzer Prize winning international journalists in the "big leagues." I helped them by answering their questions but in the last few minutes when I asked them a few questions it was clear that they didn't know the basics about the Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Still, I haven't posted in over a year. 

So, why now?

I was inspired after reading Dr. Yair Ansbacher's book, "Like a Lion He Shall Rise" (www.yairansbacher.com) which describes G-d's miracles preventing a total destruction of the Jewish state. In particular, he explained that there are two Israeli armies which Palestinians and the Iranian proxies knew about and one that they didn't expect. The first and third armies which were well known were the soldiers in the bases and the reservists. The first army in the bases were overrun quickly on Oct. 7th in the early minutes and hours of the battle. The third army, the reservists, take about 48 hours to deploy. This is a large window of time. However, the unexpected second army was comprised of civilians and reservists who reacted immediately, grabbed their gear and ran towards the fight. It is this army that prevented an even larger attack creating a level of deterrence for the more formidable enemy who watched from the sidelines.

While the hostages are receiving the spotlight, I want to shine the spotlight back onto those first responders. Many lived there and were under equipped. Many ran from far away into the unknown leaving their families behind. Let's face it, the leaders come and go. Some are good. Some bring disaster. But it is the heroes in these armies who ultimately hold the line.

We all get lost in the emotion of daily and weekly headlines and politics and tend to forget the main story entirely.

In an era of echo chambers and social media information bubbles, I wrote and produced this song and video as a message in a bottle to my 60+ year old self so I would remember the raw emotion and frustration in this place and time. There are obviously volumes of books one could write, but in 8 minutes this song and video emotionally express how I have personally understood and experienced the past two biblically epic years of collective survival here in the Holy Land.

Let's never lose sight of what happened. The insanity of the Oslo Accords peace "process" that led up to Oct 7 and how these naive and poorly informed decisions have left families and cities destroyed, rivers of blood and bodies and have only enriched the corporate pockets of the military industrial complex, the reconstruction industrial complex and the international refugee complex. G-d will never forget the united orchestration of international betrayal from nearly every nation across this small planet and the distortion and demented world of "information" we now live in. Neither should we. 

Lastly and most importantly, lets never forget how we've been able to survive thus far with G-d's miracles and the stubborn courage, faith and self sacrifice of some of Israel's finest most dedicated warriors - both civilian and military personnel alike...the people who held the line.

To all those who have and continue to hold the line, thank you for your service.

www.thetribegroup.org