israeli politics

Villages - 6.15.24

Crime is rampant in the villages.  And it’s a very complex kind of crime – that I don’t pretend to understand.  I remember standing by the wall in the auditorium in Muhrar with Naim Araidi and asking about some of the procedures in the festival, and he answered in a way I will never forget.  “You cannot understand the complexity of the workings even of this village.  You cannot begin to understand what crime is.”

And today I learn that his son was murdered and decapitated in a very gruesome manner in https://www.timesofisrael.com/son-of-former-israeli-ambassador-found-decapitated-in-north/.

Naim died a terrible death of throat cancer but this is so much worse.  the 92 Arab death this year. 

I will publish Naim’s poems on my site now.

 

villages – 6.15.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

First Thing in the Morning - 6.15.24

First thing is to check out what happened in the night – what bombs, what houses destroyed, what announcements made.  Then we go to the politics, anything – radio, papers, substacks, etc. 

Then it’s time to get to the people we know – how everyone is in the family, friends, neighbors

It’s only then that we start our day.

first thing in the morning – 6/15/24 Read Post »

israeli politics

Why I'm Stressed - 6.14.24

At last SOMEBODY is saying what I’ve been worrying about for a year: Yahya Sinwar’s aims in rejecting and amending Biden’s hostage deal – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com) 

He doesn’t want to settle.  He’s relying on world pressure to get rid of us.  That’s why he’s sacrificed 30 thousand Gazans.

That part has been obvious, but what I didn’t realize is that I’m really stressed by this situation.  Last night I flipped out over a crazy neighbor, and only a walk on the beach could ease my mind.  Today we went to the Land of Israel Museum and wandered into an exhibit meant to calm us down – an asan moment.

It’s a good exhibit but I was infuriated, and it took me a while to realize that my anger stemmed from something familiar.  You know how someone tells you to ‘calm down’ when you thought you were calm and that instruction makes you angry?  Well, that exhibit made me realize how justifiably stressed I am.  As long as all the world believes the lies they’re planting – we’re trapped.  

I’ve been reading the New York Times for ages, but only recently has the news about Israel become so slanted that even I have noticed it.  Check it out.  Check out HaAretz or Times of Israel and see if there is any connection at all.  You’ll see that we seem to be publishing both sides, but the NYT only discusses negative elements.  Maybe some complaints might help.  But it really grieves me that my former favorite paper has betrayed me.

 

Why I’m Stressed -6.14.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

Nerves - 6.13.24

We have a neighbor from hell.  I’m serious.  She is the schizophrenic daughter of a schizophrenic holocaust survivor, but much starter.  And she began stalking us, ringing the doorbell incessantly, and talking incomprehensibly but incisively.  Ezi listened to her a few times and was unnerved.  So I offered to cover for him, and I really regretted it to such a degree that I was unable to function afterward.  

Nerves – 6.13.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

publishing - 6.13.24

I took all the poems I wrote about the war and made a collection today.  Some of the poems were published in Tikkun or Maiyan – jewish publications.  Anything else I’ve tried to publish this year came back – usually very quickly and usually with no explanation.  I’m used to rejections – it’s why I don’t send out more than half a dozen poems or articles a year – but usually they take a few months to answer.  Now they’re coming back so fast I have a feeling the files have not been opened.  Maybe I should get a gmail account under another name and see what happens….

It doesn’t much matter – I’ll keep writing anyway – but it does indicate what’s going on in the world. 

It’s not easy being Jewish, right? 

 

publishing – 6.13.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

Where to hide -6.13.24

This guy is pointing out that it might not be a good idea to hide hostages in a heavily populated area:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8EZAUxvFiu/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Now this is very wise advice. 

But I need to point out to you that I live in a heavily populated area, as do many others here, and I can’t be very far from a military base, right?  I mean this is a tiny country. I might as well put a bulls-eye on my t-shirt.

what’s the best place to hide -6.13.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

Tiberias - 6.12.24

The rockets falling all over the north north wake my friend in Tiberias.  But by the time she manages to get her pants on, it’s over in her area.  What a holiday.

Thank goodness the people in Metula managed to get together a symbolic parade of tractors and first fruits – if only to show that a tradition of more than a century and a half is continuing.  

tiberias – 6.12.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

draft of a poem - 6.11.24

Every Day

 

Every day I see faces

I will never see alive:

a boy who could have run away,

played dumb and stayed

in some town in Thailand,

disappeared into a jungle in Brazil,

or buried his head in bible studies.

 

If he grew up in another land

he might be demonstrating

in some ivy league college

instead of hunting hostages

among desperate foes.

 

Who would have been his children?

What would they look like

and how would they have made

the world into a better place?

Every day those faces come to me,

the children of murdered soldiers,

their mothers raising them in woe.

The children that will never be.

The hopes that have been lost.

.

draft of a poem – 6.11.24 Read Post »