Exactly one year ago, we hosted friends of ours after they were evicted from their homes in Gush Katif. Having nowhere to go, we put them up for a bit, till they figured out which way to wander.
Today, we're very pleased to be hosting blogger friends of ours -- the Rock of Galilee family from up North. In this historic use of the JBlogosphere to connect Jews from around the world (well, from a Northern Settlement to the Muqatan Shomron Stronghold) -- we're pleased to present this dual hosted blog post. Over to you rock...
Watching a missile land on Haifa this morning as we fled from the constant bombardment of rockets on our galilean homeland I got to thinking about how fragile the situation can be no matter where you are living. When we lived in Michigan, we were concerned when the two airplanes hit the world trade center. My wife was very concerned about the threat of terrorism in the entire US and I explained to her that we were safest in Michigan. Michigan, for those who don't know, is the home to the largest arab population outside the middle east. My wife was positive that that meant that we were in more danger then anywhere else in the country. I explained to her that being in the Lion's den (quite literally in football terms) was actually beneficial to us because the FBI had most of their resources concentrated in our neighborhood. They wouldn't dare to do anything that would bring the full weight of countersurveillance into their living rooms.
In a similar vein we decided that the safest place during a Lebanese missile crisis would be in the Muqatan heartland, surrounded by hostile arabs. What better place to hide out and give our children a much deserved and needed rest without waking up every 5 minutes by the whoosh and the boom.
Back to you Jameel.
Jameel here. Wow...that was pretty inspiring to read (as it was being typed here in our Muqata bomb shelter)...and I just wanted to write how much we're enjoying the Rock of Galilee family's company -- we had a BBQ, and now the kids are nodding off to sleep. Granted the occasional shooting in the distance can be slight disconcerting, but it's nothing comapred to the whooosh and the boom. (And hopefully, we won't hear those either).
Well...I hope we can get together under slightly calmer circumstances next time, but overall, I think this is working out just fine.
A good night to all from the Muqata and Rock of Galilee (updates will be posted tonight as neccessary).
Jameel (The Muqata)
Rock of Galilee (Galilee Refugee)
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
Today, we're very pleased to be hosting blogger friends of ours -- the Rock of Galilee family from up North. In this historic use of the JBlogosphere to connect Jews from around the world (well, from a Northern Settlement to the Muqatan Shomron Stronghold) -- we're pleased to present this dual hosted blog post. Over to you rock...
Watching a missile land on Haifa this morning as we fled from the constant bombardment of rockets on our galilean homeland I got to thinking about how fragile the situation can be no matter where you are living. When we lived in Michigan, we were concerned when the two airplanes hit the world trade center. My wife was very concerned about the threat of terrorism in the entire US and I explained to her that we were safest in Michigan. Michigan, for those who don't know, is the home to the largest arab population outside the middle east. My wife was positive that that meant that we were in more danger then anywhere else in the country. I explained to her that being in the Lion's den (quite literally in football terms) was actually beneficial to us because the FBI had most of their resources concentrated in our neighborhood. They wouldn't dare to do anything that would bring the full weight of countersurveillance into their living rooms.
In a similar vein we decided that the safest place during a Lebanese missile crisis would be in the Muqatan heartland, surrounded by hostile arabs. What better place to hide out and give our children a much deserved and needed rest without waking up every 5 minutes by the whoosh and the boom.
Back to you Jameel.
Jameel here. Wow...that was pretty inspiring to read (as it was being typed here in our Muqata bomb shelter)...and I just wanted to write how much we're enjoying the Rock of Galilee family's company -- we had a BBQ, and now the kids are nodding off to sleep. Granted the occasional shooting in the distance can be slight disconcerting, but it's nothing comapred to the whooosh and the boom. (And hopefully, we won't hear those either).
Well...I hope we can get together under slightly calmer circumstances next time, but overall, I think this is working out just fine.
A good night to all from the Muqata and Rock of Galilee (updates will be posted tonight as neccessary).
Jameel (The Muqata)
Rock of Galilee (Galilee Refugee)
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
28 comments:
i've been in the Muqata bomb shelter, the only thing worth reading there is baruch hagever and R'Riechman's Shurim of RJBS
I understand your feelings about 9/11 since I was at the JCC in West Bloomfield that... So from Michigan to the Muqata hopefully you will all remain safe.
oof.
nice that you can offer shelter to friends.
may we only hear good news.
(and thanks for the updates)
I would actually love to read this, if it weren't in a font color thats making my eyes scream after every word :)
Jameel, you neglected to post that just one hour after Shabbat our pagers went off. We received a message requiring us, until further notice, to carry with us at all times, our refelective CTU hats, our walkie-talkies, our beepers, and our 39 inch long 10 Lbs Vietnam era vintage M16 rifles complete with 2 30 round magazines (you try schlepping a yardstick everywhere you go...)
So today, on my monthly Sunday off, I got to mow the lawn, cut the hedges, burn the leaf pile... all the while carrying enough ammo to stop an entire infantry company.
Life in Muqataland is never boring :)
Bone Crusher you sound like a green mountain boy BTW is this yours?
http://www.pl8ster.net/VT/VT96_BKK685.jpg
Keep up with the updates!
(And keep safe)
A big hello and major prayers from the Jonsson family in Atlanta, GA.
I can't believe how calm you guys are. Love reading your updates. Stay safe.
'kol yisrael areivim ze baze'.
This is gemilat chasadim at its best.
what is a muquata?
good morning! apart from your own wonderful undates, do you have other suggestions? haaretz.com has been my english language source. may we be blessed with true peace, and may it be soon!
Rock,
Chazak V'Amatz from heilige Oak Park. I spoke to my brother Jeff just before Shabbat. He made aliyah last fall and lives in J'lem. He sounded kind of serious on the phone. He was concerned over whether the Israeli left would get behind this - but it appears that his fears were groundless. From my vantage here, it looks like Israeli society is more united than it's been in over 30 years. Hell, even the Israeli Arabs in the villages in the north are cursing Hez and hoping that the IDF destroys them.
eliyahu: have a look here for a list of live-bloggers (like jameel :) as well as other things you can do - http://jblogosphere.blogspot.com/2006/07/live-blogging-war-what-we-can-do.html
Jameel,
Kol HaKavod!
Rock,
Hope you can return home soon.
Is everything okay in Muqata-ville? Your clock says it's 9:37am in Israel and we haven't heard from ya this morning...
The Kvetcher: Muqata is arabic for "compound" -- and was also the name of Arafat's HQ in Ramalla.
Fern: We're back!
oh thanks but why an arabic slogan sounds a little incongruous
Excellent website. Good work. Very useful. I will bookmark!
G1uruF The best blog you have!
cDpa5w Wonderful blog.
Hello all!
Good job!
Thanks to author.
Please write anything else!
Good job!
Hello all!
Please write anything else!
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