Before getting back to our Chanuka Tiyul part 2, I'm still annoyed by last night. We went to a family chanuka party in Gush Etzion, and took the "Lamed Heh" road back towards our neck of the woods.
The Lamed Heh road is named for the 35 Palmach soldiers who attempted to break the blockade around Gush Etzion in 1948. They had mercy on a lone Arab shepherd and they didn't kill him -- in return he revealed their position to the Arab legion who slaughtered the 35 soldiers.
While driving on this road at 8:30 PM, my wife first noticed that there were people on the road up ahead, and the scene looked as follows:
Dark winding road - no lighting.
About 2 dozen Arabs milling about on the road
Half the road blocked by large rocks.
A car on the side of the road
5-6 people lying on the side of the road.
Two different powerful instincts were running through my head;
1. As an EMT, I try to stop and help out at car accidents all the time. Who was hurt, did anyone need help?
2. My handgun was already out, and I had my wife and kids in the car with me. VERY bad place to stop.
I opened my window and I slowed down to see if I could get a picture of what was going -- was this a traffic accident, were Jews also hurt, and why were Arabs rolling even more rocks onto the road?
My wife decided that instinct #2 was our top priority and made us get out of there as quickly as possible. Driving around a mass of people who kept yelling at us to stop and who kept rolling large rocks in front of us onto the road, I managed to maneuver around it all and keep moving.
45 seconds later we were at the IDF "Lamed Heh" checkpoint, and I drove up flashing my lights and honking my horn. I yelled at the IDF to close off the checkpoint to prevent all cars from going in that direction, told them to order a Red crescent ambulance, send in a police and army jeep, and to block off the road from the Gush Etzion direction as well. I pulled my car over to the side and got out to help organize the soldier's response.
We found out later that there had a been a traffic accident moments earlier, and that other cars who had driven past after us had their windshields smashed by rocks.
Magen David Adom's rule is Safety first, before everything else -- so I guess my wife's reaction was correct. My family's personal safety was more important than stopping at a potentially dangerous area.
The whole scenario still bugs the hell out of me. My wife was convinced that the entire setup was designed to be an ambush for Jewish cars. It wouldn't have been the first time, and I can't say I disagree with her logic.
I hope Chanuka Tiyul part 2 will cheer me up.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
20 comments:
glad to hear that the whole muqata clan is ok.
J.
Mr. Danger: I bet you take your family to the Ben Yehuda mall and the Shuk Hacarmel just for kicks.
smart move.Women have 'bina yetera.'And you had your kids also with you.And halachically you can't put yourself and family in that kind of a 'sakana.'
I am totally with your wife. Though it would have made me feel terrible to ignore the people who were injured, the safety of my family is my #1 priority. And you sent an ambulance as soon as humanly possible.
My wife as usual, was correct.
When she decided instantly to get out of there, we were gone.
Glad you are all well...
ZR: And what does that say about men? That we don't look out for our families as much as women?
I'd like to think that my hesitation in immediately leaving was caused purely by my training as a medic, and nothing else.
This is why I'm so bothered by last night; why didn't instinct #2 kick on first?
Whatever. I hope to post part 2 of the Chanuka tiyul with lots of pictures, later this evening :-)
Wow...my heart was racing just reading that. Glad to know that you and your family were safe.
Muqata: just wondering...you will probably own up to putting yourself, your wife, and your kids in danger on a daily basis living where you do.
Don't get me wrong, if it were up to me,I'd much rather live in somewhere in Yesh(a) then Tel-Aviv, which I hate diligently but what would your answer be to a common left wing question like: "Who gave you the right to endanger your family just because of your political views?
Be'tikva, Eitan.
Thank God you're all right, that's all that matters.
People in America asked me the same question when I moved to the Galilee a couple years ago.
"What gives you the right to put your family's life in danger just because of your political views"
I reject the validity of the question.
A mother's instinct is to protect her children first no matter what. It's usually the mother who wakes up at night if a kid is sick, the father keeps sleeping...
This doesn't mean that the father doesn't love his kids or want to protect them - it just means that the overall instinct is not as sharp.
Glad to see you and yours are ok.
To all those who expressed relief that we're OK - thanks!
It's very heart-warming :)
Both yours and your wife's instincts were essentially good ones... but your wife's was probably the best immediate response to the situation (at least as you've described it).
Just so you know, when I'm driving I always put my pistol in a special holster that sits in the space between the driver's seat and the center console. If I am alone it is easier to reach than if it was tucked into the back of my pants... and if my wife is with me, she can easily grab it while I concentrate on driving defensively.
'Riding shotgun' is just an expression to most, but I suggest you have a talk with your wife about having access to your gun (or one of her own) while you drive your family away from potential danger. In a rock or 'baktab' attack it can be very easy to lose control of the car while wrestling with the conflicting mental signals to both respond and escape... better to have your full attention on the driving.
You made the correct split-second decision not to stop on a dark, windy road with your family in the car. You could have always stopped a couple of hundred meters up the road and decided if you wanted to go back and play EMT... but in the dark, even that is a hard call to make.
I'm glad things turned out OK for you and yours.
Trep:
It was a very difficult immediate response -- since I was also very concerned that the car at the side of the road had Jewish accident victims in it as well.
I could have shot in the air to disperse the crowd as well, to get a better picture of what was going on. (and maybe give me an extra 5 seconds).
Women in general seem to have deeper intuition. Glad the @ the Muqata family is ok. Was it, in the end, an all-Arab accident?
Jameel... You missed my point... and added a new complication to the equation.
Your main, no scratch that... your only job in that situation is to drive. All the questions, confusion and conflicting responses that were going through your head only served to make your task of driving the car to safety more difficult. If you were to add to all that the mechanics of freeing your pistol, chambering a round (assuming you aren't a fossil like myself who was taught to always have a round in the chamber), opening a window, choosing a target (or aiming safely in the air or away from targets) and then actually firing... I think you'd be very lucky not to crash the car.
Now add to that the very real possibility (as you've stated) that there might have been Israelis/Jews in the crowd around the stopped car. If I had been there milling around on the side of the road at the site of an accident and a car came out of the darkness and fired a couple of rounds (I'd have no way of knowing if they were aimed in the air, at me or intended to disperse the crowd), I would instinctively draw and empty my weapon into the car from which the shots were fired. I'm sure that this isn't the response you would have wanted. :-)
I linked to this, but hadn't had time to comment until now... Your wife's response was wise. Trep's comment, though, raises great points - when driving, does your wife have access to the gun? Perhaps (in general) your wife should drive, so you would have the option of getting out to check on things while your wife drives away? Or at least you'd be able to shoot if necessary (assuming in this case that you're the better shot).
Trep:
I got your point, but had it been a clear day on Route 6, I would have stopped and done the EMT stuff without thinking twice.
Just as an FYI - my gun was already out...and I've done training of shooting out of moving vehicles. Grnated I wouldn't want to do that with my wife and kids in the car, unless there was no choice.
As I wrote, the entire scenario was awful, and hope I don't encounter a similar one again...and if I do, definitely without my family in the car.
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