israeli politics

As the poor become poorer and the rich become richer, the number of break-ins grows.  and the people targeted are those with more and more money.  and the robberies become bolder and bolder.  Since we have nothing to steal, we’re in pretty good shape, but i would not like to wake up, as i did once, to find a burglar in my room.  When it happened, over 40 years ago, I was too startled to make more than choking sounds.  this woke Ezi up and he raced after the robber who was escaping with Ezi’s briefcase containing his lunch coupons.  Until he reached the door and realized that since he was nude he couldn’t chase the felon through the street.  His briefcase was found soon after.  

But I digress.  i wanted to talk more about the discrepancy beteern the haves and the hungry.  Yet nothing I can say is new.  it’s just worse.  

 

december 6, 2020 – crime in the neighborhood Read Post »

israeli politics

After two separate meetings with grandchildren, my friend announced that her grandson has covid.  of course i considered panicking, but then i weighed the visits against the psychosomatic symptoms I’ve been having lately, and decided it was worth the risk.  so there.  

We compared our menus to the menus published of the Prime Minister.  We eat much better because we eat local.  The formal meals of the   Netanyahu family have been – apparently – imitative of European formal meals.  here’s the link to the article.  Of course it’s second hand – I couldn’t find the specific article on the site meida l’am so this is second hand….

December 5, 2020 – saturday lunches Read Post »

israeli politics

Friday night dinner is something of a ritual in this country.  My unconnected friends are often at a loss, because there is nothing much else to do.   We hear shouts from the university soccer field, and late in the evening groups of young people still meet in street corners, but in general people stay home or with families on Friday.  Until Corona we tried to herd our family and maybe a guest or two into our apartment, or visit with friends, but the tradition is somewhat broken now.  

lest night we went to Dalias, and part of our family celebrated.  We brought the soup and main course, and sat on their balcony to be served.  today we’ve got the other part of the family for lunch, and we’ll sit with windows open and heaters and try to feel festive.  it is a strange way of keeping up necessary traditions.

december 5, 2020 – friday nights Read Post »

israeli politics

who goes out in public?  not i.  haven’t been to a supermarket in a year.  i even ruined my hair again by dying it the wrong color just to avoid the hairdresser.  But sometimes it becomes imperative to get to the post office.  And we have a good system in Israel.  I make an appointment on the app, usually for the last possible part of the day, and by the time i get there no one is left but the clerks.  the code in my number, get called, and i’m home within minutes to enjoy the latest bargain of the month.  With Ezi it’s usually little switches, eletronic devices, etc.  with me – books or clothes. 

(Book are difficult nowadays.  Amazon’s postage is impossible and local books in English seem to be only available used.  i love used usually, but i need current publications and lately have found kindle tiring.)  

 

decmber 3, 2020 – how I go to the post office Read Post »

israeli politics

it took Gantz a long long time to come down to the level of Bibi.  It wasn’t just like sitting down to a game of checkers that turned out to be chess.  because it wasn’t just chess, it was kick-chess – with kicks under the table going to all kinds of sensitive places.  And you’ve been trained not to show pain.

But now that Gantz has turned over the table and shouted out that he’s not playing any more he’s being blamed for breaking up the government.  He doesn’t even have to keep good records for the times he was kicked, because most of the time it was very visible.  Bibi is never subtle but never apologetic.  So what Gantz has to do is start smiling together with all the other parties – even Labor, and his recent enemy Lapid, and some of the Arab parties – especially Ahmed Tibi.  He can’t even pretend to be a leader after he’s been the gentleman with a ruffian.  

How many of us personally have been in that same situation.  Someone bullies us and we try to smooth our way out of it.  There was once a survey of rape in New York City and it concluded that Jewish women get raped far more than minority women because they get into situations they think they can talk their way out of, when other women just don’t go there.

december 3, 2020 – elections Read Post »

israeli politics

Even though I used to sit with Natan Yonatan for hours and I translated many poems with him, I could never get this one right.  And I still can’t.   But now I understand what he was writing about.  Here, where the Hadera River meets the sea, the sand in summer is carried in by the waves and blocks the river, which flows sluggishly for lack of rain.  In the winter it would open up when the flow got stronger.  But now the sand is cleared and the river is more powerful and there is no more blockage.  This phenomenon was also true of the Yarkon river in Tel Aviv.  Ezi says that camels would cross the roadway between the river and the sea.  

anyway I am still not sure i’ve got the poem right.  Natan wanted me always to adjust the translation to the music, but that was impossible – since the accents in hebrew fall differently.

check it out here with Arik Einstein.  

december 2, natan yonatan and sdot yam (continued) Read Post »

israeli politics

leaving Sdot Yam today, we came upon this sculpture – with chimes and a few lines of the poem written by Natan Yonatan in this place.  The poem, in my translation, is here:

SHORES ARE SOMETIMES

Shores are sometimes longings for a stream it loved.

I saw a  shore  once

Forsaken by the stream

With broken heart of stones and sand.

And a person too may

be left bereft and without strength

Just like the shore.

 

The sea shells too

Like shores or the spirit,

The shards are also sometimes longings

For a home we always loved

And only the sea

Sings its song alone.

 

Thus within the shards of one’s heart

Past youth sings out.

 

December 1, 2020 – Natan Yonatan and sdot yam Read Post »