Israel Has Been Painted Poorly

I've been painting animals and designs on cardboard all week in preparation for kid's camp, and so I thought a painting analogy would suit me well...

I can't claim to be any expert on current events, but I will say that Israel has been made out to be the bad guys.  The media portrays Israel in such a bad light, comparing the death toll between Gaza and Israel as if that's all we really need to know and implying that the one with the higher number is the real victim.  Honestly, Gaza is a victim... but not of Israel...

Gaza  has lost many; Israel, only 18 soldiers and some casualties.  But let's look at why.

First of all, Hamas, a terrorist group which is located in various places in the Middle East and also governs Gaza has been constantly making it rain rockets over Israel for the past month.  They have terrible aim, but they are purposely shooting in the direction of major cities and populated areas with intent to kill civilians.  Thankfully, Israel has an amazing defense system called the Iron Dome, which has a success rate of 90% (which means they have intercepted most of the hundreds of rockets streaming into the country).  When that happens, as a government, what do you do?  Should you just sit there and let all your resources and money drain into this very expensive defense system and let your economy come to ruin?  Should you sit there and take it and show all your other enemies that you will do nothing if they all gang up and attack you?  No.  You take strategic action.  You take out those rocket launchers.  You secure safety.

I don't know about you, but someone shooting rockets into your country with intent to kill--even if they don't end up killing anyone--is still a threat to your safety.  When I heard a siren, and waited to see if I was going to be blown up, my life was changed.  I suddenly became personally involved.  I don't care who you are, this is NOT okay.  Something must be done.

Israeli's are used to it now.  But that's not something that a person should be used to. 

So Israel has taken action.  They have returned fire.  The problem is that Hamas is shooting their rockets from elementary schools, public libraries, neighborhoods.  They know Israel values life.  So, what has Israel done to avoid taking those lives?  They give warning shots.  They give people fifteen minutes to evacuate.  They drop leaflets in the areas they intend to bomb, informing the civilians to get out of there.  They have even texted families beforehand.  What does Hamas do?  They tell their people to stand on the rooftops to protect their launching pads.  The people of Gaza are torn between saving their own skins and obeying their government.  Hamas doesn't give a rip about the people they govern,  They only care about saving their resources in order to destroy Israel.  And so, Israel follows through with what they have said, and many lose their lives.  Gazans (is that how you say it?) are victims to their own government. 

It's terribly sad.  We should really pray for the Gazans.

To avoid further death tolls, Israel has taken to ground action.  And now Israelis are dying.

I don't understand anti-Semitism.  It's like a disease that has infected people who shouldn't even care so much about Jews.  I, mean, let's be honest, it's the size of New Jersey.  Since when did the world care so much about it?  Riots in France against Israel?  It's like it came out of nowhere.  Why do people hate Jews so much?  Haven't they been through enough?!  I foresee a huge debate on facebook coming up to answer this question.  But, why are people so focused on Israel, when there are terrorist groups like ISIS taking over huge areas of the Middle East, who are committing unthinkable atrocities to their people and plan to infiltrate and terrorize the United States?  They're already in Arizona (read about that here: http://mobile.wnd.com/2014/07/new-border-risk-isis-ties-to-mexican-drug-lords/)!  Why get so angry over Israel, when there are even worse problems on the horizon? 

Anti-Semitism = Racism.  Racism and prejudice are ugly.

Americans who buy into how the media is painting the picture are just ignorant and don't really have a right to an opinion on this matter.  Maybe that sounds harsh, but most people don't really do their homework, and so they form an opinion based on one little snippet they saw on TV.  Those people shouldn't be saying anything. 

Now is a time when Israel really needs support.  If you love Israel and want to do something, show your support.  They think Americans have abandoned them because all they are seeing on the news is riots against Israel, and Barack Obama disrespecting Netanyahu.  But if there was any time to show support to Israel, now would be it.  I don't know what that really means right now.  One Canadian sent thousands of toys to Jewish kids.  Not everyone can do that, nor should they necessarily.  But I mean, if you feel so led, and if you have the means, do something.

I'm still pondering what that means for me. 

More Information

http://veevleyblogs.blogspot.co.il/2014/07/just-to-clarify-couple-things.html

This is a link to my friend Viivi's blog.  I already love her and I've only just met her two months ago. She the photographer who took our amazing Jerusalem photos.  She has a pretty good understanding of what's going on in this country (not something I'm used to seeing in a twenty-something-year-old).  I love her viewpoint.  And she's right... Israel does have a right to defend herself.  

More Musings About Sirens and Life

The sound of it takes you out of your moment; like being sucked out of your life by a vacuum and into a separate reality that is much more unstable.  Suddenly you are aware of everything around you, and ready to do whatever is necessary.  You watch and wait, and you think about the people you care about.  And when it's over, everyone around you continues on life as normal.  

To them, allowing oneself to get caught up in terror is exactly how the enemy wins.  So they just don't dwell on it.  Except that when sirens sound, there is a heightened tension in everyone for the rest of the day/night. I don't believe one can be completely numb to it.  When threatened by the possibility of danger, your body reacts in some way. I think it comes out like stress: if you ignore it, you just feel kinda emotional, which usually translates into anger (especially for people who don't like to deal with their emotions).  So you're short with others, cautious, always suspecting people, closed off, and a little disgruntled in general.  (I didn't want to be around people for the rest of the night.  I just wanted to cuddle up with Dustin and watch a movie... Instead I went to young adults, which was much needed).  But the typical Israeli stranger that I've run into has been short and gruff with me.  When I show kindness they smile and light up like Christmas trees.  They can be so warm-hearted... But until that happens, I'm just a stranger, and basically an intruder and they don't respond well to me.  At least that's how I feel as a visitor to this country.  It hurt me at first, because I thought, "why can't you people be nice?!"  Most everyone in the states is courteous, even in the North.  But I understand it a bit more now.  When you're facing the reality of death, you're a little bit more serious.  I think their experiences over the years have just turned into a way of life.  They have tough skin but tender hearts.

My friend, Moran, said that she feels like maybe she's a little too sensitive to all these things because they can really get to her.  But I don't blame her.  As an outsider, everything is a huge deal to me and not normal.  So to say that it shouldn't affect you is not realistic.  It should affect you.  I don't want my heart to harden.  And I'm glad hers is not either.

I simply cannot understand how a person deals with these things apart from Christ.  It must be terrible.  The comfort and peace He brings is unparalleled and makes no sense.  It's supernatural.  I know that even if I die, I will be with Him. There's no fear in death for me, only that it will hurt my family and friends.  I have no regrets, nor do I feel I have unfinished business.  I fully trust and believe in my God and the grace He's given me.  He's the one who makes me righteous, so I am assured that I will be in heaven.  I don't have to look at my life and wonder if I've been good enough to make it.  That's the beauty of the gospel: it's not about what we've done, it's about what He did.

But at the same time, I don't expect to die.  And I will go on living as I am.  I expect to return home safely and continue my life as before.  I expect to live long and someday start a family.  I expect to keep on enjoying my friendship with my sweet husband and spending time with my awesome family and friends.  Life goes on, just more preciously now.  Again, I love you all. :)

Muesli Breakfast and Bomb Sirens

This morning I met up with an old friend named Moran Pe'er for breakfast.  It was a little surprising that I recognized her as soon as I saw her.  The last time I saw her, I was eight years old, nineteen years ago.  She lived in Oklahoma for a year and we became good friends during that time.  We used to draw cartoons together, specifically Tweety Bird.  When she left the country, to return to Israel with her family, we wrote letters for a few years later.  We'd draw cartoons on our letters.  She was always really great at it.  I never thought in a million years I'd ever go to Israel, so, admittedly I eventually stopped writing, and she likewise. 

The funny thing is that I didn't think of her until last week, after I'd already been here for a month and a half.  So I found her on facebook, asking if she wanted to meet up.  She was amazed and so we set up a meeting right away.  And she's moving out of Jerusalem in a week, so I just caught her before she was out of the city.  She is a teacher and mentor.  It turns out we have a lot in common and a lot of the same views.  Our conversation was wonderful and enlightening.  I think she's amazing. 

We talked for two and a half hours and then exchanged phone numbers and left, with the intention of meeting up again.  I've been thinking about her all day and how surreal this morning was.

Then I helped out for the youth bistro with Daniel and Daniela.  Only one youth came, so we ended up painting fish for the upcoming kid's camp.

After that, Daniela and I went to get pizza for the young adults meeting tonight.  While we were at the pizza place, we heard the sirens.  Seeing as we weren't near a bomb shelter, we went to the entrance and stared up at the sky.  Everyone else on the street just stopped and looked up.  I was looking one way when a woman next to us said, "Oh my God!"  I looked in her direction and saw a trail of smoke in the air.  Then I heard five blasts, four or five seconds apart from each other.  When they stopped, everyone just kept walking like nothing happened. 

That's when it really hit me, "this is real".  I had just heard real bombs exploding, intended for harm.  They were close enough to be heard, but far away enough to not affect the city.  I felt helpless.  These are coming at unexpected places at unexpected times.  That messes with your sense of security.  In the US, I had no concept of danger.  It was exciting and horrible all at the same time.  I hesitated to tell my family because I didn't want them to worry, but I also wanted to make sure they knew I was okay.

Here's the short version of the story (although I'm sure there's plenty more that I don't know): The thing that instigated this heightened activity was a kidnapping of three Jewish boys by Muslim terrorists.   They were found murdered.  A certain group of Jews were enraged and began rioting.  It was on the street just outside my apartment building.  During the day, it was merely a peaceful protest, with signs and yelling.  I saw the crowd, and heard the cries that came from it.  Then by nightfall, Jews were beating up Arabs who were getting off the train.  A few Arabs were stabbed.   The next day we found out that an Arab boy was found murdered and we all thought it was by Jews… but then we heard it was by Arabs because he leaked information.  The news story had incongruencies in it, so we didn't know what to think.

Since then (last week) there have been constant missiles launched at Israel, mostly in the South and other specific areas.  Now they're aiming at the center of the country, and some troops are coming up from out of the Mediterranean Sea (literally it's like a war movie.  They are walking onto shore from underwater and being thwarted by Israel's defenses).  Israel has been expertly intercepting dozens of missiles and kept so many attacks at bay.  Gaza is in particularly bad shape.  And the bad news is that ISIS (you'll have to look up this insane terrorist group) is in Gaza now.  People I've just met are already being called in (they are on reserve) to the military.  Moran is worried about her brother because he just joined the army (all Israeli's serve for two years in the army after high school.  It's mandatory).

So back to my day…  Others are apathetic because this is the reality of their life.  I am not desensitized yet, so all of this is shocking to me.  I didn't panic when sirens went off; I was just alert, and my senses were heightened.  But afterwards, I felt emotional and weepy. 

Daniela and I got our pizza and went to our young adults meeting.  Worship had a whole new meaning.  I was singing, "my hope is in you, Lord, all the day long.  I won't be shaken by drought or storm.  A peace that passes understanding is my song." and I was bawling.  I never meant those words so much.  And the comfort that it brought me to sing them was deeper than any other kind of comfort: deeper than the comfort of friends or family.  The truth of Matt's teaching--of how we have been made new in Christ--had a vibrancy that it didn't have before. 

But I feel I'm being a little dramatic.  Maybe I should be like an Israeli and toughen up…  however, I can't avoid feeling a tinge of shock and sadness at the reality of it.  I am not in despair, but I am not apathetic.  My whole concept of life has changed today.  And every ambulance and police siren has me a little on edge.  I have even been honing in on loud noises from outside, like when trucks drive by and the like.

I hear several voices in my head saying, "Susan, don't go to Israel.  It's dangerous," and, "Don't you think you picked the worst place to live in?" and phrases like that from family and friends who spoke to me before I came here.  It makes me feel a little guilty, and maybe worried that those people want to tell me, "I told you so."  I worry that those people might see me as reckless or naïve.  But I wasn't ignorant of the danger.  This was a choice Dustin and I made.  We can't explain our reasons for doing it, because to some it would make no sense.  We don't fully understand it ourselves except that it was something we felt we just had to do.  But I know that those people only said those things out of love and concern, and I know they are praying for me and loving me from home right now.

 I can't change the choices I made.  But I really do appreciate all the love and prayers that are being sent my way.  It is comforting to know that I have so many people who love me.  I've been contacted by people I haven't spoken to in years, telling me that they are praying for me and my safety.  It's a wonderful thing.  Those little notes mean the world to me.  It really does make a difference, and takes the edge off.  So, thanks for the love,  I really am blessed with amazing friends.

Here's the street on which the riots happened.  This is, of course, on Shabbat, when almost no one was out, except for a bunch of orthodox Jews who were walking and singing together.

Israel Update: Venting About the Small Stuff

So I know I haven’t posted in a while.  My schedule went from leisure to crazy within a week’s time.  I volunteered my help to a friend who put me in her short film, which took up a whole week.  And from that time, things haven’t stopped.  But it’s alright.  This kind of busy isn’t so bad.

The film wasn’t ready for its premier at the film school’s graduation, so the cut that was shown was quite a mess.  I suppose I’m waiting for the re-edit.  Since their school is out now, who knows what will come of it.  But, no worries...  I did it to help a stressed-out friend, not to make my debut as an actress.  I don’t think acting is my forté.

So after that, Dustin and I finally made it onto the prayer watch schedule.  We lead a couple of our own “prayer watches” now.  Ours are basically just worship times with intermittent praying as we feel led, which is awesome and so rejuvenating.  I’m still tackling the whole concept of intercession.  It doesn’t exactly make sense to me.  I used to think I knew what it was all about, but now my views have changed, and it seems strange to set aside time to ask God for certain things in certain ways in a group of people.  I don’t believe it’s my own power that actually accomplishes anything anymore.  I simply rely on God, so I have a hard time finding the point in asking God for things more than once, let alone setting aside an hour to two hours to ask Him for certain things.  I don’t believe that any amount of fervency makes a difference except how it would in any relationship: if I truly care about something and ask my love about it, He will attend to it because He loves me… The more it affects me, the more if affects my love.  If I tell Dustin I need something while crying, he feels more urgency about it.  I see God the same way.  Then I often think, “God cares about this so much more than I do… Me asking Him to take care of it seems ridiculous.  Of course He’s going to take care of it.”  I just trust He’s got my back.  And yet I still ask Him for things at times.  So I don’t think I’ve settled my mind about it.

But I will say that getting in a group of people with a spiritual focus does activate the gifts, like prophecy and words of knowledge.  That’s when it’s really fun.  The supernatural is amazing.  

So that’s a look into what I’m going through in that area.  Moving on…

I’ve also been helping with the kids’ camp because the beautiful Jalene (she is such a bright person!) got wind of my painting/set-building talents.  It’s nice to work with my hands, but also a little lonely in that room with all the cardboard.  So that is what has been filling my time: building props and decorations to make kids’ camp all the more amazing.  I’m a little out of shape, so several hours in a day working with cardboard wears me out physically.  By evening I’m just tired.

The heat here isn’t bad; nothing worse than Oklahoma, in fact, not nearly as hot as Oklahoma.  It reminds me of Phoenix, Arizona, but it doesn’t even reach the same highs.  The hottest I’ve experienced is 94 (F), and it’s a dry heat.  It cools down in the evening.  And often I’m in air-conditioned places.  

There are some things that do bother me.  

There is dirt almost everywhere except my apartment and the main rooms of the church.  It is a rather dusty region, and it hardly rains.  So even the streets have weird liquid stains on them all over the place (and some of it is urine… it’s not a felony to pee in public here).  Businesses don’t always find it necessary to keep their windows clean.  Some are pristine, and some look abandoned, yet they both operate and sometimes are right next to each other.  There’s one apartment sliding door window that I observed across from my building through which is a wall of trash.  Literally, I looked at it through a camera with zoom, and the entire window is plastered to the top with trash… bottles, bags, etc.

Then there are the unfinished surfaces that are all over the place.  Outside my apartment, there’s a famous gate that’s just sitting there, connected to what used to be rock walls, but they are broken now.  And there’s the bottom of an old building that is just rubble.  It's somewhat endearing, because it's all Israel stone.  The parking garage has piping all through it, and areas where the piping goes through the floor and I can see through the hole to the lower level.  There’s creepy closets, and super narrow alleys, and really short doors.  There’s uneven steps, uneven stairs, small rooms…  But they’re not everywhere, I just see them a lot more often than I did in the States.

There are several different stenches that I smell every day.  1)  Human urine in the alley where my apartment building entrance is.  2) Garbage on the bottom floor of the elevator shaft.  That’s where the apartment tenants throw their trash into these bins in a very small room. On Shabbat, trash piles up in there and it can be almost waist high, pouring into the elevator door when it opens.  I often have to walk through there, climbing over trash, to get into the parking garage (but it’s not always full like that).  3) Cat litter (so many cats…).  4) An unknown stench that reminds me of rotting cabbage that I always smell in the Clal elevator (the Clal is the mall building where King of Kings is located).  5) The smell of sewage that randomly comes through my air conditioning vent on random days in our apartment.  It concerns me.  I hold my breath in certain areas that I have to walk.

I don’t always know where to find things: there’s no supermarket.  There’s a conglomerate of tiny micro-stores all with certain specialty items.  So one hardware store might have one tool you need, but not the other, and then another might have the other thing you need.  You just have to learn where stuff is by going out there and searching.  I could spend a whole day searching for an item I need…  Thankfully I have friends who know their way around and have helped make that experience much easier (*cough* Daniela *cough*).

Speaking of coughs, it took me twenty minutes to explain to the guy at the drug store what I needed for Daniela's sore throat last week.  Actually, she needed cold medicine.  I couldn't remember the brand Dayquil, so I had to describe it, pointing to my throat profusely.  They guy spoke good English, but he obviously needed to expand his vocabulary in the field of medicine, especially since he worked at a drug store...  He was nice though.

Speaking of...  There are a few things that I refer to by common name, but I never knew what they actually were... for example, baking soda.  I couldn't find baking soda until I learned that it was actually called sodium bicarbonate.  And it's so funny when I read Hebrew to English transliterations.  They are hilarious when misspelled.  And the names on road signs are inconsistent.  We were driving down the highway to Hertsaliya Beach...  Then we were headed to Hertsliyya, then Hertzaliya...The Hebrew letters were the same, of course. 

And the light switches!   They are always behind the door or outside of the room!  Who decided to make that the standard?!  Where is the logic?  I feel insecure in the restroom.  My brothers would have had a hay day turning off bathroom lights from the outside if we lived in Israel when we were little.  They always did it when I left the door unlocked.  I'd see the door crack open just enough for a hand to reach for the switch and then... darkness.  Sucks when you're in the shower...

So, sorry for the negativity... I'll post more interesting things soon :)  Here's a photo just for fun.

Yeah... there are centipedes here... luckily not in my apartment!