Taking my mind off Egypt
From time to time one needs to take a break from the situation in Egypt and clear the head with a stroll around the neighbourhood. First, down to the beach to take in some sea spray on a brisk Shabbat morning. Next, an encounter with some cheap scenery from a 1950s sci-fi movie. Actually, this was taken underneath the Shalom Tower. A fire broke out there a few months ago and these pipes are part of the unsettling, temporary infrastructure.'Unsettling' and 'temporary' are two adjectives that could describe our reality nowadays as popular demonstrations and revolts erupt around the region: Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Syria, Algeria. Israel has been one of the few countries that has criticised President Obama for "throwing Mubarak to the dogs", with some worrying out loud that he could the same to us one day. Here, with what happened in Gaza and Lebanon fresh in people's minds, the instinctive reaction is to assume that the Moslem Brothe...