Posted on 07/20/2006 5:26:17 AM PDT by Mercat
Dear Everyone,
You know the day has begun when the siren sounds at 5:30 a.m. Not so bad. Gives me even more time for morning prayer and reflection, which is vital for starting the day.
The process of adjusting to war is very interesting. I find that sirens are now sort of “normal”, and I mostly ignore them. At work I just keep on working. On the street I look for a stairwell to duck into for a few minutes. But there is also a noticeable lack of focus during the day as I keep checking the news sources I keep running on my computer. So I look for a balance. Also, we all seem to feel very tired at the end of the day.
Staff morale is high, and needless to say, there’s a lot of humor being used around here. Humor is a good way to deal with stress.
The following is an article from the BBC that someone forwarded to me.
** Fear and stoicism in Haifa ** The strains show in the Israeli town of Haifa, on the frontline of the conflict with Hezbollah. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5194068.stm >
The only observation I can add to the news coverage is the deafening sound of what is not being heard from the Arab world. The concepts of “Arab brotherhood” and “solidarity against Israel” have been shattered. The moderate Arab countries have come out very strongly against Hezbollah. Shiite Islam is a minority in the Islamic world, and Shiite radical/militant Islam is now seen as a greater threat to most Arab regimes than Israel. Very interesting. And Iran is not an Arab country, it is Persian. So Arab solidarity with Iran was never a given.
Nazareth is populated mostly by Arabs. It was a bad mistake for Hezbollah to target Nazareth, Carmiel, and other Arab villages. Twenty percent of Israel’s population is Arab, half Christian and half Muslim. Arab Israelis have valid grievances against the Israeli government because of perceived discrimination in social services, education, etc. However, Arab Israelis also enjoy the highest standard of living in the Middle East, as well as religious and political freedom not available anywhere else in the Middle East. I have found it interesting over my years here to note that Arab Israelis have never “voted with their feet”, i.e., moved to the West Bank.
Have a nice day!
Eileen
These have been coming in daily .. let me know if you want to be pinged.
Thanks for the ping! It is interesting and I appreciate you keeping me in the loop.
Thanks for posting this info. Glad to hear she's okay.
I would be interested in being "pinged"
I have always thought there is one too many "i's" in shiite. I was right, too. The president said so. :)
I would like to be on the ping list, please. Thank you.
God Bless Ellen. My friend from Haifa has been having email problems. I'm so glad to hear how things are there.
What a wonderful thing this brief war may be. The idea that peace may be attained by trading away land has been shown to be a lie, the concept of the unified "Arab Street" has been shattered, and without (yet) any serious cost to Israel, a rats-nest of militant idiots is being smashed. A good days work!
Thanks Eileen. May God bless you.
| Well, there are several air raids each day but they dont really affect us so much anymore. Yesterday I was working all day in the 'safe rooms' anyways so I didn't even notice. I sleep in my house's safe room and I hang out in them too so it's not affecting us anymore. Apparently they are taking out most of the places that the rockets are comming from so things will at least calm down in this way. I think the political situation is going to take longer to solve. |
Yes, I'm interested. My son's former girlfriend and still good friend left for Israel last Saturday to start med school. I'm concerned for her and need to see that people are holding up well and getting on with their lives there.
Mercat n/= Eileen. I'm just the humble messenger.
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