The Vacation Dilemma

July 23, 2006 - 5:45 PM by Allison

What to do about summer vacation? David Bogner wrestles with issues of safety and guilt, along with many of his friends and neighbors.

Nearly everyone I have spoken with lately seems to be wrestling with the same kind of guilty quandary. August vacation time is almost upon us and one of two scenarios is playing out in the minds of many Israelis (those not in bomb shelters, that is):

1. With long-standing plans to vacation abroad for a couple of weeks, it now seems vaguely unpatriotic to leave the country while a war is going on. What if my reserve unit gets called up? How can I tell friends living abroad that Israel needs them to come visit now more than ever while I’m thumbing through a brochure for Yellowstone National Park?

~OR~

2. With long-standing plans to vacation in the relative cool of the Golan Heights and/or upper Galilee for a couple of weeks, the time has now arrived to face the reality that reservations will probably have to be canceled. These northern tourist destinations are suffering hundreds of rocket attacks every day, not to mention the constant threat of attempted infiltrations of terrorists from Lebanon. Yet they are about to be economically abandoned by their countrymen during the one month during which they normally see about 80% of the year’s tourism revenues.

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