Archive for the ‘Israel’ Category
The summer of 1982
June 1982. I’m walking in school with radio, listening the news - reports about forces movements in places I didn’t know that existed before (and that I later learn about in first hand). I remember the English teacher, that didn’t like me, kissing me when I announced about the cease fire and the relief in her eyes. Her husband, my electronic teacher, was there in reserved duty.
That summer I went to summer camp, organized by the army, preparing us for future rolls of combatant soldiers and officer. We were talking with a paratrooper that “was there”. We admired him and were jealous. We were worried that no fighting will be left for us when it will be our turn. I guess nothing can compete with the stupidity of the youth.
At least two guys that were with me at that summer camp died in Lebanon. We spent our youth in the mountains of Lebanon and the streets of Gaza and Hebron, killing and dying. We kept fighting the war of June 1982 telling ourself that this is the only way to protect our families back home.
Watching the the trailer of the new animation movie - Waltz with Bashir reminded me this summer. If the movie is as good as the trailer, and from what I’m here it is, it should be a great movie.
Back at work
Going back to work the day after arriving back from Israel is not the most fun thing I ever done. Trying to fight the hundreds of e-mails and many issues, which I completely ignored when vacationed, while fighting the jet-lag is making the usual Monday “back to work” mood even worse. The truth is that it all would be much easier if I wouldn’t comeback with mixed feeling from Israel - Some sad thoughts about the levantinization of Israel, but I need to recover from the jet-lag before righting this post…
Mid November’s weather
One of the small funs of being in the middle of November in Eilat, in what the hotel calls “on the water room”, is to check the weather at home and see this:
It looks much nicer here 
Few more pictures can be found here
Things that never change
Coming back to visit home after long time, it is somewhat reassuring to see that somethings never change: My mother wonderful cooking, The traffic jam at Raanana junction and the knowing that no meter what I’ll get lost driving in Jerusalem…
Few more pictures can be fond here
Customer “Service”
After two days of trying,unsuccessfully, to get some help from my mother’s ISP technical support I have to conclude that I live to long outside of Israel. It seems that customer service here is very well trained to get rid of the caller as fast as possible with the least satisfactory solution - most commonly sending the caller to some other part of the organization. Internet service here is, apparently, divided between the ISP and the facilities provider (i.e. the cable company or the phone company) - and their technical support is very well trained in sending the caller to the other party.
I just don’t understand why the Israelis are willing to live with this horrible service, but this is yet another sign of living in the US for a decade…
Distraction
Israel, and its foreign policy, are being criticized for variety of reasons. Sometime the critic is valid and justified, sometime it is honest but wrong and sometime it has questionable motives. But blaming Israel for Global Warming is, by far, the most original I encounter…
Well I guess Israel and the neighboring Arab countries have to settle all their disputes, not for the sake of peace and stability but because it is distracting. This is a compelling argument…
Lets expel some Israelis
Few years ago a good friend of mine that was than an Infantry battalion commander was injured after he was ambushed by Palestinians gunmen. When I came to visit him at the hospital I was surprise to find out that in the room near him was one of the Palestinians gunman who was injured as well. It was somewhat surrealistic but also a reason for to be proud that my Israel treats its injured enemies with compassion.
The reason I’m telling this old story is that I found out that a group of British physicians calling to:
A group of British physicians published a letter in the guardian — claiming that the Israeli medical association should be expelled from the international community for being inhumane.
A young Israeli physician published this clip to confute this claim and to raise awareness to the false allegations. You can make your own judgment, should Israeli physician expelled for being inhuman? I guess that in a world where Zimbabwe can chair the UN commission for sustainable development and the UN commission for human rights ignores the genocide in Darfur, its make sense…
Tags: Israel Darfur Zimbabwe The UN Humanitarian
Logic not included
This is simply amazing!
In an article about "Who killed the Israeli left" Bradley Burston complains about the death of the Israeli left, and he count many reasons. The last reason he counted were the Palestinians:
In their every move since the beginning of the decade, they have confirmed the contentions of the Israeli right and, in doing so, gutted the Israeli left.
They could have had a state. Instead, they had an uprising. They chose to attack Israeli civilians with suicide bombs, drive-by shootings and Qassam rockets. Their choice of targets declared that there was no difference between Gush Katif and Tel Aviv. Their elected leaders chose to cling to the notion that the state of Israel could be, and should be, replaced in its entirety, and by force.
Or, if I’ll translate the argument to something that actually make sense, the reality killed the Israeli left. It is really shame of the reality that it didn’t cooperate with the Israeli left…
I don’t know if the Israeli left is really dead, if it died who murdered it and why - and this kind of reasoning for sure doesn’t help me understanding.
Reading the partial report
In the next few days I’m going to be focus on reading, and hopefully learning, the Winograd partial report. In the past I had the privilege of reading the entire report written by the Agranat Commission about the 1973 war.
The investigation scope for the Winograd Commission was broader than the one defined for the Agranat Commission but I’ll be looking for similarities, mostly because The Agranat Commission Report was very important document.
I don’t know if the partial report, but for the Hebrew readers I can only recommend reading the source itself and not only the filtered reports.
Tags: Second Lebanon War Winograd Partial Report Agranat Commission
This should be ceased, immediately
Since I open the blog I’m trying to avoid writing about Israel, not always successfully. I don’t think it is my place, writing from the US, to "educate" the people that bearing the risk and the hardship of day to day life in Israel.
However, I just can’t avoid expressing my shame an embossment after reading about the "modesty buses":
The other day I was waiting for a bus in downtown Jerusalem. I was in the bustling orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Sharim and the bus stop was extremely crowded.
When the Number 40 bus arrived, the most curious thing happened. Husbands left heavily pregnant wives or spouses struggling with prams and pushchairs to fend for themselves as they and all other male passengers got on at the front of the bus.
Women moved towards the rear door to get on at the back.
When on the bus, I tried to buck the system, moving my way towards the driver but was pushed back towards the other women.
These are what orthodox Jews call "modesty buses".
The separation system operates on 30 public bus routes across Israel.
Israelis will have to make a clear decision - if they want to maintain their position as a liberal democracy they have to stop this shame immediately. Otherwise they can declare that they finally integrated and are the same like Iran and similar regimes, I wouldn’t be proud about it.