Victims donating to victims
Filed under: A New Reality, Israeliness, Life, Politics, War, coexistence
Throughout the recent Gaza war and its ongoing aftermath, Israelis and Palestinians have been trying to paint themselves as “the real victims” and the other side as “the real perpetrators.” But if we’re all victims, then how can we possibly take responsibility for war spearheaded by our leaders? And if we’re all perpetrators, then why would we care?
The fact is, Operation Cast Lead has meant horrible levels of destruction for the infrastructure and people of the Gaza Strip, destruction which could have been avoided if Hamas hadn’t hidden behind the human shield of one of the most densely populated areas in the world. And as we’ve seen on ISRAELITY before, just because Israelis support our government’s recent war against a terrorist regime that’s been shooting rockets at us for years doesn’t mean that we’re numb to the damage done.
Two grassroots activists are trying to organize Israeli sympathy into material support for Gazan families whose lives and homes were recently under severe fire by the region’s military superpower. 27-year-old peacenik Lee Ziv and Sapir Academic College 25-year-old student Hadas Balas (pictured, doubling as a not-so-shabby singer-songwriter) decided to collect clothing, bedding, nourishment and other essentials from donors to bring them in to Gaza.
Ziv spoke with the Jerusalem Post this week:
“There is no connection to politics,” said Ziv. “We don’t represent a side, we just see an immediate need for blankets for people who have nothing to cover them at night and milk for infants who have nothing to eat.”
Since a short radio interview on Sunday morning, Ziv said her phone had been ringing off the hook. “Within two minutes of the interview, I had 40 voice messages. The response has been overwhelming. Schools have called asking how they can help. A father called who had three sons serving in the IDF in Gaza. A woman called who had a mortar fall on her house.”
The duo thought they’d be bringing one or two truckloads of supplies in today, but thanks to the viral snowball of their email campaign, media interest like the radio interview last week, and the bandwagoning on their efforts by some key human rights organizations, the donations have been so numerous that they’re spearheading a fleet of 10 full trucks.
According to coverage in Haaretz, the duo has accomplished this feat thanks to key help from organizations like Hashomer Hatzair in Jerusalem, Beit Hachesed in Haifa and Kibbutz Kfar Aza, the Qassam-battered community which has offered up its warehouses as a depot for the donations.
More information on donating to the operation can be found here.
Fred Teng Gets It
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Life, Politics, Profiles, War, coexistence
Given the avalanche of hate against Israel on the internet, at anti-Israel protests around the world, and in the media (of course!), it’s easy to believe that “nobody” likes us. By “nobody,” I mean, of course, folks from the wide world. And even if they are willing to overlook our “crimes” in Gaza (no, of course I don’t mean that), they still don’t “get it” – they just can’t understand what we’re up against. 
So I wanted to share with you a message I got from a friend who’s in New York right now. There was a big pro-Israel rally this past Sunday, featuring speakers from the Jewish and general community. According to the message I got,
“The most powerful speaker at Sunday’s massive rally for Israel was Fred Teng, president of the Chinese Community Relations Council of NY. His words would have been exceptional even coming from an Israeli — and how much more striking for having come from the heart of a New Yorker and a member of the Chinese community.”
Suffice to say Mr. Teng “gets it.” He’s got Hamas’ number – comparing them to the gangs of big American cities who get their jollies running drive by shootings against innocent people. In the words of Mr. Teng,
“Enough is enough”
“These Qassam Rockets and the people behind them are like Drive-by Shootings. We have to put every gang member away for good, not just the ones that did the shooting. These Qassam Rockets and the people behind them are like a Fire in the Forest, You can’t STOP only half of the fire in the forest, and thinking you will be safe. If your house is next to the fire, you won’t think so. It is not the Qassam Rockets; it is the people behind the Qassam Rockets that we need to go after. This is an epidemic threat to the entire world.
“In the last 60 years, every gesture of peace by Israel only met with escalated violence. Every peace proposal, whether it is multi-lateral, bi-lateral, or uni-lateral was never honored by the terrorists. However, in this time of extreme difficulties, we shall not lose hope. We shall say yes to Peace. We shall say yes to Life. And we shall forever say yes to an eternal Israel Am Yisrael Chai.
Maybe someone should tell this guy we have an election coming up? Sounds like he’d make a good prime minister!
Come Say L’Haim At The First Green Drinks In The Middle East
Green Drinks, the loosely organized and phenomenally successful international meeting group for green people of all walks of life, is starting up its first chapter in the Middle East today.
That’s right folks: Be a part of history on Monday night (Dec. 15 — tonight) as Green Drinks TLV holds its inaugural event at the Gilda pub on Ahad Ha’am Street, starting at 8PM.
Open to the public, just walk in and ask someone: “Hey, are you green?” (You might want to try it in Hebrew: “Shalom, ata/at yarok/yeroka”), and you may find yourself engaging in a potentially very interesting conversation with all kinds of people who share your passion for the environment from the tie-wearing politician or clean tech professional all the way to the professional activists who hang out at Salon Mazal.
Who knows, maybe you’ll strike up a new business deal or find the love of your life at one of the regular meet ups?
Seeing that Israelis are far more susceptible to over-eating than over-drinking (should there be organic hummus?), I (as one of the organizers) am not really worried about scraping someone off the floor. But TLV does know how to party. Thanks to Green Drinks, well have a few more environmental partiers out on a weekday. And maybe we’ll make the world a little better while we’re having fun.
For more information please visit the Green Drinks TLV Facebook group.
Buying Nothing Day Can Save Someones Life
A day before Buy Nothing Day (last Saturday), an American salesman lost his life, as bargain hunters in a Wal-Mart shop in Long Island trampled him to death. No one was going to get in the way of a good deal: shoppers walked on and killed the 34 year-old, while pushing their way through the door on Black Friday, the first Friday after Thanksgiving, and when Americans start their holiday shopping. TreeHugger wrote a good thought piece on the Wal-Mart death right after the incident.
One of the things I love about living in Israel is that people here are not driven with the same kind of consumerism you can find in North America. It’s a real relief. Maybe it’s because most of us aren’t caught up with Christmas, being mainly Jewish or Muslim. Don’t get me wrong, Israelis love a good bargain, but shopping over here — thankfully — has not become a religion.
In light of last Saturday being “Buy Nothing Day” in North America (and which was celebrated in Israel last Friday – see this post on FRFDR where to dumpster dive, participate in free markets etc), I’ve posted a story below, which I’d written after my first shopping experience two years ago in Bangkok, Thailand (on a vacation from my hectic life in Israel). Some food for thought about what drives us to shop, and consume:
Abercrombie and Fitch shorts, Birkenstock sandals, Gucci purses and Ray Ban sunglasses – I was faced with miles of aisles of goods in the shopping mall halls in Bangkok, Thailand. I looked at the products promising to make me more desirable, more pretty, more everything and wondered, do I have the power to choose not to choose?
I had anticipated the shopping experience in Thailand, where I was told that for tens – instead of hundreds and thousands of dollars, I could buy anything that my heart desired. But when faced with the prospect of what seemed like an endless sea of “knock-offs,” I started to feel pains in my stomach. Read more
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