israeli politics

"Singer" - 11.24.25

Last night we saw the play by Peter Flannery staged by the Cameri Theater about a holocaust survivor who learned from the camps to be evil.

The staging is amazing, the acting, singing, music, etc. is remarkable – and the number and variety of the cast is surprising: 

an orchestra, a band, dancers, singers, and of course prominent actors.

But the woman behind me, who left at the break, said soon after the curtain rose “nur dos hat mir gefelt.” (this was all that was missing in my life”)  and I agreed.  Greedy, evil Jews.

The image of Jews is changing – we’re going back to Goebbels’ description of us.  And we are going along with it.

 

https://www.cameri.co.il/eng/The_Cameri_Theatre_productions/show%7Cfwsa%7C11222/Singer

“Singer Read Post »

israeli politics

up North - 11.23.25

We attacked the Hizbullah neighborhood today – made holes in the forth and fifth floor of an apartment building and killed one of the top men.  The guy was Iranian and had a price on his head from the US government but I’m terrified because my granddaughter is up there, my college buddy is up there, and there will be reprisals.  Sooner or later.

I am beginning to think it is not surprising that I am losing my memory – it’s always been fuzzy but now sometimes it’s very sharp and sometimes it disappears.  But there is so much to look out for, so much to manage, so much to worry about, no wonder I was late to the osteopath on thursday.  No wonder I can’t myself together to erase the irrelevant in my computer.  There are so many fronts that threaten our very existence, and while we are watching and worrying about one of them, another one pops up.  

up north – 11.23.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

where to begin - 11.22.25

Periodically, I get scared.  At least lately.  This began before Oct 7 when I watched the Gazans standing along the fence and threatening everyone on the other side, and has gone on since then.  Much of the activities of the pro-Palestine movement had this (scaring me) as a goal from the beginning, and it works.  The fact that we may be going to war with Lebanon again because of the continued Hizbullah attacks is less scary to me than Mamdani and his ability to rally so many people around him.  By criticizing the Park Ave Synagogue’s program of Nefesh b’nefesh as a violation of international law after announcing his ‘protection’ of the jews, he seems to be getting close to alligning himself with the group that has placed $100,000 prices on the heads of Israeli academics.  I mean Jews who shut up are safe Jews but the others are dangerous.  I would be inclined to be a ‘safe’ Jew because I value my head, but I really don’t like being pushed around.  

At the same time, I have always believed in a two-state solution.  If the Arabs had accepted this in 1948 and if we had been wiser in our choice of leaders we’d be in a better place today.

where to begin – 11.22.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

He leaned over me
like he was preparing a speech—
so careful, so deliberate,
touching my shoulder
as if it were a district
he meant to flip.

He whispered that my ideas
were beautiful—
dangerous—
the kind that pressed against his skin
and made him burn a little.
I mistook that heat
for solidarity.

In the half-light,
his hands mapped me
like contested territory,
claiming borders
he would later deny existed.

He said he loved my passion—
my politics—
the way my breath quickened
when I spoke of justice.
He arched toward me
as though I were
a revolution he secretly wanted
to crush.

What a fool I was
not to notice how he echoed me,
every idea, every sigh—
a mirror tilted
to distort
not reflect.

I thought he was learning me.
He was studying me
like an enemy.

Now I understand:
he never wanted my truth,
only the shimmer of it,
the way a man might touch silk
before voting to ban it.

He said I believe you.
But that was foreplay.
The betrayal
was the climax
he’d been rehearsing
from the start.

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poem -11.21.2025 Read Post »

israeli politics

glorious day - 11.20.25

Maybe because I was sleep-deprived, maybe because my back hurt badly, maybe because my whole neighborhood is going to be torn down and rebuilt – throwing every shell-shocked pensioner into a hysterical fit – maybe because of all that that when we went to the beach today I got myself drunk on one weak beer.  The sun, the hummous, the water, the beer – all wonderful – all leaving me even less able to work than yesterday.

But happier…

you have to visit this country when it is supposed to be cold but there’s a heat spell.

 

glorious day – 11.20.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

stuck - 11.19.25

without my old computer I’m a little lost and keep losing my connections.  so i’ve been a bit uneven about writing here.

So I’m giving you a poem for today.

 

who i am

Do you know who I am?”

My famous friend tells

the seller in the market.

I love to hear her say it

because it is magic

how she opens all doors

and discounts purchases

in elegant places. She lifts her chin

as if addressing the air, or God,

but not the poor guide or salesman –  

and all her wishes are fulfilled.

 

Me, i am okay with anonymity,

My name should have been

that of my murdered grandmother,

but the registrar was hard of hearing.

and I made up names growing up,

anything to not stand out at school.

 

I was okay with my father’s name

and my first husband’s too,

I took my second husband’s name

only for tax purposes.   

 

But if you really want to know who I am

just ask the neighborhood cats.

They’ll say – she’s the old lady who feeds us.

 

 

stuck – Nov Read Post »

israeli politics

back - 11.18.25

As I pulled myself together after exercise and walked out to meet my editor at the cafe, i realized there was no way I was going to make it.  I’m in pain and crooked.  She is determined, however, to finish the final draft of my book about poets and their graves in Hebrew, and she comes over, where we spend three hours straightening out my crooked Hebrew.

That was the end of my day.  I’ve been cancelling everything else for tomorrow too. 

Time for TV entertainment, right?  At that moment, I am aware of the dangers all around us – munition drones in the south, shooting in the north, and chaos in the territories.  I think I’ll write another book just to escape the dangers of living here.

 

back – 11.18.25 Read Post »

israeli politics, my life in tel aviv

dizengoff - 11.16.25

Today was the day I broke down and realized that TSA will never find my computer, and if it does, I will never be able to use it without thinking of the dozens of unanswered letters I wrote to them.   Since there are at least three shops in Dizengoff Center that sell computers, we decided to go there and compare prices.  

Of course we wound up with the same Asus I always get and probably paid more than if I’d bought it in a nearby store, but we had the experience of Dizengoff Center.  

That means seeing old friends, getting lost in the double maze of the center, and seeing all kinds of very strange people.  Why Dizengoff Center seems to attract weirdos like us  I don’t know.

But, as I have probably told you, they have the best bathrooms. 

dizengoff Read Post »