Yudit tells me that Greta Stunberg showed up in Berlin a few weeks ago with a tshirt that said “yalla, yalla, intifada”  and I’m sure she wasn’t aware of the implications.  I’m sure she doesn’t know that she was calling for mass murder, rape, disfigurement.  I’m sure she didn’t know that Jews today are mourning the loss of their holy temple thousands of years ago.  Yudit says it is akin to the mourning of Stalin at his death years ago when the west didn’t know about his genocide and torture in the years preceding his death.

I’m sure also that the distorted news that is broadcast here on tv contributes to her limited vision.  one tiny example:  Barghouti the other day noted that 99% of the housing in Gaza has been destroyed, and I am sure that the numbers are great.  But there is definitely 25% that hasn’t been touched.  Since I’ve been here I’ve encountered a number of people from Gaza and I wonder how many people are living there.  If 2.2 million lived there 3 years ago and 2.1 live there now, and Europe seems full of Gazans who have built relatively prosperous lives in Europe – shops,restaurants, etc. So how many Gazans lost their lives?  I don’t know.  I just don’t trust any of the statistics.  And I know that we’re responsible for finding out and fixing it. But I’m sure that the statistics available to Greta are tentative and that she would do well to learn what happens in an intifada.  We would all do well to work with the Egyptian plan for cleaning up and rebuilding rather than calling for war and further destruction.

Today is Tisha B’Av.  I never fast and never mourn, but I am warned to invest as much as I can ensuring that the homeland for the Jews remains, and that Arabs are equal citizens.