israeli politics

Dilemma: 12 rockets just went over Tel Aviv, and I have COVID.  My neighbor next door is immune-deficient and I can’t even go out into the hall, even with a mask, without endangering him.  So although there were no sirens in our neighborhood, I have to consider the situation.  Do I stay inside and endanger myself or do I rush out and endanger myself?  I think I’ll stand in the hall like the late Rivka Bassman told me a few years ago in the last bunch of rockets we got.

rockets and covid – jan 29, 2024 Read Post »

israeli politics

As soon as I heard the verdict of the International Court of Justice last week and heard the vote of 15-2 against Israel, I knew it had to be a woman .  Who else could stand up to 15 men and vote with the old Israeli man? 

So I started looking her up and, even though I have fever and been reduced to watching Polish movies on Netflix, the little jibes against her were all too apparent.  For example, although all the bios on her say she’s been serving in the world court since 2012, Al Jazira says 2021.  And of course the Ugandan government distanced themselves from her and said her opinion was her own.  But everything she was supremely logical and simple and clear. “South Africa has not demonstrated, even on a prima facie basis, that the acts allegedly committed by Israel … were committed with the necessary genocidal intent and … are capable of falling within the scope of the Genocide Convention.”   She was not only voted against the charges but she was clearly deciding the charges had no basis.  

What is true is that our politicians said we’ve got to wipe Hamas out, and while I hated their rhetoric, Hamas has as the only point in their constitution their duty to wipe us out. As much as I dislike all our politicians’ rhetoric, this response seems to be a totally reasonable one.

I’d like to see Justice Sebutinde go far in this world.  Maybe she can straighten us all out.

 

 

Julia Sebutinde – jan 28, 2024 Read Post »

blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv, poetry
Absence
 
“What are you looking for?”
we’d ask Mother, as she rummaged
a cupboard or a drawer or the phone book.
“My lost youth,” she’d answer
absent-mindedly, having forgotten
whatever had occupied her mind
when she first began to search.
The bombs, the soldiers, the streets
covered with bodies, the story of the children
smashed against the wall, her babies
washed down the drain in the bathtub in Danzig,
they were always
right there in the cupboard, the drawer,
the book next to the telephone.
 
 
http://www.minyanmag.com/karenalkalaygut.html
 
 
http://www.minyanmag.com/karenalkalaygut.html

international Holocaust Remembrance Day Read Post »

blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv

Have I mentioned that I have Covid?  Unlike Ezi, I have foregone a search for Paxlovid, and no one has mentioned it.  I haven’t even called my doctor.   Right now, I’m watching tv and seeing how the north of the country is faring in these days  – the north deserted, and those who remain live in terror.  And while the program goes on, the sirens go off.  the names of the northern towns are listed on the side of the television.  

Nothing like that to put a fevery cough into proportion.

 

Covid – Jan 27, 2024 Read Post »

blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv

The funding is being cut from UNRWA, and even though I know they were active participants even in the pillaging and murder on Oct 7, I regret the hunger that will result.  There is no justification in starvation of innocent people.  I’ve always said in these pages that UNRWA is a dangerous organization under the guise of a charity.  But we have to find an alternative way of supplying food and medicine to these people.  Are airdrops possible?

 

uNRWA -Jan 27, 2026 Read Post »

blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv

You have to read David Petreus’s book, Conflict.  I found it the most perceptive analysis of the history – and the future – of war.  I was on a zoom with him and for some reason the moderator called on me first and I gushed my appreciation.  Embarassing.  But everything he said was so on the mark… Like when he talked about the four points necessary for winning a war.

read the book.

 

 

book recommendation – Jan 26, 2024 Read Post »

blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv

So much happens here all the time – it’s hard to decide where to begin and what to include.  The South African complaint against Israel is the one that most captured my attention, but there are all kinds of convolutions and distortions that drive me mad.  For example – how many Gazans were killed in the war.  Who is counting?  Am I the only one who can’t figure out what the sources are? Am I the only one who wouldn’t rely on UNRW to tell the truth about how many teeth they have?  Am I the only one who thinks that the Gazans have responsibility of freeing the hostages?  Am I the only one who thinks that if they let the hostages go we’ll stop bombing them?  

I can’t even get an estimate of numbers and people.

 

news today – jan 26, 2024 Read Post »