The three minute man?
"In a book published after he was sacked, the president's former chauffeur, Jean-Claude Laumond, says female staff at party headquarters dubbed Chirac "the three-minute man" because of his speedy sexual liaisons.

Laumond says: "They came down the stairs with their eyes twinkling and their tights twisted like corkscrews.""

Teehee
posted by Imshin 22:31

So unnecessary
Bish and I rarely go out in the evenings. We have found that even if we make plans, by the time we manage to leave, we are both so exhausted from our long day, that we don’t really enjoy ourselves. And, after a late night, the next day is hell. I have to be at work at 7am. Besides, we can never agree on what to do. He would rather go out for a meal. I hate eating late. I love a good play. He’d rather watch the basketball on TV.

Every now and again, I decide we should invest in what they call here our “zoogiyoot”, one of those silly words that dime psychologists and other idiots discuss with self-importance on morning television. I think. I’m never home in the morning and if I am, I’ve better things to do than watch someone showing how to do flower arrangements or introducing the latest natural cure for warts, not that these subjects are not worthy and might even be interesting to some. Anyway, zoogiyoot would probably translate literally as something in the realm of “Couple-dom” or “Couple-ism”. The dictionary translates it as “intimacy” but that’s all wrong. It just doesn’t manage to catch the ludicrous aspect of the concept of zoogiyoot.

So, as I was saying, I occasionally think it might be a good idea for us to do something together (Doesn’t that sound more sensible than “investing in our couple-ism?”). The last time was quite a while ago. I suggested it to Bish, who agreed, reluctantly. Bish used to work as a waiter. He more than exhausted any hunger he might have had for any sort of nightlife before he even met me. I perused “Achbar Ha’ir” (= City Mouse), which gives information about Tel Aviv nightlife, and managed to find a familiar name of a rock musician who had a show on trying out some sort of classical arrangements of his repertoire. Relieved to find someone who was actually born in those far off days when I was young and fancy free, and young men used to take me out to try to impress me, I decided that that was a suitable choice. Do I sound like I miss that, by the way? Well, I don’t. First of all there were not all that many of them, young men, that is. And considering the pressure of the whole thing and what terrible torture most of the dates turned out to be, if I can rack my brains that far back, I’m quite happy to be out of it.

But I digress, again. Bish suggested we go with another couple. So much for a romantic evening, working on our couple-ism. On the night in question, the babysitter arrived, clothes were flung around until I was happy (what do you wear to these things these days?) and after some further messing about (our friends’ babysitter was late) we were finally off. When we got to the place there was an enormous queue. Lucky we had a reservation. We eventually managed to get inside. It was a musty, low-roofed basement, down scores of winding stairs and we were shown to our table, in a far-flung, hardly accessible corner. I immediately needed to go to the bathroom, naturally, which meant fighting my way back up the winding stairs, this time against the flow. Later, back in my seat, as the basement slowly but surely filling up to sardine capacity (smoked sardines at that, no adherence to no smoking laws in this place), the thought crossed my mind that there were no emergency exits that I could see, and we were pretty far away from the winding staircase. I’m a bit claustrophobic at the best of times, but this time my slightly panicky feelings seemed justified. We were in a firetrap. I soon remedied the problem by downing a nice big glass of wine and forgot about it. The show was great.

Last night, watching the horrific pictures of that nightclub catching fire, reawakened those unspoken fears that I felt that evening. You could see that the cameraman who was filming it all realized what was happening long before anyone else, because he was gradually edging himself to the exit, away from the fire. But everyone else seemed oblivious. Maybe the cameraman was the only sober person in the place.

Just people who wanted to have a good time. Aren’t there enough dangers out there that we can’t control, that such a thing should happen?

posted by Imshin 20:47

People think of the cutest names for their sites.
Wiggle Worm Farms is a friendly site with links to just about everything. And guess what? I’ve got a cool link there, too, right on the home page. Yippee!

Grow a Brain Cafe has all sorts of unusual links. Perfect for a rainy Saturday afternoon. I’ve spent hours there and haven’t even got started yet.

Both have the nice fresh flavor of non-commercial sites made by people having fun.

posted by Imshin 20:45

Shabbat Shalom.
posted by Imshin 15:30

Purim is nearly here.
I usually spend the month before Purim furiously sewing fancy-dress costumes for the girls. I ask them what they would like to be in Purim and they often have some pretty unusual ideas. Last year Eldest and her friend were an enormous pair of boots, complete with (fake) white fur round the top, Santa Claus style. My masterpiece to date. It was quite a project. The big problem turned out to be finding stuff to put on to reduce the flammability (They were completely covered by felt and sponge stuff and I was a bit worried). Bish eventually found a factory in Petah Tikva that manufactures the spray used by upholsterers for furniture. It took ages to dry. Then I had to spend the whole day at school with them, helping with the logistics, such as getting up and down the stairs!

As you can see, I regard it as a personal challenge to make whatever idea they come up with, however difficult. People think I’m mad, you can buy really nice, inexpensive costumes these days, but where’s the fun in that?

I’ve been hinting to the girls that they have to decide soon or we won’t be ready in time. Eldest said she wants something more comfortable this year. She’s decided on something really easy. More than easy, but I’m not telling beforehand. Youngest had this costume when she was five and I still have the props and they will fit Eldest as well.

So now we have to see what Youngest wants. It’s helpful if they don’t both want difficult things.

posted by Imshin 09:43

I've also been asked my opinion on Neturei Karta. This is a tiny and inconsequential sect of fiercely and vehemently anti-Zionist ultra-ultra-religious Jews. Their views are accepted here by no one but themselves. They have no Israeli following and I don’t think they even have a Jewish following overseas (am I wrong?). I know nothing about them (the only thing that comes to mind is that their women wear black scarves over their shaven heads). They live in Jerusalem. I live in Tel Aviv. I never even see them. They don’t interest me or anyone else and neither do their views, as far as I know. Maybe Tal is more knowledgeable about them. He lives in Jerusalem.

However, considering their extremely marginal position in Jewish society and the bored disdain, if not plain indifference, with which they are widely regarded in Israel, in religious circles as well, it is significant that Yasser Arafat, accepted leader of the Palestinians, a man who claims he wants to make peace with the Israeli people, should choose Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, a leader of this fanatic group of Israel haters, as his advisor on Jewish affairs. Is this not an important declaration of Arafat’s vision of peace with Israel?

Update: The Head Heeb develops this subject. I see the the Dhimmi Guy also discusses. These guys have more information than me. Obviously Neturei Karta and other ant-Zionist frummers are more vocal in the Diaspora. Here they risk having their social benefits cut off if they go too far (they also risk being beaten up on by hot-headed right-wing Jerusalemites). Note the absurd. They live like leeks off my hard earned taxes, but hate my guts and would have my home destroyed (In case any one was wondering where Shinui party sprung from).

Nice to see I started an interesting discussion.

The significance of Hirsch is in the symbolism. It's not as if the other ministers in Arafat's government have any say anyway. Arafat calls all the shots. The ministers have political significance but no actual effect whatsoever on the ministries they head (thus when Salam Fayed accepted the treasury he demanded autonomy, but I don't know if he really got it or how much). Arafat makes all the decisions, from the largest and most important to the smallest and most trivial. So whether Hirsch takes part in cabinet meetings is of no relevance, because Arafat has no orders to give him anyway.

The honor Arafat bestows on Hirsch gives us an opportunity to peek into Arafat's mind, and see what he really thinks and intends. It's a pity Israeli leaders didn't heed this during the nineties, and call him on it.

posted by Imshin 20:57

I've been asked what I meant by “So why is it that so many westerners believe that this is not possible for their former neighbors?”

What I meant is that based on the Israeli experience, Arabs, Muslims and, I suppose, other peoples who haven't had the good fortune to been born in a western democracy, have the capacity to handle a more participatory style of governance, even if it turns out to be very different from the European interpretation.

It is true that second and third (not to mention fourth and fifth) generation Israelis are very different from their parents and grandparents, wherever they came from. The truly amazing thing about Israel is that its democratic foundations were laid by Eastern Europeans long before there was any sort of democratic tradition in their countries of origin. And it was further built up by people from many corners of the earth, the great majority of whom were not the immigrants or descendants of immigrants from established democracies. People here are such a diverse mixture, but still, God knows how, IT WORKS. We are the best proof you can get that democracy is possible even in the most improbable of places and situations, with the most problematic of people. The question, with regard to Israeli society, is not why there are so many deep and seemingly insoluble rifts, but why there are not more, and how is it we have not yet all killed each other. I know, I know, some are trying, but the rest of us are managing to work together long enough to fight off those who would have us all dead.

I accept that we had a problem with the fact that non-Israeli Arabs in our midst, the Palestinians in the territories, did not participate in the democratic process here (as opposed to Israeli Arabs who do participate fully in Israeli democratic process). Oslo, as I saw it, and I think many other Israelis did too, was to be the solution of that problem. The creation of a State of Palestine, alongside the State of Israel, which I naively believed would be democratic, was to give the Palestinians an opportunity to shape their own destiny at last. That this did not happen is not the fault of the Israelis. The Palestinians had seven long years to lay the foundations for such an entity and they chose not to.

I hope some day they will come to their senses and make an effort to persuade us that they mean to live with us here in peace, and then maybe they will get another chance to build such a state.

posted by Imshin 19:29

Today found me in the Negev. It was an unlikely day for a trip with work. Stormy. But it was amazing to see how much it had changed in the few months since my last visit to Mitzpe Ramon. I'm beginning to pine a bit for our little southern hideaway, but it's very difficult to get away. I'm hoping next weekend.

I've already told you a few times that it has been unusually rainy this winter. The desert looked different. The lower areas and the wadis were partly covered with a thin green plume of delicate grass, little flowers and shrubs. Incredible. The goats were all out with their Bedouin goatherds, enjoying the fresh greenery.

We didn’t get as far as Mitzpe Ramon today. I wonder what it looks like there.

posted by Imshin 19:20

The haphazard results of today’s woolgathering
Up till about ten years ago or so, although I'm not sure exactly when the change to plastic cards came about, all the public phones in Israel were operated by little tokens with holes in the middle. My mother always used to send me back to the army after a visit home with a pipe cleaner (left over from Dad's pipe smoking years) twisted into a ring with about twenty to thirty tokens thread on it, so I could keep in touch ("Why didn't you use your cell phone, Ima?" "We didn't have them in those days, dear". Gasp of horror mixed with pity when contemplating poor mother who grew up in the dark ages.).

A short explanation for Martians or readers aged thirteen or less (and I hope the comparison causes neither offense): You had to put your token in the phone, or more than one if you intended to make an inter-city call, listen for the tone and then dial. When the other side answered the phone, the token dropped. From here stems the popular Hebrew phrase "Nafal lo ha'asimon" or "Yarad lo ha'asimon" literally translated as "the token has dropped for him" or "his token has gone down". It means, of course, "He got it" or "He suddenly understood it", an Israeli equivalent of "Eureka!" or a light bulb going on in a little bubble over a cartoon character's head. The funny thing is that young people, like my girls, who have never seen a token operated public phone, continue to use this phrase, without knowing where it comes from or what it really means.

I have had quite a few big tokens dropping in the past two and a half years. This has definitely been a serious token dropping period of my life. Actually, all of life is a series of tokens dropping (Wow. That was deep! I've cracked the meaning of life, at last!). Blogging is especially full of dropping tokens, because instead of just floating mindlessly along, you find yourself trying to translate the sensation of floating into words in order to share it with your readers. It's like the first time I used a public phone in Eilat to call home in the north. It took just two seconds for five or six tokens to drop and I started scrambling hysterically to get more tokens in before I got cut off.

When I was reading the Haaretz article about Israeli artist Mosh Kashi I linked to on Thursday a token dropped with regard to something or other. Just a little one, not a transatlantic call. I’m not quite able to put it in to words just yet, but it’ll come to me eventually. In the part that wasn't translated into English, Kashi talked about quality and, in this regard, discussed the importance of food in his childhood home. He said his ability to appreciate good food is something he has taken with him in life, so that the first time he tastes a type of food, wherever he is in the world, and he gives the example of sushi, he can tell if it is of good quality or not. This is true for him regardless of his extremely humble beginnings.

He also talked of his mother inspiring him artistically with the way she made ma'amouls. These are little date filled parcels of dough, absolutely scrumptious. My mother-in-law excels at these. When Kashi described his mother making them, I could clearly see my mother-in-law sitting patiently, and lovingly shaping each one in her fingers and gently laying it on the baking tray. She can spend hours doing this, and make hundreds. And when she's finished the ma'amouls she'll start on the homemade marzipan, which she calls by its Ladino name, massapan.

Things have a different pace in the east.

In the east, there seems to be more time to enjoy life's richness, and in the east, if the Jews are anything to go by, this is not a pleasure to be experienced by the wealthy alone. There seems to be time to make at home and enjoy foods that are complicated to produce and rich to the palate; to roast your own coffee beans; to bring the coffee (no, not “instant”!) to the boil three times in the finjan; to listen enraptured to a twenty minute long love song, in which the singer only begins to sing after a ten minute instrumental introduction. And I’m talking ordinary, “uneducated” people, not just culture vultures.

In the east, quality seems to be measured differently than in the west.

My life is western and I like it, but whenever I have slowed down and taken the time to slightly touch things more eastern I have been enriched by them.

Mosh Kashi is not what you'd call an "ethnic" or “eastern” artist. His work is modern, precise. But if I understand him correctly, certain qualities that were present in his impoverished home, empowered him to circumvent the barriers that stood between him and what he wanted to do, what he wanted to be. Having seen my mother-in-law patiently making ma’amouls and other foods that are also extremely time-consuming and often laborious with such amazing peace of mind, completely unencumbered by the multitude of other things she had to do, I can understand how this would prepare Kashi for creating works of art like these. And it gives me an insight into how, like Mosh Kashi, but in different ways, both my mother-in-law’s sons grew up to be such special people.

A very large proportion of Israelis are people who were born and bred in Arab or Muslim countries or are the children or grandchildren of those who were born and bred in Arab or Muslim countries. These are no longer people expected to merge into an existing society like in the early days, or like in other places in the world to which they emigrate. They are the existing society (a fact that exposes the absurdity of claims that Israel is a European colonizing entity). They are an integral part of our society’s very essence, so much so that in many instances, to single them out is becoming increasingly artificial and forced (and is usually the practice of politicians and social activists who stand to gain from emphasizing social rifts, not to mention a certain ignorant blogger).

And, surprise surprise, they largely accept democracy as the best (or the least bad) mode of government.

So why is it that so many westerners believe that this is not possible for their former neighbors?

posted by Imshin 21:51

The new Hebrew Home Front Command site is up. Completely updated, with all the information that appears in the booklets we all had delivered, and more. The English language site has been updated, as well.
posted by Imshin 23:07

Hellooo! Is anybody there?
I'm getting the feeling I'm all alone. No one seems to be posting. Has this got something to do with the blizzard? I hope everyone is okay.
posted by Imshin 23:16

Even as an emotional manipulation this stands out
Like many others, I tend to be suspicious of people in positions of power, not just because power corrupts but also because I ask myself what their motivation was in the first place to be willing to pay the heavy price required to reach such a position. But every so often, someone in a position of power does something that I find truly inspirational, something that leaves me speechless (a feat indeed!). This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. When I was in the army, the then Major General Ehud Barak did something that still moves me to this day. Please forgive me, I know it's annoying, but for various reasons, I would rather not say what it was, although it's not a military secret or anything. I just don't think I can explain why it affected me the way it did. Today I am a different person and if it happened today, I don't think it would touch me in quite the same way. But I will continue to admire Barak for it, no matter what came after, and what is still to come.

My first impression of Tony Blair was quite positive. He seemed nice, charismatic, clean cut. I didn't think much of his wife, though, poor woman. She just has a face you love to hate (and she doesn’t like cats). Then I saw a program about Blair on TV. It was before he won the elections the first time. Naturally everyone was curious about him back then. The Brits obviously liked what they saw, because they voted him in, but I wasn't very impressed. He seemed too slick, far too smooth. The people who made the program filmed him meeting ordinary people of very different types, and just talking to them, listening to their grievances and sharing his thoughts about what should be done. He seemed to say to everyone he met exactly what he or she wanted to hear. "Typical slimy politician", I thought to myself and I didn't regard him very highly after that. Not that I really followed his career as prime minister or took much notice what he was doing. I don't live in the UK and I don't have the vote there. It's not as if he had any direct affect on my life, after all.

But on Saturday he earned my everlasting admiration.

On Saturday he faced not only a hostile audience of his own party members in the conference he was speaking at in Glasgow, but he also faced one million demonstrators and who knows how many millions more of their supporters, most of whom probably voted for him. Knowing quite clearly that he was destroying his political career with his own two lily-white hands, as it were, he did not attempt to appease them. Instead he said to them (my interpretation): I respect why you are marching, I respect your “understandable hatred of war” and your “moral purpose”, but there comes a time when war is inevitable.

This was of course very impressive, but it is not what won my admiration. The words that struck me, and stayed with me, and that I have read over and over and over again, were in these three sentences, so strong, so wise, so painfully aware and therefore so very sad:

"I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honor. But sometimes it is the price of leadership. And the cost of conviction."

British prime minister Tony Blair, whatever he may do from this day on, has won a permanent place of honor in my private little, sparsely-inhabited, Hall of Fame for Great People.

posted by Imshin 22:52

Palestinian leaders review the situation
It looks like some Palestinian leaders and commentators are trying to learn the lessons of the unequivocal message the Israeli electorate sent the Palestinians in these elections.
The translation of columnist Taufiq Abu Bakr's article is especially interesting.

"In history, you have opportunities and risks. When the train of history comes by the station where you stand, you should not hesitate to board it... Hesitating at crucial historic moments is fatal. Calm and acceptance of the Clinton initiative in time for the February 2001 elections would have prevented Sharon's rise and the sweeping shift towards the Right in the Israeli street. Had the Taba talks taken place a few days after the initiative proposal, the face of Palestinian history might have been changed. This is a fact from which many flee..."

posted by Imshin 22:51

Were the Hamas operatives that were killed yesterday (in a “work accident”? By the IDF?) in Gaza, working on an unmanned drone airplane, preparing it for blowing up in Israel? Palestinian sources told Ynet that the Hamas was just bragging when they released the statement to that effect. The Hamas denies the blast that killed them was a “work accident” and blames Israel, but the same Palestinian sources confirm that it was, in fact, inadvertently self-inflicted, while preparing explosive devices. These “work accidents” are not uncommon. Maariv points out that access to the scene of the blast was immediately prevented. This is unusual, a sign that the event was “sensitive” (If I remember correctly, they usually do this in cases suspected of being such self-inflicted “work accidents”). Maariv doesn’t refute the Hamas drone story and also says that people in the area noticed an IDF drone flying in the vicinity just before the blast. Well, you know what they say: it takes a drone to catch a drone. Haaretz tells it a bit differently. This is getting a bit confusing. It’s like that old joke (truth?) that two Jews have three opinions.

Moving right long, the IDF has caught Riad Abu Zeid, a top Hamas terrorist this morning in Gaza. He was wounded, trying to escape, but is now under IDF custody.

posted by Imshin 12:21

Bigwig discusses how this war with Iraq will differ from the previous one. Good stuff. I hope none of the Iraqi bigwigs are reading it.
posted by Imshin 11:38

Dressing for success
Now that Bish is The Chairman (That makes me, what? The Chairman’s wife? The girls at work are already calling me Suha.), I suggested that maybe the time has come for him to buy himself a suit. After all, now that he is representing a largish group of his professional peers he surely wants to make a good impression.

Now anyone who has ever visited Israel will know that it’s quite possible to reach the ripe old age of forty here without ever having been in possession of a suit. Actually Bish did wear a suit for his Bar-Mitzva, an utterly revolting brown and beige thing, judging by the faded photos. Thankfully, he outgrew that about twenty-six years ago.

Before our wedding, when Bish happened to mention to my Mum that he intended to show up for the ceremony in blue jeans and sandals, she nearly had a fit. I knew he was joking because he never wears sandals. Well, he didn’t wear blue jeans and sandals, but he didn’t wear a suit, either.

Now he has started to realize that he probably will have to have some decent clothes for public appearances, but a suit? That’s going too far. “Why don’t you pop into one of the posh men’s shops on Kikar Hamedina?” I suggested, “And get yourself one good suit.”

The weeks passed and nothing happened. Yesterday, he walks in from work with one of those suit-bag thingies over his shoulder, a really posh one, and he’s looking as happy as a twelve year-old who’s just won a soccer game in the school yard (sorry, Americans won’t get it any more than I do). Out he brings a beautiful Italian blazer, sort of casual, but you can see it’s excellent quality (“What color is this exactly?” He asks me. I’d say it’s charcoal.). Don’t ask how much it cost, I thought the price was the serial number.

So, there we have it. Not exactly a suit, but at least something decent looking. Now we’re getting somewhere. My Bish the flashy dresser. Of course, he does think it looks best with his old blue jeans and a T-shirt. I give up.

posted by Imshin 09:34

It is inconceivable that Belgium could possibly forget such a debt.
Lynn B. - the Menin Gate.

posted by Imshin 07:36

Diane made a stand for freedom in New York yesterday. Good for you, Diane.
posted by Imshin 19:46

And after Iraq…
Before the revolution in Iran in 1979, Israel had very good relations with Iran. A cousin of my mother’s lived there for a few years. I think her husband was a representative of an Israeli company there. I remember sitting in her kitchen, when she got back, listening to her tell about what life was like there. I have often wondered how it could be that all the people in Iran could have had such a complete change of heart about Israel.

Well, it seems they didn’t. It seems many of them had the change of heart thrust upon them.

On my favorite radio program, the International Hour on Reshet Bet, this afternoon, they spoke to someone from Kol Yisrael (Voice of Israel) in Persian. I didn’t catch it all, because I was at work and someone came in for some help with something. What I managed to catch was this guy telling Reshet Bet listeners about a regular call-in program they broadcast in Persian. He said they have many Iranians, living in Iran, calling and speaking on the program, and even giving their real names. He said some of them have expressed the hope that when the USA finishes liberating Iraq they will keep on going and liberate them, as well. He said that when Ilan Ramon went up into space they had warm words of congratulations and when he was killed, with his fellow astronauts in the Columbia disaster, they said they were very sad with the people of Israel. He said that during the days that followed, everyone who called up began the conversation by offering sincere condolences for the people of Israel. He let us listen to one caller and translated him as asking how the people of Iran could show their solidarity with the people of Israel in our time of mourning. And then he offered a way himself. He suggested that every person in Iran who wished to express his or her feelings on this matter should light two candles and place them by their window for all to see. I wonder if anyone dared.

posted by Imshin 19:40

Our war
We've been playing at pretend war here in Israel, preparing safe rooms, buying water, masking tape and canned food and preparing evacuation bags. We'll probably never have to use any of these things, even if the US finally gets round to going ahead with this war in Iraq (that is if we haven't all died of old age or been nuked by then). But all this time, our war (the one that is actually happening right now) hasn't stopped for a minute. Yesterday we had another little reminder to bring us back to reality. Little for us. Big for the families of the four boys killed. I'm told it was a 100 kg bomb and not 25 kg as I told you yesterday.

We are informed that there are continuous warnings of terrorist attacks. Someone on the radio today said that the warm support the Palestinians are receiving around the world in these mass anti-war-with-Iraq demonstrations and the affect these demonstrations may be having in bringing about a postponement of that war, will probably serve to strengthen and motivate the Palestinian terrorists' commitment to make even greater efforts to pull off mass murder attacks against Israeli civilians. So much for promoting world peace. (I can imagine one or two Iraqis aren't too happy with these demonstrations either).

But then again, maybe the people demonstrating don't see mass murder of Israeli civilians, in pizzerias and supermarkets, as contradictory to world peace.

posted by Imshin 18:21

Haaretz headline (Hebrew version): Because of the opposition in the world: The USA is considering postponing the offensive
I knew it! This is because I got ready, isn't it? Well, no fear, it won't happen again! I won't be made a fool of! (Just kidding)

I know it’s not the same thing at all, but I must say all this makes me feel extremely grateful that Israel's leadership did not heed world public opinion and didn't let it prevent us taking determined steps in order to protect Israeli citizens from brutal, bloodthirsty terrorist attacks.

posted by Imshin 18:13

And we thought the Middle East was violent!
Have you read about the horrendous goings-on Meryl had to contend with on Valentine's Day? As we say in Israel, when confronted with such horrors, Ima'le.
posted by Imshin 18:12

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