annainisrael

Hey hey people, I have not much time on the net, 5mins to be precise but just thought I'd let you know I am still alive!

I had an eventful weekend as I decided to go visit my cousins in Zichron Yaacov, needless to say, if you have heard the news, two towns just south of Zichron were Katusha'ed so I had 2 lots of air raid sirens and 2 visits to the Miklat, shelter!!! I dont regret going but well, I can now really say I have heard an air raid siren. \Sunday was a bad day for the war many many civilians were hurt in Haifa and many Katushas were launched.

I am back Wed eve, xxxx

just a quick update to say I am OK, still alive e.t.c!

The war is still raging up North, my flatemate's friend lost a friend two days ago, an 18yr old killed yesterday, it is so sad. My cousin Gidon has been called up which reminded me of how close to home this war is. It is terrible. It is a major fast day today and I am flagging under the heat so I shall go and lie down now. I will just leave you with this possitive editorial from a Kuwait newspaper:

"People of Arab countries, especially the Lebanese and Palestinians,
have been held hostage for a long time in the name of 'resisting
Israel.' . . . While the people of Palestine and Lebanon are paying the
price of this bloody conflict, the main players, who caused this
conflict, are living in peace and asking for more oil from Arab
countries to support the facade of resisting Israel. . . . This war was
inevitable as the Lebanese government couldn't bring Hezbollah within
its authority and make it work for the interests of Lebanon. Similarly
leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has been unable to
rein in the Hamas Movement. Unfortunately we must admit that in such a
war the only way to get rid of 'these irregular phenomena' is what
Israel is doing. The operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the
interest of people of Arab countries and the international community."
-- Ahmed Al-Jarallah, editor of Kuwait Arab Times (Kuwait Arab Times,
July 16)

Howdy one and all. I am good, safe and well here in Jerusalem. I have been learning all day for about 12hrs so am pretty shattered and so forgive my incoherent ramblings.

I just wanted to write a little on the situation.

I am angered greatly by this statement I just read on the BBC website

"The Israeli offensive began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on 12 July. "

Now if you read that you think that this war was due to a military act and Israel totally over reacted. I was in Israel on the day that the soldiers were captured and that was not the only newsflash being broadcast. Hizbollah fired missiles into Israeli Northern land and then captured the soldiers. It is one thing capturing soldiers but it is completley diferent firing missiles into Israel. Israel knew that Hizbollah was stockpilling weapons but being a peaceful country did not do anything about it as there was enough trouble on other fronts and we wanted to keep the peace. I am not all for every decision this country makes and when you read what I have just written it makes you laugh at how stupid that decision seems to be but we are desperate for peace. People that live here are tired of terror and fighting, people that used to be far right are now left wingers because they cannot bear for their children to be living in a country where every bus you get one, you look out for bombers.
I get so angry at how Israel is portrayed on the news. Can I just say one comparison between Israel and Hizbollah. Israel aim only for terrorists and if they are going to bomb a civillian area they drop leflets in Arabic for warning of this. Hizbollah not only aim for cities like Sfat, (a purely religious town with no militants in- i was there 3 days before the war, the only posters I saw were advertising a religious music festival) but they want to kill the maximum number of Jews and Israelies.
Israel has made mistakes, what other country hasn't but all it is doing is trying to fight for its existance. Only today, Israeli ground troups went into Lebanon to try and uncover the hidden Hizbolla underground tunnels. They found weapons hidden in Mosques and villages. Why does Israel bomb towns/villages, because they know that they have missiles there to bomb Israel. Should Israel not have a right to defend itself.
I have friends who are Muslims, Arabs every religion under the sun and No I am not a fanatical Zionist. I am a normal 18, (nearly 19!) year old girl living in a country which is having misiles thrown from not only north but Gaza in the south too.

I love this country. Where else can you be walking down the street and not be scared if a man runs after you..... you dont think its because he wants to hurt me, you immediately think you have dropped something and he is trying to help. Where else do you see advertisments, not for expensive hotels, but for Sabbath hospitality, families offering to have you for Shabbat if you have no where to go. I love going to the market to get fruit and veg and seeing young boys or girls running to help an old man with his shopping, i dont mind being lost because I know that not only will someone help me, but they will go out of their way to walk me to my destination. I like being in Jerusalem and walking in the middle of the road on a Saturday because there are no cars. I am not saying Israel is perfect but in our prayers we dont pray for war or even for major victory, just for peace and to keep our homes.

The BBC prints statements like:

"How quickly the traffic in southern Lebanon under Israeli bombardment has come to resemble that in the West Bank (and Gaza, until last year) under Israeli occupation."

Firstly the Israeli "bombardment" is a defensive move and using such a biased word is no way fair reporting. Secondly the Israeli "occupation" has been proven to be necessary as, as soon as Israel left, Sderot and Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza got missiled and bombed as the terrorists, (inc AlQaeda) had free reign to transport in and move around weapons. No Israel should not take over Palestinian land but surely it is fair to put soldiers in a place to defend your country. If France was sending missiles accross to England would it be called the "English Occupation" if we (england) sent soldiers to patrol the coast of France inc costal cities. And would we be allowed to defend ourselves.

Sorry for the long rant but I felt it needed to be said. (Oh and by the way 2 more people were killed up north today.)

Howdy one and all, arent you impressed with the regular updates!
Last night I had a really nice night with the girls in our appartment, we watched the Last Sammurai and ate ice cream! Tom Cruise is soooo fit in it and the Jappenease actress is so pretty. I definately want to go and see Japan, not the cities but the countryside.
Today I had classes, not the mooost inspiring but they were OK. I had really nice soup for lunch, it was sooooo delicious I had to tell you!!!

See life goes on and whilst half the country is living in shelters people have to get on with life and try and be normal.
One man today had to go out of his shelter to get a dress for his daughter and was killed as he stepped out of their shelter. Another man got all his family into their shelter and before he could get in he was hit. At the same time you have miricles like the woman that was sitting on her sofa all day watching the news and was getting hotter and hotter so she went to take a shower. she steped out of the shower and walked back into the room and there was a missile in the center of her couch where she'd been sitting.


i hope you are all well, email me when you have time!!!

x

Hello y'all!

So the situation here is still pretty unstable but I am keeping myself safe and staying out of any busy areas like the centre of town e.t.c Its abit annoying that I wanted to go to the shouk (market) to buy fruit and veg and never got round to it and now it is not safe to go. Oh well. I feel so sorry for all the hundreds of thousands up north who at the moment are living in their shelters. Today I met a girl who has come down to Jerusalem from Sfat after a katusha rocket went through her appartment.
today I went to the grave of Rachel, (as in one of the foremothers if that means anything to you) we had to have an armed Israeli soldier on our bus, be escorted one bus at a time and be in a bullett proof coach. I was unsure whether to go but I felt it was the only thing I could do to help the situation, go and pray as this place is very very spiritual. Don't worry if I wouldnt have felt safe I wouldnt have gone, as I say I am not going into town or anything like that.
Last night I got on the wrong bus with a friend and we ended up in Mea Sharrim the really religious area of Jerusalem, well one of the really relig areas!!!!! We ended up visiting my cousins who live there. The wife speaks only hebrew and dutch so I spoke the whole time in Hebrew!!!! How impressive!

Apparently so far over 1500 katushas, rockets have been thrown into Northern Israel. It is so sad and horrible and I cannot describe what it feels like to be in a country that is at war.
In Jerusalem though I must reiterate I still feel safe in my little neighbourhood but am not planning on going into town at the moment. I have to say that I do feel claustrophobic not being able to go places but can you imagine living day and night with kids, (some families have 10 kids) in a shelter with gas masks.

Ill update soon,

Anna

Hey hey, Ok the situation has got worse since last night : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5184428.stm and I just wanted to assure you that I am OK. I am not sure whether to come home yet. I am torn between not making my parents worried but at the same time not abandoning the country, my country. I would never put myself at risk at all and will come home if the missiles get too close to Jerusalem but as the Rabbis said this morning in cschool, the Arabs wont bomb jerusalem with missiles which arent 100% accurate as they have the al asque mosque. I am torn, I am not sure what to do.

I will try and keep you updated.

Hey hey one and all! I am so sorry for my little number of updates, I have next to no access to the net which is oooo annoying but to be honest I on't really have a lot of time free anyway.

I suppose you know about the situation in Israel at the moment. On Sunday I was in Sfat with my Sem and then we stayed on the Kinneret, a big lake in the North of Israel. Two/three days later they are beeing bombed. I don't know why Lebanon, after 6 years of relative calm, started bombing Israel again but now we are at war on 2 fronts, Gaza and Lebanon. Everyone is shocked but in Jerusalem, it seems like we could be in another country even though we are literally 3hrs away from the bombing. It was Shabbat, (the sabbath) today and so there were no cars, birds singing and dogs barking. It is hard to believe that so close to us people are living in their shelters. My room at the sem is the Bomb shelter so I need not worry!!!

Thursday was a fast day commemorating the begining of the 3 weeks between when the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the day on which both temples were destroyed. This period of time is very solemn in Jewish history and is know for being a dangerous period. On the final 9 days of this period some people dont fly, people don't schedule operations and dont do dangerous sports. Is it coincidence that this is all happening? I am not becoming more religious but Thursday combined with the fast day, finding out that Sfat a beautiful old town in the North had been bombed made me go to the Western wall and pray. I prayed so hard that this would stop, what else can I do?

On Wednesday night I helped pack boxes for a charity that feeds the poor, together with 7 friends we packed 75 boxes of food which was a huge achievement. Other nice things I have done...... Friday I went to the Jerusalem Biblical zoo with Beckett, my closest friend in Israel. Last Friday we went to Tel Aviv together which was also really fun. We sunbathed, swam in the sea (with massive jellyfish!!!!) and went to the artists market. This week was the Jerusalem Film festival and I saw three films. On Tuesday night Beckett and I caught the bus to one cinema which has the most panoramic view of the old city but the film was sold out so we were told there was a free film in the old train station. It was all in Hebrew but it was a great film and all outdoors. There was also a performance by DIN DIN AVIV a great sarah mclachlan type singer. In the three weeks we dont listen to music so it was good to hear this just before they started.

I am still learning at the sem loads, this week though as we were up north on sun and mon and a fast on thurs we didnt do thaaat much learning. Up north was great as well as sfat and the kinneret we went kyacking and on water walks, literally through rivers!

I will try and keep you updated more reglarly and thanks to those of you that emailed, i hope i will be able to reply soon,

all my love to everyone,


xxx

Wow I have nooooo time to update!!! I am sitting at my cousins at the moment on their computer having just gone outside to view turtle eggs planted in the garden and having just heard there is a snake out there!!! I have had a busy week learning Jewish stuff and studying hard. I have my little cousin at the momenbt asking me to translate words into English, the work never stops!! On Tuesday we went on a 'tiyul' trip to two museums and a spring on the side of a mountain. We crawled through a tunnel which had been gauged into the side of the mountain and watched men jump into the pool of water bellow. The two museums were interesting. One was a former Kibbutz and one was a memorial to all the soldiers who have died. I am a pacifist and I hate hate hate fighting but it was interesting and sad. The captured soldier still hasn't been released and so it was even more poinent. (i can't spell.) I have been to Ben Yehuda, the main shopping walking street a few times. I love that street sometimes there are buskers, harpists and most recently a woman who thought she was the Messiah! Yesterday evening I went to the Shouk, (market) to get fruit and veg, it was bustling with people! Today from my balcony I watched a religious family prepare for a wedding, they looked so happy. It was so surreal, they were so religious yet had Marroon5 blaring from the car!!!
Tomorrow I plan to go to Tel Aviv with a room mate from America and On sunday morning the Sem goes up north to Sfat and the Kinneret and surrounding areas.

I have to go now for dinner.

I miss you all and hope to speak to you soon.

Ok I am in Israel, and have been for the last 1 1/2 weeks. I arrived on the Thursady and went to stay with my cousins in HarNof, North Jerusalem. My cousin who picked me up was driving along a main road, slightly diferent to the normal road as that was blocked and he feels it necessary to tell me that this road, most Israelis dont like using as it is where there is no security wall and many Israeli cars have been shot at.....COMFORTING!!!! Friday I was abit zonked so didnt do much. I walked to the supermarket where I looked at the aisles and aisles of kosher food and sat on a bench with an iced fruit drink looking down the valley. For Shabbat one of my cousins daughters came to stay with her family, all 6 children! and I tried to communicate in Hebrew with the kids, I think only the 2 1/2 yr old understood me!!! It is funny. The sun starts to set on Friday night and suddenly there is NO traffic noise not even a faint hum and it is replaced by families singing and children playing. Saturdays the main roads become walking streets and everyone says "good Shabbos" even if you aren't religious.


I can't write about everyday as there is one pc here but on the sunday i started sem, (seminary). I am in a flat with 5 other girls and sem in from 9-6ish sunday to thursday. My hebrew reading and translation skills have improved and there are some interesting talks. On Tuesday we all went to Ir David which is the city of David. Right in the heart of Jerusalem, this is the oldest original part of Jerusalem and when David found and built the city. We saw where archeologists have found things mentioned in the Old testement, (for you xtians out there!) seals that bear names of people mentioned in the old testement e.t.c It was so sureal. Then we went though the water tunnels that the Jews built to get water into the city when under siege from the syrians. It was pitch black, water up to my knees and uneaven rocks. girls sung so they could know where the other was.



I have to go now to say prayers for the kidnapped soldier. 2 people, our age were kidnapped. 1 was on duty as a soldier, the other was just hitch hiking, v v common in Israel. The hitchhiker was found shot in the head after the Arab kidnappers tried to negotiate his release even though he was obv already dead and Gilad, is still in captivity, dead or alive? It is so sad and Israel is shocked.

SO...... 1 week and two days till I am off to Israel to Sem. I thought I would create this livejournal to post what happens on my travels!

I have kinda sorted out my travel insurance and flights have been sorted for ages, now I just need to sort out everything else!!!!!!