Tag Archives: Israel

On Student Protests

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Typically, older non-participant observers highlight protest rhetoric and behavior that affirms their preconceptions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You can see, in the student protests, what you want to see.

It should go without saying that one can be anti-Israel, without succumbing to anti-Semitism. Many American Jews are anti-Israel right now, but understandably, they are also fearful of rising anti-Semitism.

No university administrators should condone anti-Semitic language or behavior. No Jewish students in the U.S. should be held responsible for Hamas’s actions or feel unsafe on their campuses.

All that said, I fully support the majority of student protestors who are convinced their government is making matters far worse in Gaza.

I’ll take young people with the courage of their convictions, even if it results in chaos on American campuses, over political apathy every single day of the week.

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

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After a bit more lively Michigan-Ohio State second half, and a relatively low-scoring Apple Cup, some PressingPausers had the audacity to call my football acumen into question. Dare we ask, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about?

I’m glad I was wrong about the fate of the hostages. Granted, those released so far are just a fraction of the total, but I was afraid all of them were going to be killed. Dare we ask, are the humble blogger’s geopolitical smarts right up there with his football perspicacity?

Being so young-in-spirit and healthy, I figured why get jabbed this fall. So now that I’m sick, dare we consider the fact that my medical science/public health aptitude leaves a lot to be desired?

‘There Is No Safe Place To Run To’

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From NPR.

“Palestinian Health Ministry Director-General Dr. Medhat Abbas told NPR on Sunday that there is no safe place to run to in Gaza.

His pregnant daughter, who is a doctor herself, was unable to run on foot after she received warning of an incoming Israeli airstrike on a home near hers. He said she called him panicking, unsure what to do. He advised her to lean crouch by a wall. He said these are the conditions residents in Gaza face, and that the hospitals are not prepared with enough hospital beds nor stocked well enough for war.

‘They say we have not started yet, we have not started yet. What’s the meaning of they will start? We don’t know what will happen if they will start,’ he said, referring to Israel’s response thus far. ‘Are they planning for a big massacre in Gaza? I don’t know. But they are only civilians who will pay for that.'”

What I’m Watching

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Not counting the just completed Open Championship and the Tour de France, overlapping highlights of the sporting calendar that seriously taxed my DVR and remote control skills.

I’m deep into Shtisel on Netflix. I may as well be living in Jerusalem. The three season series was a huge hit among American Jews, but this gentile digs it too.

Tonight I watched Season 1, Episode 11 which is my favorite so far. The series beautifully depicts the costs and benefits of strict religious community. And also, the costs and benefits of extremely close families.

The slower pacing, the incredible background music, the covert sexuality all make for an incredibly unique and rewarding experience.

Unless you’re hopelessly modern, book your flight for Jerusalem soon, you won’t be disappointed.

Podcasts to Ponder Plus

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1. NPR’s Hotel Corona.

“When the Dan Hotel in Jerusalem was leased by the government to house recovering COVID-19 patients, the new guests gave it the nickname, “Hotel Corona.” The nearly 200 patients inside already had the coronavirus; and so, unlike the outside world on strict lockdown, they could give each other high fives and hugs and hang out together.

What was even more surprising than what they could do was what they were doing. Patients from all walks of life – Israelis, Palestinians, religious, secular, groups that don’t normally mix – were getting along and having fun. They were eating together, sharing jokes, even doing Zumba. And because they were documenting themselves on social media, the whole country was tuning in to watch, like a real life reality TV show.”

34 minutes of joy and hope.

2. Malcolm Gladwell, Revisionist History, A Good Walk Spoiled.

“In the middle of Los Angeles — a city with some of the most expensive real estate in the world — there are a half a dozen exclusive golf courses, massive expanses dedicated to the pleasure of a privileged few. How do private country clubs afford the property tax on 300 acres of prime Beverly Hills real estate? Revisionist History brings in tax assessors, economists, and philosophers to probe the question of the weird obsession among the wealthy with the game of golf.”

In my junior and senior year of college I was a teacher’s assistant at the Brentwood Science Magnet School for the best third grade teacher ever, Marilyn Turner. I parked across from the school on the leafy border of the Brentwood Country Club next to the chain-linked fence Gladwell describes with great disgust. This excellent story hit home.

3. What Does Opportunity Look Like Where You Live? An interactive story, made even more interesting by putting in the name of the county you live in (if a U.S. citizen). The New York Times is unrivaled when it comes to interactive, data-rich, compelling story telling.

[Some readers have informed me they can’t access the New York Times articles I link to. You have to register at the New York Times to access them. Registration is free.]

 

Cultural Globalization At Its Best

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Thanks National Public Radio for the A-WA introduction. A-WA mixes Yemenite and Arabic traditions with reggae and hip-hop. I dig the parallels with East Indian Bollywood soundtracks. After the “Hana Mash Hu Al Yaman” vid, give their Tiny Desk concert a whirl. The English language subtitles are nice, but as they say, music is the universal language.

 

In Praise of Literary Tussles

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The week that was. Ukraine v Russia. Israel v Palestine. Syria v the Islamic State group. Too many lives cut short, too many families torn asunder.

If only we could substitute bloodless literary tussles for the violent ones that dominate the headlines.

For that to happen, we need provocative essay writers willing to ruffle readers’ feathers. Enter Tom Junod of Esquire. I’m guessing he was caught off-guard by just how many feathers his essay “In Praise of 42 Year-Old Women” ruffled.

I really, really, really liked Julie Checkoway’s clever and perceptive response to Junod. Checkoway convincingly hypothesizes that Junod is struggling with his mortality.

She writes:

Men have a lot more trouble, I think, admitting their fear of aging and death than women do. In my experience, women are more openly verbal, at least, about our terror. Typically, men either joke about it or have affairs or splurge on a sports car (these are stereotypes, so fill in your own experience of men here). But they rarely write about the terror of aging honestly. . .

But men are just as terrified as women of aging and dying. . . . How could they not be? They’re human. It’s just that they talk about it in a different way than women do. They talk about it by talking about women’s . . . fading attractiveness. And most men’s magazines—-unlike most women’s magazines—-aren’t filled with articles that expressly address aging graciously, painfully, or at all.

Men’s magazines, like Esquire, are filled with articles like Junod’s, articles in which men talk about how it’s okay with them for women to age. Just a little. And then a little more. And then a little more. Men are writing about death and aging, but they’re just writing about it by writing about us.

Checkoway’s response to Junod is direct, caring, specific, and philosophically rich. And her analysis rings true.