My Star of David

"Oh, you're Jewish" people would comment while I was growing up. I always wondered why people would say it like that, I never went around saying "Oh, you're Christian" or "Catholic" or "an idiot"... I always just assumed that it was because I have never been religious, that people were surprised by it, just like they would have been surprised if I said I was Catholic or Jehovah Witness. But these comments would come sometimes from strangers, people that didn't know I ate bacon on Saturday mornings and went to church groups on Friday nights for the free pizza. There would always be an uncomfortable silence afterwards, like being Jewish was some rare thing. Something to be fascinated by or confused by, I was never sure and it always left me feeling uncomfortable. Was I then supposed to ask them what they believed in? But what people believe had never been any consequence to me.

As a kid, I didn't fit in in general, fat, glasses, braces, a kid who liked to read and listen to talk radio rather than Guns and Roses (I am giving my age away here), and the last thing I needed, was another thing that made me feel different. I went to a lot of schools, and in one, I had to stand outside while they had bible study because I was Jewish. But what does it mean to be Jewish? Why couldn't we sit in the class and learn about Jewish Gods, and Christian Gods and Hindu Gods, because no matter the religion, it is all supposed to come from love right? But that is an issue for another day. I did eventually go to schools in Jewish neighborhoods, where schools were mixed and no one said "Oh you Jewish," because there were enough of us not fascinate people. And I am not aware of any clicks that were made with religion...everyone kind of hung out with everyone, Lebanese, Jewish, Black, White... But perhaps I was too busy listening to talk radio to notice...or because it was at a time in South Africa when people stopped worrying about trivial things like colour and religion.

For my 18thy birthday, I was given a beautiful gold Star of David by my mother. And it sat in a draw for a year until I put it on. Why was I so afraid to put it on? Why did putting it on make me so uncomfortable? By 18 I had a pretty mixed group of friends and to be honest, if you asked me any of their religions, I wouldn't be able to tell you. None of us brought it up, none of us felt we needed to clarify it. None of us felt that religion was a basis by which we decided who to be friends with.  But why then did I not put it on? I was scared of the "Oh, you Jewish!" comments, not just by non Jews who sounded like they had just seen a rare bird for the first time, or people who sounded disappointed as if to insinuate that was my one unredeeming quality, but worse, asked by religious Jews who would then ask me what Shul I was apart of and get uncomfortable when I said "none"...

It was only in my early twenties, when I put it on proudly, that I realised one: Being Jewish is not just about being religious and two: who cares what people think anyway. My close friends are mixed, I have friends from all faiths, who are, like myself for the most part, neither bigoted or racist, and they are what matter. I felt proud of my heritage. And wore it every day until I was 29. And then I went travelling. And on Ships I still wore it, but it was under my work shirt and I forgot about it, like one does a tattoo in a place they don't see every day. But as I left ships and headed home from Spain on an Egypt air flight, via Cairo, the first thing I did when I travelled was take it off. Instinctively, without thinking about it. Egypt air I thought, and I took it off. Sensing danger.

Then I got home, and the clasp broke after ten years of wearing it proudly and I put it in a box before I jet setted off to China, and forgot about it. If people asked, I would say I am Jewish, but people rarely never asked when travelling because no one cares which God you pray to as long as you can sing karaoke and are fun to drink beer with. I had no shame about being Jewish, and in Bali a group of us joked about being The United Nations, as we sat, The Muslim Egyptian, The Catholic and Jewish South African and Christian South Americans and laughed about us sitting around a table cheering to new friends. And with Schindler's list Oscar a distant memory, and me living in a brand new world where no one cared about religion, I forgot about it. 

When I came to Israel the first time, I went to the Holocaust Museum. And for three hours, I cried, I cried for humanity, I cried because I couldn't believe people could do these things to other people. Make no mistake, when I watched Hotel Rwanda, I cried as much and felt as strong about the cruelty and injustice of people doing these things to other people. But it was standing there, staring at the class box of shoes, shoes that were taken off the dead after they were gassed, as I read how ships of Jews were turned away from America and Brittan while they fled the now liberated concentration camps of Europe, that I had a sense that this didn't just happen to people, this happened to my people! I tried to find a new star of David while I was there and couldn't find one I liked, and new I would be back because I new from the minute I stepped into Israel, that somehow this was home.

Fast forward a year, I arrived in the South of Israel to be with Yair. and as the beginnings of rockets fall, Yair gives me a star of David. Riots begin to break out in some areas of Israel (and all over Europe for that matter) and I took off the star of David. Why? Not because I am ashamed to be Jewish, not because I am anti- Israeli...Because disagreeing with Israel doesn't mean you hate Jews right? It was survival instinct. I can't explain it. Like I felt I needed to do so many times. In my gut, I knew that although I wasn't Israeli, being Jewish made me guilty. Just being Jewish, would somehow make me a target. 

Israel and Gaza are shooting at each other. People are rallying in favour of either side, some more peaceful than others, and thousands are dead. Thousands are injured. And on the news today I see a swastika was drawn on a Shul in Florida United states, with the words Hamas written on it, thousands of protesters in France, attack a Synagogue. There are people telling the world Hitler was right. Supposedly educated people. There are Jewish people being accosted, not other protesters, not right wing pro Israeli people, I mean little old Jewish ladies being accosted as if they are responsible for Israel. Never mind a lot of the Soldiers in the Israeli army are not Jewish and are Muslim and Christian. But that is a story for another day. 

What is it about the Jews that people find it so easy to hate? I am asking because I just don't understand it.  And don't say Israel. Because that is ridiculous. That is like blaming your Catholic neighbour in Sweden for something Rome did. Its outrageous. Stupid. Ignorant. And just plain racist. I am hoping that one day my children will grow up in a world where they are not judged by the Star of David they wear. Where children are not judged by the heritage they have or the religion they choose. Where they are not taught to hate people who are different.

The Israeli Knesset (Parliament), met to discuss growing anti-semitism around the world. And Ben-Hur had this to say:  “Emissaries talk until they are blue in the face and there is no end to this discussion… In the name of religion, more people have been killed than in plagues or disasters. There is ignorance between religions: We are comfortable in our own boxes, but we need to show we are the sons of the same God, and not to murder in the name of the God who created us all,”

What it really means to be Israeli....

They say, if you really want to get to know someone, really really know them, meet them at their worst. After six weeks in Israel, (Thank you Hamas for giving me the opportunity to explore) I have travelled, North, South, Central during very stressful times. Its a very narrow country so East is central, and west is The West Bank, and although I have been there in previous visits, now is not the time to revisit. 

I have talked to people on buses, read comments on facebook posts, spoken to people in elevators and the stairwells of buildings during red alarms while we wait to see if the Iron Dome gets the incoming rockets or not. I have had tea with someone who survived the holocaust. I have spoken to a reporter in the parks of Tel Aviv and sat around a big table with a family in Shabbat in the South of Israel. I have had heated debates with my boyfriend who is far more "right" (in his thinking...not in arguments. In arguments I am always right) than I am and I have read articles from very left pages and articles... 

And not once, in all those conversations, despite the images to the contrary on the news and social media and in the minds of people who are not in Israel or Gaza, did I hear animosity towards Arabs as a whole. I have heard Hamas mentioned a lot on Social media... but Hamas is not all Arabs, Hamas is not all Muslims. Not once did I see someone smile about the situation in Gaza, or not look heartbroken at the notion of children dieing. That's not to say there is no racism here, there is racism everywhere. I to, after  9/11 succumbed to the fear (and racial profiling as did the FAA and most people due to the media) that the Muslim sitting next to me on the plane may be carrying a bomb. In Israel there is left wing and right wing politics like any country, and with that comes extremest on both sides, and those minorities is what you see on the news. But in majority, people are anonymous about their distaste for the killing of children. For the deaths of soldiers. For a situation where civilian life is under threat, from both sides. No matter what you think you know....Israeli's don't want war.

Israeli people are the most community and family oriented people I have ever come across. In which other country would  40000 (yes that's forty thousand) people attend a funeral of a Soldier they didn't know, a soldier who had no family in Israel? In which other country do people post on community pages that they found someones Iphone and can someone help them identify the people in the pictures that they can return it to them? In what other country does a stranger, working at the post office, or from facebook, or community websites, offer you a place to stay in their homes when you are in need? Complete strangers who don't know you from pita.  Which other country in the world, within just one small community, raised $24000 dollars for items needed by soldiers, in just 24 hours? The money was raised and given by both right and left supported. The Israelis are warm hearted people, who put family first. Who have a love for life and their country, who work hard and eat very well.

 

I have seen pictures of soldiers, helping Children during war, and memoir pages people put up for the dog units. I have seen people at their most vulnerable as they stand in the hall ways in their towels during alarms. I have never seen so many fathers walking with strollers, and looking after and playing with their kids, than in Israel. I mean actively involved with raising of children, I don't mean watching the kids so mom can have her first pedicure in six months. I have seen photos of strangers using his body to protect a father and his toddler son from incoming rocket fire. And religious men, who are not supposed to touch woman, push ladies into bomb shelters. I have watched Israeli's support each other, no matter their political beliefs, religious beliefs or what their mother tongue language is. It would be so easy for people, like 27 year old ex South African living near Gaza who recorded a video diary, to be full of hatred. To be cold, and worry about their own survival. To be consumed with hatred. To loose joy. But here, in the worst of times, I have seen the opposite. Israelis have a great sense of humour, and through it all, they keep smiling.

When I had tea with our new land lady who arrived with her parents after the Holocaust. On the TV behind us, played the news of anti-Israeli protesters carrying signs about Hitler. You would expect anger and hatred and racism from her. Instead she asked Yair how we met, when we were getting married, where I had travelled. She welcomed me warmly to Israel and said as a way of apology that Israel is lovely, in quieter times. When the conversation went towards politics, like it always does when rocket alarms are going off, and people behind you on the TV are saying "Hitler was right", She did not say things (like the news suggests and many ignorant people imagine) "Muslims are evil" "Lets kick all the Arabs out"...she said, that Hamas. Causing problems for everyone.

People keep asking me why I don't get on a plane and come home. But after 6 weeks here, being around Israelis, this is home. I won't lie and say that even if iron dome wasn't here I would stay, because I am a big old chicken and I don't feel strongly enough yet for this country to die for it. But I can understand the need to. I can understand the need to defend it and protect it. To protect families of all religions and cultures within its borders. I better understand that there is something incredible to protect.

After my tea with our land lord, I made a decision, that I am not going to be ashamed of being pro Israel any more. Despite the loss of a few facebook friends and some close friends I feel who have drifted due to our difference of opinions on this. Just as everyone keeps saying to be anti-Israel doesn't make them anti-Semite(Even though that is not always true but that is a story for another blog). Just so, being pro-Israel doesn't make  me pro war, or pro the killing of anyone. If Johannesberg were under attack, how many of you  in Cape Town would open your homes to strangers from the North? If Canada had built tunnels into America, how would you react? I am proud to be amongst people who value life and support each other as a community and I am not afraid to admit it. Being an Israeli, means being apart of one big family, that is what it really means to be Israeli.

Meanwhile while everyone picks sides...What about Hamas....

The middle eastern conflict, has so many sides and angles that I am starting to feel that I may not survive this without the use of a lot of beer and great understanding. Before I voice my opinions here, let me be clear: I am neither "Pro Israel" or "Pro Palestine", which are camps people have aligned themselves into. I am Pro peace, tolerance, respecting human life and for the love of all that is holy  I am pro not completely destroying the hope of leaving our children with a planet that is riddled with hate and violence. Is it not bad enough that we have and continue to completely mess up the environment...but that is a discussion for another rant... Every day my view on this situation changes. Every day I am swayed extreme left and then extreme right. I am confused and angry and find myself in a situation where I am being forced to pick sides. I don't want to pick sides. Unless its the side between left and right that still believes that human beings can drop the hate and anger (and guns) and start talking to each other, listening to each other, and therefore understanding each other.

In the last week, the iron dome was tested and a rocket hit 50 meters from our apartment. We packed a bag and fled north and have been jumping from one place to one place trying to figure out where to from here. And all this while being bombarded by news, opinions, propaganda from all sides that I feel like I am drowning in the confusion of it it. I ask myself repeatedly, what am I doing here...What I can do to help.. How I can be bigger than myself and make a difference... not sitting on my soap box picking sides like everyone else, I mean getting my hands dirty, making a real difference for peace. I am left feeling very helpless. So I write this, not to tell you your opinion is wrong or disagree with you, whatever your stand my be, I write this in hope that some how I may get clarity, or find a solution in my ramblings or just a general direction of where to from here...

My view on Hamas...Freedom fighter or Terrorist?

I asked myself this morning, after a comment was made on my facebook (anti Israeli stand point) about how "primitive" the rockets that Hamas are firing are (and therefore the Israeli army out guns them so badly that it is an unfair fight), I asked myself, why, knowing full well the force of the Israeli army (an army so used to fighting and defending itself that it doesn't know when to talk and when to shoot) and their firing power, why are they shooting rockets that 1. They know won't hit targets and 2. Will not result in casualties... The argument can be made that Hamas is using little resources it has to fight for the freedom of their oppressed people. Not a notion I haven't thought of myself. But something doesn't add up. Human Shield strategies.  Rockets found at schools. The findings of tunnels (months in the making), aimed at getting into Israel, the quickness of the Palestinian support. The force at which they hit the social media for calls for help and the fact that in not ONE international news report, does it mention an "armed" militant or soldier was killed...270 Palestine's killed. 2 IDF soldiers died. mmmm makes the Israeli's out to look like a bunch of gun wielding bullies doesn't it - just a thought to ponder.

To me, this was a very well thought out clever plan. Which started with the kidnapping of three Jewish boys... A plan that relied on the stupidity of fundamentalist jews to retaliate and disgustingly kill a Muslim boy, and for the army to retaliate to the retaliation. A plan that they, Hamas, were prepared to sacrifice lives for. They played Israel's hand perfectly...they shot rockets knowing Iron Dome would intercept. Taunting Israel into action, despite not having any causalities. Because everyone loves an underdog, Israel's support has been penalized because of that Iron Dome. All people see are the hundreds of Palestinians killed, while the Israeli number where two (last checking - a number that flashes all over the news)... But I digress. Then they put their people in the firing line and pictures of dead civilians and children start to circulate the news while people in Tel Aviv are shot on the beach smiling while they run for cover for an alarm. Once again Israel is shown to be the big bully, (I am not saying they not, just go with me here, picking on people that they stole land from (another debate I wish not to get into)...Israel is the super villain, everyone jumps onto the band wagon and then, when you fight back, and launch your soldiers (terrorists/freedom fighters) into tunnels and over sea into Israel and your soldiers attack and blow things up and kill people, everyone will say, oh Israel asked for it. Look what they are doing to the people.

I have no doubt that the Palestinian people have a raw deal and when we went to Bethlehem last year, and we spoke to people in the markets, it was clear that the situation in Israel or west bank or Gaza whichever you prefer, has got to change. It is clear that Palestinian people are caught in cross fire and their kids are paying with their lives. But this is not a simple political situation. And this war is not between the Palestinian people  and Israel... It actually has nothing to do with their freedom. I have seen Hamas's Constitution. They do not wish for peace, they do not wish to live side by side with the Israelis. They arm their children and teach them war and plan to kill every Israeli. That is their end goal. That is what they want. And how clever of them to disguise their agenda behind the aggression of Israel. How clever of them to distract so many people from the fact that their fundamentalist thinking is the same thinking of the Taliban or Al Quaidi whose foe is Western Civilization. Who take the freedom of their own people away and outlaw things like singing in public. The same thinking that doesn't allow woman to vote or drive cars. Who pay $10000 to families that have a member volunteering to be suicide bombers.Who preach that for your kids to die is a blessing.

So many people fly the banners "free Palestine" or "I stand by Israel", so many people attack each other (from both sides) with hate speech, all this while the focus is taken of Hamas and their agenda. I am not condoning the killing of kids on the beach. I do not agree with this war. I am horrified by rocket sirens and the sounds of guns I have heard in Gaza (that's how close I was to the situation), there are too many people getting distracted by pro Israeli and Pro Palestine propaganda that we are forgetting who the real enemy is here. And all those protesters, sit in their countries, safe from rocket fire and ignorant that the media, whom pick sides at will, is not showing them the whole picture.

As Nelson Mandela said : No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite... I chose to believe that there is still hope for tolerance and love and if people just stopped with their pro this and pro that rants and their hatred for either side, they could look at this situation as whole, and see that it is not as clear cut as Israel is a bully and Palestine are helpless. This is not a he said, she said. This is not (only) about the freedom of the oppressed or the human right to live in safety. There are far bigger problems going on here....

Finding myself in a war zone...

As I write this yet another warning alarm, telling us to take cover,
sounds across the city of Ashqelon in the South of Israel. I drink my
coffee and smoke my smoke and look out the window to make sure the
Iron Dome is doing its thing and I don't need to run for cover. But
given that you only have 15 seconds from the sound of the alarm to
take cover, if it were to fail, that would leave me and my cup of
coffee in a very precarious situation... The last two weeks have been
fundamentally the biggest life changing experience for me and
politically, morally, the way I see the world, the people, the media,
the goat down at the petting zoo who before this was just a goat and
now is a cute thing you can pet because you scared (I will get to that
later), have changed forever. I sit here at a cross roads, not a
actual cross road as ashgelon has traffic circles mostly and this is
not a scene from Super Natural, but a metaphorical cross roads of
should I get involved in this crazy that is the middle east or just
tuck my head back into the sand, where it has been comfortably for
three years, and ignore the most confusing political conundrum or to
voice my opinion, express my anger, and take a side. But there is no
side here. Every story has two sides, "Mommy Jimmy ate my cookie" "No
I didn't the dog ate his cookie"..and then the truth...There was no
cookie. But this situation has so many sides, so much propaganda, so
many miss leading news reporting that clearly take sides either way,
that it is so very hard to see the truth...so this is just my opinion,
from an outsider who has no care about the cookie, other than she
hopes everyone can get a cookie and then no one will be fighting to
eat each others.

Fact: Hatred breads Hatred. I made the mistake of commenting on a
photo that was circulating facebook,  and within minutes the replies
came back about wanting to kill the Zionists..loosely translated for
your benefit: Die jew, die! I was like woah buddy, I am just a little
old girl from Knysna who wants to eventually grow tomatoes and learn
how to bake. I am a person first, with so many awesome qualities (I
mean just ask my friends) and without knowing me, I was labelled as a
Jewish extremist and for that, I should die? for the record I, did not
even mention I was Jewish. Number 2, I  made no comments in Support of
Israel or war on innocent people. I realise we all have our right to
our opinions, and when it comes to religion and politics, everyone
views are very different. Why do we feel we need to kill people for
these views. If the person next to you orders meat in a restaurant,
and you are a vegan, do you stab him through the chest with his steak
knife. Hopefully not. Do you worry about whats on your table and leave
him to worry about his so both of you can just enjoy your respective
meals? Or do you start to hate the meat eater, or the vegan and start
to blame each other for the lack of fries you have or if your fries
are to crispy (Because lets be honest, vegan or not, everyone loves a
fry) and before long the meat eater must die because he single handily
responsible for the genocide of cows and the vegan must die because no
self respecting person gives up cheese burgers...so is the
ridiculousness of fighting wars in the name of religion.

But this is not a religious war at all. This is not a war between the
Palestinian people and Israel. This is a war on Hamas, who for all
intent and purposes is an extreme terror group, think Bin Laden and Al
Quaida, working out of Gaza whose sole purpose is to kill every
Israeli. Let us not forget that once they are finished in Israel,
their aim is to eradicate the whole of western civilisation and that
killing people is a way for them to get into heaven. I by no means
support or condone the killing of innocent people, nor do I condone
this war, but only ask this question, not as a way to make a point but
to generally ask it as I do not have the answers... if a small group
of Canadians decided to start killing people in the name of french
champagne, and were firing rockets into America daily and the world
said nothing, the Canadian government did nothing. What do you think
the American Government would do? Would they sit back and let rockets
take out a local Burger King or a honky tonk bar and not fight back
while everyone sits around the table to talk peace. If Israel stopped
its offencive in Gaza, the rockets would continue. Hamas would
continue. I honestly don't see what other choice they had. Their
biggest problem is they have the worst PR manager I have ever seen and
they are coming off as looking like Carri at the prom, when in truth
they are defending themselves, taking extreme measures to only target
milletry targets. I have seen the videos, like a PC game, aim the
little cross on the car, blow up the car without killing anyone else
near by...booom....100 points...

What people don't see, from the outside, and what the media are not
telling you...If you are looking for the truth, facebook, BBC, CNN,
Die Sunday Times, Lebanon Would news, The action Ads (ha ha) doesn't
have it. because that is not what sells news. pics of bloodied
children and buildings blowing up sells news. Who wants to see another
war on terrorism, the Americans wrote that movie and everyone has seen
the sequel. That's been overplayed, so lets push an angle people
haven't seen to peak their interest and get people angry and hating
because that sells news which increases ratings which means you can
cash in on all the advertising revenue. If you film the rockets that
are coming into Israel, hundred of rockets, its all very boring
because the Iron Dome shoots everything that comes in and nothing is
destroyed. A headline that reads 60 people dead because some
fundamentalist used his whole family as a human shield will warrant
the response "what an asshole" and then there would be no spiking
tension, no world debate, very little sympathy for hamus and then
where would the story be. That doesn't sell news. Through all these
years of a "cease" fire, rockets were still shot daily into Israel.
Not by Palestinian people. By Hamas.So many rockets have been fired
into Israel, that they invented and patented satellite software whose
only job is to detect a rocket, calculate whether it is headed for a
populated city and blow it up in the sky. Not shoot back, not engage
the people shooting these rockets at people at markets, on morning
runs, taking their Children to the park. Just to quietly shoot it down
in a peace loving way |(as quietly and peaceful as a war rocket can
be), so that everyone can carry on with their day making humus,
growing those delicious Israeli Cucumbers we get in woolies and
enjoying the fundamental right as human beings to live their lives in
relevant peace petting goats, like anyone should. But that doesn't
sell news.

The media don't tell you that Israel spends billions a year providing
free electricity to Gaza. The same electricity that Hamas use to post
doctored photos on the internet that hide their own aggression and
genocide towards their  own people. The media does not tell you about
the dozens of trucks that Israel sends with food and medicine aid to
the people, that Hamas destroy, leaving their people to suffer. The
media does not show you how Israel warn people when they are going to
fire on a bunker full of rockets that are planned to enter Israel, and
that the people choose to instead of protecting their Children and
Palestinians, protect instead Humus military leaders instead and run
towards these targets. How even singing at your wedding is a criminal
offence in Gaza. That Instead of playgrounds they have summer gun
training camps for 6 year old boys. How people here rally together,
who family is so important to the Israelis that the people in the
North are offering their homes to people like us living in the south,
how you can now go to thinks like the petting zoo for free, because
petting animals calms the children down and gives them a send of
normalcy. That no one here wants war. Not the Christan's, the Jews or
the Muslims. Fundamentalists, always a small majority, but a loud gun
carrying one, they want war.

If I am within the walls of Israel, who's army sole purpose is to
protect the life of ALL Israeli's, the children of all Israelis, the
eldery, the young, the religious, the non religious, the Ethiopians,
the Sudanese, the Russians, the Americans, the South Africans, the
Palestinians, the Christians, the Jews the Muslims, the gay, the
straight, the goat at the petting zoo....all Israelis. I can only
imagine what it must be like now for the over a Million Palestinians
in Gaza who are under the "protection" of Hamas...who hide rocket
launches in hospitals, schools, peoples homes, who quite literally
hide behind human Shields, who put their woman and Children into the
fire line. Who train their boys, to build bombs, fire guns, to hate.
Who have openly said they do not want to broker peace, they have only
one purpose, to kill every Israeli.  And who preach that standing on a
bus with explosives, killing themselves and everyone on that bus, is
their gate way to heaven forever. This is not a religious issue, this
is not an Israeli Palestine issue, this is a terrorism issue. This is
the same thinking used to highjack planes and drive them into the twin
towers, the same thinking that of the Taliban whose sole purpose is to
bring down the infidels of the whole western community. thinking, That
boarded the subways in the UK, blew up embassies in Africa,  And
millions of people from both sides, are caught up in it. The world is
caught up in it. I am caught up in it.

Today I sit here, sad. Not "Oh no Greys Anatomy's ending  Sad"...I
mean really in my core, not sure I will never be not sad again sad. At
the hatred we have for each other. The lack of respect we have for
other human beings, animals, the planet we live on. At the amount of
money spent by media to cover a war that could eradicate world
poverty. At the amount of money wasted by the guns that fight war, the
rockets that fight war, the people who fight war. without meaning to I
have found myself choosing sides. And believe me, every day, its a
different side. This was not my intention. My intention was to ask
questions, that I don't have the answers to. I do not wish to offend.
I do not wish to condone war. Because I do not. I do not condone war.
And every time I think I have an angle on this crisis, Another video
appears on facebook or another alarm goes off here and I find myself
being caught up in the madness of it all. I only pray that someone
smarter than me, wiser than me, more informed than me can find a
solution that will bring peace to the Palestinians and the Israelis.

I never imagined myself, running to bomb shelters and discussing over
dinner if we should get gas masks or not. No one ever imagines the
worst, until you in it. Its what you let it turn you into, that's what
is important.


xxxx