Tel Aviv Blog — Page 24 of 256 — Karen Alkalay Gut קרן אלקלעי גוט

Homage to Anne Sexton - 6.18.24

Waiting for the rockets to fall, I thought about how Anne Sexton viewed her life over the years

I’ve written a few articles about her, about her use of pop culture, and about her use of her name, and of how she puts a poem together. Amazing person.

Anne Sexton Read Post »

israeli politics

Building Sabotage - 6.17.24

It’s an old story. A few months after you move into a new house, the toilet blocks up and after you’ve gone through the plumber to new pipes and a new toilet you discover you’ve had rice poured into the plumbing from the beginning. Or your wall is all wet and it turns out that sealing material wasn’t used in the building of the wall. I hear about this all the time from broken-hearted home owners who are forced into rebuilding again and again. There are also stories that workers engrave their names into the blocks so when the building is in ruins they may claim it as theirs.

I’m telling you this because my kids won’t remodel or build if they know this goes on. So I don’t want to tell them – just make sure you get workers you can really trust.

building Read Post »

israeli politics

Soldiers - 6.15.24

Because one of the actresses in my little troupe is on reserve duty, we’re waiting to have more rehearsals, so I thought I’d use this opportunity to mention this point. Israel doesn’t have an army. We have a draft of 32 months for men, 24 months for women and then annual reserve duty until the age of 40 or45. That means we’re totally integrated in the military whether we want to be or not.

The extreme religious community is exempt and even though there is a war going on they will not be drafted.

So my beautiful acting student is serving in the war. There just aren’t enough men.

soldiers – 6.15.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

Villages - 6.15.24

Crime is rampant in the villages. And it’s a very complex kind of crime – that I don’t pretend to understand. I remember standing by the wall in the auditorium in Muhrar with Naim Araidi and asking about some of the procedures in the festival, and he answered in a way I will never forget. “You cannot understand the complexity of the workings even of this village. You cannot begin to understand what crime is.”

And today I learn that his son was murdered and decapitated in a very gruesome manner in https://www.timesofisrael.com/son-of-former-israeli-ambassador-found-decapitated-in-north/.

Naim died a terrible death of throat cancer but this is so much worse. the 92 Arab death this year.

I will publish Naim’s poems on my site now.

villages – 6.15.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

First Thing in the Morning - 6.15.24

First thing is to check out what happened in the night – what bombs, what houses destroyed, what announcements made. Then we go to the politics, anything – radio, papers, substacks, etc.

Then it’s time to get to the people we know – how everyone is in the family, friends, neighbors

It’s only then that we start our day.

first thing in the morning – 6/15/24 Read Post »

israeli politics

Why I'm Stressed - 6.14.24

At last SOMEBODY is saying what I’ve been worrying about for a year: Yahya Sinwar’s aims in rejecting and amending Biden’s hostage deal – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

He doesn’t want to settle. He’s relying on world pressure to get rid of us. That’s why he’s sacrificed 30 thousand Gazans.

That part has been obvious, but what I didn’t realize is that I’m really stressed by this situation. Last night I flipped out over a crazy neighbor, and only a walk on the beach could ease my mind. Today we went to the Land of Israel Museum and wandered into an exhibit meant to calm us down – an asan moment.

It’s a good exhibit but I was infuriated, and it took me a while to realize that my anger stemmed from something familiar. You know how someone tells you to ‘calm down’ when you thought you were calm and that instruction makes you angry? Well, that exhibit made me realize how justifiably stressed I am. As long as all the world believes the lies they’re planting – we’re trapped.

I’ve been reading the New York Times for ages, but only recently has the news about Israel become so slanted that even I have noticed it. Check it out. Check out HaAretz or Times of Israel and see if there is any connection at all. You’ll see that we seem to be publishing both sides, but the NYT only discusses negative elements. Maybe some complaints might help. But it really grieves me that my former favorite paper has betrayed me.

Why I’m Stressed -6.14.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

Nerves - 6.13.24

We have a neighbor from hell. I’m serious. She is the schizophrenic daughter of a schizophrenic holocaust survivor, but much starter. And she began stalking us, ringing the doorbell incessantly, and talking incomprehensibly but incisively. Ezi listened to her a few times and was unnerved. So I offered to cover for him, and I really regretted it to such a degree that I was unable to function afterward.

Nerves – 6.13.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

publishing - 6.13.24

I took all the poems I wrote about the war and made a collection today. Some of the poems were published in Tikkun or Maiyan – jewish publications. Anything else I’ve tried to publish this year came back – usually very quickly and usually with no explanation. I’m used to rejections – it’s why I don’t send out more than half a dozen poems or articles a year – but usually they take a few months to answer. Now they’re coming back so fast I have a feeling the files have not been opened. Maybe I should get a gmail account under another name and see what happens….

It doesn’t much matter – I’ll keep writing anyway – but it does indicate what’s going on in the world.

It’s not easy being Jewish, right?

publishing – 6.13.24 Read Post »