israeli politics

what new hell is this - 30.9.24

The holidays begin in 2 days.  For the first time since I can remember, many people are not celebrating it.  There will be 4 days – from Wednesday evening until Saturday night – when the stores are closed and there is nothing to do but pray, entertain family, and see friends.  I have always enjoyed these days, but now  I will be mourning the disappearing hostages, the possible war ahead, and fearing and hoping for the new direction we were taking.    The tension is palpable.

I don’t even know if I will be seeing my kids in the next days…

Tonight we said good-bye to the season of our evenings on the beach.  It’s just beginning to get cool when the sun goes down and the restaurant we frequent closes for lack of clients in the evening.  Maybe there really is a possibility for new starts.

 

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israeli politics

Roller Coaster - 29.9.24

we had it all figured out this morning.  All the politics.  The security.  The finances.  

By the afternoon, the situation had changed – we were bombing Yemen. (we felt just a bit more secure)

tonight – hizballah is bombing haifa

(Get dressed again – don’t expect to sleep)

and this is just in the space of a few hours.

 

 

 

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israeli politics

Another Night - 28.9.24

 The Israeli Military has saved the country, the Prime Minister takes the credit, and I have to spend another night in my clothes because we’re still under threat of rockets.

Ezi predicts that now Bibi will actually work on freeing the hostages and will win the next election, and we will be once again in the same situation.

With amazing people, but living in lies and hate.  

I don’t want to lie and I don’t want to hate.

 

 

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israeli politics

New Order - 9.28.24

“New Order.”  That’s what they are calling the decimation of Nasrallah now.  And, indeed, I woke up humming, “Ding dong, the witch is dead…”  But, the rockets from the north continue, and the attempts to reach Tel Aviv have not ceased.  Safed is the worst hit, but the Arab villages in the north are all under fire and they are less ready for such attacks.

And what of the hostages?  what will become of them?

I want to celebrate but I have never celebrated the death of anyone, and I don’t think we should celebrate anything before the hostages are back and Lebanon is prepared with a recovery plan. 

In any case, the children are coming for lunch and for the first time in a year I have not prepared the escape route to the shelter.  

 

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israeli politics

stutter - 27.9.24

It wasn’t a stutter really.  Bibi’s rhythm in reading the cards he always using in speeches, was off.  As if he wasn’t concentrating.  I kept noting it.  It made what seemed a mediocre speech sound like a secret message, like something out of a Hitchcock movie.  And in an hour it began to make sense.  The hole in the Dachia in Beirut was being created even as Bibi spoke.  

Is Nasralla Alive?  

 

stutter – 27.9.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

Latest Tel Aviv Attack - 9.27.24

Ezi tried to wake me at 1 a.m. to get me down to the shelter but I was too deep in sleep.  The rocket from Yemen wasn’t quite in our neighborhood anyway.

The fact that I could be so exhausted I couldn’t even think about protecting myself disturbs me.  But the fact that I had a good night’s sleep is amazing!

 

 

 

 

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israeli politics

cease fire 2006 - 27.09.24

It’s the other cease fires that bother me.  Every time we start to win, we are urged to stop, and then the other side uses the time to build up weapons,  Right now we’ve got rockets coming from Yemen, Iraq, Gaza, as well as Lebanon’s Hizballah. The rockets from these countries all fall in civilian areas – towns, schools, soccer fields, the sea of Galilee.  That has made all Israelis politically and militarily responsible for our safety.  And I take this as seriously as an old lady can. 

I also appreciate the fact that our army announces where they will be bombing – unless of course, they’re going for a terrorist leader.  Our citizens are the target, and we’re informed by our civil defence to seek shelter. 

So as rotten as our leaders appear, I’m not sorry they’re not going for a cease fire.

 

  

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israeli politics

Context - 26.9.24

First thing in the morning I heard talk of a ceasefire.  It was a moment of release.  3 weeks would allow my friends to go back home and pick up their photo albums, get some clothes, maybe even restart their lives.  Then I started hearing from people who warned us to remember the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya, the 10 years of ceasefire that allowed Mohammed to take over Mecca (depending on how you understand history, of course.)  If I comprehend correctly  this was just after the Jewish community of Haybar was slaughtered in the same neighborhood.  The name Haybar may be familiar to some from the occasional chant warning the Jews that the army of Mohammed will return.  This was a problem the last time we had a ceasefire with Hizballah.  They understood the ceasefire as being just for us to observe.  Something to consider when ceasefire is mentioned.

context – 26.9.24 Read Post »