There was a buzz when Shani Boianjiu’s debut novel, The People of Forever Are Not Afraid, was published in September, 2012. Israeli born and raised, Boianjiu completed high school at Exeter Academy and attended Harvard after serving her Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commitment. Written in English, the book was quickly translated into 22 languages. What is it about the story that created such international interest?
The People of Forever follows three Israeli high school girls as they graduate and through their service in the IDF and entry into their next stage of life. Yael, Avishag and Lea are not daughters of privilege nor have they shown themselves to be natural leaders or scholars. They live in a dusty, unsophisticated village with, seemingly, little intervention in their lives by parents or other adults. The IDF roles they enter are not those portrayed in Start-Up Nation, the 2011 analysis of Israel’s burgeoning high-tech industry and the key role that the IDF plays in nurturing the personal relationships that incubate the technology superstars.
In truth these young women are not particularly likable. In fact, it is often difficult to distinguish one from another. Were it not for the responsibility of guarding a checkpoint or training fellow soldiers and carrying a gun, reading about them would be as exciting as reading about any working class girls whose lives are focused on working at McDonalds and contemplating their relationships/sex lives with the young men in their lives. What does make them different is that serving in the military is a foregone conclusion, unlike the U.S. or most other nations, particularly for women.
Here in the U.S. there are some who choose join the military strictly out of patriotism. For others, including many of those entering the service academies, the military provides access to education and career opportunities that might otherwise be unavailable. Still others see joining the service as a job in an economy where jobs are less plentiful for those just out of high school and/or with occasional brushes with police. According to the Pew Research Center, less than 0.5% of the U.S. population is on active military service at any one time and most of these come from families with military traditions.
The People of Forever Are Not Afraid provides a not particularly flattering picture of teenagers (let’s call them what they are) charged with responsibility to protect Israel from existential threats. And they still behave as teenagers do – caving to peer pressure, acting on impulse and making errors in judgment. In an interview with The Daily Beast , Boianjiu spoke about her absolute moral responsibility to serve her two years and to go as called for reserve duty. Not what I might have expected having read her book.
There are some profoundly disturbing elements in this book. But the purpose of fiction at times is to provoke discussion about difficult topics and situations. Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s day of mourning for those who died in defense of the country, is this Wednesday. Unlike the current commemoration of Memorial Day here, it is an overwhelmingly solemn day since almost every Jewish family has had a family member, friend or neighbor killed or wounded as a result of war or terrorist attack. Regardless of whether you are for or against a Two State Solution, this is a very heavy burden for all citizens of every age to bear.
So let’s talk about The People of Forever Are Not Afraid and what it says about the current state of a portion of the IDF. But let’s also talk about the universal attributes of teenagers, their needs and how nice it would be if the political realities on both sides of the Israel/Palestinian crisis meant that military and survival training could take a back seat to vocational, STEM and liberal arts education.
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I read it a few months ago and found it depressing. But every book about Israel can’t be Exodus! This is probably the reality of life for many young Israelis. We just want everyone to be perfect and people are just people trying to find their way.
Debbi, this is exactly why the conversation is so important. Israel is a maturing nation with many strengths and its share of challenges. Reality is a more complicated but far more interesting.
I thought the book was over-rated. But here’s a question I’d love to have answered: Do the events in the book accurately reflect the experience of young women in the IDF? Most particularly: are the references to injecting ice water in the veins something IDF soldiers actually, literally did? Or might do?
Susan, this is an instance where the themes are of more import than the literary value. The characters can be tedious, possibly intentionally. I cannot speak to the veracity of any particular incident. Are there bored young soldiers? Certainly yes. Do they do stupid and inappropriate things? Once again yes. For me, the sexual assault, an all too common problem across the board, is the only misdeed of which I can be certain.