A child's shoe at the scene of the rocket attack (14.5.08), Ashkelon Shopping Mall.
photo by EFE
In light of yesterday's rocket attack, where over a hundred people were wounded at an Ashkelon Shopping Mall, should yesterday's gala dinner and celebration in Jerusalem hosted by Shimon Peres as part of the Israel's 60th birthday "President's Conference" have continued as planned?
Should Israel's leadership have gone to Ashkelon to comfort its residents or convened an emergency session with the IDF on how to provide minimal security for Israel? Or should they have continued, "business as usual" with the dinner, heaping lavish superlatives on George Bush and the United States insisting "the party must go on?"
Driving home, I listed to Shimon Peres' speech last night at the dinner party over the radio. Despite his initial mention of the terror attack, his speech was rosy and euphoric. Not mentioning Israel's missing soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon, Peres glowed as he addressed world leaders. VIPs and wealthy businessmen. The crowd cheered and clapped with his every mention of Sederot, the IDF, and America's friendship, specifically that of George Bush. There was only one statement that left the crowd strangely silent, "We have not lost our will for peace."
No one clapped, no one cheered.
The more the daily reality of Palestinian terror and violence contrasts with Shimon Peres' view of Middle East peace, the more his resolve and ideology is strengthened. It's almost Messianic. Sedeort? Ashkelon? Suicide Bombers? Gaza?
Forget yesterday. Ignore today. Let's look for tomorrow.
Dreams can be achieved through pragmatism yet the Peres dream for peace is based on fantasy.
While Peres and Olmert continue to party, the rest of us are mourning the dead and praying for a full recovery for our wounded.
Should Israel's leadership have gone to Ashkelon to comfort its residents or convened an emergency session with the IDF on how to provide minimal security for Israel? Or should they have continued, "business as usual" with the dinner, heaping lavish superlatives on George Bush and the United States insisting "the party must go on?"
Driving home, I listed to Shimon Peres' speech last night at the dinner party over the radio. Despite his initial mention of the terror attack, his speech was rosy and euphoric. Not mentioning Israel's missing soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon, Peres glowed as he addressed world leaders. VIPs and wealthy businessmen. The crowd cheered and clapped with his every mention of Sederot, the IDF, and America's friendship, specifically that of George Bush. There was only one statement that left the crowd strangely silent, "We have not lost our will for peace."
No one clapped, no one cheered.
The more the daily reality of Palestinian terror and violence contrasts with Shimon Peres' view of Middle East peace, the more his resolve and ideology is strengthened. It's almost Messianic. Sedeort? Ashkelon? Suicide Bombers? Gaza?
Forget yesterday. Ignore today. Let's look for tomorrow.
Dreams can be achieved through pragmatism yet the Peres dream for peace is based on fantasy.
While Peres and Olmert continue to party, the rest of us are mourning the dead and praying for a full recovery for our wounded.
Party on? I'll pass.
24 year old Adi Afgin, has requested that people pray for the recovery of his wife and 2 year old daughter who were both seriously wounded in yesterday's rocket attack in Ashkelon.
His 2 year old daughter's name is "Ta'eer bat Avital" and his wife's name is "Avital bat Penina"
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
5 comments:
and to make matters worse, Israel's top Disaster Search and Recovery team is in Burma!.
DoubleTapper
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DoubleTapper, blogging on Guns Politics Defense from Israel
I don't know what was worse last night, the show going on with those empty "our thoughts and prayers are with the families in Ashkelon"/"we will retalliate" statements, the sheer quantities of saccharine heaped upon a very bewildered-looking GWB (altho it was a hilarious moment when Olmert got "unusual" confused with "extraordinary" in his pathetic and obsequious ad-lib) or those dreadful cringe-inducing short propaganda films between speeches (which my Grandparents enjoyed very much and couldn't understand why I was snorting.)
All in all, a whole pile of publically-flaunted reasons to make us less confident in our leadership, and not in any way proud to be Israeli.
I'm being to think that the only people who should be eligible to run for public office in Israel are those who have lost a loved one in a terrorist attack. Maybe then we'll have some realists running the country.
"...and the animals looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again, but they could not tell the difference."
George Orwell
Its unfortunate yet amazing to notice the name of the mall that was hit -חוצות אשקלון the market of Ashkelon now thats a qoute from the book of Samuel- אל תגידו בגת, אל תבשרו בחוצות אשקלון, פן תשמחנה בנות פלישתים, פן תעלוזנה בנות ערלים King Davids lament on the death Shaul and Yonatan: "Do not tell it in Gat, dont spread the word in the market of Ashkelon, lest the Philistine girls rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumised celebrate" Its amazing how the words of the Tanach ring true today.
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