Hospital Grounds
Filed under: A New Reality, History and Culture, Life, Politics
Whenever I’ve spent time in Israel’s hospital wards, I’ve been surprised at the number of patients from Gaza & its refugee camps sharing the wards and hospital rooms.
I have mostly met parents whose children are in long-term pediatric oncology. The kids are usually getting radical treatments and the parents are with them day in and out sometimes for months at a stretch.
In April I met a father from Gaza whose 3-year-old was in oncology. We chatted about our children and I told him what I do for a living. He bemoaned the current Gaza infighting and asked for advice in trying to secure entrance for himself and his family of 9 to Canada. We chatted, parted ways and a week later ran into each other by chance at the Tel Aviv supermarket close to the hospital. The whole “casualness” of it all was almost surreal.
The Jerusalem Post’s Larry Defner recently wrote an apt article on hospitals as border-free meeting grounds for Arab & Israeli doctors working together in a seemingly seamless fashion; an example to us all for how things could be were we to put grievances aside.
A hospital, especially one in Galilee, the Negev or Jerusalem, is the only venue in this country where a foreigner who knew nothing about the Israeli-Arab conflict might spend time, then come away thinking that Israel is a country where a Jewish majority lives alongside a sizable Arab minority – and there is no problem between them.
The article here.
I’m thinking a Grey’s Anatomy episode.
Insanity Rising
Something something’s Liza is furious over recent events regarding Israel – the British journalists’ call for a boycott, partisan journalistic practices and a world she feels would be happier were Israel to sit back quietly in the face of rocket attacks and extremism. An excerpt from her blog entry Boycotts, Double Standards and Plain Old Israel Bashing:
No matter what happens, no matter who starts it, it is somehow always Israel’s fault. Rockets are raining down on Sderot and British unions are practically lining up to boycott Israel. Palestinians killing each other in the streets of Gaza? It’s because of the occupation, of course. I’ve even heard that people are claiming it’s the Israelis who are pushing the spotlight on Darfur in order to shift attention away from its own problems, and frankly, I don’t know if that makes me want to laugh or cry.
Me neither.
Mars Landing
Don’t let it be said that we here at Israelity are not up for a good joke now and then…
Two astronauts land on Mars. Their mission: to check whether there is oxygen on the planet.
“Give me the box of matches” says one. “Either it burns and there is oxygen or nothing happens.
“He takes the box and is ready to strike a match when out of the blue a Martian appears waving all his arms…”No, no, don’t!
“The two guys look at each other worried. Could there be unknown explosive gases on Mars? But he takes another match….
And now a crowd of hysterical Martians is coming all waving their arms: “No no, don’t do that!”
“It looks serious. What are they afraid of? But – we’re here for Science, to know if man can breathe on Mars”. He strikes a match which flames up, burns down and….. nothing happens.
“Why did you want to prevent us from striking a match?” the lead astronaut asks.
“Its Shabbos!!!!!!!!!”
Thanks, Aunt Babe.
Same Same
I recently blogged about taking up the sport of windsurfing off of Tel Aviv’s coast.
It’s still challenging. Learning to balance on the board, hoisting the sail, shifting direction and turning or jibing takes practice. Practice and LOADS of falling off the board into the sea, swallowing unwelcome quantities of seawater and bruising legs and feet when falls are les than graceful.
The physical aside, twice during lessons I have been very pleasantly surprised to see religious Jewish men turn up at the club, don gear and head out to sea.
I know they’re religious because I see them before they put on their wet suits: yarmulkes (male head covering), tzitzit and the standard issue black pants and white button down shirts.
Yesterday I encountered one of the guys a bit awkwardly; we were both in the club changing room at the same time, odd as that may seem. But it’s not, really, because most of the surf and SCUBA clubs I’ve seen in Tel Aviv are unisex. One or two showers for all and a non-gender-specific lock-with-key changing room if a person wants privacy.
Locker areas – generally the place people put on or take off wet suits and boots and change into or out of sea-gear if they’re not bothered about privacy (which I’ve found is often the case) – are mixed.
So as I stood in my wet bathing suit and boots in the locker area waiting for a lock-key room to vacate, not four feet away on the other side of the wooden bench island a religious guy removed his tzitzit and other articles of clothing. He didn’t strip to bare skin. That would’ve been awkward. He found an empty shower stall and locked himself in for the final swap from pants and shirt to wet suit.
Once in his sea togs, you’d have never known his religious preference save a few locks tucked behind his ears.
I hear he’s a yeshiva student from Jerusalem who can’t resist the sea; he comes down to Tel Aviv when the wind is good or “surf’s up”.
Leveling the playing field. It’s a wonderful thing.
Foto Friday #6
Hello! Glad you could slot in some time for a stop-by. What have we been getting up to here? Take a look.
Happy Foto Friday. Your friends & neighbors…Israelity.
Jacaranda Tree….Collective Thoughts of a Ginrod
Hugging Jerusalem…jerusalem wanderings
Fire Throwing, Tel Aviv boardwalk….rappyamhappy
“Sabecha – Goat Herder”, Yodefat Village…Chany 14
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