israeli politics

missed the play - 9.13.25

The arts in Israel seem to have blossomed since every one else is boycotting us.  Drama, music, dance – unbelievable.  

So even though I know “A Streetcar Named Desire” by heart and it is playing in Hebrew translation, I had heard from so many friends that it was impossible to miss and we had the best tickets in the house, we went.  But the streets were so crowded with people protesting the government there was no way we could get to the theater.  We turned around and went home.  

I’m broken-hearted.

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israeli politics

Shabbat in Israel - 9.13.25

No matter who you are in Israel, Shabbat is different.  Of course, the religious Jews experience the day as a holy one – prayers, family, meals, rest, a holy entrance into the rest of the week.  But most people are not religious Jews, and they too experience a different day.   Perhaps, if you are not Jewish, it is the most busy day, the opportunity to squeeze a week’s wages in one day.  We, like most secular people here, find this a day of family and catching up. 

Catching up for me also means seeing friends, sleeping late, and maybe thinking.

But lately Friday night also means a particularly tough missile from Yemen.  That’s why I sleep half dressed.  Last night before 4 a.m. the phone woke us to warn us to get to shelter, and we made it from deep sleep to the basement just in time.  It turned out to be fine, but we couldn’t get back to sleep.

so i started thinking of the whole idea of democracy and how it demands dialogue, especially of antithetical ideas, and how bombing and attacking Jews all over is not a way to achieve democracy.  And how the universal attacks indicate that democracy may not be the wave of the future.

And once I accept the fact that I may well be wearing a burka in the most optimistic of my dreams, I will be able to enjoy my Shabbat.

 

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israeli politics

alarm - 9.13.25

it’s 4 a.m. and i can’t go back to sleep – not after an alarm that almost no one else seemed to respond to.  At least so it seemed.

All day long I was amazed at how we could ignore the war for our own sanity.  but now i won’t be able to go back to sleep,  

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israeli politics

horrified - 9.10.25

I’m pretty sure most of the people I know in Israel are horrified by what our government is doing.  Even those who believe in the hard-nosed type of policy can’t be happy with the senselessness of what we are doing, although if we were playing a video game we might be winning.  The problem is we are dealing with real live human beings whose lives are being ruined on both sides of a lot of borders. 

And the people of Israel know it.

And feel incredible pain for all of those who suffer. 

A few days ago I met an old friend who I have tried to avoid for a decade, and she gave me the opposite point of view of the political and human situation.  She sees the enemy as inhuman  and deserving of whatever punishment we can inflict on them.  There was nothing I could say that could dissuade her in any way or convince her that we were not even behaving wisely for our own interests.  But her language became more humane as we continued to discuss the situation and we turned to problem- solving in our specific group, a local writers’ group. When you turn to see what works, what can help, sometimes you find little solutions that can alleviate smaller problem so that you can turn to larger ones.  

We didn’t solve any problems that day, but she gave me some ideas on what can be done to change ways of thinking that can lead to a change of attitude, and I’m going to turn to them.  I’m sure she’ll come along.

horrified – 9.10.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

not a single moment of peace

Oh Goody, I said, the dog has finally gone home, the pain in my hip seems to be under control, the cardiologist told me i can cut down on my stupid pills, and the hematologist said all my markers for multiple myloma have disappeared (after a decade) so I can concentrate on the galleys of my latest book.  

And then the bomb fell – i mean on Doha of course.  I don’t know how this brilliant show of assassinating all the Hamas leaders helps the peace process, but it certainly messes up the possibility of any quiet in the near future.  

Maybe.

Maybe there was no choice.  I don’t enough yet.  

But I know that I’m not going to get any sleep tonight.  

Are you?

 

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israeli politics

We just don't get it - 9.7.25

it was just a moment’s conversation, and yet it was clear, that everyone was in competition to kvetsh more.  The Americans were complaining about attacks and discomfort , the Canadians were complaining about behavior and moral center , and the Israelis were complaining about getting bombed, losing a country, losing status, losing meaning.  The only thing we could agree upon was thaat we were all suffering.

now we have to get beyond it, share the suffering, and solve the problem.

 

We just don’t get it – 9.7.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

We've been watching - 9.6.25

We’ve been watching the kidnapped survivors dying for the past 2 years.  All of us have been prisoners of Hamas and Nukba and the soldiers of Gaza for two years, the families are hostages.  No wonder we have lost all sense of logic.

For 2 weeks we’ve been taking care of Charlie, my daughter’s dog, for 2 weeks now, and have managed to control him by doing exactly what he wants.  For example, we do not leave him alone so he will not bark and disturb the neighbors.  Unfortunately, however, it drives me mad, just as it will drive his family mad when he returns home…

 

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