Opinion piece by Talia Dekel Fleissig, who made aliyah from New Zealand in 2003…

When fire power prevents the children of Israel’s south and the children of Gaza from sleeping at night, do their parents teach them of peace?

“Why do you have to go to work early?”

That’s what my 3-year old asked yesterday as I tried to speed up the morning rush to get everyone ready, while my husband was already on his way to miluim (reserve duty in the IDF).

I have a policy of being honest with my children, both because I respect them and because I know that they’ll find out sooner or later anyway.

“Mommy has to make sure that the whole world knows what’s happening to people living in the southern part of the country.”

Read Talia’s full article on The Times of Israel here.

*Talia Dekel Fleissig is press associate at The Israel Project, an educational organization dedicated to informing the media and public conversation about Israel and the Middle East. She was a PR officer in the IDF’s Liaison & Foreign Relations Division and has worked for several Israeli and Jewish NGOs, as well as the Jerusalem Post.