Big daughter (4-year-old): Abba, Mommy is very beautiful.
Me: Yes, sweetie pie, she is.
Big daughter: Abba, I want to be tall like Mommy.
Me: I hope you’ll be tall like Mommy, too.
Big daughter: But Abba, I don’t want big boobies.
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Tuesday: The true Iranian dilemma
She: So, can we leave now?
Me: Why, what happened?
She hands me the headlines, saying that Bibi is trying to get a majority of ministers to support the attack on Iran.
Me: We have to wait.
She: For what?
Me: To see if they do it.
She: Why not leave before they do it?
Me: But what if we left and they didn’t do it?
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Me: So, I’ve been thinking, if the rockets from Gaza or Iran hit our area, we should run to the kitchen.
She: No, I’ve already thought about it. We have to take cover in the corridor. It’s got a reinforced ceiling.
Me: You sure?
She: Yup.
Me: OK.
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Today: Israeli Chutzpah
I got a call from the Aguda Lema’an Hachayal today. Before I tell you this conversation, take a look at the intro on their website:
The Aguda Lema’an Hachayal (The Association of the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers – AWIS) is probably the most widely known organization in Israel, capturing the best of Israel and all that went into the making of the modern Jewish state: patriotism, commitment and a strong community spirit.
Me: Hello?
Him: Hello, I’m calling from the Aguda Lema’an Hachayal and we would like to know if you’re interested in donating to soldiers, or “lone soldiers” who come to Israel from abroad to serve our country.
Me: No, thank you, I’m not interested in donating at the moment, sorry.
Him: Really? (His voice rises, sounds very pissed off) You’re not interested in donating to Israeli soldiers?? Wow, good for you. Really, really good for you.
And hangs up in my face.
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pabelmont
I used to be self-righteous about Israelis. Country of monsters. Blah-blah-blah. The moral people have no power and should leave. Blah.
Then the USA had a highly questionable conversion-experience called 9-11 and went into the most useless but still horribly destructive (and lengthy) of wars, and all I did was attend a few rallies before I saw how useless they were. (I’d gone from Boston to Washington to a big anti-war rally in 1969, but Vietnam was on the way out then and it felt good.)
So have I moved to — where? Canada? More pro-Israel than USA. Morocco? No.
So, Israelis, forgive me. Big-daughter will soon be reading headlines, soon be asking if “we can leave now”. Then she’ll be going to Israeli schools and learning to be — a valiant soldier. You’ve got problems, We all have problems, being citizens in self-identifying “democracies” (no matter how skewed by oligarchy each may be) is no easy task.
Hang in there.
Dahlia Scheindlin
OMG, eureka moment – So this is how relationships actually function! thank you ami