Tel Aviv Rooftop

Can't let the execution of Saddam Hussein go by without a mention. The wisdom and timing of it aside, here in Israel we have good enough reason to see him permanently disappear. I remember the first day that the Tel Aviv area was bombarded by his Scud missiles in the first Gulf War in the winter of 1991. The whole country was terrified that the Scuds would be carrying chemical and even biological weapons. The Scuds turned out to be duds, causing some damage to property but not much more. However on that first night we didn't know what to expect. When the air raid sirens went off we scrambled, hearts beating, to get the kids inside the "safe" room which was "protected" from the theoretical killer gas by the plastic sheeting we had been told to tape to the windows. Even the door was blocked by a wet rag to keep the gas out. We were finally inside, clinging to each other in fright, gazing incredulously at each others gas masks, when we heard a whimper and reali...

Since this blog is going to dwell, at least partly, on developments in Israel and the region. it makes sense to set the scene as of now. And today's date, on the cusp of 2007 , is a neat time to do so. It will be interesting to look back on this in a year's time and see where we got to. So let's stand on my rooftop and take a 360 degree tour of the regional neighbourhood. To the south, inside Israel, on the border with the Gaza Strip, is Sderot which, despite the cease-fire that has ostensibly been in force for several weeks is still suffering from daily bombardments of qassam missiles by the Islamic Jihad which refuses to abide by the cease-fire. A few days ago two 15 year old boys were caught outside after the air raid alarm went off and were seriously injured. The government came under a lot pressure from the army and from public opinion to do something and eventually decided to re-institute "pinpoint" targeted killings against qassam launchers but only when th...

I wanted some shots from Yaffo here but Blogger is giving me some beginner's problems

An optimistic day on which to experiment posting my first blog, a bright, chilly winter's day and also the day after which Ehud Olmert met Abu Mazen for the first time. About bloody time too. What was achieved? Maybe some money for the Palestinians, maybe a real channel of communication and maybe just some time bought for two weak leaders. Only time will tell. Both having the day off, we took ourselves to nearby Jaffa (Yaffo) to wander around the flea market and have lunch at Pua's - a funky, eclectic restaurant where everything is bought from the flea market and therefore nothing matches. On our way there we saw a group of men were sitting on the pavement with little white prayer books... praying. Not seen that before. It was too late for the morning shacharit service and too early for the later ma'ariv. Maybe someone had died and they were saying prayers to speed on his soul. Eventually we bought (what else) a brass pot. For coffee we stopped off at the romantic Nina...