israeli politics

How many times were we in the shelter today?  I ask this question occasionally when we’re sitting opposite our drowsy neighbors.  No one is sure any more.  They check their phones, and are reminded  – 5,6 – and return to their zombie state.  Not that they are not functioning, even enjoying themselves, even telling jokes.  But no one can do anything that involves continuation.  

Me, for instance, once a relatively responsible individual, keep missing online meetings, forgetting to call people back, lose emails…  I hope I’m being forgiven for my blackouts, but I fear I will never have many of the friends I once had.

 

was there a siren Read Post »

israeli politics

getting used to war -3.14.26

from the moment the warning sirens go off, our motions are automatic.  If they are indeed warning signs, we have five whole minutes.  We slip into shoes, grab our bags and separate to the two bathrooms in our flat, then meet at the door for the speedy descent 2 floors to the shelter. 

On the way, I open the door to the building so passersby can join us, and totter the last 13 steps with increasing relief. 

I don’t care about what I’ve forgotten.  I’m focussed on escape.

And I’m grateful when I go back up the steps and I can try to go back to sleep, or have breakfast, or rewarm my lunch, or go back to my crossword.  Nothing else is possible for me – not reading, not writing, not cleaning.  I can do laundry, I can cook simple meals – especially those that can be cooked in a timed pot, like my rice cooker.

I could go on like this indefinitely, even with the insufficient sleep that is imposed on us by the rockets – last night at 11:30 and this morning around 4 for example.

But my life – like the lives of all Israelis, Lebanese, and Persians – have been reduced to minimal survival at best.

AT BEST

 

getting used to war -3.14.26 Read Post »

israeli politics

inclusion - 3.13.26

By necessity we have been very involved in our own lives.  From the beginning of this war, for example the news on tv has extended its hours to cover most of the day, but it covers primarily local news – what rockets have fallen, what damage has been done, who has been injured, etc.  

And for us, in a specific area, the concern is specific.  Does it affect my area, my neighborhood, my group?  

It isn’t surprising, then, that we don’t react with great shame at the criticism that we don’t care enough for the people of Gaza.  We can’t.  We’ve got enough problems of our own.

But the latest onslaught on the North by Hizballah and Iran has really aroused our sympathy.  We know what it means to run for cover, and are appreciative of the early warning system that allows us to put on our shoes and coat before the race to the shelter, and know the north doesn’t have that.  We also know there are many villages that have no protection at all.  There is no way not to include all the population of the north in our prayers for safety and our consciousness.

I haven’t been in an Arab village since October, 2023, but I remember writing to a friend with a concrete factory in the north that they would do well to build shelters – and being answered with patience that it was an impossible request.  So they will have to suffice with my prayers, I guess.

 

 

i Read Post »

israeli politics

kids - 3.3.26

the children who come to our shelter are usually visiting their grandparents or happen to be in the street, and they really don’t feel like talking to some old lady, so I was very happy to see in the Times of Israel an interview with a kid who is aware and comfortable in his new reality.  

 

 

kids -3.3.26 Read Post »

israeli politics

simple pharmacy trip v-3.11.26

I blame the contrast between our warm bed and the cold, damp shelter.  But whatever it was, for the first few days of the war I was really suffering.  I kept thinking I would come down with bronchitis and I wrapped myself up in at least 3 layers before i put my coat on.  But Ezi seemed fine with it, so as usual I blamed my finicky nature.  Since then, Ezi has been hacking away and getting sicker and sicker.  Today was the first day he brightened up a bit, so when i offered to buy more cold medicine he offered to join me.  And, as always seems to happen, the chore itself seemed to somewhat relieve his symptoms.   But the queue was very long so I offered to wander the store while Ezi sat outside.  

There was really a lot of stuff I wanted, stuff to spoil me, cosmetics I don’t need or use, perfumes (for the man who lost his sense of smell in Covid), vitamins that don’t do anything because I forget to take them, nail polish (I’m going for what Churchill called ‘victory red’)…. You know, the usual.  But as I wandered the normally elegant pharmacy it began to look more and more like a remainder store.  The brands I treat myself to all the time were just not there, except in the cosmetics department.  And when it finally came my turn, the only cough medicines and cold medications were something you’d buy in the dollar store, and the even the nail polish remover was generic and ineffective.  

When I complained to Ezi (the pharmacist seemed too young to remember better times) he reasoned that the shipping blockade of the Houtis together with the flying limitations have made the usual imports problematic.  

This, I explained, is why I always carry a large stock of my favorite items.  He did not appreciate this response, tired of items falling out of the cupboards whenever he opens the doors.

All this, is not what I need to be reminded that there is a war going on.  Seven alarms last night threw even the hardiest neighbor off track, and this morning most of them didn’t make it to the shelter.  I myself was told I responded to every siren, but I have no memory of it…

 

simple pharmacy trip – 3.11.26 Read Post »

israeli politics

hair bomb part 2-3.10.26

This morning’s bombing caught us all off guard.  We were in the middle of exercising at home, at the point where you begin to cool down, and once again, we had to run down to the shelter.  And as usual in the morning there were lots of passersby as well as the usual residents,  But then a neighbor who usually doesn’t make it downstairs came in with her son, and had to tell us all how she arrived in time.  A nice man helped her to the back of his four-wheel scooter and dropped her off in front of our house.  Her son, who was running behind them, photographed them, and I realize the kind gentleman was the very hairdresser who cut my hair yesterday.  

So the crazy stories fit together.  

The three other attacks were uneventful.  This afternoon the two sirens kept Ezi out of bed, and he really needs to be staying in bed. I hope we have time to recover.


hair bomb part 2 – 3.10.26 Read Post »

israeli politics

hair bomb - 3.9.26

Because I was anticipating the sirens at 2 a.m. all evening before they came, my sleep was too short to let me cope with the rest of the day.  The death of two citizens from cluster bombs made me very jumpy, and I became very anxious about going to the hairdresser.  

I went there anyway, and asked Amir where do we go in case of an attack.  “Over there,” he said, pointing to the sea-and-sun entrance.  “But you don’t need to think about it – they never come in the afternoon,”  he said, and began putting aluminum foil on parts of my hair.  

That was just before the sirens began.  I ran off before every one because I didn’t beieve I could move as fast as everyone else.  But I found myself following sign and lots of other people to another building, and after the next siren found myself unable to find my way back.  It proved 15 minutes too long for the color.  

I don’t know what happened to my hair witrh the second siren, or the  third – but I am now – after 4 hours – an exhausted redhead.


hair bomb – 3.9.26 Read Post »

israeli politics

No Time - 3.8.26

If you wrote me and I haven’t answered, if you called me and the line was dead, if I promised to call, to zoom, to whatsapp, please understand – Bombs take time.

I forgot to cancel a doctor appointment, to hold a zoom meeting, and I don’t know what else, today. I was busy running up and down the stairs running from the rockets, the cluster bombs, and whatever falls from the sky.  Sorry – today was one of the worst.  And its not over.

 

 

no time – 3.8.26 Read Post »