Highmoon's Ponderings

From the Boston Globe via Boston.com: A Question For The World Community by Meir Shlomo

FOR THE PAST few decades, the international community has been misled to believe that the root of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors stems from the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This week, with the assistance of Hamas and Hezbollah, this canard finally has been laid to rest.
[...]
Hamas and Hezbollah mirror the virulent hatred of Israel that runs through Syria, Iran, and other parts of the Middle East. These groups represent a refusal to recognize the state of Israel, regardless of its borders. To make matters worse, rogue states such as Syria and Iran openly support these terrorist groups, aiding them financially, militarily, and politically.
[...]
The international community must decide to support either a repressive, despotic Middle East modeled after Iran and Syria, or a democratic, pluralistic Middle East modeled after Israel. This is the core of the conflict erupting in the region.
[...]
However, in the midst of this crisis, the international community and enlightened society must rally around Israel and the moderate factions in the Arab world, because the alternative is a Middle East modeled after Syria and Iran, governed by repression, terror, and violence.

This is a good editorial that brings the points in question to the forefront without fuss. It’s about time the world realizes, once and for all, that the beef with Israel has absolutely nothing to do with anything dealing with the so-called Palestinians but with the inherent fact of their existance in the area. Nothing short of the complete and total anihilation of the state of Israel and of every Israeli (and every Jew in the world, if you follow the rethoric, including me, just so you can understand how personal this can get) will suffice for these people (and I use the term loosely). Giving Gaza up to the Palestinians only gave us an empowered Hamas, and now Hezbollah has joined the party.

In a way Israel has a measure of fault in this whole situation. We, Israel, were weak in the face of our enemy; we gave up Gaza as a reward for years of suicide bombers spilling our blood on the streets, showing that Israeli/Jewish blood was cheap. I understand the state was trying to do the right thing, to show there was commitment on our part to a peaceful solution, even if innocents had to pay the price. In a way I am glad they did all this, because it now shows quite clearly that nothing we did was of any value to them, because it never was about having part of the land, but about complete destruction.

I still want to see this conflict solved quickly to avoid the loss of more innocent lives on both sides. Israel has already given its terms for a cease-fire; for Hezbollah to retreat out of Israel and out of the buffer zone to be replaced by the Lebanese army and for the two kidnapped soldiers to be returned, greatly downscaling them from their original terms of total dismantling of Hezbollah. To some this may seem like we are again showing weakness, but I applaud the more realistic approach of the new terms. Now it’s up to Lebanon to put some pressure. I’m not holding my breath.

From Aish.com: There is no Zionism Without Judaism by Natan Sharansky.

But [A.B.]Yehoshua’s remarks [...] disturb me less than the way he described his own identity: My identity is Israeli, he said. The Jewish religion does not play a role in my life; it is the territory and the language that build my identity.

There is no Zionism without Judaism and there never has been. Just as the Israeli people has never had a right to the Land of Israel. Only the Jewish people. It was the Jewish people that received the Balfour Declaration, and it was they who were granted by the United Nations the legal right to establish a state. It was the Jewish people that returned to its ancient homeland, for which it had prayed and longed for, for 2,000 years. For if we are talking about the Israeli “people” — how is the right of a “people” that has existed for about 100 years greater than or equal to that of the Palestinians, who have been living on their land for about 300 years?

What a fantastic and poignant article! Every single Jew in the world should read it and make a stand, reclaim their heritage and be counted, especially those in Israel, especially at a critical time such as the current one.

I have been following the events in Israel for the last 2 weeks with interest and trepidation, knowing full well the dates we are approaching. Hezbollah’s entry into the fray and Israel’s decisive reply in Beirut, only serve to heighten my fear of the future in the Middle East. Today is the 17th of Tammuz in the Jewish calendar, a day that signals the start of a 3-week period of introspection which ends in the saddest day of our year, the 9th of Av. It was on the 17 of Tammuz that the people of Israel worshipped the Golden Calf and Moses broke the first set of Tablets of the Law; it was on this day that the First Temple ceased its daily worship services, signaling the beginning of its end; and it was on this day that, in Roman times, the walls of Jerusalem were breached by Titus’ forces, concluding with the destruction of the Second Temple on the 9th of Av. Now, on this 17th of Tammuz, 5766, the spectre of war looms menacingly over Israel, and I fear what the next three weeks can bring, especially what may happen on the 9th of Av. Last year the 9th of Av marked the last day of Jewish settlers in Gaza; the expulsions began early on the 10th. I truly am afraid of what may happen this year.

I have faith in G-d and know that all events are unfolding according to His will, but I am only human, and I fear even as I trust. I feel for the lives that have been lost so far, on both sides equally, though especially for my kinsmen and kinswomen in Israel. I hope that all leaders involved will have the presence of mind to act with restraint and intelligently to avoid a major conflict, that G-d will give them the wisdom to seek the welfare of the world and not selfish agendas.

I hope this is not the beginning of something we will all regret in the future. Though it already is.

Well, I’m finally back home and almost caught up with the dreariness of day-to-day life. Work is just as tedious as I remember it when I left, which I guess is not bad, as I thought it would feel even worse. Nevertheless, I wish I could be jumping into another plane right now and taking off on a new adventure, rather than making about a thousand copies.

I always get this post-trip funk, and I now recognize it for what it is, so I don’t pay much attention to it. I do want to make a number of changes in my life, though, so I’m hoping to channel some of this funk into the impetus needed for evolution.

I desperately need a new job, first and foremost; I just cannot work for my father-in-law anymore. It hasn’t been good for my finances and it definitely hasn’t been good for my emotional well-being.

I want to lose some weight and get in a little better shape. I felt good walking everywhere in Europe, and while distances here in Miami make that (or biking everywhere) a highly inadecuate option, I still want to maintain some of that momentum and see if I can get below 300 (yes, I am that heavy, to my own shame). I’d like to get a new bike and ride it whenever possible. We rode bikes in Brugge (Belgium) and it was a lot of fun, and Miami is almost as flat as the Netherlands and West Flanders (except for the really tall bridges).

I want to get back into the swing of things with Highmoon Media. I haven’t neglected it, but I haven’t kept up with it as I should. I understand and accept that with the amount of projects I have going I can’t have the output that other publishers have, but I need to have an output, period. Targum Magazine is paramount, with other projects following it. Above all, however, is finishing the layout for Lonnie Ezell‘s novel, which has already gone on pre-sale.

Lastly, I want to get writing again. As I always do (or at least try to), I kept a journal during the trip, and this is the first travel journal that I actually finish, at least with the factual events of the trip. I still want to go back and write some more about a few particular subjects, but at least the trip itself has been recorded. I’ve decided to continue the journaling momentum and start keeping a journal once more. We’ll see how that goes. More than that, I want to get writing again; story ideas have been flying around my head, in the distance yet distinctly perceivable, and I want to try to least them onto the paper (or computer screen, as the case may be).

Will all these resolutions yield results? I’ve no idea, but I’d like to try my best to have them all blossom.

Now I’ve got to go, cause my family is visiting down from Orlando, so I get to see my Mom, sister and two nephews!

Just got home after a 9 hour flight from Amsterdam via Paris, and I am incredibly tired, sad that my vacation is over, and happy to be home.

I tried posting a couple of times from the road but the email posts didn’t go through. Later on I’ll post a few pics, as we need to sort through the roughly 800 pics we took combined.

TTFN!