Necessary To Say
Ok, so I guess I have to say something about this, as much as I hate to.
I'm in Israel.
We're in a war.
I'm in Jerusalem, I am safe. Jerusalem is WELL out of rocket range so the stuff happening in the south does not affect me directly.
Except insofar as I have friends who are soldiers.
Also... well, Jerusalem is a big crowded city. There are places we are advised not to go. When I say we are safe here, that is true. But if tensions are going to create a situation where people feel the need to attack Israel/Israelis in a more general way than firing rockets at us, chances are those attacks will happen somewhere near me. We get frequent SMS (that's mobile texting) security updates from the Yeshiva, which they get directly from the Jewish Agency, telling us when there are threats of violence in the city and where we should avoid, and if we should not take buses any particular day, etc. Nothing has happened, we haven't had any attacks in Jerusalem since the two random tractor incidents this summer.
I am telling you this because I want to try to neither overstate nor understate the extent to which the war is impacting my life, my daily motion, etc. For the most part, I'm just going about living my life. The tourist population has sunk dramatically... Ben Yehuda has been rather empty the past week, as has the Old City. I've been hanging out at a local comedy club a lot this week, and they've had acts cancel on them either because they don't want to come to a densely populated area, or because they don't feel like being funny at a time like this.
More than any real danger, it's the low morale that is affecting us here.
Every Israeli knows people in danger, either soldiers or residents of the towns being hit. People are just constantly listening to the news. Bus drivers play radio here, and when the music breaks for the news they turn the volume up. People are riled up and angry on both sides of the political/ideological spectrum. I don't get the sense that people really have much hope for anything that's happening here. Everyone seems to hold their positions out of a sense of necessity. No one seems to believe anything.
There was a ceasefire.
Hamas ended that ceasefire, early, by firing rockets into a town. A civilian town. Intentionally targeting civilians-- residents of a town in undisputed Israeli territory-- not at all targeting military targets, rather, targeting children and their parents.
Israel responded. A lot of people died. Most of them were military and police. Police in Gaza means military... don't think of your local precinct; That's just not analogous here. There was and is and will be a lot of destruction. Civilians have died and are dying. Including children.
It is not irrelevant that they started it, and that they intentionally target civilians. It is not irrelevant that civilians are dying in Gaza, and that Israel's firepower and military power is vastly greater than that of Hamas. There are any number of other factors in this situation that are not irrelevant, and if I start listing, I will leave out, potentially, an infinite number of factors that should be listed. It will be unbalanced.
I have a bias. I have an opinion. It is not simple. It is not black and white. It is not purely right and purely wrong with no mitigating factors on either side. My opinion is formed with an understanding both of the complexity of what is happening and what has happened, and with an understanding of how little I understand. My opinion is held alongside the knowledge of unsavory and inexcusable actions on the part of the side towards which I lean. My opinion is held with the understanding that I am not an impartial party. I have an emotional investment which renders my position... well, I guess... unscientific.
Is this supposed to be science?
I also know what is happening to world opinion vis-a-vis the actions of the military and government of this (my current home) country. I know that Israel is exacerbating the negative opinion in the rest of the world with how the response is being carried out. I don't think that Israel's actions, therefore, are making me any safer. They are making me less safe. Because we are losing support.
Is this going to work? Is it going to accomplish anything? I don't know. I just don't. The pragmatism and the principle are both so messy and complex, the questions of "what's the right thing" and "what's the alternative" and "what's necessary"... don't you dare pretend that you know those answers. Whether you're here or not, and ESPECIALLY if you're not. Not being involved is just as blinding as being involved. Being out of danger is just as blinding as being in danger. I'm including myself partially in both categories: I'm in Jerusalem, but I'm in Israel. I'm American, but I'm Jewish and I'm here. Does that make my opinion more valid or balanced or clearly seen than anyone else's? I don't know... probably not. But I see the fuzziness. I see why I have to be agnostic, why I have to present myself with disclaimers, why I have to acknowledge what is problematic about my position, about my having a position or an opinion.
I know also that the conglomeration of information and impressions that enter my consciousness come together to create a picture, and it would be dishonest of me to say that I held no opinion about that picture.
I'm a hawk. But that doesn't mean I like war. I'm a Zionist. But that doesn't mean I want Palestinians to die.
Every day I pray for the IDF. Every day I pray for peace. I pray for the nation if Israel to be saved from its enemies. I pray for the nation of Israel to be saved from itself.
Don't pigeonhole me. Or do. It doesn't matter. I'll be over here praying and living my life.
I'm in Israel.
We're in a war.
I'm in Jerusalem, I am safe. Jerusalem is WELL out of rocket range so the stuff happening in the south does not affect me directly.
Except insofar as I have friends who are soldiers.
Also... well, Jerusalem is a big crowded city. There are places we are advised not to go. When I say we are safe here, that is true. But if tensions are going to create a situation where people feel the need to attack Israel/Israelis in a more general way than firing rockets at us, chances are those attacks will happen somewhere near me. We get frequent SMS (that's mobile texting) security updates from the Yeshiva, which they get directly from the Jewish Agency, telling us when there are threats of violence in the city and where we should avoid, and if we should not take buses any particular day, etc. Nothing has happened, we haven't had any attacks in Jerusalem since the two random tractor incidents this summer.
I am telling you this because I want to try to neither overstate nor understate the extent to which the war is impacting my life, my daily motion, etc. For the most part, I'm just going about living my life. The tourist population has sunk dramatically... Ben Yehuda has been rather empty the past week, as has the Old City. I've been hanging out at a local comedy club a lot this week, and they've had acts cancel on them either because they don't want to come to a densely populated area, or because they don't feel like being funny at a time like this.
More than any real danger, it's the low morale that is affecting us here.
Every Israeli knows people in danger, either soldiers or residents of the towns being hit. People are just constantly listening to the news. Bus drivers play radio here, and when the music breaks for the news they turn the volume up. People are riled up and angry on both sides of the political/ideological spectrum. I don't get the sense that people really have much hope for anything that's happening here. Everyone seems to hold their positions out of a sense of necessity. No one seems to believe anything.
There was a ceasefire.
Hamas ended that ceasefire, early, by firing rockets into a town. A civilian town. Intentionally targeting civilians-- residents of a town in undisputed Israeli territory-- not at all targeting military targets, rather, targeting children and their parents.
Israel responded. A lot of people died. Most of them were military and police. Police in Gaza means military... don't think of your local precinct; That's just not analogous here. There was and is and will be a lot of destruction. Civilians have died and are dying. Including children.
It is not irrelevant that they started it, and that they intentionally target civilians. It is not irrelevant that civilians are dying in Gaza, and that Israel's firepower and military power is vastly greater than that of Hamas. There are any number of other factors in this situation that are not irrelevant, and if I start listing, I will leave out, potentially, an infinite number of factors that should be listed. It will be unbalanced.
I have a bias. I have an opinion. It is not simple. It is not black and white. It is not purely right and purely wrong with no mitigating factors on either side. My opinion is formed with an understanding both of the complexity of what is happening and what has happened, and with an understanding of how little I understand. My opinion is held alongside the knowledge of unsavory and inexcusable actions on the part of the side towards which I lean. My opinion is held with the understanding that I am not an impartial party. I have an emotional investment which renders my position... well, I guess... unscientific.
Is this supposed to be science?
I also know what is happening to world opinion vis-a-vis the actions of the military and government of this (my current home) country. I know that Israel is exacerbating the negative opinion in the rest of the world with how the response is being carried out. I don't think that Israel's actions, therefore, are making me any safer. They are making me less safe. Because we are losing support.
Is this going to work? Is it going to accomplish anything? I don't know. I just don't. The pragmatism and the principle are both so messy and complex, the questions of "what's the right thing" and "what's the alternative" and "what's necessary"... don't you dare pretend that you know those answers. Whether you're here or not, and ESPECIALLY if you're not. Not being involved is just as blinding as being involved. Being out of danger is just as blinding as being in danger. I'm including myself partially in both categories: I'm in Jerusalem, but I'm in Israel. I'm American, but I'm Jewish and I'm here. Does that make my opinion more valid or balanced or clearly seen than anyone else's? I don't know... probably not. But I see the fuzziness. I see why I have to be agnostic, why I have to present myself with disclaimers, why I have to acknowledge what is problematic about my position, about my having a position or an opinion.
I know also that the conglomeration of information and impressions that enter my consciousness come together to create a picture, and it would be dishonest of me to say that I held no opinion about that picture.
I'm a hawk. But that doesn't mean I like war. I'm a Zionist. But that doesn't mean I want Palestinians to die.
Every day I pray for the IDF. Every day I pray for peace. I pray for the nation if Israel to be saved from its enemies. I pray for the nation of Israel to be saved from itself.
Don't pigeonhole me. Or do. It doesn't matter. I'll be over here praying and living my life.