blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv

Just as I was about to press the last button that would finally fix my website connections this noon – after at least a month of chatting with servers and bots, watching incomprehensible videos for people with a language all their own, the internet failed for the neighborhood.  The man on the phone promised someone would come to fix it shortly but the day has gone by and nothing has happened.  Our afternoon and evening was constructed around staying home and rewarding ourselves with 2-3 netflix/Disney films/series.  I had ordered groceries so I had to stay home.  But now that we have called again to see why they have not come, they admitted that it will take time before they can make it. 

You of course will know as soon as I get back online.  I have – for the first time in a long time – written this offline and will post it.  Even if it’s the middle of the night.

internet – dec 28, 2023 Read Post »

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

How can we take pleasure in the lessening of the rockets when we see the footage of mass graves in Gaza?  It doesn’t ease our pain to know that every house there is filled with weapons of war.  Who knows whether they were put there by the families, the kindergarten teacher or the doctors or whether they were part of the ideology of the household?  Who knows if the body bags going into the ground are filled with people or rubble?  who knows what the truth is?  All I can know is that there are rockets that can kill us and can fall on us at any moment.  So a moment free of that fear must be cherished.

And believe me, it is.  Not out of self-induced ignorance  but out of great appreciation of each moment of grace.  So here today we sat at Manta Ray and ate fish from Jaffa and watched the waves and rejoiced.  

 

 

pleasure – dec 27, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

I know it’s not over – but suddenly I wanted to find out how many rockets have been falling on us since it began in 2001.  And wikipedia had the info

THAT MANY?  How do they pay for so many rockets?  How did we stay sane before Moshe Peres dreamed up the Iron Dome?  As it is we get the shards that fall from the explosions, but somehow I trust all those boys and girls in the army who are spending years of their lives on keeping those rockets from hitting us.

Those kids are the same age as all those college students in the US demonstrating against us and calling for our death.  How ironic.

 

how many rockets – dec 26, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

Christmas always reminds me of my childhood.  

This year I remembered something about antisemitism.

My sixth-grade teacher, Miss Faye, was the perfect image of a storybook witch.  She had dyed red curls, a long thin nose, and a wart on the side of her chin.  But perhaps I am distorting my memory of her because she was the first antisemite I’d ever met.

In the class of about 25, there were four Jews. We were seated together on the side of the classroom near the back, and never called on even though we always raised our hands with enthusiasm.  Since everyone was supposed to have a part in the class play, she had us learn a country dance with the music teacher and placed us at the rear of the stage so that we would barely be observed.  No speaking parts, simple unflattering costumes, and hundreds of rehearsals that would take us out of the classroom during math.  To this day I remember the music and every step, but I never learned long division properly.

Miss Faye stays in my mind – not because of her attempts to humiliate us, but because of her failure.  We understood and accepted what she was doing and rode through it.  The next year our teacher was a young man who opened everything up for us, as if he knew what we had been through. First, I learned that I had a voice.  Mr. Cruikshank called on us, asked our opinions, and, when the class play came up, allowed us to submit proposals. 

I wrote the play, with speaking parts for everyone. 

 

 

a little antisemitism – dec 25, 2023 Read Post »

blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv

looks like we’re getting ready to wind down in Gaza and wind up in Lebanon.  Up to now we’ve been absorbing the many many rockets fired at us in the north, but it looks like we’re going to have to do more than just defend ourselves if we want to get the hundred thousand or so people back in their homes any time soon.  

And me I’m getting ready to solve another technical problem on this site – Slow and forgetful though I am I will figure this out.  One of these days I will become an expert at solving the problems that a 10 year old could do in his sleep.  

But right now there’s a solidarity demonstration in Tel Aviv – pretty much in the same place we’ve been demonstrating against the government for the past year – and we have to be counted among those who support the movement to keep the hostages in our negotiations.  It’s wet and cold so there probably aren’t many people.. 

I’ll let you know what happens.

moving right along – dec 23, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

After a beautiful afternoon, a memorial for my mother-in-law that consisted of sharing stories of her at the grave and then a long leisurely lunch in the yard of the customary foods we used to eat at her house.  And then the weather changed, and now the thunder, lightning and rain replace the sound of rockets. 

My mind keeps going to all the refugees in this mess – here and there.  The sudden change of weather was expected, but not welcome – to the homeless and those missing loved ones.  When will we understand we’re in this mess together and until we can treat each other as family (if only to solve our problems of protection) we’ll never get through this storm..

 

s Read Post »

israeli politics

After they refused a prisoner exchange deal, and we said we’ll continue the war until the end, they sent us a present of 15-20 rockets.  The shards fell all over the area – schools, parks, homes, streets, yards, and shops.  Most people were still bustling about and we had just come home from the supermarket, so we raced as usual down to the shelter.  I just managed to open the door of the building for a few passersby when the booms began.  We hadn’t even had time to get down the stairs before the building shook. 

My neighbor, unfortunately has no sense of humor, especially since we were among those who refused to rebuild the house in a housing renewal project and she wanted to add a balcony.  So when I told her “now we can have a brand new house” she didn’t even look my way, much less smile.

Why shouldn’t she smile?  We’ve been doing this for months, and we should be getting used to seeing each other in the shelter, to saving our lives.  But perhaps because I was born with the death of the doodle-bugs (V1 rockets over London) I have a bit more optimistic nature than she has.  

 

 

our explosive afternoon Read Post »