Not all Israelis honor country's heroes

TEL AVIV - Israelis do not seem to collectively honor the traditional Memorial Day siren, which blares twice during the painful remembrance occasion, as they used to.

Harel Avisar, 18, told Ynetnews: "I am a member of a bereaved family, and every year during the siren, I stand with my family to honor the fall of my uncle next to the monument honoring his memory."

Avisar said the monument is located next to a central junction by the Trans-Samaria Highway. "This morning I counted at least 10 cars with Israeli license plates that continued to drive fast while I was standing at the sound of the siren. I saw a private car and a truck, and they simply did not stop.

"I am sad that the people of Israel forget even on this day to give a little respect to those who gave the most," he said.

Refusing to stand during Memorial Day siren used to be a phenomenon common only in the ultra-Orthodox community.

"I have been standing there for 10 years, in my uncle's memory, and every year I see how life pauses and the whole road freezes when the siren sounds. Once a bus pulled over about two minutes before the siren, just to stand there with us," Avisar said.

A few citizens who stood by a main junction in the Tel Aviv area also reported they witnessed cars drive by during the siren. Some even said drivers used the empty roads to speed up.

'A long process of maturing'

Merav, a young Tel Aviv resident said she has not been standing at the sound of the siren for years.

"What was the turning point? I do not remember clearly. To some extent, I guess it has been a long process of maturing, sobering up and absorbing anger," she said.

Merav said her anger is focused on the policies of all the governments "that have been making individuals pay the ultimate price for 57 years," she said.

She blamed the "leaders of our disintegrated society" for making up "some fabricated collective so they could utilize it for their own political needs." 

Merav said she is angry at the "idle chatter poured once a year on Memorial Day and after every bombing by the same politicians."

She added she believed it would have been more respectable had these politicians chosen to be silent on these occasions and leave those who are hurting to deal with their pain.

Israeli molecules threaten to devour each other

"Israeli society is not a homogeneous society, but rather one composed of molecules that threaten to devour each other; therefore the 'unity' and 'togetherness' imposed on it through bereavement and loss feel fake to me," Merav said.

She said she does not believe in collective mourning habits.

"Grief is a private thing, and each person has his own dead person that he bears on his back 365 days a year," Merav said.

"21,954 people died in Israel's wars. Any one of the individuals that compose this huge and inconceivable number is a vacant space for the family and friends he left behind," she said.

"The siren turns the dead to a part of an amorphous collective. Once the person behind the number fades, he turns into a statistic, one of many others. This is not my way to remember and this is why I do not stand when the siren goes on."