Lizrael Update

Category: politika

  • Dedicated to Hadas.

    When I was 8-9 months pregnant with Bebe, cold-blooded murderers swept into a sleeping family’s Itamar home on Shabbat and slaughtered defenseless parents and harmless children. One of the victims was Hadas Fogel, a baby just a few months old. I haven’t stopped thinking of Hadas since then. Once in a while, I’ll look at…

  • Palestinian chicken can save Israel.

    Or so believes Larry David. Hey, it’s worth a shot; nothing else has worked. [h/t sabraatheart]

  • Gay peeps can get married, Gilad Shalit can’t.

    I’m trying to enjoy the excitement I feel over New York State’s legalizing gay marriage, giving some of my friends a chance at an alternative-alternative lifestyle, while simultaneously trying to work out the torment I feel over the fact it’s now been a way-too-long five years since 18-year-old beginner soldier Gilad Shalit was taken captive during non-‘war’time,…

  • The fish, the shark and Passover.

    When Gilad Shalit was 11, he wrote a short story called “When the Shark and the Fish First Met.” Though it seems this was originally published and spread around in 2008, I only came across it now via Facebook shares. It resonates with me because I did a lot of short story writing when I was…

  • Arabs and Jews, mothers and babies, Amalek and us.

    I don’t like getting political because I’ve been there and it’s an energy-sucking lifestyle. But a few events are coming together that make me have to say this. The Itamar murders were the utmost in terror and hate crime. Killing defenseless people – children – in their sleep is the utmost in cowardly and not…

  • Israel’s real World Cup woes.

    I know this is ancient history already, but a friend sent me this video last week and the song was stuck in my head all weekend. It’s an Israeli parody of the unofficial World Cup song, Wavin’ Flag, by Somalian-born Canadian-rasied hip-hop artist K’naan. The Israeli version laments Israel’s failure to get into the World Cup, for…

  • Election fever, Israeli-style.

    I’m sitting in my office, listening as every single person who leaves for the day calls out in the hallway:  “Happy voting!” “אל תשכח להצביע מחר” “!ללכת לקלפי, להצביע ולהשפיע” “Vote wisely!” At lunch, I walked past a lively discussion on the strategy of voting and throughout the day have been pepper-sprayed with water cooler…

  • A day for (small-town) democracy.

    It’s a day for democracy everywhere, isn’t it? I know what you think I mean, but actually I’m talking about the Matte Yehuda Regional Council and Tzur Hadassah local council elections held today.  Who knew that such a little town could make such a big deal out of its leadership? Apparently Tzur Hadassah is the…

  • What's been going on.

    The past week and a half has been intense, painful, busy, impatient,  energetic, emotional, nerve-wracking and exciting. And it’s not only for the reason you’re probably assuming. I haven’t  been able to get all my thoughts out in an organized manner, so instead I’ll spew them in bullet form. People will ask what gender your…

  • Israeli Consulate hosting a Twitter Q&A session.

    And now, for something new and different. So… here in Israel, we are more computers than people. And I know I was a bit snobbish when I wrote about the Israeli elections campaigns using internet tech and themes from their American counterparts. But this actually tops all that for real: The Israeli Consulate has its…

  • Israeli election coverage from YouTube and Channel 2.

    Here’s something new and different: Israeli television channel ערוץ 2 and YouTube seem to have teamed up to bring us (Hebrew) coverage of the 2009 Knesset elections campaigns. The campaigns have begun, although they’re obviously not as exciting or inspiring as the American ones this past year. Fair enough. But it is interesting that the…