Murdered volunteer one of hundreds who ’love Israel’ says Kibbutz movement
HAVIV RETTIG
Carlos Andrés Muscara Chávez, 21, who was killed Tuesday by a Palestinian sniper as he worked in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha near the Gaza Strip, was one of 120 young people from Ecuador who came to Israel this year to volunteer on kibbutzim.
The Kibbutz Movement’s volunteer program, which has been running for some 40 years, brings hundreds of young people from around the world who want to travel and meet interesting people, and even more, to see Israel.
Ecuador sent the largest number of young people this year, according to Kibbutz Movement spokesman Aviv Leshem, who added that movement representatives were scattered throughout the world seeking out young people who wish to work on a kibbutz.
The volunteers, a large majority of whom are not Jewish, "come mainly from South America, South Korea, Denmark, Canada and England,‘ said Leshem. ’They come out of a love of Israel, and take an interest in the country."
Chavez himself was reportedly considering joining the IDF.
The volunteers often ask to be assigned to remote kibbutzim. Once they return to their home countries, the Kibbutz Movement "treats them as ambassadors in every way," Leshem said.
