The bomb on the bus goes...

I had originally intended to avoid talking about the rockets and counter strikes happening south of here. In fact, I had gotten halfway writing my thoughts down when the guy next to me in the computer lab got a call. It didn’t last long. He turned to me, and I instinctively mirrored him. The next words out of his mouth were lost on me.

“What?” I said, clearly identifying myself as a non-Hebrew speaker. “A bus was blown up in Tel Aviv.” I was not here in the early 2000’s, when there were 40, 47, and 23 suicide bombings in 2001, 2002, and 2003 respectively. I cannot imagine the atmosphere. People at school were visibly shaken. The Iron dome system is a blessing, but it cannot defend against suicide bombers. Today’s attack in Tel Aviv was not a suicide bombing, and thankfully no one was killed (as of last I’ve heard),  but it remains that while parties were in discussions for a peace settlement, this plan was carried out.

In addition, six people are reported to have been killed and their bodies dragged around Gaza behind motorcycles for being accomplices of Israel in the Eyes of certain individuals.

Also in the last few days, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon came to Israel to visit and try to get his word in. For his troubles, Hamas shot a rocket at Jerusalem. I’m not sure why that made sense, but apparently it did.

Perhaps in spite of these attacks, or because of them, Israel and Hamas have signed a ceasefire that took effect at 9 PM local time. We shall see how long it holds. But with that, I do believe my nightly updates have come to a close. I just wanted to say thank you very much to all those who visited and took a look. Thank you specifically to my parents, and a heartfelt thank you to all who called or emailed to see how I was.

Your Traveler

The short

.05. The bane of my existence. It is like Eldorado, or the fountain of youth. It is something I have stories of, and others have claimed to see it, but in sifting through a book of data, I have rarely come across it. For those less statistics oriented, .05 marks what is a significant variable. Most of today was devoted to my own work, with a little to tutoring. Turns out they didn't nee a tutor to review the material, but they actually needed to learn the course.with that being the case, it sure feels like I'm happy I wasn't a teacher.

Tomorrow is another day, and another day closer to I hope a lasting peace in this land, but at the least a day closer to my flight back to the United States. I can't say that I have missed it, but being able to understand the mail will definitely be a benefit.

My apologies for the short update today, it is time to turn in before an early morning and a late day. My best wishes to you all and may you all have good luck and fortune.

Your Traveler

Responsibilities

Today has been uneventful as one may or may not expect. In classic me fashion I may have bitten off more than I can chew with several projects running concurrently, which may actually lead me to a first. Telling someone I cannot fulfill what I had agreed to. Well not a first. Very few things can be firsts in life, most of the time I think we think things are firsts only because we’ve forgotten the actual first. Not the most eloquent of sentences, but it underscores the point. Moreover, while the use of overtly strong language may seem confident, I wonder how often it is perceived to be all a bag of hot air.

I remember a time in high school, and I promise this isn’t one of Springsteen’s glory days moments, when I was questioning my worth on the football team. I am not what you would call an athletic superstar. I am not immensely tall or large; I am not insanely fast; I do not have a 50 yard field goal kick. I played linebacker and an offensive lineman. I loved the game, but quite often I would find myself on the wrong side of a steamroller and I thought I wasn’t good enough for the team. I went to the coach after practice one day during preseason, and I beat around the bush as I often did when I was younger. I essentially ended up asking permission to quit the team because I didn’t think I added enough to it. He looked at me very seriously, he couldn’t exactly say ‘no, you can’t leave’ but by my hesitancy I am sure he knew I was hesitant. “Winning isn’t the only result that comes from football”, he said, “Character, discipline, and work ethic are all marks of a great academic athlete. That’s what you are.” We made a deal, and I promised to stay for the rest of preseason; I stayed for the rest of my high school years.

Suffice it to say, I don’t like to quit. I like to think it is a good quality, but it certainly complicates schedule making. It is time to head back to the books. I hope you have enjoyed this small reminisce. and if I may leave you with two thoughts today, the first is the introductory line of W. B. Yeats’ 1914 book of poems entitled “Responsibilities.”

In Dreams Begin Responsibilities

The second is Langston Hughs:

What happens to a dream deferred?

Recall your dreams, work towards them, and never, ever give up. I can’t tell you what the answer is to Hughs’ question, but based on his guesses, I do not think I want to find out.

Your Traveler, hitting the books.

Politics and Propaganda

Hello my friends!

Please sit and gather round and rest your weary legs while I recant for you another short term update! The sun is high today and warm, the rays burning away the clouds of last night’s rain. I sit here at school with a large turquoise binder full of articles on emotion: what are emotions? Sympathy, anger, joy, hate, sorrow. The words deceptive in their black and white print. The duplicit nature of some of these is the exact subject of my research which I will write more on later. For now, let me take you back to Election night in the States.

I am a student of diplomacy and government. What better place is there than Tel Aviv, at the U.S. Ambassador’s election-night party? There may have been one, but I will tell you it was hysterically stereotypical, and a wonderful evening. There were burgers, and hot dogs, French fries, and popcorn (not sure why popcorn but…). I went with a friend of mine and his wife, and I bumped into a number of people who I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was a fantastic evening. To top it off, there was a quiz on American politics. About the procedure of the election (What’s the magic number?) and the different presidencies. And wouldn’t you know, I actually got called on?

I don’t know enough of Teddy to say he is my president, but he is definitely one of the more extreme presidents we have had. I mean, he rode a moose. I think to a professor I had who was absolutely in love with Putin and his photo shoots. I need to read up more about him, when I actually have time to continue reading I guess. So that is my story from Election night.

To address recent issues, I feel compelled to express my contempt at media networks. I remember High School when I had a teacher who encouraged us to stay up to date with current affairs and understand what was happening in the world. I made it a daily habit to read two papers every morning in college, and to keep myself informed. I still read one paper after I graduated (I miss the schools reading program a little), and while I have been abroad I have been trying to stay up with CNN and BBC. I am almost tempted to say I’d know as much if I didn’t watch than if I did, at least I’d be just as correct.

I understand I am at the heart of an issue, and I can see that there is Israeli propaganda just as much as there is Palestinian and Arab propaganda. I will be the first to tell you that both sides are trying to color the argument in their favor (and the Israeli’s are not particularly good at it). But just watching this CNN article has eradicated my faith for the existence any vestige of integrity or objectivity within the global media networks.

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/11/16/exp-tsr-foreman-virtual-fire-power.cnn

I concede that the Israeli military is much better equipped than their Hamas counterparts. Israel is also considerably larger than Gaza and enjoys many benefits including a thriving economy while Gaza is both smaller and has a much smaller economic basis. Nevertheless, they are not destitute people universally existing in slums. Recall the recent (2010) construction of an upscale mall in Gaza. In the current conflict, Israel can certainly appear as a bully with its tanks and planes, and the announcer makes it abundantly clear that Israel is superior in war making. Israel has flaunted its muscle in the past, this is true, but there are three glaring omissions I just want to bring a little attention to.

1) The announcer says that Hamas has XK under uniform. If I understand correctly, Hamas doesn’t exactly have a uniform. They wear black masks with green head bands and paramilitary getups. Terrorists don’t use uniforms. That being said, I doubt there is a roll call of who exactly who is and is not a Hamas fighter; therefore, how accurate can that estimation be?

2) I find it a bit surprising that the anchor doesn’t seem to consider the fact that Hamas shoot rockets across the border as anything but trivial, but when he expands the radius from the Qassam rockets (which he takes the time to say is very simple to make) to the Fajr rockets supplied by Iran I would like you to take a moment to note how much of the country then falls within range of the missiles. From Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem and everything in between.

3) While there are many more things I would want to point out in disgust I just want to finish with the anchors dismissive comment on the accuracy of the Qassam. He says that the Qassam rockets are not very accurate, and that is certainly true. They have no guidance, but neither did Germany’s V1 or V2 rockets. I wonder if there are any elderly British who would say they didn’t worry about them. What is so very striking is what he says next. “If you fire enough, you don’t have to be [accurate].” My jaw dropped. It doesn’t matter what they hit, they just want to hit something.

To make matters worse, it is not as though they are aiming at military bases, or power stations. They are aiming at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the first a major population center and the second both a population center and a Jewish and Muslim Holy city. Israel has much superior weaponry and has killed innocent bystanders in Gaza, which is a tragic reality; however, the gap in death counts are not representative of an Israeli barbaric blood thirst or Hamas’ pacificity.

With warm tidings, your Traveler

Space Filler

As promised, I present you, my friends, with a tiny (no exaggeration) update. Since yesterday, there has not been anything remotely close to Tel Aviv; nevertheless, the south is still under bombardment. So to say it plainly and unmistakably, I am safe, but a lot of people are still in harms way.

Yesterday, if you can believe it, was actually a nice evening. I spent the whole day at school (much as I am doing today), but later in the evening I went to a friend’s house for dinner, drinks, and Bond. I think that wraps up the day pretty well, no?

As for today, I’ve been more or less drained of any desire to write. This is most decidedly not a good thing. I am to have a draft of my project tomorrow and it is not done. There are a ton of graphs to look at and they aren’t very varied. Anyway, it’s a terrifying and exciting prospect. The presentation is in just over three weeks in Jerusalem. I suppose that means I should redouble my efforts here.  I wish to you all joy, safety, and health wherever you are.

Your Traveler

Alarm Clocks and Sirens

With the resumption of the school year I have returned to the recluse’s life. Though to be fair, I have been anything but a recluse. I have been out and about: to school, at times seven days a week; to Tel Aviv, and other places around. I wanted to liken myself to an Automaton as well, but that analogy is also majorly flawed. When it comes down to it, the start of classes is like treading water. I was never a particularly strong swimmer, so treading water took pretty much all of my focus, and so too does school. Between my classes, becoming a teaching assistant, a research assistant and my own independent research, that’s a task for each hand and foot. It is pretty easy in that instance to become side tracked or lose site of the time.

Over the past two weeks, the situation in the middle east has continued to degenerate. I wonder how many people became so entangled with the US elections that they missed the cross border fire from Syria into israel, and the reports of three Syrian tanks crossing into the demilitarized region of the Golan Heights. This just reminded me of how essentially useless the UN forces there are. It is not the fault of the soldiers stationed there, but rather, their mandate is so limited as to limit them to shouting at the tanks that they ought to turn around. On second thought, I don’t know if their mandate allows them to yell...

More recently, I am fairly certain, that most of you have heard about the escalation between Gaza and Israel. If anything seems to have lost its meaning, it is the word ‘hundreds.’ Or at least it seems it has. A hundred dollars still seems like a good sum of money, even a hundred shekels isn’t something to scoff at, but ‘hundreds of rockets’ doesn’t seem all that out of the ordinary at this point.

Over the next few days I will post every single day. As it seems that something larger is brewing, I want all of you (who I assume are friends and family) to know I am alright. They won’t be large updates, not that much major happens day to day; nevertheless, I have been in touch with a good number of people who have emailed me worried. I don’t want anyone to worry (Mom, Dad), but I also want to be honest. Sirens have sounded as far north as Tel Aviv.

That being said, I don’t plan to write too much about direct local events. This is in part due to the government has asked people to refrain writing about and posting about the rockets as it could help the Hamas militants (terrorists) adjust their aim. I am going to top this update here to give myself plenty to tell you of the last few weeks, but I ask one thing of you all. For those who are religious and pray, regardless of your denomination, pray for the innocents on both sides. For those who don’t pray and are likely adding your two cents over facebook or twitter, I ask you to remember three things:

1) Nothing written in a paragraph can adequately describe what is happening here.

2) The long standing accusations of photo manipulation and photo staging by Palestinian and Arab media sources, also called Pallywood, which has undoubtedly already found its way to your web-browser.

3) Nothing is simple black and white.

This your traveler signing off, sixty yards from a bomb shelter.