The Israeli Army entered Gaza last night. An extremely dangerous and complex operation that was tried to be avoided but became the only choice and an obvious choice as the cease-fire was rejected and the rockets intensified. The sirens were everywhere - in the South where people are afraid to leave their homes for a week now, in Jerusalem in the middle of Bar Mitzvah celebration in the beautiful Sephardi synagogue, in Hertzelia during our son's swimming practice, at my work in Rosh Ha Ayin bordering the Arab Village Kassem, in the Ramat Gan's Safari. A piece fell in The Weitzman Institute of science in Rehovot, on the Tel Aviv beach, at Ramat ha Sharon tennis court.
Our little one that is two and a half has become sadly well-trained with the shelter procedure. Last night when we grabbed her from bed at 10pm and rushed to the shelter she said: "The sirens, and now comes the boom." Like all of us she became extremely alert to any audio signals. When an airplane noise woke her up last night, she started crying and said: "Mommy, I am afraid." Asking me to stay with her.
Shabbat is descending on us here in a few hours. I heard on the news that a special radio frequency was set for Shabbat observers. It is called "The silent wave" and will transmit silence only interjected by the rocket alert warnings. The chief Israeli Rabbi spoke now on the radio giving a special permission to leave this radio wave on, to inquire about the shelter at any synagogue and to stop any prayer (including the un-interruptable prayer number 18) if the sirens go off.
The boys and men have entered Gaza. Relatives, coworkers, fathers and sons. I don't know how their mothers and wives could manage to sleep at night. Even I wake up and check news alerts every few hours. All that I find myself capable to do right now it to make cholent (hamin) - a traditional soothing Jewish stew that I otherwise would never make during summer.
Together with a restless internal war, there seems to be a political war going on against Israel on an international stage. Unfortunately Israel is very bad at PR. And the conflict that was portrayed as very simple at first (200 Gazans dead, 1 Israeli, therefore Israel is at fault) is far more complex, especially as the Hamas behavior goes against acceptable norms and rules of logic. I always took pride at being liberal and worshiped The New York Times. But now they seem to skew the facts and story. It is horrifying to see the anti-Israeli demonstrations going on in Europe and the US. By the way, they are not censored by the Israeli TV. Our dear friends around the world, we do need your support now. Thank you to all the Bostonians who went to the pro-Israeli rally yesterday and going today. And thank you for all the PR work on Facebook. Israel really needs it now.
Our little one that is two and a half has become sadly well-trained with the shelter procedure. Last night when we grabbed her from bed at 10pm and rushed to the shelter she said: "The sirens, and now comes the boom." Like all of us she became extremely alert to any audio signals. When an airplane noise woke her up last night, she started crying and said: "Mommy, I am afraid." Asking me to stay with her.
Shabbat is descending on us here in a few hours. I heard on the news that a special radio frequency was set for Shabbat observers. It is called "The silent wave" and will transmit silence only interjected by the rocket alert warnings. The chief Israeli Rabbi spoke now on the radio giving a special permission to leave this radio wave on, to inquire about the shelter at any synagogue and to stop any prayer (including the un-interruptable prayer number 18) if the sirens go off.
The boys and men have entered Gaza. Relatives, coworkers, fathers and sons. I don't know how their mothers and wives could manage to sleep at night. Even I wake up and check news alerts every few hours. All that I find myself capable to do right now it to make cholent (hamin) - a traditional soothing Jewish stew that I otherwise would never make during summer.
Together with a restless internal war, there seems to be a political war going on against Israel on an international stage. Unfortunately Israel is very bad at PR. And the conflict that was portrayed as very simple at first (200 Gazans dead, 1 Israeli, therefore Israel is at fault) is far more complex, especially as the Hamas behavior goes against acceptable norms and rules of logic. I always took pride at being liberal and worshiped The New York Times. But now they seem to skew the facts and story. It is horrifying to see the anti-Israeli demonstrations going on in Europe and the US. By the way, they are not censored by the Israeli TV. Our dear friends around the world, we do need your support now. Thank you to all the Bostonians who went to the pro-Israeli rally yesterday and going today. And thank you for all the PR work on Facebook. Israel really needs it now.
Hi Maria
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of your blog. First of all, I would like to express my full empathy and solidarity for what you, your family and all of you must be going through. And I keep on praying that nothing harmful happens to you and anyone. They only thing that worried me in your last comment are the phrasings "anti-israel" or "pro-israel". I don't think anyone should be "for" (or "against") a country, rather pro peace, humanity, and moral behavior. I imagine it is very hard during these days to see the other side, but in fact who is at war are (extreme) political parties in Gaza and political parties in Israel. I am sure a lot of civilians - mothers like you, children, teenager, young men, grandfathers - suffer just as much as you do on the other side, and are longing for peace just as much as you do. Does it help here to be "pro" or "against" a country? No. The only reasonable attitude is to be pro human beings. You have the power to express that point, even if in the middle of a war, you have the power to emphasize solidarity with victims on both sides, and actively work against the violent downward spiral. It is not easy, I imagine, but it will be worth it. I wish my tears could help, but they are worthless. What counts now is you. You civilians. All the best. With love. Someone who likes you.
Completely agree with you. And thank you for pointing this out. In fact yesterday I read this article by Ilene Prusher from Haaretz: In Israel or Gaza, declaring sympathy for the other side is a no-go zone that made me regret not emphasizing that we indeed are fighting only Hamas terrorists and not the Gaza population that is right now is even in a worse misery than we are. Together with mourning fallen soldiers and other Israel causalities of this war we all do feel pain for innocent Palestinians killed in it. And as far as I know Israel is trying to do the maximum to minimize the number of victims and help the injured. Make-shift hospitals are opened close to the front line for Gazan people, some injured are treated in the hospitals in Israel. We hear interviews with Gaza citizens and doctors daily on the radio and TV and do know of the terrible survival conditions there.
DeleteThank you for the comment!