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JUST W. OF TELEGRAPH
ALAN H. FEILER
Special to The Jewish News
D
uring one of the most
critical moments in
her life, Noga, a 14-
year-old Israeli girl, penned
a letter last January to a
stranger — an American
soldier stationed in Saudi
Arabia.
"Just now we had an
alarm and we all ran too (sic)
the bomb shelter," she
wrote. "All the neighbours
in my building are running
to the same shelter, so now I
am sitting with one crying
girl, one panic (sic) woman
and two old 'crazy' men.
Well, you can see that I am
having a nice time, so if one
d'ay you will meet Sadam
Hussein tell him thanks a
lot from Noga."
More than a thousand
Israeli youngsters sent
letters and drawings to
American servicemen dur-
ing Operation Desert Storm.
A compilation of those works
will be featured in a book to
be published in September
by Shapolsky Publishers en-
titled Thank You America..
The Children Of Israel
Salute The Soldiers Of
Desert Storm.
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FRIDAY,' AUGUST 23, 1991
The campaign to send
letters and drawings to
American soldiers during
the war and the resulting
book were the brainchild of
Yitzhak Fieldust, a retired
Israeli major who lives in
the Tel Aviv suburb of
Rehovot.
Besides giving Israeli chil-
dren an opportunity to ex-
press themselves about the
war, "we wanted to thank
American soldiers and give
them a good feeling," said
Mr. Fieldust.
A veteran of Israel's War
of Attrition (the border
fighting between 1969 and
1971) and the 1973 Yom
Kippur War, Mr. Fieldust
said he empathized with
soldiers' fears about being in
a war zone.
"I remember fighting in
the Sinai and getting letters
from kids," he said. "It made
me feel somebody loved me
and was behind me. It was
important that we show the
Americans that we were on
their side and were grateful
for their help."
Mr. Fieldust, who came to
the Jewish state from Iran in
1958, contacted elementary
Alan H. Feiler is a staff
reporter for the Baltimore Jew-
ish Times.
and high schools in Israel to
mobilize students to submit
letters and drawings to
thank American soldiers in
the Persian Gulf. He also
placed advertisements in
Israeli newspapers and on
radio stations.
The idea for the appeal
came after helping his
seven-year-old son, Ayal,
with a drawing of Israeli and
American soldiers pointing
guns at Iraqi President Hus-
sein.
Mr. Fieldust also re-
quested that schools for
Israeli Arab children ask
their students to send letters
and drawings.
He said he "felt they need-
ed encouragement to make
peace and a chance to also
thank Americans."
Asking for letters and
drawings to be written in
English, Mr. Fieldust
/
/
"It was important
that we show the
Americans that we
were on their side."
Yitzhak Fieldust
received a wide array of ma-
terials from students.
One crayon drawing from
a girl named Hilla shows an
American flag punching out
an Iraqi flag. Another sketch
shows Israeli and American
soldiers saluting a monu-
ment for war dead. Several
other drawings depict family
members wearing gas masks (
in sealed rooms and Patriot
missiles knocking Scud
warheads out of the sky.
Letters from the children
to American soldiers were
equally moving.
"Life here in Israel is not
like it was before the war in
the Gulf," wrote Odelia
Abramovitch, a 16-year-old
Tel Aviv high school stu-
dent. "People now are very
frightened and depressed
(especially my mother) .. .
Thanks to you and to your
friends. You're doing a great
job there."
After collecting more than
a thousand letters and draw-
ings, Mr. Fieldust turned the
material over to the United
States Embassy in Tel Aviv
to send to American soldiers.
He said he is not sure if any
students and soldiers main-
tained contact.
After the success of the
project, Mr. Fieldust tried to
market the idea of a book of
children's letters and draw-