Mandu Sen: a fighter committed to peace

Upon meeting Mandu Sen, SM '04, a 22-year-old freshman from Israel, many ask, "What are you doing here?" And she usually shrugs her shoulders or doesn't answer. This is unfortunate, for the answer—the story of her life—is certainly worth telling. In the last four years, instead of attending university, Sen served her mandatory stint as a soldier in the Israeli army. Sen's story goes much deeper than her military service, which she finished in June 2000. She has dedicated her life to peace, and in light of the recent conflict in the Middle East, her experiences are especially relevant.

KIRA GOLDMAN/YH Sen has already served in the Israeli army—and says she would serve again if war broke out in the Middle East.

Sen was born in Beersheva, an ancient city an hour away from Jerusalem. Her mother, a Jewish American, and her father, a Hindu Indian, had married in Cyprus because Israeli law does not legally recognize marriages between Jews and non-Jews. While Sen is considered Jewish by rabbinic law, neither she nor her parents are observant of their respective religions. Her real name, Noa, is Hebrew, but she prefers to go by her Hindu name because "many girls [in Israel] are named Noa, but few are named Mandu."

Her first memories are of Singapore, where the family moved when Sen was three years old. "I remember refusing to speak Hebrew, and only wanting to speak English," Sen said. The family moved back to Beersheva in 1983, where they still live. Mandu remembers the "appearance of peace" during Sen's childhood, up until the Intifada that began in 1987. Although her mother had a few Arab-Israeli friends, there was only a very small population of Arab-Israelis where she lived. "We didn't see Arabs in social situations, [and so] it was easy to forget that there is a situation that can blow up in one moment," she said.

In 1992, Sen began working for Shalom Achshav (which means "Peace Now" in Hebrew), a pro-peace organization that was affiliated with the Me'eretz political party. She was responsible for organizing demonstrations and rallies throughout Israel. In 1993, Sen was traveling with members of Shalom Achshav on a train to Jerusalem when they heard news that Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization had been holding secret negotiations at Oslo to craft a peace accord. "There are no words I can use to express the joy I felt that day...everyone was jubilant, we had entered the peace era," she said.

As Sen devoted more and more time to organizing rallies, she became optimistic that peace would arrive. At the same time, though, she became a target for hatred, as the relations between pro-peace and the extreme right-wing elements in Israel grew more hostile. At demonstrations, she remembers being cursed at by people who did not want the peace process to continue.

On November 4, 1995, her world was shattered. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had pushed for peace with the PLO, was assassinated. "At the time I could not imagine worse grief, but there is greater grief at what is going on currently in Israel," Sen said. She remembers watching the news on television and the newscaster crying as she reported the assassination. Although this tragedy affected her deeply, Sen remained committed to the peace effort, continuing to organize rallies across Israel.

The following year, Sen graduated from high school and prepared to enter the army. Initially, she was uncomfortable with the idea of serving in the military because she was very committed to peace. But in retrospect, she sees the time spent in the army as a valuable experience. "Spending your time not for your self-interest but for a greater cause changes your perspective," she said. Although Sen cannot disclose her role in the army, she is able to say that her job was of a peaceful nature and enabled her to live outside of the base in Tel Aviv. She learned not only how to voice her opinions to her superiors but also how to work with colleagues for the common good. Her commanders and the soldiers she commanded were friends, and rather than straining those friendships, the unique circumstances made them stronger.

Her time as a soldier in the army, however, never challenged her faith in the peace process. Now, having finished her service, Sen is still unsure of what career she wants to pursue, but she knows that she does not want to be part of the governmental bureaucracy. If the current conflict in Israel does degenerate into war, however, Mandu said that she would go back and serve in the army again. "Peace seems to have drifted beyond reach, and it is painful and frightening...I don't know if there can be peace."

For the first time in her life, Sen has had to defend Israel and its actions in the recent conflict. "People who believe that the Israeli army wants to kill innocent people are wrong, because no soldier wants to kill," she said. Given her long-time struggle for peace, and her hope that peace will be attained in the forseeable future, Sen is profoundly troubled by the current situation in the Middle East. "Although the criticism and condemnation of Israel on this campus has hurt me, the conflict hurts more," she said.

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