Lets Go Fly A Kite, Up To The Highest Height

This has been the longest period between posts since I started. This blog was supposed to be for me to share the experiences I have had while making Aliyah. Somewhere along the way it became my soapbox to complain about religious coercion in Israel. The lack of posts is primarily due to the fact that nothing changes in that area for the better. I have not given up the fight but I think it may be time to blog about some other things. Knowing me, this will most likely last one or two posts but it is worth a try.

Gaza,Gaza,Gaza.

One of the things that can be seen as a downside to making aliyah is the insistence of our neighbors that we have no right to exist.

Anywhere, but especially here.

It is very disturbing to see how foreign news agencies cover this issue vs. what we are told here.

Before I continue I want to state that I believe that the government of Israel lies to it's people when they feel it is their interest and I look at everything they say skeptically  (as I do with everything - call me Mr. Skeptic). I know this to be true because I have seen it happen several times.

Anyway, I was talking to a tax lawyer yesterday ( boy did Trump do them a solid) and he asked me how I was holding up. I didn't know what he was talking about as he already knew that I was pissed because my taxes went up.

TL: How are you doing with all the disturbances.

MS: Oh Gaza? It is not as bad as what you hear. You can not trust foreign news agencies.

TL: What do you mean?

MS: I will give you a for instance. Did you know that out of the 63 people killed a few weeks ago Hamas claimed that 50 were their operatives another 3 were Islamic Jihad and the claim that a baby was killed was rescinded after it was admitted that she had a heart defect and most likely died from that.

TL: No I hadn't heard that

MS: Did you know that just yesterday, David Friedman, the American Ambassador, claimed that Israel is being denigrated in 9 out of 10 articles concerning Gaza. He has asked the news outlets to give their suggestions on how Israel could have handled it differently. He also said that he has spoken to military experts from all over Europe and they said that they felt Israel had dealt with the problem as best they could and within accepted rules of engagement.

TL: No I hadn't hear that either.

MS: Did you know that the Gazans are sending kites with petrol bombs into Israel. They have sent 600 in the last month and although Israel has intercepted 400 of them the remaining 200 have burnt the equivalent of 7 sq miles.

TL: You don't say.

yadda, yadda ,yadda

Everyday there is at least one attempted ( or sometimes successful) infiltration of Israel from Gaza. I am not an expert but it is clear that they are testing the border looking for weaknesses.

***Side note - I now realize as I am writing this, that TL was asking about the rockets which did not even enter my mind.

I think about these things and then I don't. This is not my first rodeo. We were here for:

first intifada, wave of suicide bombings , second intifada ( got a great deal on a house during that one), more suicide bombings, second Lebanon war, summer of 2014 etc..

Some people would say that the concept of getting used to it is an Israeli thing.

I, on the other hand,  am not that macho.

I am not used to it but I have learned how to not think about it ( if I could only do that with my second generation holocaust PTSD hmmmm).

When I do think about it , I think about my daughter in the army, my other daughters kids ( not ready to say grand-kids yet) who will have to go to the army and the fact that we will most likely never live in peace here.

I also think about the brainwashing of an entire population that is told to hate and kill us from birth. The Europeans finally woke up to that and have now said, after 50 years, that they will no longer fund text books that call Jews monkeys and tells kids that becoming a martyr is the best career path available to them.

Yea Europe.

I sometimes think about the suffering that goes on in Gaza and the hope and despair that the people must have even though they are taught to blame me for it.

When I hear that a 21 year Palestinian paramedic is killed tending to the wounded, I still feel empathy with her parents, though admittingly it is becoming harder every day.

The biggest problem is that they don't realize that we are not going anywhere. As soon as they do we will be able to move forward.

I will not hold my breath.

Speaking of not going anywhere if you do decide to go somewhere to eat try this.

We have good friends that also made aliyah from New York when we did and we decided to meet them in Jerusalem for lunch. There is a place in Machne Yehuda called Crave that I had tried to get into twice but was unable.

It was easy for lunch.

I heard a lot of hype about this place and was skeptical that it could live up to it.

It did.

Not a fancy place but very good , not very healty , food.

I plan to post again soon. The topic is how I thought of a great way to combat BDS at universities and then was told by an actual college student why it won't work