Tuesday 27 January 2009

It's not over yet...

The title sounds more dramatic than what I have to say, but it's the closest I can come to finding something suitable without spending hours trying to find something snappier or more apt - I do enough of that during work hours!



On several occasions, I have been intending to write about something and then before I actually get to the keyboard, I get a message along the same lines from someone else. That's what happened this evening. I got two e-mails from a friend which covered the subjects I wanted to talk about. One was a very moving e-mail written by a mother entitled "My son came home". Doesn't that just say it all? The prayer of every parent that sends a son (or daughter) to the army... Somehow, automatically, it set me thinking of those who didn't come home, not only in this war, but in previous wars too. Wars don't just end, and we don't just go back to normal when the agreements are reached. Especially in Israel, where there are very few families whose lives have not been affected by the various military campaigns. There are many families whose lives will never be the same, and as the politicians try to work out how long the cease-fire will last, it must make them wonder what it was all for. Did we go to war just to 'gain' a cease-fire? Hopefully, a lot of what we're hearing from the other side is just rhetoric.



However, what I wanted to talk about was in fact those who "came home". As the boys go back to their homes and slowly begin to work through what they have just experienced, it is becoming quite obvious that they have all been in situations when they wondered if they'd come out of them alive. They've seen things that you and I (thankfully) have only seen in films or read about in books or newspapers. As I said in an earlier post, remember - two years ago these boys were finishing high school. We are often portrayed as a belligerent and militaristic country. I have not spoken to, or heard of, one soldier who went into Gaza looking for a fight. On the contrary, none of them wanted to go there and they were all glad to get out. It was just something they had to do. Israel is not belligerent by nature - the 'belligerence' that others see is just one of man's basic needs (and rights) - to defend himself in order to survive. One of our leading politicans recently said something along the lines of 'When the other side lays down its weapons, there will be no violence; when we lay down our weapons, there will be no Israel'. Somehow that seems to get lost in the reporting...



In my friend's other e-mail, which was a general update of the situation, she did the count that every parent in Israel does. Her oldest son has eight years to go before he will be called up. My son has less than two years. I'm sure I speak for her too when I say that I would much rather be counting the number of years before they go to university and not to the army. However, why am not so optimistic?

Sunday 25 January 2009

A week (or so) "after"

As you can see, I've taken a rest from writing - there were just so many things that needed doing after being cooped up at home for about three weeks (still haven't had my hair cut yet - but that shouldn't take too long...). I don't think we consciously decided not to go out or stop doing 'ordinary' things during those three weeks, but there was definitely a feeling of freedom floating around on those first few days "after".



The students (and teachers, of course) have gone back to school after a surprise four week holiday. It's not easy for them at all. Some are doing Winter matriculation exams, and students within a 40 km radius of Gaza have been awarded special accommodations to compensate for the effects of the rockets, which has led to at least one TV commentator complain bitterly that students should not get rewards just because of their geographical location. I wonder how his children would have liked to take exams weeks after they were being bombed and hadn't gone to school?



I'll end this short post with an interesting story. When I got back to school, all the students, and I mean all the students, were talking about an incident which supposedly happened in Gaza. The various versions go much like this: some soldiers went into a house and a woman dressed in Arab style came and told them to leave because it was booby-trapped. She led them out and helped them on their way. When they asked her why she (an Arab woman) was helping them, she said "I am Rachel" (i.e. wife of Jacob from the Bible) and disappeared. Apparently there are other stories of weird, mysterious and miraculous events happening. As I said, this story has spread like wildfire, however, until I see an interview with the soldiers who experienced this, I'm afraid I'm putting it down to the birth of yet another urban myth.

Sunday 18 January 2009

Peace!

We're almost at the end of this blog, but there will still be one or two more posts before I finally close it down!

Tomorrow, after more than three weeks of unexpected holiday, schools in Qiryat Gat will open again. A lot of people have doubts about the reliability of the Hamas's claim that they will also respect the ceasefire. I tend to believe them, although I think we may have to brace ourselves for a wave of terror attacks (suicide bombers, etc.) inside Israel. I'll be glad to go back to school and see the students and introduce some sort of routine or semblance of normalcy to my life. I'll also be glad to see my teenage son start studying again!

While the end of this war makes me very happy, there are still too many unanswered questions. To what extent can we trust Hamas? What about Gilad Shalit? Will this be the last time we need to go into Gaza? What will the consequences (international, national and personal) be?

I saw Gaza (or what was left of it) on the news yesterday and it made me very uncomfortable. Some parts of it have been razed to the ground. I went into the (British) Guardian's website (by chance - for work purposes), and wished I hadn't. There were so many anti-Israeli articles.

I sometimes make purchases on eBay and frequently have to ask for shipping costs to Israel, and have recently received several (unsolicited) nasty comments, as if I were Israel's sole representative and were personally repsonsible for all of its actions. Some people were less obnoxious but still expressed their disapproval. I wonder how many Russians got similar messages after Georgia and Chechnya? However, the prize for anti-Israel hate-mail goes to the following, which was received by a friend of mine on Facebook - again totally unsolicited. I asked for her permission to reproduce it here, and she kindly agreed. Here it is in all its glory:

Hello monkey.You say monkey but you monkey then monkey do an injustice has become. Because you your pets from you as you a more beautiful. We Are muslim turk sthe Gaza muslims we firmly stand by. A Fearful people. You Are the gaza town tear it down. We Are again came to ourselves . Legs The Jews kissed,Pardon Our will long Damn You people. Take revenge God making is not always on the go. The revenge of the tribe God will be pain.Fear!!!Fear muslims. Your end of animal filth will be like. Now tear it down the gaza town. We Are the next more beautiful to set up and there he will continue to exist. This for the time being until the. The Jewish people of the fear muslims and turkish muslims come Zionist dogs.Turkish all the land palestinian. We Are All and every turkish palestinian. Come and Go in the us beats . We Are very wars we have seen. Very bloodbaths lived. The Turkish land meter showed up blood. But you we rats miracles the mandate to create a achieved. Now this good lines read. Get moving away!! Pounding to feed. We Are ottoman grandchildren. The Ottoman empire does not know learn.Because the ottoman grandson of the ottoman as powerful.Fear the jewish dog!!fear!! Fear And start quaking.And do not forget! We Are also palestinian! Each of the palestinian.

The English may be a little "different", but he manages to convey his message quite clearly. I'm already wondering what it will be like for Israelis who travel abroad this year. I guess there might be a lot of hatred aimed at them. For some further examples of the way the wind is blowing, go to this CNN poll and read the comments:

http://www.israel-vs-palestine.com/gz/?

Make your vote in order to read the comments. (You don't need to leave a comment - just scroll down to read what others are saying). It doesn't make for pleasant reading...

I think I'll only add one or two more posts and then I'll close this blog down. It has achieved its aim, which was to allow me to inform friends and relatives abroad about what is happening without having to send personal e-mails. It was not intended to be anything more than that...

Saturday 17 January 2009

Could this be the end?

As I write, the Cabinet is deciding whether to approve a unilateral cease-fire, which, if observed, should lead to a pull out of our forces some days later. I heard at some stage of the day ( I think it was a quote from someone in the Home Command) that we residents of the south should be prepared for a busy night, as he reckoned that if the end really is in sight, Hamas will 'give us all they've got' and do all they can to achieve some kind of 'glorious victory'. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Watch this space tomorrow (if it's still here!) or read the newspapers...

We had one alert today, and, believe it or not, for the first time we all got to the shelter in a normal fashion. How can I describe what you feel? Believe me, I'm an amateur - the people in Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Be'er Sheva can describe the feeling much better. To be honest, you know that you only have 45 seconds to get to the shelter, so by the time you've heard the alarm, checked that it is a genuine alarm and not coming from the TV, radio or computer, made sure that everyone else knows there's an alert and rush to the shelter, you're basically left with about only ten seconds for any feelings which you might have. You look at each other and listen very hard, but there's not really time to go through any range of feelings - I'd say numbness, or just a feeling of "let's get this over with" is closest to reality. The biggest guess is after you hear the boom when to leave the shelter. Can you assume that there's only been one rocket? What if there are more coming in short succession afterwards? The Home Command (so I discovered today, at least) recommends waiting for five more minutes. We're usually out after about half a minute...

There's still a lot more to say, but I'm waiting until this is all over. I want to see how things develop. If we stop now and our towns in the south can resume normal life, this will obviously be the best option, since I don't want our soldiers to spend one day more than they have to in Gaza. Unfortunately, my feeling is that Hamas won't be happy until they pay us back. A unilateral cease-fire is just that - unilateral. Any rational fighting force would welcome this chance for peace, but 'rational' doesn't really come to mind when I think of adjectives I can use to describe the Hamas.

Does anyone have anything to add? I know it's not easy to add comments on this blog for some reason, but if you persist it will eventually work. What is happening outside Israel? Has the doctor whose house was bombed been given much publicity?

Friday 16 January 2009

Why don't I keep my big mouth closed?????

What did I call the last posting? "The last war blog"???? Mmmm - not quite, it seems....

Today, we were all set for a pleasant family celebration. It is our niece Noga's birthday and my brother-in-law Erez has a couple of days leave from the army. They had invited both sides of the family for a lunch on their moshav, five minutes from Qiryat Gat. Just as we were on the point of leaving, the sirens began. Usual rush, everyone into the shelter. Yonatan, it appears, has to add colour to every alert that we have. This time he was in the middle of brushing his teeth, and had mouth-wash in his mouth. Instead of getting rid of it, he came to the shelter as he was, so as the siren continued to wail, we had a lovely game of charades trying to guess why he wouldn't open his mouth... We heard the 'boom' waited for a few more seconds in case there was another blast (in fact there was but we didn't hear it) and then carried on with our preparations for the birthday party.

It turned out that two rockets landed in the town (we've made the headlines at last!). In yesterday's post, I was a little cynical about the 'luck' aspect of the way the rockets fall - well, today I eat my hat and take my words (and cynicism) back. Since the place where the rocket fell is there for all to see on the Internet, I don't think I'll be breaking any censorship rules by referring to the location. First of all, it landed some twenty metres short of a petrol station which could have been really nasty. Three people were injured and two people were traumatised. A considerable amount of damage was caused. And here's an additional luck aspect. It landed in the car park which serves both a very busy health centre and a wedding hall. Had this happened on a normal working day, I'm sure we would have been talking about a number of fatalities. Call it miracle, luck or whatever you like, but Qiryat Gat should breathe a sigh of relief today.

We then went to the moshav for the birthday party. Funnily enough, the kids were the least affected - they seem to be pretty resilient beings, unlike the adults. A few were rather edgy for the rest of the day, especially those who came from the centre of the country. Yet, everything is relative. My sister-in-law's sister lives on Netiv Ha'asara which is literally on the border with Gaza. They have had and are still having a rought time of it. They have been ordered not to go anywhere that is further than fifteen seconds from the 'protected area' in their houses. Their children are taken out of the moshav every day and are not even allowed to congregate in one spot to catch the bus - the bus comes and picks each one up individually. Helps us put things into perspective!

It was interesting to look on from the side today. There were people who were either born in, or their parents came from, India, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Romania, Poland, South Africa and (of course) Scotland. Among them, the men (and some women) had fought in every major military confrontation that Israel has had from the War of Independence in 1948 until the last war in Lebanon. It made me wonder when we will finally have a generation that will not have to send its sons to fight our neighbours.

So, today's lesson is not to count your chickens before they're hatched (or not to count your Grads before they land...?).

Shabbat shalom to all...

Thursday 15 January 2009

Hopefully the last "war blog"

This is my third post for today - could I be getting addicted to this???? Well, the first two don't really count as they were mainly there for the links. If you haven't seen them, please have a look... but open them in the right order...

Well, we haven't really been getting a good press (although it is actually better than I thought it would be), but I guess it won't be good now that we've hit the UN compound and the foreign press building on the same day. I dare say the fact that people in both places had been firing on our soldiers will be considered irrelevant. I can understand that the Hamas people weren't exactly invited in, and, if I were in the building or compound, I certainly wouldn't go up to them in the middle of the action and say "I say - would you mind awfully removing your RPG from our building?", but it all boils down to the "It's them or us" attitude that I talked about in an earlier post. We had no choice. Many people will disagree with me, but I am convinced that our soldiers were protecting themselves.

In a sense, I can understand the world's outrage, but where was the same outrage when rockets were falling on Sderot over the last eight years? I suppose there are "outrages" and there are "outrages" -it just depends on which side of the Arab-Israeli question you stand. Yet, if you think about it, the world is also to blame for what is happening now. All the people who are suffering in Gaza now need not have suffered if the world had stepped in at an early stage and taken the necessary measures to safeguard Israeli lives. The administrative head of our health centre lives in Sderot - I wish you could have seen how she looked when rockets in Sderot were a daily occurrence, and heard her talk about the anguish of having to come to work and leave her children behind. Wouldn't that have made a nice 'item' for foreign reporters? I wonder why no one thought of showing our side of it, while we were just sitting back and taking it. I guess I might know the answer....

Another thing is the number of casualties. While there is no comparing the fire power being used, look at the small number of Israeli casualties. As the bombs fell during Hanukkah people used expressions like "nitzal be'ness" (saved by a miracle) or "another miracle of Hanukkah". There were no miracles here - just a lot of good luck and good sense. The fact that we build houses to protect their inhabitants. Maybe that's our mistake? If human life weren't so important here, and we didn't build proper shelters for ALL of the population, and if we didn't have the moral decency to hide our dead and wounded as much as possible from the public eye and rush them to hospital to get medical treatment, perhaps we would have had pictures to compete with the ones the world is seeing now. The question is: would it have pushed them into doing anything?

Today, a car suffered a direct hit in Be'er Sheva. The people in it got out and lay on the ground -just like we did, and I described in a previous post - however, they weren't so lucky. Two people, including a seven-year-old boy are in a serious condition. The others were moderately injured.
We were lucky - they weren't. Russian roulette a la israelienne....

Hopefully, this war is coming to an end and we will be able to get back to our routine. What will I do then? Well, watch this space....

Wednesday 14 January 2009

Please watch after reading the previous posting...

A propos, Hitler's rhetoric, I can't help but add this - to be watched after the clip about the Hamas. It's the scene from the film Cabaret which for me stands out the most , and even as I watched the clip on Youtube just now to check that it was OK, it still makes me shiver to see how one lone voice suddenly sweeps (almost) everyone around him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUwpLyIDIJw&feature=related

History repeating itself?

When you watch this clip, it is easy to say that this is just rhetoric for internal consumption, and basically wishful thinking. I would imagine a lot of Germans felt the same way when they heard Hitler making his speeches in the early 1930s, and look where that got us. Today, the main target of the Hamas is Israel, but what about tomorrow?As my childrens' music teacher always says when they are playing "Think ahead! Try to be one step ahead of where you are now". An excellent life-skill, I think...

Perhaps now would be a good time to remember what the German pastor Martin Niemoller once said:
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me. "

Watch this, and think about Hitler...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i08L09V0_sg&feature=related

An amazingly brave woman

Please take the time to look at this clip which shows Wafa Sultan express her point of view with regard to Islamic fundamentalism . She's lucky that she lives in the USA for I fear that she would not live for very long in any Arab country. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if someone somewhere has already issued a fatwah against her. It takes a lot of strength of character to stand up and say what she says (if you're of Arab descent). If only more people (not only Muslims) thought like her...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1296126090432829344

Tuesday 13 January 2009

A very quiet day

Today has been very quiet - at least in Qiryat Gat.

On the other hand, it has been quite a rough day diplomatically. It appears that our glorious Prime Minister feels that our country is so strong and independent that he can allow himself to offend our closest ally and strongest supporter (the USA). He stood up and publicly gave the impression (with typical Israeli chutzpah) that he was the person who told Bush to give Condoleeza Rice orders to abstain rather than vote against Israel in the UN. The Americans - not surprisingly - are furious, and are demanding some sort of retraction, or at least clarification. To any Americans reading this, you shouldn't really be offended. He has been lying to us for years! All the same, it is embarrassing for this to happen at a time when the rest of the world is roundly condemning us. Ingratitude par excellence...

As I write this, our neighbour's house alarm just went off and Mickey, our dog, is going crazy, which she never used to do when house alarms went off in the past. I assume that when there is a real alert that perhaps dogs are more sensitive to the blast afterwards, so she's maybe frightened and waiting for the boom. I'll stop here to go and sit with her and calm her down a little...

Monday 12 January 2009

Attack today

Today, at 8 a.m., we had an alert. Sari and I called the kids both of whom were sleeping. Adi appeared first, but Yonatan didn't appear. After shouting his name once more he did appear - he had heard the alarm all along but had thought (for some reason) that it was just a drill. We rushed to the shelter, closed the door, looked at each other and then heard the 'boom'. Not a pleasant experience, but what does it do to people who have been experiencing this for 8 years?
Watch this genuine video, filmed before the current war began:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kroyMfkoRHA

(By the way, the rocket - a "Grad" - landed in an open space, no casualties)

Saturday 10 January 2009

Into the third week...

A picture is worth a thousand words, so whatever I write will not compete with what we're seeing on our TV screens from Gaza. The only thing I can offer is the following....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dGW8bX_XF8

Friday 9 January 2009

Shabbat shalom...

No politics today. The family came for the shabbat evening meal - Erez is still away. Rotem, who looks as if she hasn't slept for days (and probably hasn't), will visit him tomorrow and take him food and other useful things.

The kids were all in Tel Aviv today to see a big show with all the stars. That's the amazing thing here - normally everyone is at each other's throat, but the minute we have a national crisis, everyone pulls together. You can go almost anywhere in Israel now,and the minute you say you're from the South, you'll get a reduction. The young kids from our area have been bussed out almost every day to a different place to keep them out of danger. On Sunday, they're going on a tour of the Coca Cola plant in Bnei Brak.

So, let's hope we have a quiet shabbat. Shabbat shalom to you all!

Thursday 8 January 2009

Living from day to day

Yesterday I was sure that we were coming to the end of the hostilities, today is a whole new ball game. That's life in the Middle East.

This morning, just so that we didn't forget about their existence (as if we could), our friends on the northern border decided to fire a couple of rockets at Nahariya on the border with Lebanon. I have just watched the news. One fell on an old folks home, thankfully not causing any serious physical injuries, but it was horrible to see how shocked the elderly people were.

Later on, when Israel once again initiated a unilateral cease fire to allow humanitarian aid to get through, the Hamas did two things. Firstly, it told the Palestinian citizens not to go out of their homes or take food, as it was a Zionist trick; secondly, it proceeded to fire rockets at Israel.

Just now, I understand that the Hamas has rejected the Egyptian proposals and Israel tends to think that they are not suitable. In other words, having been offered a ladder to get down from the tree, neither side is taking advantage of it. Since our forces, as they stand, in Gaza have pretty much done as much as they can, if we don't reach an agreement, we will have to send our reserve soldiers in. The results could be absolutely disastrous.

One of the problems is that the value we place on human life is seen as a weakness by the Hamas. They are trying to take soldiers hostage as they know this is Israel's weakest point. I saw footage of booby-trapped dummies which, when they blow up reveal a tunnel into which 'hopefully' the Israeli soldier who detonated it will fall and if he is still alive can then be taken hostage. They apparently jump out of buildings and try to drag soldiers to tunnels. On the other hand, the clip that I posted which shows how they use children as human shields shows exactly how much value the other side places on human life. Have you noticed that every house in Israel either has its own shelter or is situated next to a public one? On the other hand, I haven't seen any shelters, public or otherwise, in Gaza. People, it appears, huddle in public buildings or just sit tight in their homes (many of which have a complete arsenal in the basement). One can only assume that this lack of shelters is linked to the fact that dead civilians make better propaganda tools. Israeli TV networks never show clear images of our fatalities on TV. The other side has no problem with that.

Enough for today. Who knows? Maybe by tomorrow we'll have found a solution...????

Shocking!

We know they do this, but it is shocking when you actually see it happen. Remember, these are our neighbours and THEIR CHILDREN... Golda Meir once said "Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us." See the proof...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J08GqXMr3YE

Just so we remember who we are up against....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRk16dGJPaQ

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Is the end in sight?

It looks like we're reaching the end of these operations. Today was certainly much quieter - only about 14 rockets were fired into Israel today. TV commentators seem to think that both sides ar ready to stop the fighting, and interestingly, one reckons that the people who are most put out by this are the Egyptians, who would have been very happy to see us deal a deadlier blow to the Hamas.


I can't help wondering two things. To what extent have we weakened the Hamas, and what about Gilad Shalit, the soldier who has been held captive for over 900 days by the Hamas? As regards the first, I'm not sure - they still have a lot of rockets; the question is whether this will dare to use them again after an agreement. Also, will we be able to effectively prevent them from replacing the ones they fired at us?

Well, I took a short break for some teaching and in the meantime it looks like this previous question is being answered already. The Air Force has scattered leafelts telling the population of Rafiah (Rafah) to leave their homes. It seems that they are going to bomb the are in order to destroy all the tunnels there.

Which leaves us with Gilad Shalit. I know that our soldiers have been told to take as many prisoners as possible, and this must surely be in order to serve as a bargaining card so as to bring Gilad home. It beats me how the world has such blatant double standards when it comes to Israel. We are expected to be humane while our enemies tantalisingly hold a soldier captive and refuse to let the Red Cross anywhere near him in complete contravention to the Geneva Convention. I also wonder how the Russians would have reacted if the world had intervened as they are doing now while they were putting the Chechens in order. And those of you living in Britain and France should know that you are getting a preview of what will surely come your way - maybe not even in the coming ten years or so, but you or your children will eventually have to deal with the consequences and pay the price. I wonder how understanding British and French governments will be when the Hamas supporters in your midst start playing their little games. By the way, I do hope that all the impartial news broadcasts are reporting how the Hamas are using civilians as a human shield, and how their leaders are all hiding in a bunker under the hospital in Gaza...

Unfortunately we are in a situation where it is basically them or us. Our Russian population tends to be fairly right-wing, and one couple asked me why it was OK for the allies to bomb German cities and drop an atom bomb on thousands of innocent civilians in Japan. What's the answer? We are more civilised? I think we might be doing the previous generation a disservice if we were to suggest that were the case. Or is it just unfair because we are stronger and have greater fire power? Can we please forget the "David and Goliath" bit? Does "right" and "wrong" no longer play a part?

I don't mean to sound particularly militaristic, but we have a duty to our children. They say that although the border with Lebanon has been quiet for the last two years, the Hizballah have slowly but surely regained positions and reequipped themselves. It seems to be a story that repeats itself again and again. How long will every Israeli mother have a twinge of pain along with the happiness of giving birth to a son, knowing that he may have to go the army in 18 years time? My mother-in-law said that when she gave birth to Sari's youngest brother 38 years ago she told herself that by the time he reached 18 there would be no more wars and Israel would have an "army of peace". I dared to hope the same when my son Yonatan was born sixteen years ago. And where are we now? Erez has been called up and is freezing in the night air as I write this, and Yonatan will soon get his first papers from the army "asking" him to come for his physical check-up and other tests. How much longer?

Tuesday 6 January 2009

No alerts today!

Today we had an alert-free day, although it doesn't mean that it's over yet. To celebrate, or more accurately, just to get out of the house, we went out to a nearby restaurant (where Adi works). Half of the area was closed off and the other half was almost empty. People are either too frightened or just not in the mood to leave their homes.

The atmosphere here is very tense these days. With five fatalities - four from "friendly fire" and the fifth being hugged by a suicide bomber as he blew himself up - and as our troops come closer to Gaza and the densely-packed refugee camps, you can feel that people are bracing themselves for the inevitable. One of the lessons from the Second Lebanon War is that the army now takes mobile phones from all soldiers before they cross the border so that no unnecessary information gets passed on to anyone that might be listening (we also have warnings on the radio not to discuss locations etc. on our mobiles). So when Adi got a call from Itai last night, it made us freeze totally, since the only phone calls from soldiers in Gaza are usually made from ambulances on their way to hospital. It turned out that he had been called back out for only a few minutes and that he had taken advantage of this to give her a call. All we know is that he is OK, nothing else.

These days remind me of the previous war and the one thing that all parents of soldiers dreaded. A knock on the door, especially in the middle of the night. This happened to one of my colleagues at work then. She had two sons in the army, and when she opened the door and saw the representatives of the army standing there, all she could say was "Which one is it?". Today we heard the parents of some of the wounded speaking on the radio about what was going through their heads when the phone rang last night. I'm sure no one else can even begin to imagine what these people are going through.

We remarked today that those who served in the Lebanon War are not being called up and my only guess is that most of them have been so traumatised by what happened there that it is probably better to give them a break this time. I still find it amazing to think of young 18-20-year-olds in Europe and the US whose biggest decision in life is what to study or which career path to choose (like me at that age), while our young boys are facing life and death decisions.

Well, that's it for today. We are all going to bed wondering what we will wake up to....

Monday 5 January 2009

Routine?

A 'normal' day today (in spite of not hearing three alarms, but jumping at every motorbike that revvs up or cat that decides to imitate a siren or even the noise from our artillery which we hear every so often). No news from Gaza, more and more people being called to their units. Still no school, still not going anywhere. The waiting, combined with not knowing what is going on, is not a pleasant feeling. On the other hand, it's much worse in other places, so we should count our blessings.

Sunday 4 January 2009

First day inside Gaza

We certainly have learned our lessons from the second war in Lebanon. Our soldiers have been in Gaza for 24 hours and we've hardly heard a thing. Certainly very few images from inside the strip - we're being told only what we need to know, in contrast with the previous war when we were told too many things that we didn't need to know. This is a classic case of no news is good news, but it is difficult for Israelis who generally like to know all the details about everything. For those of you who don't know, one soldier has been killed, and two (one from Qiryat Gat) have been seriously injured, with about thirty others wounded to various degrees.

This massive call up seems to me to be very strange. Tens of thousands, according to the news. We certainly know plenty of people (and not all young) who have been called up. On the one hand, it could be some kind of bluff to make it look as if we're going to stay in Gaza for a long time, but even for that I don't think we need tens of thousands of soldiers. It seems to me that the only other possibility is that the powers-that-be are worried that we might have problems either on the northern borders or possibly on the West Bank.


It's funny how people react in these situations. Our youngsters all complain that Qiryat Gat is a dead-end kind of place - it has a population of 52,000 but very few places of entertainment, not even a cinema - so their current joke is that we have had fewer attacks than Ashkelon and Ashdod because Qiryat Gat isn't worth wasting a rocket on...


Earlier today, I went to our health centre which is not in town but near Sari's parents' moshav. The people there are mainly of Moroccan or Kurdish origin, and there is little love lost for our neighbours in Gaza. I won't repeat what I heard, but it makes you wonder if there will ever be any hope of reconciliation one day.


As you can see, it's all hearsay today. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

In the meantime....

In the meantime, a reminder of why this is happening:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im4KE3nkGA0

Saturday 3 January 2009

Post-script to a strange day

Call it a bad day....
My brother-in-law Erez has just been called up.
Dorit, if you read this, don't mention it to anyone who might be in touch with family in Israel just yet. We're trying to give Menachem and Rivka at least one more night's sleep before they find out...

A strange day...

After the quiet of yesterday, something was bound to happen...

We (all four of us) were on our way to Sari's parents' house and hadn't even got out of Qiryat Gat when the alert sounded. The orders are for anyone travelling in a car to get out, take shelter in the hallway of any nearby building, or if you are in an open space to lie flat on the ground with your hands covering your head. We were (of course) in an open space. I stopped the car and we all dashed out, and a quick look around showed that most other car passengers were doing the same. I spotted something made from concrete (still don't know what it was) and called for the others to take shelter behind it. (Totally wrong thing to do, by the way, but you don't really think about that at the time). We were joined by two elderly Russian ladies who had been out taking their Shabbat stroll. The siren continued to wail and we waited to see where the rocket would land. One of the Russian ladies got into a real panic and started crying, insisting this was the end for us all... I always knew my Russian would come in handy some time, so I suppose this might count - not that she paid much attention to me (maybe my Russian made her cry more???). The rocket fell somewhere on the outskirts of the town, and after hearing the boom we went on our way again.

Then, about an hour and a half later, we heard the sirens again. This time, thankfully, no hysterical Russians. Even the small kids were very good. We all packed into a very narrow corridor in Sari's parents' house (the place which has least windows) but if a rocket had fallen anywhere in the vicinity, we would still have had a lot of cuts - at best.

After that, we decided that the best place was to eat outside, so there we were, having lunch on a beautfully sunny day, birds twittering all around us and war planes flying over us every so often. Certainly not your normal Shabbat lunch.

We came home, unable to persuade Sari's parents to come with us. They at least agreed to go to Sari's brother's house on the moshav, as it has a reinforced room in it.

I understand - the details as I write are pretty sketchy - that we seem to be entering a new phase this evening. So far, we seem to have learned a lot from our mistakes in Lebanon (and there were many), and have been fairly effective (I assume) in achieving our aims. Let's hope we don't get sunk into a quagmire similar to what happened to our tanks and infantry in Lebanon two years ago. Adi has so many friends there, our friends' boys are there - many people will be having sleepless nights in our area over the next few days.

We haven't been given permission to teach the students who are supposed to take thier matriculation exams next week. At first we thought we would bus them to Arad, a town well out of reach from Gaza, but that has been cancelled.

Let's hope this whole situation ends quickly, for everybody's sake....

Friday 2 January 2009

A quiet day (so far?)

Well, today has been quiet, apart from planes flying overhead. It's funny, because we were all convinced that today would be the day the army would move in to Gaza. I have mixed feelings about the army moving in. On the one hand, I think we've done about as much as we can from the air (memories of Lebanon...) and it is precisely because of the memories of Lebanon that I'm worried about "going in". As most of you know, Adi was a tank instructor (in fact, if she hadn't finished her time in the army, she'd probably be somewhere near Gaza now) which means she knows a tremendous amount of soldiers in the tank divisions. I hate to think what effect any 'losses' would have on her personally. Add to that the fact that her boyfriend, Itai, is there too.



These poor guys have been waiting since the beginning of the week, sleeping with their boots on ready for any unexpected change in the situation, and were only allowed to go to have a shower yesterday. Adi heard that they were being given a short break today somewhere not far from here, so we sent her to the supermarket to load up with burekas (cheese-filled pastries), freshly-baked croissants, biscuits, cakes and juice. It won't exactly remind them of home, but hopefully it will let them know that we are all thinking about them. Adi called one of them, and asked what she could bring and he insisted that she didn't need to bring anything. She in turn insisted until he said "Maybe a bottle of cola". The problem is that the world sees "Israeli soldiers" as the Goliath that faces the Palestinian David, and not as young kids who like to drink cola just like any other average young person in the west. These soldiers are just 19- or 20-year-old kids who joined the army immediately after school, not necessarily because they wanted to but because they had to. Unlike the Hamas terrorists who have made an active choice to risk their lives and try to kill civilians, our boys would probably like nothing more than to be at the Shabbat table in a warm house with their families this evening. Let's hope they all come home soon.



As for us, Sari and I drove to Qiryat Malachi which is about 20 minutes away and also in the danger zone. We went to do some shopping at an outlet (yes, Dorit - Qiryat Malachi now has an outlet!!!) and there weren't many people there at all, and shops have signs which say things like "We have a shelter inside the shop!" Needless to say, the restaurant where Adi works has suffered a lot over the past week - their New Year celebrations were a disaster with the staff more or less outnumbering the customers.



In a few hours, we are going to have our Shabbat meal with the rest of the family (we do it by rotation, each week at a different brother's house). We'll be fewer than usual, as Anat, Oded's wife, decided to 'evacuate' her children to her mother's house on Kibbutz Tzora, and she will be with them tonight. The sirens were just having too serious an effect on the youngest two. Their area ( the moshav where Sari's parents also live) has had a lot of alarms. I feel sorry for Sari's parents whose house has absolutely no protection and there is no working public shelter nearby. (Ironically, there is a shelter opposite their house but it has been sadly neglected by the local authorities and it is therefore unfit for use). Every time there's an alert, all they can do is sit and wait. We've all tried to persuade them to come to stay with us but they don't want to. I can understand them in a way, since we have also had many invitations from friends (who live in the centre or north of the country) to come and stay with them, but everyone seems to prefer their own corner... at least, for as long as they can stand it.



It's been a longer blog today - you've been subjected to more of my opinions than I had planned! In conclusion, today has been a 'good' day. It just makes you wonder if it is the lull before the storm...

Thursday 1 January 2009

Well, it's a start!

After telling myself many times that I should start a blog, I have finally put fingers to keyboard... Initially, I thought "Who would want to read what I have to say?". On the other hand, it's an easy way to keep in touch with my frinds both here in Israel and abroad. As you will agree, I'm not the best letter-writer, so this might be the ideal solution!

Today just seemed to be the right time to start a blog. The first day of a new year, a war raging around me, stuck at home since you never know what might happen if you leave your house... a blog sounds like a relatively safe way of passing the time.

It's a strange feeling, being in almost self-imposed imprisonment, hearing loud bangs every so often and also feeling the whole house shake all around you. It made me think of the people in Sderot who have suffered this for years, and then it made me think of the innocent people in Gaza who are suffering because of a bunch of terrorists. Unless you've been there, you really cannot imagine sitting at home and hearing a boom, and then thinking "Is it ours or is it theirs?" and "If it's theirs, where has it landed? Could anyone I know have been hurt?" that's the way we tend to think here in Israel after any kind of attack - who do I know that might be affected? Eventually, you almost always find some sort of connection somehow.

I have just read on the Internet that the Hamas's response to the assassination of one of its foremost leaders today will be to "set the West Bank on fire". Well, if they do, Qiryat Gat will have a busy time, being geographically located between Gaza and Hebron.

On that happy note, I'll end this first posting. So far, we still have no school - a wise decision, since our school does not have the means to offer even minimal protection to the thousand plus students and teachers - so it looks like I'll have time to prattle on even more and maybe try to develop my non-existent blogging skills!