This month I got an update from the blog's site monitor, and I was quite surprised to see that people still go in and check if I've added anything. Given that I haven't added anything for I long time, I was actually quite flattered. I made a mental note to add a post this weekend, in which I would break away from the war theme and talk about the outrages in the education system in Israel as a whole, and Qiryat Gat in particular. And then a couple of things happened that made me change my mind.
The first thing was a report on the radio that said that since the "cease-fire", over one hundred rockets have landed in Israel. I wonder how many people knew that – both inside and outside of Israel? I, for one, didn't know that the amount was so high, and I live within the radius of the rockets! Now, I wonder if Israel had fired 100 rockets into the Gaza strip over the same period of time how many people would know… Half the world and its mother, I would imagine.
Our own personal link to Sderot, which has suffered the worst of the bombing, is the administrative head of our health centre. By chance, we were at the health centre this week, and we asked her how things are. She said, "Can you imagine being at home and suddenly hearing a 'boom', knowing that your child is on her way to the library?" Personally, I can't. How these people maintain their sanity is a mystery to me.
Then, this week, our son, Yonatan, got a letter in the post. Not just any letter. It was his first call-up for the army. In June, he'll go to the army centre in Be'er Sheva for the initial round of examinations. I'm pretty sure he'll go into some form of combat unit, provided he passes the medical. Who knows what his three years of military service will bring? I don't even want to think about it. I just tell myself that it is something that has to be done.
Altogether, it has been a pretty depressing week. We were called in to a meeting at my 'main' job, where the probable effects of the worldwide recession/depression (which hasn't really hit Israel yet) were explained very clearly. However, in addition to the general common-garden effects that everyone else has to face, we, being Israelis, have an added 'bonus'. The knock-on effects of the Gaza campaign. Employees in one of our European offices have even received hate-mail because they work for an Israeli company, not to mention one weirdo's call on his blog ("SOS palestina") to boycott our products. Also, apparently, every penny that we earn goes towards killing Palestinians… The fact that every penny the Hamas get their paws on goes towards rockets and suicide bombers is, of course, irrelevant, and probably quite legitimate in those people's eyes. There is not one Jewish family still living in the Gaza strip, so what more do they want? All or nothing, it would seem.
Finally, today was the last straw. An Arab tractor driver tried to drive his bulldozer into a police car and push it into a bus. Many of you who read this blog will know exactly what I am referring to when I say that it was like turning the clock back some eight months. In fact, when we heard the news, Sari and I just froze and looked at each other without speaking. This time we were lucky. This time there won't be a wife and children who get a call telling them that the husband or father that they said goodbye to in the morning won't be coming home again.
This is the first sentence of how it was reported on the BBC news site.
"The driver of a construction vehicle in West Jerusalem has been shot dead by police after he rammed a police car."
I'm willing to bet that if an Israeli had done the same thing in East Jerusalem, the semantics would have been slightly different.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the double standards in this whole messy affair are only making it worse. The more Israel feels its back is against the wall, and that no one will even listen to us, let alone give us a fair hearing, the more intransigent we will become. We obviously have nothing to gain by doing what the rest of the world would like us to do. In fact we have got a lot to lose. Our lives, basically... But then, Jewish/Israeli lives have never really been worth that much to the rest of the world, have they?
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Well,well,well....
When you read this, bear in mind it does not come from an Israeli source, but the BBC which, as we all know, is known for its particular stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And look who's doing the complaining... the UN!!!! Could this be the beginning of the messianic age???
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7875171.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7875171.stm
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Let me get this right....
There's something I just don't get...
1. The Palestinians have been firing rockets at Sderot for about 8 years.
2. We moved all Jewish settlements out of the Gaza strip some 3 years ago.
3. Theoretically, there should have been no need, therefore, to continue firing rockets at Israel.
4. The Palestinians continued to fire rockets at Israel.
5. During these eight years, the world said nothing about the rockets being fired at Israel.
6. Israel finally had enough and retaliated.
7. The world was in an uproar - how could we do such a thing?
8. Israel bloodied the Hamas's nose and then left Gaza unilaterally.
9. Yesterday, in the Hague, it was decided to investigate war crimes that were committed by Israeli soldiers while in Gaza. (What was the crime - warning people before bombing the houses that they let terrorists fire rockets from?)
10. Today, a rocket fell in the centre of Ashkelon.
11. The world hasn't said a thing.
12. Why?
I think I get it - there's one rule for terrorists (they're terrorists, so they are allowed to behave like terrorists - they "do" terrorism, that's their job) and another for democracies (they have to behave in a 'civilised' manner even if the other side is killing their citizens).
Yet, by the same token, the world should be condemning Russia for what it did in Georgia and Chechnya. One would have thought that the Hague would have rushed to check out any possible war crimes that might have occurred there.
Some people might call this double standards. I'm afraid to me it reeks of good old Antisemitism in its finest (and most refined) form...
Just one final point - I see more and more of my moderate friends becoming much more militant and right-wing in their approach. As far as I can see, their reasoning is that no one else in the world is willing to stand up for Israel and they are all pulling together as a nation does when it is under threat. The problem is that our biggest threat is not the Hamas or the Hizballah. It is the silence of the world.
1. The Palestinians have been firing rockets at Sderot for about 8 years.
2. We moved all Jewish settlements out of the Gaza strip some 3 years ago.
3. Theoretically, there should have been no need, therefore, to continue firing rockets at Israel.
4. The Palestinians continued to fire rockets at Israel.
5. During these eight years, the world said nothing about the rockets being fired at Israel.
6. Israel finally had enough and retaliated.
7. The world was in an uproar - how could we do such a thing?
8. Israel bloodied the Hamas's nose and then left Gaza unilaterally.
9. Yesterday, in the Hague, it was decided to investigate war crimes that were committed by Israeli soldiers while in Gaza. (What was the crime - warning people before bombing the houses that they let terrorists fire rockets from?)
10. Today, a rocket fell in the centre of Ashkelon.
11. The world hasn't said a thing.
12. Why?
I think I get it - there's one rule for terrorists (they're terrorists, so they are allowed to behave like terrorists - they "do" terrorism, that's their job) and another for democracies (they have to behave in a 'civilised' manner even if the other side is killing their citizens).
Yet, by the same token, the world should be condemning Russia for what it did in Georgia and Chechnya. One would have thought that the Hague would have rushed to check out any possible war crimes that might have occurred there.
Some people might call this double standards. I'm afraid to me it reeks of good old Antisemitism in its finest (and most refined) form...
Just one final point - I see more and more of my moderate friends becoming much more militant and right-wing in their approach. As far as I can see, their reasoning is that no one else in the world is willing to stand up for Israel and they are all pulling together as a nation does when it is under threat. The problem is that our biggest threat is not the Hamas or the Hizballah. It is the silence of the world.
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?
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.
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...
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?
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?
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