Shabbat Shalom

These are my Shabbat candlesticks. They used to be my grandmother's and she inherited them from her mother.
posted by Imshin 20:00

According to Diane: "Israeli men are not big on empathy" (Blogger archives, we know we know, scroll down to the 6:33am post).

I object! This is an extremely unfair generalization. Not that I don't know Israeli men who are not big on empathy, plenty of them. But I also know quite a few who are extremely big on empathy. My Bish, for instance, is far more empathic (or is that empathetic?) than I am (and I was a woman, when I last checked). Not that I'm being boastful or anything. And before you make any snide remarks about his masculinity (or lack of it), I'll have you know he's not a bit wimpy, and he works in very "male" occupation, and he owns a big handgun, which he practices shooting regularly, and he is happiest watching soccer or basketball on TV. So there!

A tough exterior doesn't necessarily mean a tough interior. When my mother died, I half-expected some of my more macho male co-workers to be embarrassed and avoid me, but most of them went out of their way to be warm and kind.
posted by Imshin 18:38

Jewish sages said: "Whoever has compassion for the cruel will eventually be cruel to the compassionate" (Yalkut Shmuel 121). This is a much-quoted saying in Israel. Israeli judges don't seem to buy into it. The newspapers regularly tell us of convicted offenders getting ridiculously light sentences for terrible crimes. I really do believe this is a result of the judges' compassion (which is commendable in itself, although maybe I’m just being naive), but they don’t seem to have compassion for the victims' suffering, or for potential future victims, in their sentencing.

One result of this leniency, I think, is the affect it has on Israeli law enforcement agencies, which some may say are disinclined to exert themselves at the best of times, in anything but matters of national security (i.e. fighting terrorism). This could be a result of low pay, long hours, job security and being chronically over-worked, but I do believe frustration at the seeming ineffectualness of the courts plays a part in this, too. If you've worked for months, long and hard, on a big criminal case and the judge gives the felon a six-month suspended sentence, you'll be disinclined to put in so much effort next time, won't you? And you will eventually become desensitized and stop caring.

I think people tend to blame the laxity in which Israel deals with severe crimes committed by some fanatic Jewish West Bank and Gaza Strip settlers on government policy. I think it's more down to the indifference of law enforcement agencies and their consistent desire to avoid trouble. And the fact that courts tend to treat settlers, who have committed crimes against their Palestinian neighbors, extremely compassionately.

But it's so terribly, terribly wrong. It must change.

Update: Lynn B. has the reaction of Yesha (Judaea, Samaria and Gaza, i.e. settlers) Rabbinate Committee to the olive tree uprooting. They strongly condemn these acts and call for the prosecution of the perpetrators.

posted by Imshin 12:10

Look who's back!
And not taking any prisoners.

A hint: She lives in a mythical city.

It's the historic URL, by the way. Adjust your links.
posted by Imshin 11:07

Blogging sucks.
I've been seriously Allah-lanched. Not for anything brilliant I wrote, but because I posted a photo of an attractive girl. Sigh.

Well, at least this way it didn't give me an inflated ego or anything.

posted by Imshin 23:57

So this is the deal: In return for one Israeli shady character, who apparently went looking for easy money in Abu Dhabi, trafficking in drugs and found himself in Hizbullah captivity in Lebanon, and three bodies of dead Israeli soldiers, Israel will release 400 Palestinian prisoners (We negotiate with Hizbullah for the release of Palestinians because...???!), but also one Syrian, one Pakistani and oh, yes, 20 particularly murderous Lebanese, including one very high ranking Shiite Amal guy and one very high ranking Hizbullah guy who was directly responsible for the fate of missing IAF navigator Ron Arad and who may hold the key to information about his whereabouts.

I am VERY worried about this deal. It just doesn't make any sense, however you look at it.

Paying such a heavy price for dead bodies, for one things, means terrorists need not worry about keeping their captives alive anymore. Dead bodies are far less trouble and if they are just as valuable as living captives, why not just kill captives straight off?

I know this sounds callous. I do feel for the families. What they have been through, and will forever continue to go through, is terrible. They need to mourn. They need a grave. They need to know. But this is a very dangerous precedent. This could very well lead to many more kidnappings and many more deaths.

And this Tannenbaum guy, well, what can I say? I'm sorry for him and I'm especially sorry for his kids. No one deserves his plight, no matter what he did, or was going to do. We should make all efforts to help him, but at what price? His captivity is the result of his own greed and corruption. It's not like he was a soldier that was doing his duty for his country. This is the release of 422 very dangerous people we're talking about.

Hizbullah will become monstrously powerful among the Palestinian masses (and not only) as a result of this deal. It's like a nightmare. It's a mockery of everything Israel has ostensibly been trying to do to combat terrorism.

So what the hell is going on? Has everyone gone stark raving mad?

The government will vote on this strange, illogical prisoner swap deal next week. It looks like it will be passed. I don't get it.

posted by Imshin 21:20

Go see Gil's photos from his Nepal trip.
posted by Imshin 18:59

A scoop on Israeli forums (Hebrew link): Hizbullah planted an array of bombs in Kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch near the northern border of Israel. The bombs were discovered and dismantled. The rest of the story is not being published. I think I picked olives there (or something or other), when I was in high school.
posted by Imshin 18:04

Zina Tashoma, an Israeli policewoman. Her photo was in this morning's print version of Yediot Aharonot, because she was involved in undercover work in a drugs case involving a well-known Israeli soccer player. I just had to scan her for you. She's even more stunning in the larger version (click on the photo). Sorry it's a bit grainy.
posted by Imshin 09:00

The Head Heeb comments on the EU poll thing.
posted by Imshin 18:49

Eldest had spent the night with a friend. It was her first time sleeping away from home. She was four. In the morning we met up in the park with Eldest, her friend and the friend’s parents, with whom we had become quite friendly of late. 'Coming to the peace rally, tonight?' We asked them. Rhetorical question. Everyone was going.

The friend's parents looked a bit embarrassed. 'Well, actually, we're not.' They said. Oops, I thought. I hadn't realized they were not ...erm ...well ... of the same sort of political views as us. How could that be? They were both secular, educated professionals, and native North Tel Avivis (unlike Bish and I). They must be from old "Herut" families, or maybe "General Zionists", I said to myself, trying to organize this strange new piece of information in my mind.

It's that 'Where were you when...?' time of year again for Israelis, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the annual Saturday night memorial rally, in Rabin Square, organized by the Rabin family as a Peace Now-style rally, making all those who don't feel very Peace Now-ish unwelcome, although he was their Prime Minister too. I'm sick of boring, repetitive, pompous school ceremonies depicting Rabin as some sort of mythical, unreal, superhero dead guy.

The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin changed my life. The most shocking, chilling words I have ever heard were those uttered by Eitan Haber, in the parking lot of Ichilov Hospital, just down the road from where I am sitting right now, announcing that Yitzhak Rabin was dead. "The government of Israel announces with astonishment and deep sorrow...". These words still choke me up, regardless of all that has happened since nationally, and to me personally. I think they always will.

But the annual memorial ceremonies leave me cold. And yet, I don't know how better Yitzhak Rabin or the assassination could be remembered.

Allison feels differently, or maybe not so differently after all.

I lost much of my starry-eyed innocence on the 4th November 1995. And I have learnt a lot in the years that have passed as a direct result of my attempts to understand what happened. One of the lessons has been to be more aware of those snap judgments I automatically make about people based on superficial details. Eldest and her little friend have grown up. We're still friendly with her parents. I still have no idea what their political views are. It's not important.

posted by Imshin 18:43

Amateurs!
In Israel, this guy, would probably have had a complaint filed against him by the police for calling in a false report. The way to do it is to call in anonymously from a phone booth.
posted by Imshin 16:48

By the way, Gil has been back for a few days and I neglected to update you. Dave of Israellycool is envious.
posted by Imshin 07:49

Good one.
Israel: cruel and racist. Via Israellycool.

Of course, one would be forced to point out that all these things are completely beside the point...

And those gay pride parades really really really aggravate the ultra-religious!

posted by Imshin 07:41

Happy General Strike, y'all!
Or not?
posted by Imshin 06:03

Ooooooooh! BIG scoop.
Photo of Salam Pax in Stern
posted by Imshin 05:56

"This could never happen in Russia," Said the security guard disapprovingly. "The elections there were much better organized." Russia, well, there's a nice stable democracy for you, I thought, but didn't say anything out loud. The security guard looked rather forbidding. He went on to explain that there was no campaigning on Election Day in Russia, but they gave out free food and drink in the polling station. Good way to get the starving masses to come and vote, I thought. Well, the street outside this polling station, in a notoriously crime-ridden neighborhood, in a satellite town south of Tel Aviv, on Municipal Election Day last Tuesday, was obviously nothing like Russia. It didn't resemble anything I'd seen before either, in the various polling stations in better neighborhoods, where I'd always cast my vote for the past twenty years. They were always orderly and organized, with a quiet, responsible, business-like air of "Let's all do our civic duty like good citizens".

This was more like a carnival, a happy-go-lucky street party. "There was a big brawl out here last elections," The security guard informed me. Delightful, I thought.

It looked like the whole neighborhood had shown up, mainly to make a bit of money by working for the various parties, if not to vote. There was a great deal of campaigning going on, with definitely far more party activists around than voters. Party activists were running after passers-by calling after them to vote for their parties, brightly decorated trucks were driving past with music and jingles blaring out, kids whizzed by on scooters and bikes, party banners trailing behind them, party activists haggled with the befuddled-looking policewoman in charge, to allow them to move their tables a few meters nearer the entrance to the polling station. They were all too close as it was. Lacking backup (according to the talkative security guard), the policewoman had given up trying to keep them to the mandatory twenty-five meters.

The street had everything necessary for a lively, exciting Election Day, even a pizza vendor, trying to attract customers to his nearby pizzeria. Everything except voters, that is. Actually, this was not strictly true. Every so often, one of the musical trucks stopped to let out a Shas (Sephardi ultra-religious party) activist along with an elderly lady, usually at least in her eighties. The Shas activist would then gently escort the elderly lady into the school that was serving as a polling station.

The party activists were busy trying to justify the salaries their parties were paying them by trying to give out voting slips to passers-by. At one point this activity became so aggressive that one man, after having three such voting slips stuffed in his hand against his will, bellowed out "Voting slips, voting slips! Who else has a voting slip for me?" Then dramatically threw the voting slips on the ground in disgust. Another woman wasn't interested in voting slips, but she really wanted some of the T-shirts the party activists were wearing. She asked the security guard if he could organize any for her. He threw up his arms in angry frustration.

Shas activists were handing out presents to those coming out of the polling station, a framed photograph of the venerable Rav Ovadia and a little booklet of Psalms. I heard them asking one woman, before presenting her with her little bag of goodies, "You did vote for us, didn’t you?" "Betah, betah" (Sure, sure), she answered and winked at me, a twinkle in her eye.

Later, I visited my regular North Tel Aviv polling station, in the girls' old school. It was sleepy. I didn't even see any campaigners. They were all round the corner, adhering docilely to the twenty-five meter thing. Weary from my morning experience, I'd made a short cut through a parking lot, so I wouldn't have to pass them. Not that it would have mattered. This was an indifferent bunch. Shas didn't even bother with this part of the world, so everything was very quiet. No musical cars. In fact, it was all extremely civilized and subdued. Everyone was quite well behaved and European. But oh, how boring.

Hard to believe it was the same country.
____________________________________

Footnote: On National Election Day, one year, my mother-in-law called me up on the phone and surprised me by saying "Hag Same'ach" (Happy Festival!). In her view, the day we get to participate in deciding who is to run our lives is a joyous occasion, a festival.

I thoroughly enjoyed the short time I happened to spend in the street outside the polling station in that tough blue-collar neighborhood, because the people there made me feel that the democratic process really was a festival, a cause for much gaiety and dancing in the streets. Yes, voters are fed up of having to come and vote all the time. Yes, participation was lower than ever before. I agree that it was probably a lot tenser at that same polling station at the National Elections at the end of last year. These were only the Municipal Elections. But there was no mistaking that these people were having fun.

Prophets of doom in Israel, most of them writers in Haaretz newspaper, like to rant regularly about the untimely demise of Israeli democracy. Last Tuesday I saw democracy as experienced by people, most of whom will never once in their life bother to read anything written on the longwinded comment pages of Haaretz. And it was clear that they really believed in the process.

It seems Israeli democracy doesn't belong solely to the left wing, Ashkenazi, Haaretz-reading affluent after all. South Tel Aviv style democracy may look a bit different, and sound a bit different, but I still believe it has good, strong roots. What a discovery!
posted by Imshin 18:05

Imshin poll: Europe greatest threat to world peace.
And now, fifty nine percent of Imshin will go make sandwiches for her young daughters, so they can be happily sent off to just another day of plotting to take over the world. The other forty one percent will do some yoga.

You'd forgotten I was split personality, hadn't you?

posted by Imshin 05:58

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