November 13, 2015
two were killed this morning. Father and son. Shot to death. The people nearby of Kfar Yatta apparently stood by. We spent the morning in a memorial to Aryeh Sivan. i have some poems of his on this site. I think he was one of the first poets I translated and I was very proud to be part of this event at the Arab-Jewish theater in Jaffa. Afterward we picked up some hummous for tonight at Ali Karavan. Some of our kids eat only hummous. hummous and salad. another kid at only doughnuts and chicken. the others go through the soup and the chicken, rice, peas and potatoes in a way that would make my mother proud.
November 14, 2015 A day we will never forget. It was only in the morning that we woke to the news. Gradually the details became clear, like the bodies emerging from the theater in Paris, each detail more horrid than the previous one. Ten years ago in June we spent a week in Paris. we were in an Arab neighborhood in a hotel whose name i can't remember but i do remember we could reach a wall from anywhere on the bed. Anyway we had to walk 10 blocks through the Arab neighborhood to get to the metro and I remember trying very hard to get a smile or a pleasant response from a shopkeeper on the way. it was hard in part because we were with a few Israelis who insisted on speaking Hebrew in loud tones, but also because the shopkeepers themselves seemed not at ease - not like in Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
November 15, 2015 So Isis kills 224 Russians in Sinai and we barely say a word. But Paris with 132 victims and we all shudder. There are many reasons for this, but the one that really frightens me is the fact that every aspect of daily life is changed. Now we don't have to be afraid only of flying. Now we can be afraid of everything.
So you're asking how has my life changed since terror has begun to grip the world? It hasn't. I've always been crazy paranoid. And it's rarely stopped me from going anywhere. I'm going to fly far away next week, and I may even change my webpage. with a slight change in the address. keep posted. November 16, 2015 Raqqa and Sinai. Watch to see what happens there. We went to get jabbed for tetanus and hepatitus and stuff like that. Didn't occur to me that there would be a crowd there - it's not the right time to travel. But they were all there - all these beautiful women going to Nepal or India. Why why why is no one going to Europe? November 17, 2015 Bogy Ayalon decided today that Riyyad Sallah's Islamic movement is incendiary and anti-zionist and it is illegal. So in the night we went into their offices, woke them up and told them. this move of course will put everything underground and exacerbate the situation. It seems that almost any simple minded citizen would see this. It has been one of those busy days where even quiet breathing is difficult. morning exercise class, money meeting, transport grandchild, buy malaria pills, return grandchild home, dinner with friends, to sleep. now.