My goodness ...
The situation in these parts continues to get worse; Lebanon today reined rockets on Haifa, Israel's third major city and its primary port in northern Israel. There is no doubt that Israel is at war. However, despite what you read on the news, or what you watch on CNN, I am not running for cover or hiding in a bomb shelter most of the day. Jerusalem remains quiet and for the most part my daily life is as close to routine as I ever will have.
I'm remaining in Jerusalem and will not go to the north of the country. There is a heightened security presence in Jerusalem but I went to the movies yesterday, have taken buses and am pretty much living life as normal as possible. Thanks for all of the concern from friends and family, I'll continue to keep everyone posted.
One of the things that is most tough for me is that even though I tend to be a left winger on most every political issue, (even dealing with Israeli politics) it's hard for me to be objective. The initial act of the current conflict dealt directly with the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, in Israel. What's Israel supposed to do? What would be the appropriate response? The situation between Israel and Hezbollah/Lebanon is very different than what is going on with the Palestinian territories. Is there any country in the world that wouldn't respond when soldiers were kidnapped, ships attacked or train stations blow-up? I don't think Israel should be let off the hook completely -- and I think they need to be strategic in any action, but how else should the respond? (opinions, thoughts, etc... welcome and encouraged) What's almost as hard for me to fathom in the entire situation is that when I listen to the news I find myself agreeing with W and Condi -- strange bedfellows for a liberal New Yorker.
School started today and the summer will be devoted almost completely to Hebrew. I have class for about 4 - 5 hours a day. I'll try and bring some more lighthearted nature to the blog, probably what you are more interested in reading anyway.
1 Comments:
Yak, hombre. Stay safe. I have many, many, many opinions on the matter, but it's hard to say exactly what I think because I'm not over there. I think that there is blame to be put on both sides (actually all sides, since there are many parties involved: Israel, the Palestinians, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, the US), but I can't help but wonder if there is a part of Olmert that wants to live up to the Sharon legacy of being strong and immovable. The biggest issue I see before the escalation is that the Israeli government (and many American Jews who I have spoken with) see the Arab and Palestinians as cultures that embrace violence, while the Israelis only use violent force when necessary. It is often difficult to see from the other's perspective, but it must be accepted on both sides that there is a strong culture of militarism. Along with the many people killed and the fear that is running through these populations, the hardest part of this whole violent conflict is that it will be hard to get back to peace talks. Then again, I am just a peacenik, leftist living in NYC.
We await more news from J'Town.
In the meantime, dish some dirt on your classmates.
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