Beyond the Green Line: A British volunteer in the IDF during the al Aqsa Intifada

I went to Israel looking for glory and instead found the Al Aqsa Intifada. I made Aliyah (immigrated to Israel) at a time when suicide bombers were immolating themselves and others on Israel’s streets. Almost exactly a year after my arrival I was in the Israel Defence Force.

They sent me over the Green Line into Nablus and Jenin and other Palestinian cities. I came face to face with suicide bombers, kids throwing stones, civilians wanting only to get through the day and a couple of the big terrorists who dispatched bombers to Israel.

What I saw, what I did and what I saw others do will stay with me forever. Not enough has been written about the Al Aqsa Intifada. A period of time that left a wound on Israeli society that may never heal.

If you ever wondered what a suicide bomber looks like, or how terror chiefs act when they’re arrested or how it feels to live in a world where the bus you’re travelling on might blow up then come with me Beyond the Green Line and see it through my eyes.