A recently formed Elon University cultural organization called Israel Dialogue, Education and Advocacy (IDEA) brought two Israeli reservist soldiers to campus Friday through the national non-profit organization Stand With Us.

IDEA, created by senior Maia Szulik, officially became an Elon cultural organization in November 2014.

Szulik said the organization strives to foster dialogue, education and advocacy about Israel and the Middle East.

“We want to offer a space on campus for healthy conversation on issues that may be controversial, and we also want to have events that highlight Israeli culture and life while clarifying many miscon- ceptions that people have on a very complex situation,” she said. “We stand for a just peace and a secure Israel that can live in peace with its neighbor, side by side with a Pales- tinian state.”

The organization was formed with the support of Stand With Us, a 13-year-old California-based non-profit organization that fo- cuses on educating people of all ages, from high school to everyday citizens, on issues in Israel and the Middle East.

IDEA partnered for this event with Stand With Us, to bring the two military reservists, Gal and Yehuda*, to campus.

For two weeks, Gal and Yehu da traveled up and down the east coast – from Palm Beach, Florida, to D.C. to Elon – and spoke to students on their experiences as Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. They were selected by Stand With Us’ Israeli office and then brought to the United States courtesy of the group.

In Israel, there is a mandatory military service, requiring men to serve three years and women serve two years.

For Gal, a 25-year-old Israeli female whose grandfather was a colonel in the IDF, the idea of one day serving in the military didn’t scare her.

“For me, joining the army wasn’t something I had to do but something I wanted to do,” she said. “It was away for me to give back to my county.”

During her time in the IDF, Gal became a basic training commander, which required her to teach new members how to throw grenades and shoot M16s.

She said her service in the army empowered her as a woman because it involved her serving and leading alongside men.

“Since we were little girls, we were shown through women in the military that we could do anything,” Gal said. “I am confident that my gender will never be something to hold me back.”

 

Yehuda served in the IDF as a member of the border police and monitored checkpoints between Israel and Palestine, a job, he said, that while taxing also gave him pride.

“I wanted this position because of my ideology and desire to be a part of Israel’s history,” he said.

A main purpose of the checkpoint Yehuda said is to eliminate any damage that could be done to citizens from people willing to be killed for causes, whether they be suicide bombers or travelers with explosives and knives.

Every vehicle and person entering Israel needs to stop at the checkpoint, even the many Palestinians who use the hospital systems in Israel.

Even if the medical attention needed is dire, the vehicle and people in the vehicle still must to go through a routine check at the border.

In one instance when Yehuda was on duty, he heard screams coming from a car.

“There was a child passed out in a car and the family was yelling, ‘There’s a child who is going to die,’” he said. “The family needed to get to hospital, but it was rush hour.”

After the family’s car was checked at the border, the Israeli army escorted the family to the hospital.

“I wish we could have waved them through right away, but many times people sneak things through mothers and children,” Yehuda said.

He said that because of his time as an IDF soldier he has learned how important coexistence and peace throughout the world is.

“I hope and wish the younger generation will live side by side and bring the needed peaceful life to the Middle East in the near future,” he said.

He saw the mandatory military service as a benefit to Israel’s society and culture and a pathway to possible peace.

“I believe the Israeli army is a good starting point [for understanding and peace],” Yehuda said. “[Mandatory military service] is why it’s so easy to integrate into society, because everyone starts at the same level.”

*Gal and Yehuda’s last names were not solicited at the event for privacy purposes.