israeli politics

He leaned over me
like he was preparing a speech—
so careful, so deliberate,
touching my shoulder
as if it were a district
he meant to flip.

He whispered that my ideas
were beautiful—
dangerous—
the kind that pressed against his skin
and made him burn a little.
I mistook that heat
for solidarity.

In the half-light,
his hands mapped me
like contested territory,
claiming borders
he would later deny existed.

He said he loved my passion—
my politics—
the way my breath quickened
when I spoke of justice.
He arched toward me
as though I were
a revolution he secretly wanted
to crush.

What a fool I was
not to notice how he echoed me,
every idea, every sigh—
a mirror tilted
to distort
not reflect.

I thought he was learning me.
He was studying me
like an enemy.

Now I understand:
he never wanted my truth,
only the shimmer of it,
the way a man might touch silk
before voting to ban it.

He said I believe you.
But that was foreplay.
The betrayal
was the climax
he’d been rehearsing
from the start.

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poem -11.21.2025 Read Post »

israeli politics

glorious day - 11.20.25

Maybe because I was sleep-deprived, maybe because my back hurt badly, maybe because my whole neighborhood is going to be torn down and rebuilt – throwing every shell-shocked pensioner into a hysterical fit – maybe because of all that that when we went to the beach today I got myself drunk on one weak beer.  The sun, the hummous, the water, the beer – all wonderful – all leaving me even less able to work than yesterday.

But happier…

you have to visit this country when it is supposed to be cold but there’s a heat spell.

 

glorious day – 11.20.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

stuck - 11.19.25

without my old computer I’m a little lost and keep losing my connections.  so i’ve been a bit uneven about writing here.

So I’m giving you a poem for today.

 

who i am

Do you know who I am?”

My famous friend tells

the seller in the market.

I love to hear her say it

because it is magic

how she opens all doors

and discounts purchases

in elegant places. She lifts her chin

as if addressing the air, or God,

but not the poor guide or salesman –  

and all her wishes are fulfilled.

 

Me, i am okay with anonymity,

My name should have been

that of my murdered grandmother,

but the registrar was hard of hearing.

and I made up names growing up,

anything to not stand out at school.

 

I was okay with my father’s name

and my first husband’s too,

I took my second husband’s name

only for tax purposes.   

 

But if you really want to know who I am

just ask the neighborhood cats.

They’ll say – she’s the old lady who feeds us.

 

 

stuck – Nov Read Post »

israeli politics

back - 11.18.25

As I pulled myself together after exercise and walked out to meet my editor at the cafe, i realized there was no way I was going to make it.  I’m in pain and crooked.  She is determined, however, to finish the final draft of my book about poets and their graves in Hebrew, and she comes over, where we spend three hours straightening out my crooked Hebrew.

That was the end of my day.  I’ve been cancelling everything else for tomorrow too. 

Time for TV entertainment, right?  At that moment, I am aware of the dangers all around us – munition drones in the south, shooting in the north, and chaos in the territories.  I think I’ll write another book just to escape the dangers of living here.

 

back – 11.18.25 Read Post »

israeli politics, my life in tel aviv

dizengoff - 11.16.25

Today was the day I broke down and realized that TSA will never find my computer, and if it does, I will never be able to use it without thinking of the dozens of unanswered letters I wrote to them.   Since there are at least three shops in Dizengoff Center that sell computers, we decided to go there and compare prices.  

Of course we wound up with the same Asus I always get and probably paid more than if I’d bought it in a nearby store, but we had the experience of Dizengoff Center.  

That means seeing old friends, getting lost in the double maze of the center, and seeing all kinds of very strange people.  Why Dizengoff Center seems to attract weirdos like us  I don’t know.

But, as I have probably told you, they have the best bathrooms. 

dizengoff Read Post »

israeli politics

Mazal Tazazo -11.14.25

 

This was the story she told yesterday to a group of guests.  So many others were telling similar stories and many more are still unable to tell their stories.

a few years back when it happened, I posted the Delta commercial for underwear for amputees.  The fact that it is part of the catalogue but not something about which we discuss is overwhelming.  check it out?

https://www.delta.co.il/women/underwear/lw01527_lm02q

 

mazal tazazo – 11.14.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

nova - 11.13.25

For two years I have avoided going to the sites of the massacres on October 7.  It seemed like making a tragedy into an opportunity for tourism. But when Ezi said he  wanted to go I agreed, especially since we were hosting friends from the States who were very excited about going.  

And it was overwhelming – the sheer numbers of individuals.  I took this picture from the stage

but i can’t manage my new camera yet, and I’m too tired to work on it right now.

The hardest part for me to handle was the awareness of the survivors and the terrible situations they are in even now – Mazal Tazazo, for example. 

Nova Read Post »

israeli politics

untold stories -11.11.25

At the Harlem Stage I was particularly impressed by the the imperative to give voice to the untold stories and to create a new history.  Yes – this began with the Harlem Renaissance – and it is a rebirth.  

This is what I am hoping for with Jews as well – a rebirth that unifies and dignifies all people.  I want us to rise above our own differences, rise above the hatred around us, and teach ourselves and others that we can be proud without degrading the other.

When the recent soldiers were returned from Gaza they were asked about how they were treated – and what struck me most was not the cages, the beatings, the torture, the starvation, the deprivation of light, of sensation, of news, but the stories of being beaten by the general population, being thrown into a crowd on the street and randomly beaten.  The hatred of an entire people on an individual.  

This is the first rule that we as Jews should create now for ourselves – that we must overcome the hatred that twists the mind and overcomes the possibility to think rationally. 

  

 

 

 

unt Read Post »