Mamma's Food Tom Keidar, Ramat HaSharon
Dean is a soldier. He has blond hair and blue eyes. He's putting on his army shoes and buttoning up his shirt, without much attention, missing a button in the process, making him look quite funny. His mother walks into the room, looking distraught.
"Where are you off to!? Have you been called up again?" she says as she fixes his button.
"Mom, you know what it's like, especially as things are so hard over there now, they need our urgent assistance", says Dean. He sighs deeply and continues packing his bag.
His mother leans against the wall, watching him pack, trying to guess how long he will be gone for this time. "When is it all going to be over, Sweetie? Have you talked to your commander yet?"
Dean pauses, looks over at her, and then quickly removes his gaze, turning his eyes to the floor, as though trying to avoid her inquisitive stare.
"Dean, darling, it isn't your job to save the world, you know. You're still a kid." She places her hand on his shoulder.
Dean's phone beeps, delivering an SMS. He reads it, discreetly, turning away from his mother. The message reads: "Hassan Al-Hamid has been found. He left his home a few minutes ago headed to the original destination." Dean looks at his watch, throws another pair of socks into his bag, quickly zipping it up.
As he passes through the lounge room on his way out, he sees his father dozing off on the couch in front of the news.
"You realize you're being sent there only because the government won't do anything to help these poor people. It is all over the news!" Dean gives him a soft peck on his cheek saying: "I know dad. Soon it will all be over. I promise." His father looks at him proudly, saying: "I'm very proud of you Deany. We all are."
Dean's phone beeps again. It reads: "We are outside."
Dean hugs his mom tightly. She hands him a box-full of sandwiches for the road. "It's alright," she says with a loving smile, "there's plenty here to share with your friends."
Dean skips down the stairs, two steps at a time, and when he gets out to the street, he sees Tomer waiting there. Tomer's a big guy, and Dean looks like a boy stood next to him. He's wearing dark sunglasses and a business suit.
"The UN representative is already in the car. He's very impressed with our work and thrilled to be joining us on this expedition. Where are the rest of our guys?"
Dean answers him at once: "Two of our soldiers from Gaza are a few streets away and the commander will arrive straight from Ramallah to the destination. Did you hear Hassan has been found?"
Tomer looks surprised, "No, I didn't, but this means our UN delegate here will have the opportunity to see us in action."
They get into the car and Tomer introduces Dean to the UN delegate explaining to him, in fluent English, that they are waiting for two of the best soldiers in the force to arrive and then they'll make a move.
They wait quietly for a few minutes and when the two soldiers arrive, and the UN delegate steps out of the car to shake their hands.
One of the soldiers says to him with a charming smile, "Sabah Al-Kheir, Ya Ustaz" (Good morning, Sir), to which the UN representative replies with effort, in broken Arabic, "Sabah Al-Nur, Ya Khabibi" (Bright morning it is, my friend).
Hany, the other soldier then asks Dean in Hebrew, with an Arabic accent, "Where is the commander?"
To this Dean replies with a touch of sadness in his voice, "Our commander decided to skip the operation and meet us directly at the meeting points where we are going to discuss the peace process."
"Is that right?" said Hany, giggling, as he looked over Dean's shoulder. When Dean turns around, he sees the commander, Hassan Al-Hamid, with a broad smile on his face. "Did you really think I'd miss a trip to Lebanon and Syria? I wouldn't miss it for the world", he says, placing his hand on Dean's shoulder.
He then approaches the UN representative and explains to him in English the details of their operation: "Our destination is Iraq, where we are going to help resolve the conflict between the Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, a conflict that has been going on for too long. Nowadays, the UN recognizes the IDF as an Israeli Peace Defense Force. Many countries need our assistance in resolving conflicts and deep-rooted disputes and restoring peace. I'm happy to tell you that so far, our collaborative army has not failed at any mission."
Hassan, the commander then looks at his staff and says: "Come on, time is running out, everybody get into the car, I brought heaps of my mum's food. She said to share with my friends."
Dean laughs, also thinking of his mother.
648,481
VOICES
SUPPORT A TWO STATE SOLUTION
331,760 ISRAELIS 295,752 PALESTINIANS
20,969 INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTERS
Make your voice heard. Pledge your support to the OneVoice Movement.
