I’m a pretty macho guy. I’m a black belt, flight instructor, SCUBA Divemaster. My father and grandfather were both cops, and we had “macho values” at home like “boys don’t cry.” “I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace” made me cry. I have trouble imagining someone who could...
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Early Tuesday morning extremist settlers set a mosque on fire in the West Bank town of Mughayar. Graffiti they left at the site explictly said it was a "price tag" for the Israeli government's evacuation of the illegal outpost of Alei Ayin. You can read more about the incident here. I visited the...
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I realize my last post about Yom Yerushalayim comes across like one big "kvetch." It might lead a reader to wonder, "so why live in such a crazy place?" The truth is, the things I love about living in Jerusalem far outweigh the things that bug me. I suppose I had to kvetch...
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Tuesday night, May 31, the 28th of Iyar on the Jewish calendar, we mark Yom Yerushalayim, "Jerusalem Day," the day (on the Jewish calendar) when Jerusalem was reunited in 1967. Last year I wrote about some of the ambivalence I feel for this holiday. I wrote: On the one hand, 'when I watch...
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Last Thursday (May 19), US President Barack Obama gave a very pro-Israel speech (the full text of his speech is available online here). In his speech Obama: Acknowledged Israel's proper concerns about terrorist attacks Said Palestinians had walked away from talks Said Palestinian efforts to delegitimize Israel or unilaterally declare a state would not...
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Memorial Day (Yom Hazikaron) is a very different experience in Israel than in America. In America, Memorial Day is a time to remember soldiers who died thousands of miles away, defending “liberty” or “America’s strategic interests.” The photo at left is of a memorial I passed on my morning run today; it is dedicated to...
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