That is crazy. I've never lived in a city being bombed. Must be a novel
experience. You are handling it pretty calmly, I have to say, or maybe
it's the fact that by the time you get around to writing about it, the
exciting parts have already passed. I'll have my fingers crossed for
you.... The Israelis don't screw around when it comes to war.
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Yeah, Israel means serious business. One of you told me this morning, that the Israelis called out their reserves and were planning a land attack. And sure enough they're inside Lebanon. Sometimes I'm up with the news. Sometimes I'm not. It's cool to hear from different sources.
A guy who taught at the school in Gaza for two years told me, "You become a real news junkie." Constantly, constantly, checking the news. . . .That's annoying. Plus I hate TV and radio and sound pollution like that. I just look at it when I'm at someone's house or in the souk hanging out with the shop owners.
10 comments:
where did you hear this about the reserves??? i'm haunting ha'aretz, but haven't seen anything yet.
-emily
Hey Jane
I am keeping up with your blog- It’s interesting to hear a different perspective than you see on the news and in the papers. Glad to hear your passport will hopefully be sent to you rather than going down to get it.
I do agree that the Israel is paranoid but they have been getting it from all sides for a long time. It was really interesting when we were in Wittenburgh (sp?) last year and saw the carvings on Luther’s church of the pigs eliminating on the jews.. people forget what the Christians have done. So it’s interesting to hear your perspective- I guess I think there’s a balance in there somewhere where neither is right and neither is wrong. Everyone just wants to be on one side or the other… I guess being empathetic to both sides is boring and not a very interesting debate….
Enjoyed reading about teaching the kids to think – I worry about bringing Jack up in rural Texas- not being exposed to different views….. Laughed about you showing Michael Moore to the kids (very Jane of you)
Love you very much- Anna
Anna, it's interesting that you're looking for empathy for "both sides" on a blog that seemingly characterizes Israelis, as a whole, as "psychotic" and "paranoid."
I realize that Jane is living a surreal life in a nation that the Israeli government and military have savaged. I find it courageous and commendable that Jane has been able to become friends with the kin and kith of Hezbollah, seeing them as people, rather than politics.
Yet it amazes me that Jane is so quick to dehumanize Israelis as a group, while accusing the US and other governments and media of doing the same to "evil" terrorists.
Begging the question: Jane, have you spent much time with a significant number of Israelis? Have you lived in Israel? Do you think, just perhaps, your perspective (and your labeling) might change (however slightly) if you did?
Just a thought.
Jane,
I hate to pick on you when you're in the middle of a very difficult situation, but I think I have to agree with the above "anonymous" poster. You've painted generalizations onto the Israeili population with a very broad brush in some of your posts. I suspect the situation is a bit more complicated on their side as well...
I'm glad to hear that you got your passport ; I haven't heard anything new from the state department yet.
-Steven
To the person who hinted at Jane's lack of impartiality:
I say, of course she's biased! She's under attack by the Israeli Defense Forces. Who wouldn't be biased in a situation such as this?!? Give her a break. I can only imagine the feelings of fear, helplessness, uncertainty, and anger that are pulsing through her system right now.
And does it really matter if she's never spent a significant time living in Israel? Does that make her experiences and commentary any less valid? I know many, respected scholars -- many of whom are Jewish -- who have spent substantial time in Israel and are still just as outraged and appalled by the current situaion in Lebanon. Jane's writing is NOT a window into "a surreal life" under Israeli attack. Instead, it is one of the clearest examples of "reality" that I've read in ages.
I'm not hinting at Jane's lack of "impartiality." I'm commenting on her portrayal of the "psyche" of an entire nation of people. That's more than simple bias.
As such, yes, in fact it *does* make a matter a great deal if she's spent significant time around a significant number of Israelis. If she hasn't, it's difficult for me to understand how she can feel comfortable dismissing them as "psychotic" with paranoid tendencies, yet defend Hezbollah militants from similarly stereotypical depictions.
Her experience (or lack thereof) with Israelis is directly related to her commentary *on* the Israeli psyche. If the former is slim to none, then, yes, I'd say the latter is probably not especially valid.
For the record, *I* am appalled by many of the actions of the Israeli government and military, and I disagree with many of the Israeli Jews (and Israeli non-Jews, and non-Israeli Jews, and non-Israeli non-Jews, etc., etc.) with whom I've discussed the subject over the past however many years.
I find myself disagreeing most strenuously when people try to characterize (for example) Palestinians as a whole as corrupt or fanatical -- or as anything else as a whole, for that matter.
In fact, none of the Palestinians I know meet those descriptions, but I would object even if I didn't know any Palestinians (or had met some who were, in fact, corrupt or fanatical).
Finally, believe it or not, I don't have to "imagine" what Jane's going through (although I would dispute whether she is, in fact, under attack by the IDF).
You go, anonymous! Finally some words of wisdom on a blog full of interesting bits of experience and way too many emotional over-reactions and uneducated over-generalizations that incite and foment hate and misunderstanding.
You go, anonymous! Finally some words of wisdom on a blog full of interesting bits of experience and way too many emotional over-reactions and uneducated over-generalizations that incite and foment hate and misunderstanding. I share your perspective and couldn't have articulated it better.
mhmm
"Finally some words of wisdom on a blog full of interesting bits of experience and way too many emotional over-reactions and uneducated over-generalizations that incite and foment hate and misunderstanding."
What?
Obviously, anonymous, you are not there because if you were you would probably be just as emotional and you probably would not call her comments over-reactions. And how do you figure uneducated? And maybe the comments foment hate and misunderstanding for you but not for everyone.
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