israeli politics

As we settle to watch our favorite satire show on tv, the news breaks in of a terror attack in Ramat in Jerusalem, with many victims.  A six-year-old boy dead, many others wounded,  The name of the driver of the car from East Jerusalem that rammed into a bus and fired his gun was announced almost immediately.  The newscaster is Moslem, and he is now interviewing the medical staff treating the victims – the staff I am sure is also comprised of people of mixed religions.  Suleiman, the broadcaster, seems to be having a bit of trouble keeping his reportage cool – as a human being he is mortified by the fact that the victims may be of the same family, that they were off to rest on Shabbat.  His sympathies are clearly with the victims and not with the youthful assassin –

The unfolding tragedies remind us of the multiple complexities of our situation. 

 

terror – feb 10, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

At 7:45 my daughter called to remind us to turn off the electricity at 8.  The idea was that the national drop in electricity would signal to the government the opposition of the people of Israel to the destruction of the high courts.  

I wouldn’t have remembered, and a lot of people might not have daughters to remind them.  I’m still waiting for the results…

 

lights Out – feb 9, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

Tiberias is in danger of collapsing – the recent earthquakes today and yesterday are threatening certain areas of Israel, plans for a potential violent earthquake in Tel Aviv have never been finalized, and what are they talking about in the Knesset?  the new proposal today threatening six months imprisonment for wearing improper clothing at the Wailing Wall.

It is our version of Chelm.  Maybe we should propose, as they did in Chelm, two prisons – one for those Parliament members who admit they are guilty and another for those who claim to be innocent.  

But to prison they must all go.

 

 

 

local earthquakes, etc. -feb 9, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

The number of people who have been rescued in Turkey makes me wonder who else is down there waiting to be saved or to die.  I fear that in Syria we can’t do much good – since access to the Kurdish area is blocked off.  Each individual is incredibly important and must be fought for.

Yes, we’ve sent people there to help, but at the same time, we’re waking up to the fact that we’re just as vulnerable to earthquakes as they are. 

About 20 years ago I got a terrible premonition that we were due for an earthquake, and pushed our neighbors into allowing a strengthening of the base of our building.  It looks ugly, and it may not save us, but it allows some of us to sleep at night. 

 

rescue – feb 8, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

How do we teach our children about obeying laws?  We have basic rules in nursery school and the kids do what their teacher tells them to.  But if even the prime minister doesn’t obey the high court, why should a child learn to flush a toilet?  Why should a child respect his parents?  Why should I listen to a policeman who tells me to cross on the crosswalk?

As Ulysses says in Troilus and Cressida:

When that the general is not like the hive
To whom the foragers shall all repair,
What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded,
Th’ unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask.

It’s in all of his plays – when the king is not in order, no one in the kingdom is in order, and even the weather goes crazy.

So maybe the wisest thing is to tell Bibi that we forgive him if he just lets go of the crazy rule he’s persisting in.  And then rebuild some legal and moral order in this country.  Isn’t it worth sacrificing a little bit of justice for the sake of a nation?

 

whistling at high court – feb 7, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

We’ve got this storm named Barbara scaring us now.  Ezi and I lifted up the fallen vines and tied them to the columns of the building, and I wondered how long the building itself would hold up.  Some people mentioned this morning that their houses shook and now they are worried that with all the digging in the city, everything will collapse.  I think we’re just a bit oversensitive, what with all the political unrest, the general feeling that an understanding among the peoples here will never be achieved if we do not change course, and the natural disasters coming together all at once.

So the ‘big wind’ is Barbara and the ill wind of the government.  The wind and the windbag.

At least we’re sending crews to help in Turkey and I hope, to Syria.  The thousands of dead, the thousands homeless in this storm – it boggles the mind.

Just so you don’t feel too boggled, let me remind you of what a famous vet said a few years back:  if you want to protect your life in an earthquake, go to sleep with some sausage in your pajama pocket – so the dogs will be motivated to find you quickly.

 

big wind – feb 6, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

At somewhere 4:30 this morning I woke up, didn’t understand why, and went back to sleep.  In the morning my watch informed me that my heart had leaped at this moment of the earthquake, and there had been a quake of 7.8 magnitude in Turkey and Syria.   Then another earthquake of the same strength, not including the aftershocks.  We’ve already offered help, but we’re also terrified because we’re on that rift.

Forget about politics, forget about war.  Now is the time to help each other.

Turkey earthquake – Feb 6, 2023 Read Post »

israeli politics

I keep forgetting to write about restaurants lately.  And they are always great fun.  Yesterday we went to Abu Nassar, for instance, and it was a hoot.  We had planned to take our guests to somewhere elegant, but their seating times made it difficult, so we drove to Jaffa, and back to basics. 

I handed the camera to the waiter to take a picture of the group, but Ahmed decided to make it really memorable.

There is nothing like eating out in Tel Aviv, no matter where you go.

abu nasser – feb 5, 2023 Read Post »