In case you were wondering why I'm busy busy (and on Shabbat, too)
having had little to say for a while... Bish hooked up my new screen, and it's great! Got me chattering.
posted by Imshin 19:19

Time for threats
Galei Tzahal says the US has prepared a list of sanctions to be imposed on Israel, should it fail to implement the Road Map. The list includes reassessing the use of US arms in the territories (meaning we won't be able to use any?) and preventing emergency assistance (nasty). The source is reportedly World Tribune.com. Alisa sent me the direct link and pointed out that Lynn linked to it, while I was sleeping.

posted by Imshin 18:05

What to change this time
Zeev Schiff discusses the failure of Oslo and warns that the lessons must be learnt if the Road Map is to succeed.

The failure of the Oslo agreements stems primarily from the flawed implementation and not from the inherent desire to
reach an agreement between the two peoples. These flaws, which cropped up quickly along the way and were based on lies and covering up for these lies, led to the armed confrontation that began in September, 2000.

I am yet to be convinced of the Palestinians' goodwill, but this is certainly part of the picture.

The Americans usually ignored the lies because for them the main thing was rapid progress, which was subsequently revealed to be a journey on shifting sands. If the system of lies and whitewashing
continues after the "road map" - failure is assured. Even now there are negative signs of the perpetuation of this shoddy system when the Americans say to the breaking of a substantive promise by the Palestinians that the main thing is to move forward. If there is not immediate attention to substantive violations, once again we will find ourselves in the post-Oslo mine field.

The lies he talks about are, on the Israeli side - the continuation of Jewish settlement in the territories; and on the Palestinian side - incitement and bloodshed.
posted by Imshin 17:32

On Thursday Our Sis and I went to see Bat Sheva Dance Company's latest - "Mamootot". We often go and see Bat Sheva. The first thing of theirs I saw was Ohad Naharin's "Anaphasa", of course, which is something else and not to be missed if it comes your way (unless you really really can't stomach abstract modern stuff, and even then it's worth a try). Mamootot was not Anaphasa but very powerful nevertheless. It kept surprising and brought up various emotions, quite amazing considering there were no lighting effects or any other effects for that matter and even the costume was uninteresting. The music was eclectic, sometimes dull and sometimes exciting and fun ("Was that Bob Dylan in Japanese??"). Most of all, the interaction with the audience was fascinating (and not at all embarrassing as we feared).

This was apparently their first piece with Ohad Naharin not as artistic director, if I understood correctly, but it had his fingerprints all over it and the program (distributed afterwards) called it "Mamootot by Ohad Naharin" (so I don't get what's changed, but never mind).

There goes my cred as a lowbrow.

posted by Imshin 07:16

Shabbat Shalom.
posted by Imshin 17:44

Potential
I am not the Knight
I am a pawn

Hardly noticeable
My moves are small

What made you think I could move like the knight?
I cannot leap

I would be a queen
But I need your help

Two steps taken are my limit
Will you ever understand?

I would be your queen
But I could never be the night
posted by Imshin 17:42

I haven't forgotten Yigal Amir, Diane. Nor Baruch Goldstein. Nor many others who can never accept giving up parts of the Land Of Israel, whatever may be waiting on the other side. But I also remember many right wing friends of mine eventually being swept along with the magic of Oslo and voting for Ehud Barak. No, he wasn't exactly a supporter of Oslo per se, was he? But he had ideas that could take us to good places, we thought, and voting for him was the result of a process these people and many others had been going through, of moving towards an understanding of what could be accomplished here, of starting to hope. Today most Israelis understand the price that will have to be paid. And they accept this price, if they can be convinced that the other side is willing and trustworthy.

The Palestinians seem to have been moving in the opposite direction.

posted by Imshin 07:05

The Road Map is not really the point, is it?
So it's another suggestion of an agreement. You do this, they do that. They do that, you do this. Expected result: everyone loves each other.

But the problem is more than what to do, when and how. The problem is one of substance, and not just of details. We can argue about the nuances, or about this step or that measure, outlined in the map, there is certainly plenty to argue about, but we'd just be chasing our own tails because these particulars are not the real issue.

As a plan, as an idea, Oslo was excellent. Better than this Road Map. It didn't work not because it was a bad plan, it didn't work because, besides quite a few Israelis finding it difficult to swallow, the Palestinians seem to have seen it from the outset as a means to an end other than reconciliation and peace with Israel. And that is why in the long run it turned out to be such a disaster and that's why the Road Map is also probably doomed.

If we could see a change in the Palestinians, beyond the appearance of an unpopular Prime Minister without the necessary influence or political power to make a real difference, I would maybe be more hopeful.

Make no mistake. I do want it to happen. As in the past, I personally support concessions, painful and risky as they may be. But, as the Hebrew saying goes (slightly amended by yours truly), having been burnt in the past, I now use an oven glove even when I take something out of the fridge. Failing, as I do, to see a change on the other side, I ask myself why we should trust them now, after what they did with the last agreement, and, in fact, continue to do?

This does not mean that I think we should not try to do something with this Road Map and make use of this opportunity. It just means I am very doubtful, hopeful but doubtful, eager for someone to prove me wrong.

posted by Imshin 16:37

Yom Yerushalyim
Tomorrow is Jerusalem Day. Youngest is taking part in the ceremony at school. They've been rehearsing for weeks. I hadn't realized there were so many songs about Jerusalem. I'm even more amazed that I know them all, and even all the words of most of them.
posted by Imshin 18:21

Eilat is that place where you fill up gas after the long drive down the Arava road on your way to the Egyptian border, en route to Sinai. Or at least, it was. For us.

A few days in Sinai, or more accurately on the east coast of Sinai, in a basic straw hut on the water's edge, is our idea of the most heavenly holiday possible. We used to go with the girls every year at the end of August. We were there last in August 2000. We haven't been since the Terror War commenced and we won't go till it ends.

I had a lovely time in Eilat, but I really missed Sinai. The mountains, the sea, the wind.

The freedom.

It's a silly, shallow reason to want peace.

posted by Imshin 18:18

I'm off this morning. Last night I had a minor trauma because my palm had appeared to have died. Replacing it, keyboard and all, is quite an expense, especially as a keyboard with Hebrew costs about three times as a keyboard without Hebrew (why is that?). Anyway, I had sadly prepared pen and paper to take to Eilat, thinking about the bore of having to type anything I wrote out afterwards (I'm such a brat). This morning palm is up and running again. Pen and paper are thankfully back in the drawer. I hope Bish hasn't placed an order yet.

Some people have been asking me to save Israel by saying something (this way or that) about the Road Map (sorry about the cynicism, uncalled for, but heartfelt). Maybe when I get back. What difference does it make what I think? No one cares what I think. The big guys will just have to sort it out. That's what they're there for. And we'll just go on dodging people who look like they're going to blow themselves up and hoping for the best, thank you very much.

See ya.
posted by Imshin 06:01

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