Friends from Home!

My close friend from college, David, has been planning to study abroad in Israel this semester. I've been e-mailing him to ask him when he's arriving, but he kept saying he wasn't positive yet. I was a little concerned that with everything going on in Israel, he'd change his mind. But, today at work, I got a call on my cell. I didn't know who it was at first, but I quickly recognized his voice. He's in Israel!!!!! I actually screamed and jumped up and down, I was so excited. He's one of my best friends and I'm so excited that he's here.

We immediately tried to figure out a plan to meet up and spend some time together. He's doing an Ulpan in Jerusalem before he starts the semester at Technion University in Haifa. He said he didn't know his schedule yet, so he wasn't sure if he could come visit me. Several of the other Ulpanists on my Kibbutz are going to Jerusalem, so we decided I'd come to visit this week (tentatively). I told him he had to come visit me on the Kibbutz at some point, and he paused for a moment. He explained that during the orientation yesterday, his group was told where in Israel was safe and where was unsafe. Apparently Be'er Sheva was in the "red" area, which isn't so surprising. (In case you haven't heard, Hamas and Israel both decided on their own cease fires, each with different terms. There have still been some rockets shot into Israel, although not nearly so many, and Israel has started to pull out its troops. I'll talk more about this in a bit). So despite the cease fires, apparently Be'er Sheva is still considered not totally safe, and he wasn't so sure about coming through there.

I tried to reassure him that Be'er Sheva was safe enough to travel through. I said "well, honestly, Be'er Sheva only gets about 2 rockets a day, maximum. My friends and I go there all the time. A couple of times, there have been warning sirens and people had to go into bomb shelters, but that's never happened while I was there. And I mean, most of the time when there is a siren, you can get into a bomb shelter in enough time. Besides, they hit so infrequently and the chance that you'd get hurt is so slim, it's not really a major safety concern."

David paused for a few seconds before responding and that's when I realized how desensitized I've become. Only two rockets a day?? Since when is that not a big deal for me? If Washington, DC or Pittsburgh were getting two rockets a day, everyone would probably be cowering in their homes or heading for Canada. I realize that the chance of getting in a car crash is far greater than getting hit by a rocket, but still. Since when do I say/think things like "Oh no big deal. Only two rockets a day"!?!?!? I've only been living in Israel for about 2 months, and already it seems normal to hangout with soldiers, hear fighter jets race overhead, and live near falling rockets. I guess it's partially because all the Israelis act like it's no big deal, so it doesn't seem so major. But hearing David's reaction showed me how much my mindset has changed since I was living in the US. It's so strange to think about.

I mentioned the cease fire and I'd like to discuss that further. From what I understand, each group decided on its own cease fire. I first, I thought that was totally moronic, but I'm beginning to understand the logic. Israel has said they are going to end the war as they've achieved the bulk of their task. However, if Hamas continues to incite violence, they will continue to retaliate. They claim Hamas is more damaged than it realizes, and the bulk of it's weapons has been destroyed. I heard (although I don't know if this is accurate), that it will likely take Hamas at least three years to get back to the level of organization and number weapons that they had before this war. Israel has consistently said that they cannot trust a cease fire with Hamas as they claim Hamas is a terrorist organization and has used cease fires in the past to stockpile weapons. So instead, Israel has decided to take matters into their own hands. Instead of an agreement with Hamas, Israel has an agreement with both NATO and Egypt. Both groups will help to prevent weapons from entering Gaza. Israel will pull out much of it's army, but won't leave fully until there is evidence that the peace will last. This was decided at the conferences in Egypt, where many western nations, as well as Israel, Egypt, and Abbas (the President in the West Bank) were present.

Hamas had it's own conference in Qatar. It featured many extremist Palestinian groups as well as representatives from several other Middle Eastern nations. Abbas refused to attend. Hamas' cease fire claims that they will stop firing rockets into Israel if Israel removes all its troops within one week. Despite the cease fire, a several rockets have been fired into Israel, although far fewer than in the past few weeks. Israel said this was to be expected as Hamas was trying to prove to its people and to the world that it had "won" the war. All Israeli schools in range of the rockets were closed yesterday with the expectation of these "celebratory" rockets.

All in all, I think this is a new and interesting approach. Clearly the old methods haven't been working, so perhaps this will be more successful. While I do not have incredibly optimistic expectations, I hope the peace will hold. (Although for the peace to "hold" it first has to actually "happen").

This is unrelated, but I have some exciting news! A former Hebrew School teacher of mine read my blog and decided to make it part of the 9th grade curriculum! All the 9th graders at my synagogue are studying Israel and they will be reading an excerpt of my blog as part of the class. Needless to say, I am thrilled and extremely flattered. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you, my readers. I'm honestly shocked and amazed to learn that people other than my parents are actually reading my blog. I can't thank all of you enough for reading. It means so much to me. In return, I'll try to update more frequently and not make so many typos... :P