Israel 17,
March 29, 2024,
Hi Everyone,
Today was an easy day for me. I woke up a little later than usual as the clocks were turned forward by 1 hour here for daylight saving time. The breakfast here is ‘wholesome’ with a variety of vegetables that I can not eat for breakfast. I prefer fruits, yogurt and a bagel, Israeli style, which is fatter than our St Viator style. I figured out that if I fill 2 cups separately with 1 cappuccino, I can fill the rest with 2 espressos which gives me the coffee taste that I desire.
I proceeded to the local laundromat where I washed 1 weeks worth of clothes. There is not too much as we wear army, IDF uniforms on the base. While the clothes were washing and drying, I had another cappuccino at a coffee shop around the corner that I discovered on my last trip. I walked by an exercise club where the local girls were practicing kick-boxing-shadow-boxing to music for 1 hour. It was great to watch but I don’t think that I would last 3 minutes with them.
After dropping off my washing at the hotel, I walked over to Hostage Square. Although I was there 2 weeks ago with my cousin, Rochelle, it was much more sobering to me today. Having been in Israel now for 2 weeks, I can understand the horror to realize that these people, whose only crime was to be dancing at a music festival or living on a socially minded kibbutz, have now been in Hamas’ hands for 5.5 months. How many are still alive? How many have been raped? How many are now pregnant? I took many pictures that you can see below. A music band set up in the central area and played quiet type music. Leonard Cohen’s, Hallelujah, was one of the tunes that was played making me proud to be a Canadian. This, in spite of what the Canadian government and some Canadians have done, and are continuing to do now with their on going demonstrations. The misinformation and the lies that are being spouted in Canada and all over the world goes beyond all comprehension. When people scream ‘Free Palestine’, do they really understand that that means putting Hamas back in control? If not, what are they offering as an alternative?
The weather was warm today, but for the most part cloudy with sunny periods. In any case it was good enough for a swim out to the breakwater, a distance of ‘20 minutes’ there and back. The manager of the hotel was there to congratulate me for my effort. Although there were some people in the water up to their knees, I was the only one to swim out that far.
I was invited to Shabat dinner once again by one of the executives of MDA with some of her family and another Sar-El volunteer. They were united in their dislike of Bibi but wonder if he should be replaced in the middle of a war. They blame him for the failure to prevent the Oct 7 massacre. No body knows what to do now or how it should all end. No one can predict the future or have an idea as to what an ideal situation should be as a final solution for a 75 year old conflict. 7 rockets fell near Tel Aviv and 100 in the north. 200,000 people can not return to their homes. People are going on with their lives here in Tel Aviv but there is a general sadness in the air. Is this at all reported in the western press? Don’t talk to them about the Haredis who don’t serve in the army and spend their time ‘studying’.
I still don’t understand why 1.8 million Gazans don’t revolt against 10,000 Hamas ‘fighters’. Golda Myer once said that ‘the war will end when the Arabs learn to love their children more than they hate the Jews.
Love,
Brian
The photos above, taken in Hostage Square, the ones that no one in the west sees, especially the teddy bears, are devastating. Take 2 minutes to stare at them and you will understand why I feel that I must be here now. While writing my blog, I am sitting out on a terrace, overlooking the Med, sipping a beer in the cool evening air, listening to soft music at 11:30 pm, wondering what lies ahead. the contrast is too much to imagine.
Brian
gobriantravel 