This is our day to be targeted. Since 6:30 in the morning, after a very brief night, we’ve been running for cover every few minutes. Ezi naps between sirens but I’m all revved up. What will become of my fine china and my figurines? (you KNOW i don’t have any, but I love the image). More to come soon…
we’re just about ready to go to sleep, but where’s our missile? and will it tear through our building and destroy those who don’t make it down to the shelter? will we be the bingo. If, by some chance, they decide not to blow us up tonight, we might be able to sleep through and maybe concentrate on something else when daylight comes. Maybe even a poem.
Sometimes politics slips through but most of the time I try to concentrate on surviving. So when I was asked what my daily life was like, I wrote that about five times a day I race two floors down to the shelter, listen to the booms, wait for the all clear signal, and then crawl back up the two flights directly to the refrigerator.
So what I think of politics, morality, etc. is far from my mind in the effort to survive.
We sit around sometimes in the shelter, especially when the rockets are extended, telling stories of previous wars. Last night, when we thought there might be some kind of deal, someone started talking about the time he spent a year in Gaza long ago returning war prisoners. Someone else spoke of the war that broke out in 1948 when the UN declared Israel a state. We sit within the bare walls of the shelter, worrying about the damage done by the present rocket that shook our walls.
22.3.26 Statement by the Senate of Tel Aviv University For a long time now, we have been witnessing acts of violence by Jewish residents in the West Bank against Palestinian residents. These acts, which include severe harm to persons and property, intimidation, humiliation, and displacement, have in some cases escalated into shocking acts of murder. These phenomena have intensified over the past month, under the cover of the war with Iran. As citizens of the State of Israel, we bear a heavy moral responsibility and feel deep shame in the face of this rampant Jewish terrorism. We protest the failure of the government and security forces to act with the necessary resolve against this phenomenon by using all means at their disposal. Terror directed against innocent civilians does not change according to the identity of the perpetrator or the victim; terror is terror, and it must be eradicated. The State of Israel, as the authority responsible for the territories, bears a clear obligation under both international and Israeli law: to ensure the safety and well-being of all residents, Jews and Palestinians alike. Beyond this legal duty, the government bears a paramount moral obligation: not to permit the shedding of blood in the West Bank, whether by action or by failure to act. As a people who have experienced pogroms and persecution driven by racism, we are bound to remember where such a path may lead. We must not stand idly by. History teaches us that in times of war, human rights are often pushed to the margins in the name of the demands of the moment or the pursuit of victory. We refuse to accept this reality. Jewish terrorism serves no legitimate purpose; on the contrary, it erodes the very foundations of our existence. Silence in the face of terror from within is a moral stain that cannot be erased, for the strength of the State of Israel is measured not only by its military power, but first and foremost by the integrity of its values.
People around here are very tense – justifiably – and can be short tempered at times. So this would be a good opportunity to write your Israeli friends and tell him you care about them.
I know I was greatly uplifted today by old friends who reminded me of good times. Because today was a particularly hard one for most people in this country.