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So, I have been sick. It has been most unfortunate, especially at the end of my program. Thankfully, I am FINALLY starting to get better (thank you antibiotics!). So, with all this free time of lying in bed, although most of it, I was too lethargic to be able to do anything, I've had lots of time to think about lots of random junk, and I thought, hey, its time for some anecdotes and political commentary maybe.

Ramblings from Tel Aviv

Leah Schneier
2007-03-08 17:02:20

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So, I have been sick. It has been most unfortunate, especially at the end of my program. Thankfully, I am FINALLY starting to get better (thank you antibiotics!). So, with all this free time of lying in bed, although most of it, I was too lethargic to be able to do anything, I've had lots of time to think about lots of random junk, and I thought, hey, its time for some anecdotes and political commentary maybe.

I'm not sure how many of you were aware, but a couple weeks ago, there was a suicide bombing in Eilat, in Israel. Eilat, is the southern most tip of Israel, and is known purely as a resort town, and major tourist destination for Europeans. I only happened to hear about it when I was at one of the "daycares" I visit every week, and the babysitter just leaves the tv on any random channel, rather than picking a children's show. So, the news happened to be on, and there it was, saying that there had been a suicide bombing. I asked her immediately, did you know about this?? But she was as surprised as I was. It has been something like 10 months since there was a suicide bombing in Israel, and the very first time there was one in Eilat. Whats the significance? Well really, I'm not sure, but there doesn't seem to be a big one. Where as, during the height of the intifada and all the suicide bombings a few years ago, everyone would call pretty much everybody they knew, to make sure all were ok. Everyone would talk about it, etc. Well, this bombing in Eilat was almost completely ignored. I didn't really know why at first. It seems that the mental disconnection between Eilat, and the rest of Israel is pretty strong. Only a tiny tiny percentage of people live in Eilat year round, and otherwise, its just tourists, whether Israeli or from abroad. So, there just wasn't the same panic or concern. Not that people weren't concerned or scared, etc, but it just didn't carry the same magnitude. And it also seemed, that the Palestinian ...