I've sobered up enough to send out some blogs and get dressed. David M. and Liz have gone off to work. David to Jerusalem on Federation business and Liz to volunteer at a psychology clinic. Its a beautiful day outside. The African-American fellow (Liz says I shouldn't call him "the colored guy") is still the President. (Yeah, I know this fact isn't going to change for the next four years or so but I just enjoy saying it.) Its a warm, sunny day to I'm going to take my book and sit out by the beach. (Have I mentioned the beach?)
The cease fire is holding, which means Hamas has taken to just lobbing mortars at the border crossings and not missiles into Israeli cities. Israeli kids have gone back to school. Reservists are being sent home. Hamas has declared victory and begun a new form of resistance in the name of The People. They now highjack trucks carrying supplies into Gaza. Its unclear if this is to resupply their own people first, to give stuff out and claim its coming from fellow Muslims and not from some evil source like the EU or Israel or just selling to the highest bidders so they can raise cash to buy more Iranian-made munitions. There is a growing sense in Israel that while the Army has redeemed itself, nothing much has changed and so, shortly after the early February elections, Bibi and Lieberman will be running the government. This means that unless Obama's people have some incredible rabbit up their sleeves (or Obama really is Messiah and can perform miracles) settlements will continue to expand and Israel will, sooner or later, re-invade Gaza. Of course, Hamas could stop shelling the crossings, stealing trucks and rearming themselves but that would be way too much to expect. On the smuggling front, the problem is not that Hamas will import tanks, cannons or ever larger missiles. The problem is that pipe used to rebuild water and sewer systems can just as easily be used to make casings for Qassams which will be powered by fuel made with heating oil and gasoline.
In the meantime, I'm going to the beach which I think I have mentioned to you.
Read more!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
This Is How You Live In Israel - Part 4
On Sunday, 18 Jan 2009, we started our day at cousin Marcia's Hadassah chapter meeting where Liz and I were the featured speakers. The topic was why we are Zionists and what we do during our Winters in Israel. After sharing our personal stories about how we got here, Liz described her volunteer work and how her working has led to my being able to show up and eat.After the Hadassah ladies finished with us, Liz took me to La Soba. In past years she's kept this place to herself on the grounds that I can't be on my feet for 2 to 4 hours at a time. But I've been doing well of late and Liz knew that the soup kitchen would be short on volunteers, so I got drafted. La Soba is located in the Shapira neighborhood, tucked in between Hatikvah and South Tel Aviv. For those of you who know NYC think of the sketchier, industrial sections of the outer boroughs, particular that area of Queens that seems to consist mainly of legal auto body and not so legal auto chop shops. La Soba gets its food donated from local restaurants and serves anyone who walks in the door and sits down. There is no official take out service but some people know that if they come in with a container they will get food to take home, which may be the park or a local shelter.
Working at La Soba is something like being Lucy in the bon bon factory (or, for you younger Suspects, Gilda Radner in the nuclear warhead factory). Three of us were loading trays for other workers to serve to diners. The concept is to provide free meals while preserving people's dignity. The clientele is a diverse mix of poor people, illegal immigrants, drug users and dealers, crazy people who fell through holes in the social safety net and people who are just plain hungry and know how to find the place. A "you-name-it-we-got-it" sort of crowd. The workers include volunteers from all walks of life, like the head of health services for the Israel police or one of the first pilots in the Israel Air Force or my Wife, and a variety of convicts working off their community service sentences. If your Hebrew is good enough you can not only have the pleasure of performing a real mitzvah but also learn how to embezzle from your company, cheat on your taxes or steal bicycles. Getting into the flow of the place, I started singing (to myself) every depression era food song I could remember (Soup and Pie in the Sky kept coming up to the frontal lobe). Liz works there most Sundays and I'm going to join her.
After La Soba we had to make the major decision of where to eat lunch. Since we were already in the sketchy end of Tel Aviv we were within an easy walk of Gina's Felafel. Gina's would not be the almost mythical Arab falafel that Liz keeps searching for. One of the Arab kids working off his sentence at La Soba recommended Itzik's on Jerusalem in Jaffa, not to be confused with Big Itzik's grilled meat in the outer fringe of the flea market, but we decided that would be too far out of our way. We'll try Itzik on another day and I will duly report our findings.
Gina's turned out to be more than satisfactory. At least as good as the kiosk on Nordau, the falafel was fresh and tasty. The guy behind the counter treated me like an old friend (see the picture) and the restaurant, including the bathroom, was remarkably clean. We sat outside and watched the traffic go by, trying to puzzle out why we seem to have an affinity for places where real people, as opposed to tourists, hang out. (Disclosure: This may end soon as Gina's made it into this month's Time Out Tel Aviv.) Everyone but us looked like they were on their lunch break, except the couple strolling by who were dressed like they had seen too many Quentin Tarrantino movies (he had half his body weight in grease on his hair, both were visions in black and white). The only way they will avoid capture by the fashion police will be if they were scouting locations for their film company. Which would not be unusual as Tel Aviv streets host numerous fashion photo shoots, TV news broadcasts and Indie film crews.
After lunch we decided to walk up to the Shalom Tower (once the tallest building in the Middle East but now dwarfed and hidden by taller and even uglier sky scrapers). The galleries on the first two floors of the Shalom Tower currently feature exhibits relating to the 100th anniversary of Tel Aviv. (Burt - sorry we missed this) If you're on foot, you get from South Tel Aviv to the Shalom Tower by going through the Florentin. The Florentin by day is a collection of furniture shops (making, repairing, selling), printers and wholesale clothing stores. By night it features some of the newer, hipper and more underground art galleries, cafes and clubs in town. The area is a bit run down (part of the bohemian charm) but features this city's International Movement architecture (think Bauhaus, Corbusier, Van Der Rohe and their progeny). (See picture attached)The Shalom Tower exhibits include quilts depicting scenes, current and historic, of Tel Aviv. Its painting using textiles. The colors just jump off the walls and the City comes to life. Add to this the murals made from tiles, the still photographs and films of the founding of the City (a lottery to distribute building plots held on a sand dune where Rothschild Boulevard now runs), the architecture and the seaside and large model of the City celebrating its status as a UNESCO historic site (a/k/a The White City), and we had a couple of hours of free entertainment.
Next we strolled into Neve Tzedek, the first neighborhood built outside Jaffa and now the capital of Israel's yuppy gentry. Our goal was something chocolate and gooey, washed down with cappucinos, to top off the falafel lunch. This was accomplished at Susannah's, a trendy cafe next to the Suzanne Dallel Dance Center, which lives in a couple of rehabilitated trade school buildings saved from the wrecking ball to anchor the revitalization of the neighborhood. This year's location puts us within easy walking distance of Neve Tzedek and Jaffa so we should have more to tell (like the wine bar featuring only Israeli wines).
And then walking back home along the beach (I have mentioned the beach, haven't I?) to turn on the TV and internet to learn if the war was still over for now.
A SAD NOTE
During Sunday's wandering my brother, Bill, called to tell me that our cousin, Steven Levitin, who's cardiomyopathy had been discovered when he was 2, led an exemplary life but was, in the end, done in by his own body. His cardiomyopathy blocked the output from his left ventricle (mine does not which is probably why I'm writing this and he's not) and he spent the next 50+ years watching his diet, exercising carefully, taking tons of drugs and, nine years ago, having a heart transplant. Most people, especially his parents will tell you that he died way too young. Steven, though, will tell you that by being careful and by having really great medical care he was lucky and probably added two or three decades to his life. Steven was always upbeat and always felt he would walk away from his latest crisis. He was looking good and feeling optimistic when I saw him last July. In the Fall he had a heart attack (apparently his old arteries failed his new heart). Before I left for Israel I spoke to him. Steven was still in the hospital while his doctors debated putting him back on the transplant list. Steven was looking forward to walking out of there yet again. He didn't this time.
Steven was always someone who worried about everyone else and put a lot of energy into helping others. I like to say that you can tell a man by his wife and children. Lord knows I get forgiven for my multitude of sines because people really like Liz and the girls. Steven leaves a wonderful wife, Kathleen, and two daughters, Rachel and Hillary, whom anyone would be proud of. A fitting legacy for a decent guy who, despite what he would say, left us too soon.
Read more!
This Is How You Live In Israel - Part 3
As this blog was being written, the war was starting to wind down. Amidst a flurry of diplomatic moves, it was becoming clear that the Israelis and the Palestinians had reached a meeting of the minds - sort of. Everyone preferred to have the actual shooting part of the war end before Barack Obama was sworn in as President. It seems that no one wanted to overly annoy him on his first day in office. Plenty of time for that later.
Meanwhile here in The Bubble, life goes on pretty much undisturbed. Thursday, 15 Jan 2009, was a day on which Liz was scheduled to go to the Matnas in Rishon to help high school students with their English. Faced with most of a day on my own I made two decisions. First, I would, for a change, contribute something myself by lending my body to A Package From Home. Second, since this meant getting up before dawn to catch a bus to Jerusalem, I would reward myself for my good works by meeting up with Mauricio. Thursdays are his Jerusalem days which means I'd get the pleasure of his company and a tour of Old and Center City coffee houses, a good lunch and a ride home. So I got up early and traveled to Jerusalem, noticing more security than usual at the bus stations and the entrances to the Old City but nothing that slowed down my journey.
My foggy memory says that I've written about A Package from Home, a wonderful organization founded and led by Barbara Silverman, that provides bags of clothes, toiletries and munchies to soldiers who do not have families in Israel. If you're interested, here's their web site http://www.apackagefromhome.org. Barbara has moved into a synagogue in Rehavia where her minions rearrange the tables to form long rows on which are piled the various goodies to go into the bags. In the past, the volunteers would take empty bags and walk down a row putting in the socks, tooth paste, Bamba and the rest of that day's supplies. Today, Shira Gilor, Barbara's Project Manager and all around right arm, has decided to try something new. Instead of us walking with the bags we would each take a station and add whatever was in front of us to bags being passed along. With agile youth on either side of me this was something akin to Lucy in the bon bon factory though only a few of us older folks got the joke as, from time to time, someone would moan "Oh Ricky." This system worked well as we packed a couple of thousand bags and I became intimate with dozens and dozens of pairs of socks.
After packing the packages off to various locations in and around Gaza and a base up north, I called Mauricio and was told to meet him at the Arbaah Cafe (The Quarter Cafe). Having actually paid some attention to where I was going during a previous Thursday in Jerusalem (blog of January 6 on the recession and lunch) I was able to direct a cabbie into the parking area of the Jewish Quarter and hike in from their to the cafe. . Angelo made us a fabulous pasta and salad lunch. Mauricio's other friend, Sergio, is a retired chef who now does some gardening and has rediscovered religion. I met them at a cafe in the Old City and we walked down to the Kotel where Mauricio, at Sergio's insistence, put on tefillin. As the conversation was mostly in Italian and Hebrew I never found out just why this ritual was being undertaken but it was a sunny day at The Wall, so why not. I went with Mauricio on his business rounds and then we drove back west over the mountains and back roads. More scenic and beats a lot of rush hour traffic.
Mauricio likes to drive into Jerusalem by the scenic route. Instead of using one of two major highways he comes in on the ridge of the hills leading to the city. This is a very beautiful way to travel as much of the way from the Beit Shemesh exit off Route 1 to the Bethlehem-Hebron Road (yeah, more about that in a bit) winds through JNF-planted forests and terraced orchards. Along the way we had three reminders of more serious events. First, Keren called to say she was heading back to the Army. Then we stopped at a memorial and outdoor arena used by Keren's engineering brigade. The Memorial is for all Brigade members who fell in battle starting with the members who built the "Burma Road" to Jerusalem in 1947-48 and, in the form of a computer print out taped to the wall of names, a young man who was killed in Gaza just two days ago. With too many soldiers in between. Then, while cruising along listening to a pop song on the radio (Aya Korem singing Kayitz for you Israeli pop fans) the DJ broke in and quietly said "Azahka b' Beersheva, Ashdod v'Netivot" This was a warning of missiles heading toward those three cities. And then back to the music. Mauricio says this is an insane way to live. He also had a mix of old rock and roll songs so the trip included our singing along with Eric Burden, Procol Harum and The Trogs.
Mauricio swung so far south of Tel Aviv that he came up through Rehovot and Rishon Letzyyon. Liz had spent the afternoon at the Matnas (community center) in the Ramat Eliahu neighborhood of Rishon, She goes there on Thursdays to help tutor high students in English (while they work on her Hebrew, she thinks its a good deal). So Mauricio decided to pick her up and drive us both back to Tel Aviv. While waiting for Liz Mauricio shopped for fruits and vegetables at a market near the Matnas. I suddenly started to sneeze (something organic hit my allergy button). The woman running the market offered me a tissue. Her husband gave me half an orange and said I should eat it, it would be good for my cold. Its a country populated by Jewish mothers of both sexes. The orange was delicious, so I bought 8 to take home.
On Friday, 16 January, Liz worked for Fugee Friday, a group of volunteers organized by James Fox a grad student (for more see http://greenprophet.com/2008/09/01/2207/fugee-fridays-refugees/).. Every Friday afternoon, they gather food donations from shuk merchants and distribute it at a shelter for African immigrants. These are illegal, economic immigrants who walk from places like Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia and manage to get over the border without being shot by the Egyptians. The Israeli government hasn't quite figured out what to do with these people but Israelis are stepping up to help with shelters, food and, sometimes, jobs. Donated food also goes to Israeli families living in the same poor neighborhood. This is the side of Israel that the Western supporters of Hamas don't want you to know about.
Read more!
Meanwhile here in The Bubble, life goes on pretty much undisturbed. Thursday, 15 Jan 2009, was a day on which Liz was scheduled to go to the Matnas in Rishon to help high school students with their English. Faced with most of a day on my own I made two decisions. First, I would, for a change, contribute something myself by lending my body to A Package From Home. Second, since this meant getting up before dawn to catch a bus to Jerusalem, I would reward myself for my good works by meeting up with Mauricio. Thursdays are his Jerusalem days which means I'd get the pleasure of his company and a tour of Old and Center City coffee houses, a good lunch and a ride home. So I got up early and traveled to Jerusalem, noticing more security than usual at the bus stations and the entrances to the Old City but nothing that slowed down my journey.
My foggy memory says that I've written about A Package from Home, a wonderful organization founded and led by Barbara Silverman, that provides bags of clothes, toiletries and munchies to soldiers who do not have families in Israel. If you're interested, here's their web site http://www.apackagefromhome.org. Barbara has moved into a synagogue in Rehavia where her minions rearrange the tables to form long rows on which are piled the various goodies to go into the bags. In the past, the volunteers would take empty bags and walk down a row putting in the socks, tooth paste, Bamba and the rest of that day's supplies. Today, Shira Gilor, Barbara's Project Manager and all around right arm, has decided to try something new. Instead of us walking with the bags we would each take a station and add whatever was in front of us to bags being passed along. With agile youth on either side of me this was something akin to Lucy in the bon bon factory though only a few of us older folks got the joke as, from time to time, someone would moan "Oh Ricky." This system worked well as we packed a couple of thousand bags and I became intimate with dozens and dozens of pairs of socks.
After packing the packages off to various locations in and around Gaza and a base up north, I called Mauricio and was told to meet him at the Arbaah Cafe (The Quarter Cafe). Having actually paid some attention to where I was going during a previous Thursday in Jerusalem (blog of January 6 on the recession and lunch) I was able to direct a cabbie into the parking area of the Jewish Quarter and hike in from their to the cafe. . Angelo made us a fabulous pasta and salad lunch. Mauricio's other friend, Sergio, is a retired chef who now does some gardening and has rediscovered religion. I met them at a cafe in the Old City and we walked down to the Kotel where Mauricio, at Sergio's insistence, put on tefillin. As the conversation was mostly in Italian and Hebrew I never found out just why this ritual was being undertaken but it was a sunny day at The Wall, so why not. I went with Mauricio on his business rounds and then we drove back west over the mountains and back roads. More scenic and beats a lot of rush hour traffic.
Mauricio likes to drive into Jerusalem by the scenic route. Instead of using one of two major highways he comes in on the ridge of the hills leading to the city. This is a very beautiful way to travel as much of the way from the Beit Shemesh exit off Route 1 to the Bethlehem-Hebron Road (yeah, more about that in a bit) winds through JNF-planted forests and terraced orchards. Along the way we had three reminders of more serious events. First, Keren called to say she was heading back to the Army. Then we stopped at a memorial and outdoor arena used by Keren's engineering brigade. The Memorial is for all Brigade members who fell in battle starting with the members who built the "Burma Road" to Jerusalem in 1947-48 and, in the form of a computer print out taped to the wall of names, a young man who was killed in Gaza just two days ago. With too many soldiers in between. Then, while cruising along listening to a pop song on the radio (Aya Korem singing Kayitz for you Israeli pop fans) the DJ broke in and quietly said "Azahka b' Beersheva, Ashdod v'Netivot" This was a warning of missiles heading toward those three cities. And then back to the music. Mauricio says this is an insane way to live. He also had a mix of old rock and roll songs so the trip included our singing along with Eric Burden, Procol Harum and The Trogs.
Mauricio swung so far south of Tel Aviv that he came up through Rehovot and Rishon Letzyyon. Liz had spent the afternoon at the Matnas (community center) in the Ramat Eliahu neighborhood of Rishon, She goes there on Thursdays to help tutor high students in English (while they work on her Hebrew, she thinks its a good deal). So Mauricio decided to pick her up and drive us both back to Tel Aviv. While waiting for Liz Mauricio shopped for fruits and vegetables at a market near the Matnas. I suddenly started to sneeze (something organic hit my allergy button). The woman running the market offered me a tissue. Her husband gave me half an orange and said I should eat it, it would be good for my cold. Its a country populated by Jewish mothers of both sexes. The orange was delicious, so I bought 8 to take home.
On Friday, 16 January, Liz worked for Fugee Friday, a group of volunteers organized by James Fox a grad student (for more see http://greenprophet.com/2008/09/01/2207/fugee-fridays-refugees/).. Every Friday afternoon, they gather food donations from shuk merchants and distribute it at a shelter for African immigrants. These are illegal, economic immigrants who walk from places like Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia and manage to get over the border without being shot by the Egyptians. The Israeli government hasn't quite figured out what to do with these people but Israelis are stepping up to help with shelters, food and, sometimes, jobs. Donated food also goes to Israeli families living in the same poor neighborhood. This is the side of Israel that the Western supporters of Hamas don't want you to know about.
Read more!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Partial Apology To The Religious
Just watched the inauguration with Liz and David Mallach. Wow. Back in the day we used to joke about a colored guy getting elected President and having someone like Aretha sing at the inaugural. Damn.
As for the earlier blog on religion. I'm not totally apologizing but watching Ric Warren I realized that, once again, Obama is a genius. First, most of the country is religious and conservative in their religious beliefs. You can change the world with a few dozen African American church ladies but you will have to get used to the fact that they won't support same sex marriage. OK, Warren's not my cup of tea but we all agreed he was highly appropriate to the occassion (the Jesus reference was to his personal savior, not to ours). When Obama needs right wing backing to do something about health care he's going to get it from the church groups.
And then there was the Reverend Joseph E. Lowery, a founder of the southern Christian leadership Conference. Rev. Lowery is not from or part of the Civil Rights Movement. Lowery is the Civil Rights Movement. This wasn't just a gesture, this was a message from the new President. I was in tears. Maybe the 60's are over and the good guys won. Amen. Read more!
As for the earlier blog on religion. I'm not totally apologizing but watching Ric Warren I realized that, once again, Obama is a genius. First, most of the country is religious and conservative in their religious beliefs. You can change the world with a few dozen African American church ladies but you will have to get used to the fact that they won't support same sex marriage. OK, Warren's not my cup of tea but we all agreed he was highly appropriate to the occassion (the Jesus reference was to his personal savior, not to ours). When Obama needs right wing backing to do something about health care he's going to get it from the church groups.
And then there was the Reverend Joseph E. Lowery, a founder of the southern Christian leadership Conference. Rev. Lowery is not from or part of the Civil Rights Movement. Lowery is the Civil Rights Movement. This wasn't just a gesture, this was a message from the new President. I was in tears. Maybe the 60's are over and the good guys won. Amen. Read more!
What Now? Leave The Settlements And Hoist One For Viola Liuzzo
Now that we've actually gone a whole day without rocket attacks, we are back to the question of where to go from here. The choices are either the same old, same old. Or to try a different approach. Israel has to find a way to open the Gaza borders and let people breathe. Israel has got to stop expanding the settlements and start pulling out of the West Bank in a serious way. The tired old excuses as to why this cannot be done just do nothing to make Israel a safer place to live.
Hamas and Israel are not going to speak directly to one another. OK, so use Egypt and Turkey as go betweens and negotiate with the Arab League using the Saudi proposal as a starting point. I suspect that the Obama administration would be supportive of such an effort. I hope the Obama administration will not continue to use my taxpayer dollars to aid expansion of West Bank settlements but instead use my tax dollars to dismantle the project. I think it was Bradley Bursten in Haaretz who pointed out that Israel uses settlements the way Hamas uses Qassams. If Hamas takes over the West Bank and fires a missile or sends through a suicide bomber, Israel always has the option of making Ramallah look like Gaza City. But unless Israel breaks the cycle (I have no expectations of better Palestinian behavior but do have some hope of better behavior from the Jews) we will see what just happened in Gaza repeated, again and again and again.
Which brings me to religion and the inaugural in Washington. Obama now has three Rabbis, lest he offend one of our major sects, to go with his right wing Protestant, gay Protestant and there must be a Catholic in there somewhere. Even Fox News observed that we still lack a Muslim and an Atheist. I have a thought, get religion out of the ceremony. I don't care if my President is religious (and Obama can certainly be accused of that) and maybe would like some prayer said in connection with his taking office. But why do we need to satisfy the PC police? To me religion really is a root cause of what's wrong with Western Civilization. It is the opiate of the masses. You can use the Torah, Bible and Koran to justify just about anything you want to justify. The settlers inflicting pogroms upon Palestinian farmers, the Jihadists in Gaza and Mumbai, Protestants raging war against the LGBT community, and let's not forget that the Catholics still have the Inquisition though they've given it a more PC name. Everyone gets to do whatever they want and all in G-d's name. Yes, I'll help form a minyan and daven mincha but I'd be very happy to not do it on the Capitol steps.
Finally, I assume that you are going to watch or listen to the Inauguration. Liz and I are waiting for David Mallach to come visit and help us put down a bottle of Red Alert wine, a special bottling by Galai, a Negev-based boutique winery. We'll watch Obama get sworn in and then go out to dinner to celebrate Liz' 35th wedding anniversary.
Should you have the chance, please hoist a glass of whatever you will be drinking and take a moment to remember Viola Liuzzo. If Mrs. Liuzzo (she never made it to the world of Ms.) had been born 30 years later she'd be a soccer Mom with a minivan. Instead, in the summer of 1963, she drove her car from her suburban Detroit home to Mississippi. She was car pooling voter registration workers when she was assassinated by the Klan. Today we inaugurate the first African American President of the United States of America. The country, the world, is still far from perfect but, every so often, we do manage to make change for the good.
Read more!
Hamas and Israel are not going to speak directly to one another. OK, so use Egypt and Turkey as go betweens and negotiate with the Arab League using the Saudi proposal as a starting point. I suspect that the Obama administration would be supportive of such an effort. I hope the Obama administration will not continue to use my taxpayer dollars to aid expansion of West Bank settlements but instead use my tax dollars to dismantle the project. I think it was Bradley Bursten in Haaretz who pointed out that Israel uses settlements the way Hamas uses Qassams. If Hamas takes over the West Bank and fires a missile or sends through a suicide bomber, Israel always has the option of making Ramallah look like Gaza City. But unless Israel breaks the cycle (I have no expectations of better Palestinian behavior but do have some hope of better behavior from the Jews) we will see what just happened in Gaza repeated, again and again and again.
Which brings me to religion and the inaugural in Washington. Obama now has three Rabbis, lest he offend one of our major sects, to go with his right wing Protestant, gay Protestant and there must be a Catholic in there somewhere. Even Fox News observed that we still lack a Muslim and an Atheist. I have a thought, get religion out of the ceremony. I don't care if my President is religious (and Obama can certainly be accused of that) and maybe would like some prayer said in connection with his taking office. But why do we need to satisfy the PC police? To me religion really is a root cause of what's wrong with Western Civilization. It is the opiate of the masses. You can use the Torah, Bible and Koran to justify just about anything you want to justify. The settlers inflicting pogroms upon Palestinian farmers, the Jihadists in Gaza and Mumbai, Protestants raging war against the LGBT community, and let's not forget that the Catholics still have the Inquisition though they've given it a more PC name. Everyone gets to do whatever they want and all in G-d's name. Yes, I'll help form a minyan and daven mincha but I'd be very happy to not do it on the Capitol steps.
Finally, I assume that you are going to watch or listen to the Inauguration. Liz and I are waiting for David Mallach to come visit and help us put down a bottle of Red Alert wine, a special bottling by Galai, a Negev-based boutique winery. We'll watch Obama get sworn in and then go out to dinner to celebrate Liz' 35th wedding anniversary.
Should you have the chance, please hoist a glass of whatever you will be drinking and take a moment to remember Viola Liuzzo. If Mrs. Liuzzo (she never made it to the world of Ms.) had been born 30 years later she'd be a soccer Mom with a minivan. Instead, in the summer of 1963, she drove her car from her suburban Detroit home to Mississippi. She was car pooling voter registration workers when she was assassinated by the Klan. Today we inaugurate the first African American President of the United States of America. The country, the world, is still far from perfect but, every so often, we do manage to make change for the good.
Read more!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
This Is How You Live In Israel - Part 2
Keren called us Thursday night from her parents' home in Rishon. The Army gave her time off but is requiring that she keep her cell phone on and stay within two hours traveling time of her base. Meanwhile, her classes at Hebrew University are still in session and she has to try to keep up by internet. The Professors are posting lecture notes, readings and assignments and giving the students who have been called up extra time to hand in papers. But finals won't be pushed back and Keren hasn't a clue when she will get back to campus. Since she can be called at any moment she can't put her uniforms in the wash. On the up side she may make it to Tel Aviv this weekend so we (and the boyfriend) will see for ourselves that she's OK.
I said to Keren that here in Tel Aviv you don't know there's a war on unless you turn on the TV. She said that's why Tel Aviv is called "The Bubble."
Daniel, is in the north for more training and, with the rest of his part of the Golani Brigade, waiting to learn whether Hezbollah is really sitting this one out.
Last night (Friday) we went to Jerusalem to have Shabbat dinner with my cousins. Just before dinner Tamar called from her base on the Israeli side of the border where Gaza, Egypt and Israel all meet. She is complaining because they have assigned her to 16 hours of kitchen duty over the weekend. Her mother, Raina, remarks that this is a lot better than guard duty. Raina, a doctor who describes herself as a leftist, has also reached the conclusion that enough is enough and Israel is right to be going after Hamas. She and Zvika are both unhappy about civilians being hurt but see no way to avoid it. Of course, Hamas could stop firing rockets.
Meanwhile, Gal's Dad has decided that I should write more about sports and will be taking me to a more senior club level game. This should be fun and I'll definitely get another blog out of it.
Read more!
I said to Keren that here in Tel Aviv you don't know there's a war on unless you turn on the TV. She said that's why Tel Aviv is called "The Bubble."
Daniel, is in the north for more training and, with the rest of his part of the Golani Brigade, waiting to learn whether Hezbollah is really sitting this one out.
Last night (Friday) we went to Jerusalem to have Shabbat dinner with my cousins. Just before dinner Tamar called from her base on the Israeli side of the border where Gaza, Egypt and Israel all meet. She is complaining because they have assigned her to 16 hours of kitchen duty over the weekend. Her mother, Raina, remarks that this is a lot better than guard duty. Raina, a doctor who describes herself as a leftist, has also reached the conclusion that enough is enough and Israel is right to be going after Hamas. She and Zvika are both unhappy about civilians being hurt but see no way to avoid it. Of course, Hamas could stop firing rockets.
Meanwhile, Gal's Dad has decided that I should write more about sports and will be taking me to a more senior club level game. This should be fun and I'll definitely get another blog out of it.
Read more!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Recession Comes To Israel, So We Go To Lunch
NOTE: I started writing this in early December and kept getting distracted. So today, Jan 6, with all the company gone, I'm going to try to push this and an observation about the elections out the electronic door.
6 January 2009
Tel Aviv
The Global Recession has made its way to Israel. It took a while to get here since Israeli banks managed to avoid the subprime mess by taking the unique position that loans should only be made to people who have the means to repay them. The Tel Aviv stock exchange held its value far longer than just about any other exchange on the planet. But, despite the efforts of some old line socialists, the business cycle has not been repealed and the downturn that swept through Europe has landed on these shores. The layoffs here are in the tens of thousands, as opposed to the US' hundreds of thousands, but given that the country only has 7 1/2 million people, that's a lot. Also, the cutbacks have included the high tech companies which is bad news. More bad news that hits your correspondent close to home is that more restaurants are closing than opening and others have cut back their hours. Also, from today's chat with a professional guide, tourism is falling off. Recent uptrends in tourist-related industries as well as the housing bubble have been driven by Europeans with lots of euros to burn. As you can imagine, this source of revenue is drying up.
Added to this is the daily bad news coming out of the collapse of Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme. Israeli institutions receive substantial funding from US charities and individuals:the same charities and individuals whose endowments have disappeared in Madoff's black hole. Facing a cutback in social programs and educational grants at the same time as the country falls into the recession is a double hit that poor people and students can ill afford.
On the optimistic side (Ben Gurion famously said that to be a Zionist you have to be an optimist), this is a not the "perfect storm" that plagues the US economy. The financial system here is in no danger of collapse. Nothing comparable to the potential impact of a GM or Citigroup bankruptcy is looming. This is more like a "normal" down cycle. No one knows how deep this can go or for how long. Israel's economy is tied to trade with the US and EU so a recovery there will give a boost to a recovery here. Meanwhile, the government has been taking steps to shore up the social safety net.
Good food and drink with friends may not cure all that ails you but, afterwards, you either feel better or you just don't care (which is almost as good). I share this way of dealing with life's vicissitudes with many if not most of you Usual Suspects. Back in the day when I plied my trade as a Manhattan-based attorney, in the event of some transportation meltdown caused by bad timing, bad weather or some other natural or man made disaster, my personal disaster plan was to find a really good restaurant with a decent wine list (and/or draft beers) and dig in until the disaster abated. Feeling much better about life, I would eventually get a car service, cab or train to take me home with no hassle. There I would sleep it off until the next round of hunting and gathering. This is also a good way to deal with a world-wide recession. Using your credit card helps get the international financial system going again (and is good for my Visa stock).
Not long before we returned to Israel we were providing a car, driver and comic relief to our friend JoAnne who was moving her law office, home and self from New York to Jerusalem While trying to drive from Manhattan to Forest Hills via the Midtown Tunnel we got stuck in a classic New York holiday season evening rush hour traffic jam from hell. In a traffic-jam-from-hell a 20 minute drive can take 2 to 3 hours. As we sat in a barely moving car, I discovered that JoAnne and I use the same Manhattan Disaster Plan. For those of you who still need to get in and out of mid-town Manhattan, try Soho (glatt kosher nouveau meat) in the lobby of the Sony Building. Other recommendations are Le Marais and Prime Grill. These are places best frequented in the company of a partner or senior executive who can charge it to the firm.
JoAnne has made Aliyah and now resides in an apartment in the German Colony neighborhood of Jerusalem. She is currently learning Hebrew, teaching her grandchildren how to paint, practicing law and becoming a Jerusalemite. Her home turf is a totally lovely apartment on Emek Refaim, the main drag in one of Jerusalem's "hot" neighborhoods, which she is decorating in a spare Israeli style. Less clutter is more.
While we had not tightly scheduled this year's sojourn, high on our list of "must do's" is making the rounds with Mauricio and playing with JoAnne. So, when Mauricio invited us to join him on his rounds in Jerusalem, we jumped at the chance for a two-fer. The day was going really well. Mauricio's main goal was to collect checks from a few customers in the Old City. On our way in we stopped to take the two-bit tour of Jo Anne's apartment and invite her out to lunch. Jo Anne was happy to go with us to the Old City since she needed to buy an appropriate religious icon for a sick Christian friend. An item we, being rockabilly fans of a certain age, quickly started referring to as The Plastic Jesus. As we drove into the Jewish Quarter the heavens opened up, the sun shone down and, miracle of miracles, Mauricio found a legal parking space near the Zion Gate. Who says G-d doesn't smile on her Jews? I interrupted Liz and Jo Anne, who were deep into the economic implications of the Plastic Jesus market to make them just focus on where we were standing. Being inside the walls can work its magic, even on some type-A lawyers from NYC.
Mauricio led us on a tour of his clients' locations and, to make the day even better, collected some checks (nothing helps get you through the recession better than getting paid) and took us to the Quarter Cafe (owned by a client) where he took over the espresso machine and produced four cups of Cafe Mauricio. The Quarter Cafe is at the Old City's highest point before you start walking down into the Kotel Plaza. You sit and drink your coffee at eye level with the Al Aqsa Mosque and look out over the hills west of the Old City. Nice view on a sunny day.
Mauricio successfully completed his business. Jo Anne was not as successful as the merchant refused to come down on what we all thought was a ridiculously high price for a Plastic Jesus (maybe the recession hasn't yet hit the Old City schlock shops). So we got back in the car and headed to La Guta, a highly regarded French/Oriental bistro in the center of the new city.It's expensive for dinner but has a businessman's lunch we wanted to try. And, of course, Mauricio knows the owner. The day was still going great as, after fighting our way through the obligatory traffic-jam-from-hell, a daily feature of central Jerusalem, we found a second lawful parking space. Those of you who have to drive in and out of major cities know that finding two lawful spaces in the space of an hour or two makes you feel invulnerable to all evil. But then our luck ran out.
We got to La Guta and it was closed. Not for good but the owner told us that there is just not enough business to justify opening before dinner during the week. Mind you, this is central, west Jerusalem on a sunny day in a month when the locals are gearing up for more chagim and the tourists should start coming in. We went to a second place, this time a fish joint, and it was also closed. The third place we tried, Eldad Vezehoo (French/Moroccan grill), was open. The conversation tended toward the Hebrew as JoAnne is trying hard to learn by speaking (which is actually a challenge when you live on Emek Refaim where you can go through much of your day hearing only English) and Mauricio was just as happy to give her a workout. As usual, once Mauricio and I can see each other's hands we are able to communicate.
So there you have it. The recession has clearly hit daily life here. Fortunately, my way of dealing with adversity seems to work as well in Israel as in the US, so I expect we'll be fine. And I'll report on La Guta when we circle back and try it for dinner.
Read more!
6 January 2009
Tel Aviv
The Global Recession has made its way to Israel. It took a while to get here since Israeli banks managed to avoid the subprime mess by taking the unique position that loans should only be made to people who have the means to repay them. The Tel Aviv stock exchange held its value far longer than just about any other exchange on the planet. But, despite the efforts of some old line socialists, the business cycle has not been repealed and the downturn that swept through Europe has landed on these shores. The layoffs here are in the tens of thousands, as opposed to the US' hundreds of thousands, but given that the country only has 7 1/2 million people, that's a lot. Also, the cutbacks have included the high tech companies which is bad news. More bad news that hits your correspondent close to home is that more restaurants are closing than opening and others have cut back their hours. Also, from today's chat with a professional guide, tourism is falling off. Recent uptrends in tourist-related industries as well as the housing bubble have been driven by Europeans with lots of euros to burn. As you can imagine, this source of revenue is drying up.
Added to this is the daily bad news coming out of the collapse of Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme. Israeli institutions receive substantial funding from US charities and individuals:the same charities and individuals whose endowments have disappeared in Madoff's black hole. Facing a cutback in social programs and educational grants at the same time as the country falls into the recession is a double hit that poor people and students can ill afford.
On the optimistic side (Ben Gurion famously said that to be a Zionist you have to be an optimist), this is a not the "perfect storm" that plagues the US economy. The financial system here is in no danger of collapse. Nothing comparable to the potential impact of a GM or Citigroup bankruptcy is looming. This is more like a "normal" down cycle. No one knows how deep this can go or for how long. Israel's economy is tied to trade with the US and EU so a recovery there will give a boost to a recovery here. Meanwhile, the government has been taking steps to shore up the social safety net.
Good food and drink with friends may not cure all that ails you but, afterwards, you either feel better or you just don't care (which is almost as good). I share this way of dealing with life's vicissitudes with many if not most of you Usual Suspects. Back in the day when I plied my trade as a Manhattan-based attorney, in the event of some transportation meltdown caused by bad timing, bad weather or some other natural or man made disaster, my personal disaster plan was to find a really good restaurant with a decent wine list (and/or draft beers) and dig in until the disaster abated. Feeling much better about life, I would eventually get a car service, cab or train to take me home with no hassle. There I would sleep it off until the next round of hunting and gathering. This is also a good way to deal with a world-wide recession. Using your credit card helps get the international financial system going again (and is good for my Visa stock).
Not long before we returned to Israel we were providing a car, driver and comic relief to our friend JoAnne who was moving her law office, home and self from New York to Jerusalem While trying to drive from Manhattan to Forest Hills via the Midtown Tunnel we got stuck in a classic New York holiday season evening rush hour traffic jam from hell. In a traffic-jam-from-hell a 20 minute drive can take 2 to 3 hours. As we sat in a barely moving car, I discovered that JoAnne and I use the same Manhattan Disaster Plan. For those of you who still need to get in and out of mid-town Manhattan, try Soho (glatt kosher nouveau meat) in the lobby of the Sony Building. Other recommendations are Le Marais and Prime Grill. These are places best frequented in the company of a partner or senior executive who can charge it to the firm.
JoAnne has made Aliyah and now resides in an apartment in the German Colony neighborhood of Jerusalem. She is currently learning Hebrew, teaching her grandchildren how to paint, practicing law and becoming a Jerusalemite. Her home turf is a totally lovely apartment on Emek Refaim, the main drag in one of Jerusalem's "hot" neighborhoods, which she is decorating in a spare Israeli style. Less clutter is more.
While we had not tightly scheduled this year's sojourn, high on our list of "must do's" is making the rounds with Mauricio and playing with JoAnne. So, when Mauricio invited us to join him on his rounds in Jerusalem, we jumped at the chance for a two-fer. The day was going really well. Mauricio's main goal was to collect checks from a few customers in the Old City. On our way in we stopped to take the two-bit tour of Jo Anne's apartment and invite her out to lunch. Jo Anne was happy to go with us to the Old City since she needed to buy an appropriate religious icon for a sick Christian friend. An item we, being rockabilly fans of a certain age, quickly started referring to as The Plastic Jesus. As we drove into the Jewish Quarter the heavens opened up, the sun shone down and, miracle of miracles, Mauricio found a legal parking space near the Zion Gate. Who says G-d doesn't smile on her Jews? I interrupted Liz and Jo Anne, who were deep into the economic implications of the Plastic Jesus market to make them just focus on where we were standing. Being inside the walls can work its magic, even on some type-A lawyers from NYC.
Mauricio led us on a tour of his clients' locations and, to make the day even better, collected some checks (nothing helps get you through the recession better than getting paid) and took us to the Quarter Cafe (owned by a client) where he took over the espresso machine and produced four cups of Cafe Mauricio. The Quarter Cafe is at the Old City's highest point before you start walking down into the Kotel Plaza. You sit and drink your coffee at eye level with the Al Aqsa Mosque and look out over the hills west of the Old City. Nice view on a sunny day.
Mauricio successfully completed his business. Jo Anne was not as successful as the merchant refused to come down on what we all thought was a ridiculously high price for a Plastic Jesus (maybe the recession hasn't yet hit the Old City schlock shops). So we got back in the car and headed to La Guta, a highly regarded French/Oriental bistro in the center of the new city.It's expensive for dinner but has a businessman's lunch we wanted to try. And, of course, Mauricio knows the owner. The day was still going great as, after fighting our way through the obligatory traffic-jam-from-hell, a daily feature of central Jerusalem, we found a second lawful parking space. Those of you who have to drive in and out of major cities know that finding two lawful spaces in the space of an hour or two makes you feel invulnerable to all evil. But then our luck ran out.
We got to La Guta and it was closed. Not for good but the owner told us that there is just not enough business to justify opening before dinner during the week. Mind you, this is central, west Jerusalem on a sunny day in a month when the locals are gearing up for more chagim and the tourists should start coming in. We went to a second place, this time a fish joint, and it was also closed. The third place we tried, Eldad Vezehoo (French/Moroccan grill), was open. The conversation tended toward the Hebrew as JoAnne is trying hard to learn by speaking (which is actually a challenge when you live on Emek Refaim where you can go through much of your day hearing only English) and Mauricio was just as happy to give her a workout. As usual, once Mauricio and I can see each other's hands we are able to communicate.
So there you have it. The recession has clearly hit daily life here. Fortunately, my way of dealing with adversity seems to work as well in Israel as in the US, so I expect we'll be fine. And I'll report on La Guta when we circle back and try it for dinner.
Read more!
Elections? What Elections?
Last autumn, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned, sort of. Olmert agreed to leave office as soon as a successor could take office. Tzipi Livni, the Foreign Minister who won the Kadima election for a new leader, tried and failed to form a new government. And so new elections were called and scheduled for February 9, 2009. The various parties have since held primaries (another American import which has all the cultural attraction of McDonald's) and started campaigning. The response of the public has been underwhelming. Other than a hard core of true believers, most people seem to be ignoring the elections. One Israeli friend intends to vote for Livni because he really doesn't like Bibi, won't consider Barack. Livni will get his vote because, as far as he knows, she hasn't yet stolen his money or lied to him. Others are leaning toward Meretz but don't seem to think that Meretz will wind up in the government. I think a big reason that there's no enthusiasm for any candidate or party is a general belief that new elections will not change anything. There's that word again, "change."
Israeli politicians have adopted the form of American politics without the substance. I know. Its hard to imagine American politics with less substance. What's a negative value for next-to-nothing? Without any indication that they would actually listen to adversaries, think about alternatives and try to craft creative ways to deal with major problems, a la Obama, Israeli politicians have simply been adopting Obama's style. The one exception is Ehud Barack who is trying to emulate the John McCain who used to go on The Daily Show and be funny.
Israel is getting away from emphasizing party ideology (and loyalty) to focusing on individual candidates. And yet the country still elects governments based on votes for party lists and not for individual representatives. As they say in the Talmud, you might think that an election here would be an opportunity for a serious debate on critical matters like education, the environment, economic recovery and, oh yes, how to deal with Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. But you would be wrong.
Bibi Netanyahu has a web sight that looks exactly like the Obama campaign site, right down to the requests for donors and volunteers (except its in Hebrew and uses a different slogan - "Together We Can Succeed"). Bibi, and the hard line rightists who make up a significant portion of the Likud list, are among the last people you would expect to get into the sort of dialogues with adversaries advocated by Obama. But hey, its an election, not a search for truth.
Meanwhile, Tzipi Livni is "ready for change." From what to what remains a mystery but if it comes, she's ready. The third major player, Ehud Barack, has been fighting an image problem. His stinks. Barack is tying to improve his image by using reverse psychology. The country is plastered with ads listing all his shortcomings but proclaiming that he's a Leader. He's not kind, sympathetic, funny, etc, he's a Leader. If you want a heartless automaton to be your Leader, he's your guy. To try to make himself appear more human, Barack went on Israel's leading comedy show (think of John McCain on Saturday Night Live). The next morning he started bombing the Gaza Strip back into the pre-Canaanite age.
But the prize for the most cynical ripoff of Obama's style without adopting any of the substance has to go to Shas. Shas is a right wing Haredi (ultraorthodox) party that cares nothing for anyone outside its narrow community. Shas cares about funding its own Yeshivas and increasing welfare payments to nonworking Haredi families having more children than they can possibly afford to support, period. A Shas government would have nothing to say to the general public (other than that any divorce or conversion done by a non-Shas Rabbi would be invalid). The rest of Israel can drift out to sea for all they care. So, of course, they're the ones shouting "Yes, We Can!"
As usual, the outcome of the elections will depend upon the security situation. If Livni and Barack produce something that looks like a "victory" in Operation Cast Lead, the center-right coalition might stay in power. Otherwise the perceived size of Israel's loss to Hamas will be directly proportional to the right wing majority that will take over the Knesset, making Bibi the next Prime Minister. Yes, Hamas is probably in a better position to pick the next Prime Minister than Joe Israeli Voter. So much for change. Read more!
Israeli politicians have adopted the form of American politics without the substance. I know. Its hard to imagine American politics with less substance. What's a negative value for next-to-nothing? Without any indication that they would actually listen to adversaries, think about alternatives and try to craft creative ways to deal with major problems, a la Obama, Israeli politicians have simply been adopting Obama's style. The one exception is Ehud Barack who is trying to emulate the John McCain who used to go on The Daily Show and be funny.
Israel is getting away from emphasizing party ideology (and loyalty) to focusing on individual candidates. And yet the country still elects governments based on votes for party lists and not for individual representatives. As they say in the Talmud, you might think that an election here would be an opportunity for a serious debate on critical matters like education, the environment, economic recovery and, oh yes, how to deal with Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. But you would be wrong.
Bibi Netanyahu has a web sight that looks exactly like the Obama campaign site, right down to the requests for donors and volunteers (except its in Hebrew and uses a different slogan - "Together We Can Succeed"). Bibi, and the hard line rightists who make up a significant portion of the Likud list, are among the last people you would expect to get into the sort of dialogues with adversaries advocated by Obama. But hey, its an election, not a search for truth.
Meanwhile, Tzipi Livni is "ready for change." From what to what remains a mystery but if it comes, she's ready. The third major player, Ehud Barack, has been fighting an image problem. His stinks. Barack is tying to improve his image by using reverse psychology. The country is plastered with ads listing all his shortcomings but proclaiming that he's a Leader. He's not kind, sympathetic, funny, etc, he's a Leader. If you want a heartless automaton to be your Leader, he's your guy. To try to make himself appear more human, Barack went on Israel's leading comedy show (think of John McCain on Saturday Night Live). The next morning he started bombing the Gaza Strip back into the pre-Canaanite age.
But the prize for the most cynical ripoff of Obama's style without adopting any of the substance has to go to Shas. Shas is a right wing Haredi (ultraorthodox) party that cares nothing for anyone outside its narrow community. Shas cares about funding its own Yeshivas and increasing welfare payments to nonworking Haredi families having more children than they can possibly afford to support, period. A Shas government would have nothing to say to the general public (other than that any divorce or conversion done by a non-Shas Rabbi would be invalid). The rest of Israel can drift out to sea for all they care. So, of course, they're the ones shouting "Yes, We Can!"
As usual, the outcome of the elections will depend upon the security situation. If Livni and Barack produce something that looks like a "victory" in Operation Cast Lead, the center-right coalition might stay in power. Otherwise the perceived size of Israel's loss to Hamas will be directly proportional to the right wing majority that will take over the Knesset, making Bibi the next Prime Minister. Yes, Hamas is probably in a better position to pick the next Prime Minister than Joe Israeli Voter. So much for change. Read more!
Monday, January 5, 2009
This Is How You Live In Israel - Part 1
Keren, Gal and Tamar are among our Israeli friends and family. These three exceptional young women are at different stages of their Army duty. Keren is a reserve officer subject to being called up, Gal has finished active duty and is in the year immediately after service when the Army tries not to call you back. Tamar is on active duty.
Keren, my Yemenite daughter, has been attending Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem. We saw her Saturday night (Jan. 3) at a dinner party thrown by Gideon and Pnina, Molly's in-laws. As of 10 pm Saturday night Keren had not been called up and thought she might be heading back to school. Sunday morning, when her biological father, Mauricio, came by to help me stock up on coffee and wine and told me that, very late at night, Keren was called up. She reported for duty Sunday morning. We saw Keren in Tel Aviv Sunday night, She got the night off. This country is so small the kids can commute to the war front. Today (Monday Jan. 5) she's somewhere along the Gaza border but can't tell us exactly where or what she's doing. Her college studies are on hold for an indefinite period of time. Meanwhile her brother, Daniel, is in the Golani Brigade, an elite combat unit. He was somewhere on the Golan Heights but has been moved to a training area in the Negev. We don't know what he's training for but are pretty sure we'd rather have the war end before he gets a chance to do it.
Mauricio shrugs and says that this is how you live in Israel. In 1950, when he was 2 years old, his family moved here from Italy. He remembers the 1956 war, he fought in the Sinai in 1967 and, in 1981, rode a mobile heavy mortar into Beirut. Almost every Israeli has a similar story.
Here in Tel Aviv, unless you seek out the occasional anti-war demonstration or stay glued to the broadcast news you wouldn't know there's a war going on. Last Friday we joined the Rabinowitz family at the basketball game between the 11-12 year old teams from Hapoel Ussishkin and Hatikva. The game was at the Hatikva community center, the neighborhood where Becky and Gal lived together a few years ago. Gal's youngest brother, Yonaton, a very good player, was the high scorer in a lopsided victory. Gal's Dad, Danny, is a basketball player who supports his family by working as a University professor. He was clearly happy to have his son excel at his game and to have his daughter at home. Gal may get to miss the current war, keep working to save money and take her post-Army trip to the Far East.
Tamar is Marcia and David's granddaughter, making her my third or fourth cousin (its been too long since law school to remember degrees of consanguinity). Tamar is on active duty. She's been at a base close to the junction of Israel, Gaza and Egypt but may have been moved north and inland. Her usual Army job involves counseling soldiers. So she may not be on the front line (wherever that is today) but she is probably in an area within Hamas' missile range.
Liz, Becky and I have watched the TV channel on which the Homefront Command broadcasts instructions (in Hebrew, English, Arabic and Russian) for dealing with missile attacks. Within 40 kilometers of Gaza, Israelis are asked to stay within a certain distance of a shelter or safe room. The response time varies depending upon how far you are from the missile launching sites. Schools within the danger zone have been closed and outdoor gatherings are banned. We have been told how to select the safest room in the apartment. In the event we can't reach a shelter or don't have a safe room (which we don't), we know how to select the safest room in the apartment. The Opera Tower's bomb shelter is on -3, the lowest garage/basement level, about 9 stories below us. I know where the stairwells are and which one is closest to the shelter. I don't expect to need this information but, having once worked in the World Trade Center, I know it's information I want to have on my frontal lobe, just in case.
The international press and the usual pro-Palestinian whiners are much more concerned with the "civilian" casualties in Gaza than any injuries inflicted upon Israelis. We've been asking Israeli friends and relations about this. The general view is that its unfortunate that some people are caught in the middle but that Israel is right to do something about Hamas' attacks. One friend with a relative who was badly injured by a Grad missile hitting Ashkelon is not at all sympathetic. One relation is so upset that he's rethinking his relationship to the Zionist project. Others point out how Israel tries to warn Gazans before dropping bombs on residential buildings. I don't know if The Usual Suspects in the US know that Israel will call cell phones, drop leaflets and use other means to warn civilians that the building they are in or next to is about to be hit. They even drop small bombs near the building or blank charges that make a loud boom without deadly force before the actual attack. I find myself ambivalent about the fate of children who have been raised to celebrate the death of a Jew and aspire to wear bomb belts. I'd like to see them get a decent life but their parents are the ones who will have to stop the insanity and, frankly, they don't seem inclined to do that. As long as Hamas forces the choice to be our kids or their kids, I'm going to worry about our kids first.
Hamas has for years indiscriminately attacked and killed Israeli civilians and evidences not the least inclination to change its behavior. Israelis, for the most part, really are unhappy when noncombatants get hurt. Hamas could care less. What most of the "international community" wants to ignore when bemoaning the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza is that one of the reasons the Gaza borders are usually closed is that Hamas has the habit of shelling any crossing at which Palestinians were trying to get into Israel to work or do business. They really do not care how many of their own people die for the cause. If they can't maneuver the Israelis into shooting Palestinians, they'll just do it themselves and say, with a straight face, that Israel forced them to do it. The Hamas leader who died with his four wives and 11 children deliberately ignored Israeli efforts to warn them to get out of harm's way. He would have died with 12 children but for the fact that he had already used one as a homicide bomber.
Its disgraceful how many seemingly intelligent adults refuse to acknowledge that maybe Hamas and its allies have some responsibility for current events. As a pleasant surprise, some Arab governments seem to have figured this out. Arabs accepting that fellow Arabs may actually be at fault is progress of sorts. But my favorite voice in the wilderness is the support Israel has received from the Czech President of the EU. The Czechs know something about self-defense and what can happen if you rely on the British, French and the rest of the "international community" to preserve your borders and protect your citizens. After 50 years of being ruled by Nazis and Stalinists, the Czechs know something about Israel's predicament.
So, how does this end? Well, officially, neither side wants a cease fire that "gives legitimacy" to the other. There is some slim possibility that reality will set in and both sides will find a way to claim victory and stand down. If Hamas survives and gets a truce under which Israel ultimately opens up the borders and seaport, they'll say that they won. Israel can claim victory if it survives (no other UN member gets its existence questioned, why is that?), rocket fire ceases and the smuggling tunnels are closed. As of tonight (Monday Jan 5) Israel has split Gaza into three sections and is clearly trying to achieve the sort of control it has asserted over the West Bank (which has been divided into four sections for a number of years). But Israel can't sustain its divide and conquer strategy with which it has had some success in the West Bank unless it permanently reoccupies Gaza. So, a bigger, albeit unlikely, victory for Israel would be to mortally wound Hamas and put Fatah back in control.
A big reason why the West Bank has been relatively quiet (except for the pogroms initiated by Jewish settlers) is that Fatah police, armed by the US and trained in Jordan, have been keeping Hamas and other Islamic terrorists under control. Amnesty International objects to the use of torture and targeted assassinations that continue to be part of the Fatah playbook but homicide bombings have been squelched. In return, Israeli troops have been pulled back from some population centers, allowing the locals to move about and do some business. The ironic business news of 2008 is that while the rest of the world sank into a deep recession the Palestinians' West Bank economy grew by about 12%. Now 12% of next to nothing isn't much but having the hotels in Bethlehem crowdedwith Christian pilgrims while Israeli Arabs go shopping in Jenin and Ramallah are hopeful signs. However, economic improvements will not, in the end, satisfy Palestinians' national aspirations or bring Israel any lasting peace. The gloomy statistic around here is that from 2005 to 2007 the largest Israeli population increase was the growth of West Bank settlers from 230,000 to 250,000. No segment of the Jewish population has that high a birth rate. This was not "natural growth" but deliberate expansion of the settlements. No matter what sort of cease fire gets worked out in Gaza, the seeds for the next generation's war are being sown.
Meanwhile, the weather has been pleasant and we've been out walking some of the city's more interesting neighborhoods with the Solomons (who left for home this evening), rediscovering some of our favorite restaurants, listening to some great jazz and generally having a very good time. Today, David Chamovitz gave us a tour of the cemetery on Trumpeldor, where many of Tel Aviv's streets and the faces on our Zionist sugar packets are buried. David keeps notes and newspaper clippings to educate the tourists and even waived his usual fee. We found the graves of Dizengoff (Tel Aviv's first mayor), Max Nordau (who never lived in Israel but whose bones were moved to a crypt formerly used by David's friend Joe to teach young Irgun members how to assemble weapons), Ahad Ha'Am, a number of city founders, the mass graves of people killed in the Arab riots of 1921 and 1929, a couple of the Irgun kids who fell in battle while still in their teens and artists like Bialik, Brenner, Reuven Rubin and Shoshana Demari (Israel's great lady of song). This is also how you live in Israel.
Read more!
Keren, my Yemenite daughter, has been attending Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem. We saw her Saturday night (Jan. 3) at a dinner party thrown by Gideon and Pnina, Molly's in-laws. As of 10 pm Saturday night Keren had not been called up and thought she might be heading back to school. Sunday morning, when her biological father, Mauricio, came by to help me stock up on coffee and wine and told me that, very late at night, Keren was called up. She reported for duty Sunday morning. We saw Keren in Tel Aviv Sunday night, She got the night off. This country is so small the kids can commute to the war front. Today (Monday Jan. 5) she's somewhere along the Gaza border but can't tell us exactly where or what she's doing. Her college studies are on hold for an indefinite period of time. Meanwhile her brother, Daniel, is in the Golani Brigade, an elite combat unit. He was somewhere on the Golan Heights but has been moved to a training area in the Negev. We don't know what he's training for but are pretty sure we'd rather have the war end before he gets a chance to do it.
Mauricio shrugs and says that this is how you live in Israel. In 1950, when he was 2 years old, his family moved here from Italy. He remembers the 1956 war, he fought in the Sinai in 1967 and, in 1981, rode a mobile heavy mortar into Beirut. Almost every Israeli has a similar story.
Here in Tel Aviv, unless you seek out the occasional anti-war demonstration or stay glued to the broadcast news you wouldn't know there's a war going on. Last Friday we joined the Rabinowitz family at the basketball game between the 11-12 year old teams from Hapoel Ussishkin and Hatikva. The game was at the Hatikva community center, the neighborhood where Becky and Gal lived together a few years ago. Gal's youngest brother, Yonaton, a very good player, was the high scorer in a lopsided victory. Gal's Dad, Danny, is a basketball player who supports his family by working as a University professor. He was clearly happy to have his son excel at his game and to have his daughter at home. Gal may get to miss the current war, keep working to save money and take her post-Army trip to the Far East.
Tamar is Marcia and David's granddaughter, making her my third or fourth cousin (its been too long since law school to remember degrees of consanguinity). Tamar is on active duty. She's been at a base close to the junction of Israel, Gaza and Egypt but may have been moved north and inland. Her usual Army job involves counseling soldiers. So she may not be on the front line (wherever that is today) but she is probably in an area within Hamas' missile range.
Liz, Becky and I have watched the TV channel on which the Homefront Command broadcasts instructions (in Hebrew, English, Arabic and Russian) for dealing with missile attacks. Within 40 kilometers of Gaza, Israelis are asked to stay within a certain distance of a shelter or safe room. The response time varies depending upon how far you are from the missile launching sites. Schools within the danger zone have been closed and outdoor gatherings are banned. We have been told how to select the safest room in the apartment. In the event we can't reach a shelter or don't have a safe room (which we don't), we know how to select the safest room in the apartment. The Opera Tower's bomb shelter is on -3, the lowest garage/basement level, about 9 stories below us. I know where the stairwells are and which one is closest to the shelter. I don't expect to need this information but, having once worked in the World Trade Center, I know it's information I want to have on my frontal lobe, just in case.
The international press and the usual pro-Palestinian whiners are much more concerned with the "civilian" casualties in Gaza than any injuries inflicted upon Israelis. We've been asking Israeli friends and relations about this. The general view is that its unfortunate that some people are caught in the middle but that Israel is right to do something about Hamas' attacks. One friend with a relative who was badly injured by a Grad missile hitting Ashkelon is not at all sympathetic. One relation is so upset that he's rethinking his relationship to the Zionist project. Others point out how Israel tries to warn Gazans before dropping bombs on residential buildings. I don't know if The Usual Suspects in the US know that Israel will call cell phones, drop leaflets and use other means to warn civilians that the building they are in or next to is about to be hit. They even drop small bombs near the building or blank charges that make a loud boom without deadly force before the actual attack. I find myself ambivalent about the fate of children who have been raised to celebrate the death of a Jew and aspire to wear bomb belts. I'd like to see them get a decent life but their parents are the ones who will have to stop the insanity and, frankly, they don't seem inclined to do that. As long as Hamas forces the choice to be our kids or their kids, I'm going to worry about our kids first.
Hamas has for years indiscriminately attacked and killed Israeli civilians and evidences not the least inclination to change its behavior. Israelis, for the most part, really are unhappy when noncombatants get hurt. Hamas could care less. What most of the "international community" wants to ignore when bemoaning the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza is that one of the reasons the Gaza borders are usually closed is that Hamas has the habit of shelling any crossing at which Palestinians were trying to get into Israel to work or do business. They really do not care how many of their own people die for the cause. If they can't maneuver the Israelis into shooting Palestinians, they'll just do it themselves and say, with a straight face, that Israel forced them to do it. The Hamas leader who died with his four wives and 11 children deliberately ignored Israeli efforts to warn them to get out of harm's way. He would have died with 12 children but for the fact that he had already used one as a homicide bomber.
Its disgraceful how many seemingly intelligent adults refuse to acknowledge that maybe Hamas and its allies have some responsibility for current events. As a pleasant surprise, some Arab governments seem to have figured this out. Arabs accepting that fellow Arabs may actually be at fault is progress of sorts. But my favorite voice in the wilderness is the support Israel has received from the Czech President of the EU. The Czechs know something about self-defense and what can happen if you rely on the British, French and the rest of the "international community" to preserve your borders and protect your citizens. After 50 years of being ruled by Nazis and Stalinists, the Czechs know something about Israel's predicament.
So, how does this end? Well, officially, neither side wants a cease fire that "gives legitimacy" to the other. There is some slim possibility that reality will set in and both sides will find a way to claim victory and stand down. If Hamas survives and gets a truce under which Israel ultimately opens up the borders and seaport, they'll say that they won. Israel can claim victory if it survives (no other UN member gets its existence questioned, why is that?), rocket fire ceases and the smuggling tunnels are closed. As of tonight (Monday Jan 5) Israel has split Gaza into three sections and is clearly trying to achieve the sort of control it has asserted over the West Bank (which has been divided into four sections for a number of years). But Israel can't sustain its divide and conquer strategy with which it has had some success in the West Bank unless it permanently reoccupies Gaza. So, a bigger, albeit unlikely, victory for Israel would be to mortally wound Hamas and put Fatah back in control.
A big reason why the West Bank has been relatively quiet (except for the pogroms initiated by Jewish settlers) is that Fatah police, armed by the US and trained in Jordan, have been keeping Hamas and other Islamic terrorists under control. Amnesty International objects to the use of torture and targeted assassinations that continue to be part of the Fatah playbook but homicide bombings have been squelched. In return, Israeli troops have been pulled back from some population centers, allowing the locals to move about and do some business. The ironic business news of 2008 is that while the rest of the world sank into a deep recession the Palestinians' West Bank economy grew by about 12%. Now 12% of next to nothing isn't much but having the hotels in Bethlehem crowdedwith Christian pilgrims while Israeli Arabs go shopping in Jenin and Ramallah are hopeful signs. However, economic improvements will not, in the end, satisfy Palestinians' national aspirations or bring Israel any lasting peace. The gloomy statistic around here is that from 2005 to 2007 the largest Israeli population increase was the growth of West Bank settlers from 230,000 to 250,000. No segment of the Jewish population has that high a birth rate. This was not "natural growth" but deliberate expansion of the settlements. No matter what sort of cease fire gets worked out in Gaza, the seeds for the next generation's war are being sown.
Meanwhile, the weather has been pleasant and we've been out walking some of the city's more interesting neighborhoods with the Solomons (who left for home this evening), rediscovering some of our favorite restaurants, listening to some great jazz and generally having a very good time. Today, David Chamovitz gave us a tour of the cemetery on Trumpeldor, where many of Tel Aviv's streets and the faces on our Zionist sugar packets are buried. David keeps notes and newspaper clippings to educate the tourists and even waived his usual fee. We found the graves of Dizengoff (Tel Aviv's first mayor), Max Nordau (who never lived in Israel but whose bones were moved to a crypt formerly used by David's friend Joe to teach young Irgun members how to assemble weapons), Ahad Ha'Am, a number of city founders, the mass graves of people killed in the Arab riots of 1921 and 1929, a couple of the Irgun kids who fell in battle while still in their teens and artists like Bialik, Brenner, Reuven Rubin and Shoshana Demari (Israel's great lady of song). This is also how you live in Israel.
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