Page 133 - big friday
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ed out of my apartment in Jerusalem. I searched for something suitable to wear to the
event. I opened the wardrobe and it seemed that there was nothing appropriate for such
an occasion. But time was short. I had to choose something, so I did. I didn't wait for my
mother, who I knew had been invited to the ceremony; I set off.
T o my chagrin I found that they had stationed my microphone for the live broadcast
not in the hall, but next to… the bathrooms. From that corner I couldn't see anything.
There was a wall of people in front of me… I stood there next to the bathrooms, not
knowing what to do. I was waiting in anticipation of the great moment, to introduce a Kol
Yisrael (Voice of Israel) broadcast for the first time, and to describe the event – but I could
do nothing…
I began signaling to all the journalists who were in the vicinity, gesturing silently to
tell them that I couldn't describe the ceremony that was about to begin. Shimon Samet, a
journalist from Haaretz, and other friends started bringing me little notes, which allowed
me to describe what was going on. That's how I did the broadcast.
A few minutes before 4pm, when people started entering the hall, I saw a familiar face:
it was my mother. She winked at me, and I winked back. It was very nice. The auspicious
event had begun.
Y aakov Edelstein: In Captivity in Jericho
Yaakov Edelstein was one of the four survivors of Kfar Etzion. He could not
share in the festive joy. The newborn state was a reality that was light-years
away from his own. Would its fate not be like that of Kfar Etzion?
"That Friday, May 14, we found ourselves in a prison cell in Jericho, completely isolated,
not knowing what had happened to the residents of the other three kibbutzim of Gush
Etzion – Massuot Yitzhak, Ein Tzurim, and Revadim – and without knowing what was
going on in the country.
T hat afternoon, officers of the Jordanian Arab Legion came with hourly "upbeat" reports
that Tel Aviv had fallen, Haifa had been taken, Tiberias had been captured… According
to their news it seemed to us that the fate of the Jewish population of the entire country
was the same fate that had met Kfar Etzion, meaning that it had been entirely annihilated.
It was hard to believe that the Arabs had conquered the entire country so quickly, and
destroyed the Jewish population, but after what we had seen in Kfar Etzion – that they
were capable of annihilating an entire Jewish community, leaving almost no-one alive –
we thought that this may in fact have happened elsewhere, too.
We didn't respond to their "reports" because we were very tired, having just been
through two days of battle with almost no sleep and no food. My injured companion
groaned with pain.
That is how we received the establishment of the state…
T he Same Day, in... 131
event. I opened the wardrobe and it seemed that there was nothing appropriate for such
an occasion. But time was short. I had to choose something, so I did. I didn't wait for my
mother, who I knew had been invited to the ceremony; I set off.
T o my chagrin I found that they had stationed my microphone for the live broadcast
not in the hall, but next to… the bathrooms. From that corner I couldn't see anything.
There was a wall of people in front of me… I stood there next to the bathrooms, not
knowing what to do. I was waiting in anticipation of the great moment, to introduce a Kol
Yisrael (Voice of Israel) broadcast for the first time, and to describe the event – but I could
do nothing…
I began signaling to all the journalists who were in the vicinity, gesturing silently to
tell them that I couldn't describe the ceremony that was about to begin. Shimon Samet, a
journalist from Haaretz, and other friends started bringing me little notes, which allowed
me to describe what was going on. That's how I did the broadcast.
A few minutes before 4pm, when people started entering the hall, I saw a familiar face:
it was my mother. She winked at me, and I winked back. It was very nice. The auspicious
event had begun.
Y aakov Edelstein: In Captivity in Jericho
Yaakov Edelstein was one of the four survivors of Kfar Etzion. He could not
share in the festive joy. The newborn state was a reality that was light-years
away from his own. Would its fate not be like that of Kfar Etzion?
"That Friday, May 14, we found ourselves in a prison cell in Jericho, completely isolated,
not knowing what had happened to the residents of the other three kibbutzim of Gush
Etzion – Massuot Yitzhak, Ein Tzurim, and Revadim – and without knowing what was
going on in the country.
T hat afternoon, officers of the Jordanian Arab Legion came with hourly "upbeat" reports
that Tel Aviv had fallen, Haifa had been taken, Tiberias had been captured… According
to their news it seemed to us that the fate of the Jewish population of the entire country
was the same fate that had met Kfar Etzion, meaning that it had been entirely annihilated.
It was hard to believe that the Arabs had conquered the entire country so quickly, and
destroyed the Jewish population, but after what we had seen in Kfar Etzion – that they
were capable of annihilating an entire Jewish community, leaving almost no-one alive –
we thought that this may in fact have happened elsewhere, too.
We didn't respond to their "reports" because we were very tired, having just been
through two days of battle with almost no sleep and no food. My injured companion
groaned with pain.
That is how we received the establishment of the state…
T he Same Day, in... 131
