Christmas vacation

December 28, 2008 - 11:38 AM by

Palestinian youths throw stones towards border police in Issawiya in east Jerusalem (Photo: Reuters)

Palestinian youths throw stones towards border police in Issawiya in east Jerusalem (Photo: Reuters)

Most folks, in the week between Christmas and New Years, chill out in Puerto Rico, visit family on the coast, or go skiing in Aspen. We Israelis go to war.

Operation Cast Lead (reminder to the IDF Spokesman: work on those titles) is no laughing matter. Borne out of no alternative to constant rocket attacks on its southern communities, the military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries – and so far, more rockets landing in Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot and even Ashdod, some 25 miles away from Gaza.

I got an inkling that the operation was impending when my daughter came home from her police shift on Thursday and said she had been briefed about mobilizing in the South when the army attack began in order to keep calm in the communities where retaliation from Hamas was likely.

On Saturday night, however, she was still patrolling her usual areas around Jerusalem. Evidently, the response to Operation Cast Lead among the Palestinian population in the West Bank and around east Jerusalem was serious enough to keep police troops very busy.

“There’s all kinds of riots going on here,” she said on the phone around midnight, “so they can’t send us to the South.”

As a parent, I’m not sure which option I prefer – having her quell rioting in the streets of east Jerusalem, or being in the direct line of Kassam fire by helping the residents of the South stay calm.

I’d actually prefer the skiing in Aspen. But the week between Christmas and New Years is a world away in this Israelity.

Tags: , , • Category: A New Reality, Israeliness, Life, War 

Comments

5 Comments on Christmas vacation

  1. Louis the scooterer on Sun, Dec 28th 2008 7:14 PM

    2. Good that we have wide-awake daughters. Mine at her office in Johannesburg emailed me “whats happening there”?..
    she saw on sky tv.. while I was having a short lie-down…in Netanya.

  2. David-Joe on Sun, Dec 28th 2008 9:17 PM

    3. Dont get too melo-dramatic, Israel as such is not “at war”.

    I was a kid when Israel went to war in 1967 and 1973 – those are wars.

    What is now are military operatiions involving a handful of Israeli forces.

    And these days, if Tel Aviv is anything to go by, many will not even pay attention or even take notice of what is going in in the South.

  3. Global Voices Online » Israel: Preparing for War on Mon, Dec 29th 2008 4:48 AM

    4. [...] comments on the timing and the build up to the conflict: Most folks, in the week between Christmas and New Years, chill out in Puerto Rico, visit family on [...]

  4. Gliker on Mon, Dec 29th 2008 3:53 PM

    5. Its not that people in TA do not pay attntion, they try to live some semblence of a normal life (ie without terror attacks) and the illusion of ignoring is a defense mechanism.

  5. Global Voices po polsku » Izrael: w przygotowaniu do wojny on Tue, Dec 30th 2008 2:45 AM

    6. [...] blogach wskazują na to, że Izraelczycy szykują się do długiego i trudnego konfliktu. Israelity komentuje historię i rozwój [...]

Leave a Comment





© 2012 ISRAELITY | Site by illuminea | Sitemap