blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv,

Everyone in our building has seen the jackal.  Most of the time in the same place, on the left patch of ferns near the entrance.  But when we call the municipality, and they come with all their equipment to get rid of the potentially rapid aminal, the beast is nowhere to be found. 

Not surprisingly, Bibi has managed to elude the courts for almost 5 years, when the case opened, but today when he appeared, he was out within 15 minutes, after his plea of not guilty.  He managed to squeeze in a meeting with the minister of health in the hallway, and appear incredibly busy with political matters the entire time he was in court.  And he seems to have managed to postpone the trial until long after the elections.  And all the news that claim that the case against Bibi is rigged means that with every appearance in court, he gets more votes. 

Maybe we should vote for the jackal.

 

 

february 8, 2021 – politics and the jackal Read Post »

blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv, poetry, , , ,

The New York Times inspired me to finally write about this

when I saw the inauguration last week I kept myself from crying – the way poetry was part of the message of models of faith for the future.  Models FOR faith, not in faith.  HOW to believe in the future and how to be the kind of people that could make it happen.  

The poetry itself seemed more spoken word than poetry to me, but Amanda Gorman did an amazing job in fulfilling the hope that we can change our lives, the direction of our politics.  And Biden’s reinforcement of that kind of belief in his quotation from Heaney’s poetry, something that was characteristic of empathic presidents before him – from Kennedy to Clinton to Biden, made me believe. 

And it made me see the contrasts between our leadership in Israel and the hope for the future in the U.S. government.   When Shimon Peres would quote a line from poetry, you knew he read the poem and chose it himself.  When Bibi – or any of the other politicians in the country – quote a poem, you know they’ve had some speechwriter who had combed the web for famous sayings…  

Thanks to Linda Streit for pointing out this op-ed to me

Please let us hear more encouraging words that shape and enable a better society in the future.

january 24, 2021 – politics and poetry Read Post »