It is Wednesday. As language class is tonight, I am in Tel Aviv. (Better do my homework, I shouldn't wing every class.) Walked to Yaffo/Jaffa last night for dinner. It was a little different.
Done
The 2km/1.2 mile walk last night looked like this:
Walking along the water, there was a siren. Not in the immediate neighborhood, but the next over. We looked up and saw the Iron Dome interceptors in the sky, and then one flash. We took cover under a large stone that serves as a sign for the park. A young mom was already there, sheltering her toddler (who thought it was fun... Mom is crouching over me in the middle of the park). The boom from the flash came many many seconds later. Outside it was pretty loud.
We gave it another minute or so. A few minutes later were a couple of loud booms, without any siren or warning.
The walk was quiet otherwise. Encountered 10-20 people and 10-20 cockroaches.
Jaffa itself was... extremely quiet. Very few places open. Those that were, by the water, had only Arab patrons.
The walk back was uneventful.
Until
I approached my building at nine PM. The local siren sounded, as did the app on my phone. As I walk up to my building, neighbors are running out. I followed them to the building across the street. If you know the door code (I do now!) you can duck into this newly constructed stairwell. It is quite protected.
The booms were loud.
Iron Dome: News To You?
Here are two clips. One at night, one during the day, of the Iron Dome system in action. Each is about a minute. The rockets you see in these clips are all Iron Dome interceptors (the incoming rockets are ballistic, their motors have already burned out, they are coasting to their explosive landings.) Note the delay between the flash and the boom. I believe 2 seconds is about one kilometer. I believe both these clips are the sky over Ashkelon, which is much closer to Gaza than I am, and is the target of many more rockets.
Iron Dome: ______or ______ ?
Some years ago I read, I think in The Economist, that the Iron Dome is a mixed blessing. It has, by now, saved thousands of lives and hundreds (more likely thousands) of buildings. It has also allowed Israeli leadership (primarily Netanyahu) to ignore the military threat posed by Hamas.
Had Netanyahu retired from politics, say, a year ago, such ignorance might not have stained him.
I sense a new entry for: Raf Language - A Glossary:
Ignorance is bliss. For a while.
quip / observation / expression
definition
The observation that ignorance remains blissful only if the object of that ignorance is transient and/or relatively inconsequential. If neither of these attributes is the case, bliss will end. Possibly with a preference not to have experienced bliss (or ignorance) to begin with.
Inspired by the observation that in matters of national security, intelligence failures (such as the failures leading up to the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the October 7 war of 2023) appear to flow from ignorance: Enemies posses massive ability and persistence. It isn't easy to live, day to day, acknowledging an equal who wakes up every day planning your demise. Ignoring such discomfort is a simple human desire for bliss.
source
Avtorski, Raf. Derived from his Mother's frequent use of the base quip: Ignorance is bliss.
c.f. Love conquers all. For a while.
Corrections. Er, Enhancements
Generally
The topic of "Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people?" is discussed in this two minute clip (has English subs)
Obama
I mentioned yesterday that Barack Obama omitted mention of the Hostages in his response. This is only partly correct. Obama's initial statement acknowledges the three elements I spoke to yesterday. (Obama's natural understanding for the Jewish and Israeli perspective is often discounted. He knows [and Raf thinks also feels] this stuff. I am surprised at the qualified language in his second post, such as "[Hamas'] leadership seems to intentionally hide among civilians" -- "seems"? I bet the second entry was written by an assistant, where the first one was written by Obama himself. He knows this stuff cold.)
Rockets
A couple days ago I mentioned the count of rockets and suggested one or two thousand. It is much more than that. Over seven thousand. This makes sense to me. The communities closer to Gaza were (and are) rained on. (Thank you M.T.)
Video Subtitles
It is Bibi's son, not wife, who was sent abroad. This is indicated in the Hebrew but I hadn't picked up on it. The subtitles are fixed to reflect this. (If English subs don’t show, click the “cc” button.)
Relief Area
Alef
Bet
One minute clip exploring From The River to The Sea.
Gimmel
Raf's favorite from "Lost in translation: 4 perfect words that have no English equivalent"
Soubhiyé Submitted by Stephanie Thompson — San Diego, California.
In Lebanese Arabic ... soubhiyé refers to that period of time in the morning when no one else is awake but you, and you can either have some quiet time to yourself before the household is awake, or you can invite a friend or neighbor to join you for coffee and tea and you have some catch-up time together before the day get started. My mother often used to have a soubhiyé by herself or with one of my aunts or friends. And now that I am a mom of two myself and I don't sleep in anymore, I really value that time when you can just gather your thoughts and have that moment to yourself.
Since Raf-the-blogger sleeps late, y'all have half the day for soubhiyé.
My but has been kicked (on a yoga mat) already. This is written. I want lunch.
Raf
(Thanks to A.K., M.N., and M.T. for content and feedback.)