Some party
This Brit went to an Astanga yoga Christmas party and was not amused. As a graduate of the beginner's course and one advanced course in Sivananda yoga at their Tel Aviv branch , I sympathize. I appreciated the elated feeling when finishing a yoga session, and the newly found bodily suppleness, but I fled when they started teaching us about chakras. Even I have my limits.

I actually saw my yellow-clad former teacher ride past me on his bicycle, a month or two ago, looking skinnier than ever.

posted by Imshin 23:18

An eventful weekend, mainly in Gaza. IDF divided the Gaza Strip into three parts Saturday morning, with roadblocks. This has been done before, and today came following the murder of Rabbi Arameh there, yesterday. A terrorist that infiltrated Morag, a South Gaza settlement was killed, before he could do too much mischief. He managed to injure a soldier, though. R.T., isn’t that near where you did reserve duty in May? A 12 year-old Palestinian girl was killed during a gunfight in Rafiah. Palestinians had been throwing grenades in Rafiah, as well. Palestinians attempted to assassinate a German United Nations official traveling in a diplomatic car near Jenin (Very bright these Palestinians). And the US deported some Palestinians to Gaza, because no one else would have them (Thanks for nothing). And so on and so forth. Nothing out of the ordinary, I know. I usually can’t be bothered to update about these things, but I’ve finished folding the laundry and the dishes are washed, the girls are showered and in bed, schoolbags ready for tomorrow. All this leisure. Lucky me.

posted by Imshin 22:40

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Haaretz: “Syria told the United States on Saturday it had no right to attack Iraq and warned that U.S. support for Israel was fuelling popular anger in the region”. You see it’s Israel that “is the most dangerous core of terrorism in the region and the world”. I’m glad we’ve got that straight.

posted by Imshin 22:04

I can’t read this Proche-Orient Info article, because it’s in French, but Nelson informs me it supplies the information that a cable-TV operator showed a chapter of the Egyptian anti-Semitic series called Rider without a Horse in France last Sunday. I say supply and demand. Lots of French Muslims want to see it. Who are we to deny them their fun?
posted by Imshin 21:14

Mary has directed me to Howard Fienberg’s post about buses segregated by sex in Jerusalem. Last week I heard my very feminist neighbors in the next office talking about this heatedly, but I didn’t really listen. The ultra-religious have been pressing hard for this for a long time. I understand it’s only on bus lines that serve them in their neighborhoods. One of the reasons I dislike Jerusalem, having spent my two years of army service there, is the multitude of different cultures all mixed up together, and the tension between these different groups. Of course, coming from elsewhere, this makes the city seem all the more exotic and interesting, but I’d rather not live there, thank you very much. Eldest has a friend whose parents, both educated media people, fled Jerusalem a few years ago, because they couldn’t stand the rapidly growing ultra-religious flavor of the city any longer.

The special way the ultra-religious regard the differences between the sexes (aren’t I soooo politically correct?) is just the tip of the iceberg. There are all sorts of different sects and streams and degrees of intensities of the ultra-religious, but many of them live in horrifying ignorance. There is an ongoing battle to force them to teach the boys math and English at school. Unbelievable, isn’t it?

Dov Elboim, an Israeli writer and TV presenter, was brought up as an ultra-religious Jew. He comes from a family of important rabbis. A few years ago, he wrote a novel describing life in an ultra-religious yeshiva from the point of view of a fourteen-year-old boy. Very disturbing. I remember a passage in the book about the rumor going round the yeshiva that there were actually millions of secular Jews in Israel. If I remember correctly, the hero thought this a preposterous idea.

Of course, the more ignorant they keep them, the more difficult it is for them to leave, should they find the immense courage necessary to do so. The boys have absolutely no skills whereby to fend for themselves in the outside world. The girls are better equipped. They get a better education because they have to work to support their double-digit families, so their husbands can get on with the serious stuff of studying Torah.

I could probably write for weeks about the Haredim (ultra-religious), but I really don’t want to.

posted by Imshin 21:13

Susan sent me this NYT article about burning crosses. You Americans are so civilized in the face of racism, busy busy debating the legalities of this or that symbol. A white-clad Islamist from Gaza brandishing a Koran reminded Susan of the Klu Klux Clan.
posted by Imshin 21:12

We’ve had a serious storm in Israel for the last couple of days. If you’ve ever been to Israel in the winter you will know that a bit of rain causes everything to come to a standstill here, especially the traffic. It’s the shock at encountering this increasingly rare phenomenon, of course. They’re saying that this storm is a biggie. The winds have been unbelievable. We had to tie our plants to the balcony rail so they wouldn’t fly off and do any damage. The storm is top of the news. Can you imagine? This is a rare occurrence indeed. Five people were killed in Jordan, as a result of the storm, and twenty-five were injured, according to this Hebrew link.

We went to my dad’s for Erev Shabbat (Friday night) meal. He lives by the sea. The roar of the sea and the wind was so loud we could hardly hear each other speak. Later in the night, at home, a tree fell across the road from us. First we heard a big bang and a bright light. We thought it was lightening hitting the building across the road, but the lights were still on. Then there was another big bang with sparks of light. The tree had fallen on the electricity line. We rang the municipality and when we woke up this morning the tree was gone. Something must be working properly in this town, after all.

When we were at my dad’s the roar of the wind and the sea suddenly reminded my eldest daughter that once we were in a sand storm in Sinai. I’d completely forgotten about it. It seems to have left a strong impression on eldest, though. Before the Terror War, we used to drive down to the eastern coast of Sinai every August for a few days’ holiday. We used to scout the coast around Nuweiba until we found a nice beach with basic straw huts (just four straw walls and simple Bedouin rugs for a floor) that looked nice. We used to hire the hut nearest to the sea, preferably right on the water line. Meals were at the coffee shop that was always part of these little hut villages. We were careful to drink bottled water. People used to warn us about the food, but we were usually fine. Sometimes we stayed with Bedouins and sometimes with Egyptians. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but our idea of heaven. Cheap too. The girls had an opportunity to experience a life without modern amenities and swiftly became little nature girls, running around freely with wild hair and happy sparkles in their eyes.

One time, the girls were sleeping outside the hut. In August, it could get very hot sleeping inside, even with the nice sea breeze you get on the coast, and the natural air-conditioning of a straw hut. Sometimes the evenings could be very windy and even cold, though. Well, that night the wind gradually built up, until we found ourselves in a full-blown storm. This was unusual for August. You usually got sandstorms in the spring. I’d never been in a storm before, although I’d been going to the Sinai since childhood. We managed to get the girls, who were covered in sand, into the hut and reorganized the sleeping arrangements. The straw walls didn’t do much to keep the wind and the sand out. Bish ventured out into the storm and hung up Bedouin rugs on the outside of the walls, in an attempt to keep the wind out. We huddled together, wondering if the hut would last the night. Much to our amazement, it did. So did the sunshade Bish had erected outside the hut. But we didn’t get much sleep that night.

Back to the current storm, this morning Bish took the girls to the old Tel Aviv port to see the waves breaking on the bridge. While they were gone I made them a nice steamy vegetable soup for lunch.

The storm seems to have died down for now.

posted by Imshin 21:12

Shabbat Shalom.
posted by Imshin 17:52

A Rabbi was shot dead in front of his wife and six children, this morning, driving on the road in southern Gaza Strip.
posted by Imshin 17:51

Who let the truth slip in?
The doorman must have been sleeping on the job at the Guardian . Here is a realistic description of the Palestinians/Israel situation. It explains what a mess Arafat made of things, with the support of his people.

I am a bit confused about the final passage, though. The writer, Emanuele Ottolenghi, a research fellow in Israel Studies at the Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies in Oxford University, says that after the elections in Israel, Israel will move to unilaterally withdraw. I don’t see it happening at all. It’s not that simple. Evacuation of tens of thousands of Jews under fire is not realistic, for one thing; and the results of leaving the Palestinians to their own devices, as Ottolenghi puts it, without a real peace treaty that they mean to keep, could be rather horrific, for another, especially considering that the evacuation will have whetted their appetites and strengthened their conviction.

Still it’s nice to see some sense in the Guardian. A bit too complex for these guys to grasp, though (via Tal).

posted by Imshin 17:35

More election fun (boring it’s not)
Mitzna says he will form a coalition with Arab parties that recognize Israel as a Jewish and democratic state (in the unlikely case that he wins and gets to form a coalition at all) (Hebrew link). Based on the actions and utterances of most current Arab members of Knesset and other Israeli Arab leaders, I'm wondering exactly which Arab parties he has in mind. Maybe Azmi Bishara’s “Balad”? I hope it keeps OK for him. Balad list stands a chance of being disqualified “because its goals contradict the Jewish-democratic nature of the state of Israel and because it supports organizations fighting against Israel.” according to Attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein. The other lists aren’t much better.

According to this poll (Hebrew), a third of voters say their vote will be effected by recent corruption (Turns out that there’s been quite a bit of it in Labor, too, surprise, surprise, but Likud has still managed to excel in this respect) -- 18% of voters say they'll vote for another party, 12% says they won't vote at all. Hmmm, worrying. I suppose I won't have any choice but to vote Likud, and hope they clean up their act, or all the nasties go to prison (fat chance).

Shinui really is a contrary party. I may agree with a lot of what they say, but definitely not the way they say it, or the way they manage to rub everyone up the wrong way.

What will happen, I wonder, if the elections fall in the middle of the Iraq war, which looks increasingly likely? If they don't postpone them, I wonder how voting rates will be effected. Actually I don't see how they can not postpone. If this war is anything like last time, Tel Aviv will be empty. Who's going to come back to town from, say, Eilat, just to vote? This probably means the left stands to lose out. The left's voters are more affluent, and more likely to be able to afford alternative living arrangements.

posted by Imshin 21:30

Now don’t start shouting
Your old pal Jane Fonda is here. She’s also taking the time to visit Israeli victims of Palestinian violence as well as the other side. I know a lot of you don’t like her, but I do appreciate the effort to see both sides’ suffering.

posted by Imshin 18:54

Uh!
Haaretz: “Hand found in park

City inspectors inspecting a public park in Rishon Lezion yesterday found a human hand in an advance state of decomposition that had drawn the attention of a pack of street cats. The inspectors called the police, which sent the hand to the forensics department. Most likely, said police sources, the hand was lost during a terrorist explosion at the nearby promenade in May and probably belonged to the terrorist, since all the body parts of the two Israeli casualties in the attack were buried and none of the dozens wounded lost a hand".

posted by Imshin 18:53

Oh, oh, oh. Ehud Yaari on Mitzna
VERY interesting. How did I miss this?
Thanks to Haggai for pointing it out.

posted by Imshin 17:30

Creepy
An English 39 year-old artist and writer, Margaret Davies, died of starvation and cold in an uninhabited wilderness in North West England. This is a very strange story. She sounds a very unusual person, too. I suppose it would be inappropriate to call her strange, under the circumstances. Maybe eccentric would be better. The article mentions she spent the summer in Israel, working for the UN, to make some money, before continuing to Nepal.

Isn't it strange? She and I are about the same age, but seem to have nothing in common. I have always lived a very structured life, completely of my own choice, grateful and appreciative of the security and warmth of family life and a steady job. She has gone looking for hardship, danger and solitude.

I suppose I am not a typical Israeli in my decided lack of wanderlust, but then, Bish is the same. On the other hand, my parents have traveled enough for all of us.

So if I regard someone like Margaret Davies as an eccentric it’s probably because most 39 year-olds are like me and not like her. Even if they were more like her when they were younger, traveling around and living on the edge, most have settled down by now. But just because most people live some version of my life, doesn't mean it is better than hers. You may say: Well, you're alive and she isn't. (Tfu tfu tfu! Bite your tongue!) I've got no guarantees that I won't get run over by a bus, on the way to work, tomorrow morning, have I?

posted by Imshin 17:22

I loved The Head Heeb's post about the working peace among Israeli and Palestinian criminals. Jonathan's mention of the late Jonny Attias amused me. Years ago, when I first came to work for my current employer, one of my first bosses was a cousin of the late Jonny Attias. Luckily for me, La Cousina, who, unlike her relative, was a law-abiding citizen, took a shine to little old Fresh Meat here (as I was then) and took me under her wing, thus protecting me from being devoured by the workplace pack. I rather suspect that otherwise she would have been first in for the kill. Years later, she reaped the benefit of this, when having ventured out into the far greater jungle of the world outside government salaries and job permanence, Bish threw a few tasty morsels of prey her way.

The very fruitful and widespread cooperation between Jewish and Arab criminals in Israel is truly a rare example of successful coexistence in Israeli society. It can be demonstrated nicely with the story of the Turk family of Yaffo. I think they are distant cousins of Rifat "Jimmy" Turk, once a famous Israeli soccer player, now a member of the Tel Aviv city council. (I must point out that these are Israeli Arabs and not Palestinians from the territories). At one point, the illegitimate son of one of the brothers was wanted by the police for his complicity in a big burglary of safe deposit boxes in a bank in Holon. Under his mug shot, the police poster gave his name as "Amir Cohen, son of Muhammad". He was never found, by the way, because, according to one of his uncles, his other uncles murdered him, as a “reward” for cooperating with the police.

Jonathan talks of Israeli (Jewish) car thieves supplying stolen cars to Palestinian car dealers and what's known here as car slaughterhouses, in the territories. Contrary to Jonathan’s claim, this successful business cooperation has been badly hampered by the Terror War (also known as the Intifada), much to the relief of car owners and insurance companies. In fact, I understand that car thefts have dropped so drastically, that the police have begun liquidating their special unit for investigating these car thefts, because it is no longer needed. Unfortunately, we have seen that this cooperation between Jewish and Arab criminals extends to a lively trade in weapons, as well, which Israelis (mainly Arab, but Jewish too) supply to the Palestinians in large amounts.

posted by Imshin 21:56

The real mistake
Says Ami Isseroff on MidEastWeb’s new blog: “It is one thing to view the Oslo accords from the perspective of those who believe in peace and equality for two nations, and to say, "this way did not work." It is quite different to begin with the idea that Palestinians or Jews do not deserve self determination, work very hard to make the Oslo agreements fail, and then when they do fail, say "You see, I told you so!"”

How do I feel about that? Well, I partially agree with it. Looking around, most people I know who say the Oslo Accords were a dangerous mistake, never believed in them from the start. People like me, who supported them but have been forced to admit that they have failed dismally, usually think we were right to have tried.

However, I believe it wasn’t the disbelievers on either side who finally derailed the peace train. It was Arafat, by refusing to accept the Camp David offers and not only failing to crush the terror war, but, according to credible sources, actually instigating it.

I think that to suggest that those who always believed that Oslo was a terrible mistake do not “believe in peace and equality for two nations” is an unfair generalization. Many of those Jews who opposed Oslo (I can’t speak for Palestinians) certainly do not think Palestinians “do not deserve self-determination”. They believe, however, that the Palestinians cannot be trusted and will use any independence given to them to further the goal of being rid of the Zionist entity. Sadly, they seem to have been right about that.

We wanted so much to prove wrong the disbelievers on our side. But another thing they said was that Arafat was not a reliable partner. Right again. That was both our mistake AND the Palestinians’ mistake. If the local Palestinians had had the guts to go without the Tunisian leadership, it’s much more likely we would have got on just fine. But they didn’t and couldn’t. We’re all paying the price.

I hope that in my lifetime, we will see a Palestinian leadership we can trust, and then, I hope, we can learn from our experience and (this time) slowly, carefully and sensitively, attempt again to learn to live in peace with the Palestinians.

posted by Imshin 22:13

Gotham 2003, the new Diane
No more pink. Does the dreary template reflect a new bleak realism in Diane's outlook? Time will tell.

Update: Pink again. What a relief. I hope this is permanent. Have I mentioned motion sickness?
posted by Imshin 20:01

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, addressing The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum, explains Israel’s strategic goals in the War of Terror and how to achieve them. I can think of a few people who should read this. Not that it would make any difference, of course.
posted by Imshin 19:52

It seems Tony Blair wants to talk peace with our neighbors the Palestinians. I hope the British and other Quartet members are successful in reaching a peaceful agreement and resolving their differences with the Palestinians. A word of warning: Negotiating with the Palestinians can be very dangerous. And the more you offer them, the nastier they get.
posted by Imshin 19:52

We also have our share of silly actors who have become too big for their boots (or, as we say in Israel, their urine has gone up into their head).

Yesterday I heard some local actors talking on the radio. Apparently they are planning violent protests ("the likes of which have never been seen before" - I kid you not) in view of the proposed harsh cut, in the state budget for 2003 (which should be passed this evening), of investment in cultural enterprises, meaning many of them stand to lose their jobs. The ones most likely to be thrown out, of course, are those who make a living from state-subsidized repertoire theaters.

These actors are very angry indeed. They honestly can't understand why they're not on the top of the list for government handouts or why Israel doesn't spend 2% of the GNP on culture, like in Europe.

Duh!

By the way, this came right after an item about a home for people who can’t look after themselves (I didn’t catch exactly what sort of people live there) in the poverty stricken southern town of Dimona, which is having such problems keeping afloat it is finding it difficult to supply the basic needs of its wards. Coming after this, the actors’ plight rather disgusted me.

How come some actors seem so intelligent when they say things other people write for them and so silly when they try saying anything they thought of themselves?

Probably the best example of this is Israeli actor Muhammad Bakri, whom you've probably heard of because his movie, "Jenin, Jenin", was recently banned from being screened in cinemas or on TV in Israel, apparently because it's a pack of vicious lies. I am told it especially offended parents of IDF soldiers killed in Jenin, who staged demonstrations at the couple of screenings that preceded the ban. I am opposed to the ban on the grounds that Bakri is a twerp and banning him only serves to advertise his movie and make him even more full of himself (if that is possible).

For some reason, he's very popular with TV interviewers in Israel, although he always talks such nonsense. Maybe it's because he's so good looking. I admit I don't switch channels when he's on, even though I usually find the content at best uninteresting, usually inflammatory. He manages to charm everyone into thinking that he has something worthwhile to say. The Arabs in Israel deserve a better spokesman, but I doubt if they could find a more prepossessing one.

posted by Imshin 19:51

I know nothing about the causes for the threatened New York transit strike, but I can relate to the strong words asparagirl has to say about it.
posted by Imshin 00:28

But what does it mean?
Erm, via Allison Lives

posted by Imshin 23:23

Diane of Gotham has gone from black on pink to ...pink on pink.

Diane! We can't read pink on pink! What do you take us for?

Just kidding. It appears she's having some problems. I'll update you when she manages to fix it, that is, if she updates me.
posted by Imshin 18:04

E-mailed to me by Our Sis:
Once upon a time a powerful Emperor advertised for a new Chief Samurai.
Only three applied for the job: a Japanese, a Chinese and a Jewish Samurai.

"Demonstrate your skills!" commanded the Emperor.
The Japanese samurai stepped forward, opened a tiny box and released a fly. He drew his samurai sword and "swish"; the fly fell to the floor, neatly divided in two! "What a feat!" said the Emperor. "Number Two samurai, show me what you can do."

The Chinese samurai smiled confidently, stepped forward and opened a tiny box, releasing a fly. He drew his samurai sword and "swish, swish"; the fly fell to the floor, neatly quartered!" That is skill!" nodded the Emperor.
"How are you going to top that, Number three Samurai?"

Number Three Samurai stepped forward, opened a tiny box, released one fly, drew his Samurai sword, and "swoooooosh," flourished his sword so mightily that a gust of wind blew through the room. But the fly was still buzzing around! In disappointment, the Emperor said, "What kind of skill is that? The fly isn't even dead."

"Dead, schmed," replied the Jewish Samurai. "Dead is EASY.....Circumcision. THAT takes skill!"

posted by Imshin 17:58

This is a bit over the top: “A respected Saskatchewan native leader said Adolf Hitler did the right thing when he killed six million Jews during World War II”. Is this a joke or what? It gets better/worse (depending which side you’re on): “"…That's how Hitler came in. He was going to make damn sure that the Jews didn't take over Germany or Europe. That's why he fried six million of those guys, you know. Jews would have owned the goddamned world. And look what they're doing. They're killing people in Arab countries."” This must be a joke.

Fred linked to it over on Israpundit. Hiya Freddie, how ya doing?

posted by Imshin 22:50

Hollywood to the rescue
I approve very much of Blogatelle’s initiative for solving the world’s ills.

A bit worn, I know, but my fantasy cel-dip (celebrity diplomacy) would still have Clint Eastwood standing over a hovering, quivering Saddam/bin Laden/Nasrallah/insert the bad guy of your fancy, “Uh-uh. I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kind of lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?”

I know, I know, I’m more likely to get a John Lennon look-alike plus goatee plus black and white Kaffiya singing Happy Christmas (War Is Over) or worse. Oh, well. The dream is over.

Don't mind me.

posted by Imshin 21:59

Needless to say, the news here is all about the nasty bribes and payoffs in the Likud “primaries”. Labor thinks they’re going to win back votes. They can just think again.

Aha! I spy an opportunity to be catty, which thankfully has no existential meaning for me and mine:

Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh): Spirituality for the young and good looking?
I always thought that using (an abundance of) sex as a means on the spiritual road to enlightenment a weird idea. I strongly suspect that most people came to Osho’s Ashram in Poona, India, mainly for the sex and not for the spiritual stuff (even if they told themselves otherwise), which is fine by me. People often delude themselves in much more destructive ways. So I’m not really surprised that twelve years after Osho’s death, (reading between the lines of this article) it looks like the sex has at last officially become the end. Well, I must say, it took longer than expected.

Funnily enough, the Hebrew version of the article, which appeared in Haaretz today, has cut out the mention of sex and AIDS testing that appeared in the original version. Are they getting prudish in their old age, or was it translated by an ex-disciple who thinks the emphasis on the sex in the media is taking it out of its spiritual context and making it sound too sensational? If it’s the second reason – maybe he or she didn’t get it at all. Based on everything I’ve ever read that Osho wrote, and I admit that I found reading his stuff a terrible waste of time and usually couldn’t get past the first few chapters (I also once saw a video of him talking which was an equal waste of time), I personally think Osho was a crook and charlatan. I do believe the sex stuff was invented mainly to attract suitably gullible and misguided customers. This is a rather mean thing for me to say, considering I know some ex-disciples of his who are very sweet and lovely people. What can I say? I’m obviously just not spiritual enough to have shed off my nasty cynicism, yet. This is another reason I left my Buddhist group – I felt like a fraud. I was a fraud.

Will I be getting responses telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about? Very likely, and probably rightly so. But I can’t help feeling a malicious delight that Osho’s Ashram in Poona is finally coming clean about what it seems to have been all along - a holiday resort for people who want to live it up and feel self-righteous and spiritual while they’re at it.

posted by Imshin 19:47

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