Aftermath...

I have experienced my first crisis in Israel. Then I do not primarily mean an inner crisis, but instead the kind of crisis that rocks the world when the Israeli Defence Forces take some kind of action, which the rest of the world objects to. Yesterday morning as I awoke, Yoram told me on the phone that I should probably read the news since something dramatic had happened on the "Ship to Gaza" convoy, something about dead people, and the initial shock was like waking up into a nightmare.

I started reading, and during the morning hours, number of casualties varied in the different media sources, and everything was still very unsure and preliminary. However, pretty soon it became clear that the IDF soldiers had been met with violence as they boarded the Turkish boat, which had resulted in a complete tumult and unfortunate death-shootings. When I looked into the coverage in the international (Swedish in particular) media, it became painfully obvious to me how angled it was. Nothing about the instigators on the boat, but merely blame on Israel, in very tough words. Friends, who I talked to on Facebook, and who normally can keep a pretty balanced and non-biased attitude, wanted nothing to do with my comments or information. All doors were slammed in my face. At the same time I was sitting here trying to be balanced, with valid criticism over how the IDF choose to handle the convoy. There is no doubt in my mind that the soldiers did what they had to do to defend their lives when they finally came down on the boat, but I am very critical to boarding the boat in night-time and on international waters in the first place. Why not just incapacitate the boat and tow it to Ashdod? And how can the best intelligence in the world underestimate the intentions of a group of people who allegedly has connections to extreme Islamist organisations? And how could the "Ship to Gaza"-delegations from Western Europe, like the Swedish group, so blindly ignore the fact that they had anything but merely non-violent peace activists among them? The questions piled up, with no clear answers and no clear direction, and I started to realise the impact the tragedy would have, on Israel's diplomatic relations and future peace negotiations.

As the walls of my home suddenly felt too narrow, I reached out to Anna Veeder, who had already published a very good early reaction to what had happened on Newsmill (Swedish). We spent some hours ventilating things and she was briefing me on what was said on the radio and TV, and at the same time as the anti-Israeli hysteria were whipped up all around Europe, more detailed videos and testimonies were published, showing how the soldiers were seriously attacked with iron bars, axes and knives, as they boarded the ship armed with merely paint-ball guns, and pistols with live ammunition as a backup. But it was of course too late. The media frenzy was already a fact.

What happened is truly a tragedy, human lives are always precious, and I do not claim that the IDF handled the situation perfectly, but things are more complex than that, and it all needs to be investigated further. I neither defend the siege. I find it pretty obvious that the siege is neither effective in preventing Islamist radicalisation, nor stopping terror-attacks from Gaza on Israeli civilians. That is not the point. After seeing how biased the reactions are, at home in Sweden and in the rest of the Western world, I feel so sad and disillusioned. Anti-Israeli rallies are arranged all around and Facebook groups are growing, all solely blaming Israel for what happened. People, friends and acquaintances, blindly join, without making an opinion of their own by retrieving more information. No one wants to know the truth anymore. Or are they just lazy and convenient? Is there really a hidden agenda to keep Israel as the scapegoat of the world? In any way, I think that you all should be ashamed of yourselves, for taking this distorted propaganda as the only truth. Ashamed!

Anna Veeder wrote today on her blog (free translation by me):

At the same time I find it interesting that some Swedish commentators argue "well, of course the people on the boat got angry when the soldiers were hauled down, and therefore launched at them with iron bars, that is understandable". I can only speak for myself, but if I were to be confronted with armed combat soldiers at four o'clock in the morning on a boat at sea, then I would mostly stay darn passive. Not to say crawled up in a corner somewhere. You need to be pretty driven to take on a bunch of soldiers and have power and motivation to throw one of them in the sea and try to take their weapons. If we are speaking about responsibility, I feel that they clearly failed in keeping the principle of non-violence, at least on the Turkish ship, and here do also the activists and organisers share a responsibility. Because no one had claimed that it was a suicide mission, right?

I finish off with some special dispatches from MEMRI. And then some visuals:

Reepalu and Iran

The tragedy in the waters outside of Gaza leaves a bitter aftertaste, but end of stupidity is not near in sight. The infamous mayor in Malmö, Ilmar Reepalu, again shows his remarkable bias (Swedish) when he visits the Israeli pavilion at Expo 2010 in China:

This government is the most extreme-right.

Only Soviet has occupied land as long as Israel has.

Well, I have no problem with those statements, but then he is asked about his opinion on Iran:

Iran, no I have no opinions. I hope that Iran can become part of a world that can live in peace.

This is his "opinion" on one of the worst oppressing regimes of today, who executes and tortures its own citizens and instigates a holy war on the modern world. Well done, Ilmar! Very balanced!

And where is the coriander?

A boat full of bad hats with 72 virgins in sight, against youngsters with big guns. A situation bound to disaster, definitely. But on International waters..? Please. Do either these "peaceful" activists, or the IDF, think that this will bring us closer to peace? Nightmare...

Cowgirl

Me and Samira

The guys: "She is really riding like a man!"

Well... I think that I am riding like a woman... ;)

Healing animals

During the last few days I have been harassed by an acquaintance on Facebook. He is from my hometown Malmö in Sweden and he has accused me of spreading Israeli hatred against Muslims, as well as that I support the "genocide" in Gaza and that I am generally biased and ignorant. What lit his flame was that I published the article about the Islamist extremists who burned down the UN camp for the Gaza children. How this makes me a person hating Muslims, I do not know, but I take this with a grain of salt. At first I tried to meet his statements, but I soon discovered that everything I said was severely distorted and thrown straight back at me. Then I denied him further fuel by just keeping my mouth shut. Nevertheless, although this particular guy has passed the limit for sanity, he still reflects the general attitude in my old hometown. It is not exaggerated to say that many people see Israel as the sole aggressor, using strong terms like apartheid state and genocide. The outspoken Anti-Semitism is of course not left far behind, but often so subtle and sneaky that even the most good-hearted persons just "happen" to speak in these terms now and then. People neither want to see the truth, because acknowledging complexity and mutual responsibility makes their image of the situation too wide and too difficult to handle. People who come and spend time in this region, with honest and open minds, and with an indiscriminative empathy for people on both sides, will inevitably see that they have to dismantle their simplistic attitude and start being constructive instead. Enough of that.

Yesterday afternoon we met up with Samir in the Pecan grove. He brought his two Arabian thoroughbred mares Samira and Noor. We were riding around under the trees chatting about things and I mentioned the accusations from Facebook, and there was not much more to say than that we constitute living proof of that I neither hate Arabs nor Muslims. We laughed about it and archived the matter.

Yoram also joined with the dogs, as well as another nice family we know, and a colleague from Yoram's work with her boyfriend. Beginners and children got guided slow rides on the horses under the trees, but me and Samir took the mares out in the fields a few times to race. This was the first time he saw me ride and although we had repeatedly told him about my experiences with riding horses he was not prepared for what he was about to see. I rode Samira, the younger mare, who up until now has been ridden only by Samir and his own sons and she is very powerful and sensitive. We were the faster ones and all Samir saw was the sand stirred up by Samira's hoofs and I also effectively stopped her at the end of the field, although she was coming on pretty heavily, we circled a few times, and then took off again in the other direction.

Me and Samira

I started riding at the age of six and was from the beginning a little girl gifted with a huge confidence. During the years I have come around many things, dressage, show jumping, thoroughbred horse racing, harness racing, and since the last 20 years also western riding in all its forms. This is where I found my thing, the approach that for me felt most natural and comfortable, for both horse and rider. I worked as an assistant reining-trainer in a stable in Germany for a while, but I also rode horses at home in Sweden, helping different people out with their horse businesses. During the last few years, my studies took all the time and horses where not regularly present in my life. However, a zebra does not easily loose its stripes, and yesterdays rides gave me a strong sensation of coming home.

This was only the first time we rode together and I am sure that we will have a lot of great time together with the horses. Both Samira and Noor are well broken, but could need some exercises to make them more supple and collected in the hand to be able to carry themselves better, and also to become more sensitive to leg and weight cues. Maybe we can even teach them some reining manoeuvres in time.

Recently I watched a Swedish show on web-tv, called "Ponnyakuten", in where kids having problems with their ponies got help from the famous Swedish horse trainer Tobbe Larsson. As I watched these kids learn and grow, I was filled with a warm sensation and nostalgia and I again acknowledged the fact that there is no better way to put some spine and sense of responsibility in a young child than letting it be around horses. Being a somewhat nerdy laughingstock in school, I had my life in the stable, and it is there I built my self-confidence and self-image. Many are the injuries I have had through the years, but nothing ever made me consider quitting horses. I hope that I can give the same privilege to my kids, and today that dream does not seem unrealistic at all.

Also our dogs got a healthy lesson yesterday, being around horses. Up until now they have been very excited around horses and they always want to run up to them, nipping their hind-legs to herd them, but yesterday they both behaved pretty OK, unleashed all the time. Barak came too close a few times and almost got his head kicked off, but I guess that he will have to learn it the hard way.

Ship to Gaza

A lot of people are already covering the propaganda convoy "Ship to Gaza" effectively, like Anna Veeder, as well as Roy B. Alterman and G. Tikotzinsky on Al Hamatzav (Swedish).

But, for the ones of my readers who have yet not been there, or nevertheless still have a problem seeing the true intention with the initiative, these 8 ships are mostly filled with Israel-hating activists, together with some humanitarian supplies just for show. The amounts of supplies that "Ship to Gaza" are capable of bringing to the territory is not more than what Israel delivers on a more or less daily basis. And do they really believe that they will be able to circumvent Hamas and deliver the supplies to the really needy civilians? Hardly. Hamas is already waiting at the shoreline to welcome their loyal supporters from overseas. To give a hint to what is likely to happen with all the supplies, I can mention the ambulances that Galloway brought to Gaza some months ago, before he was announced persona non grata by Egypt. These vehicles are today according to rumours repainted and used for prisoner transport. And who are these prisoners? Hardly criminals, but merely opposers of the regime.

What really should put the last nail in the coffin to their image as neutral human-rights activists is their refusal to try to deliver a letter and a package, sent from his father, to the captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been in captivity for precisely 1433 days. Gilad Shalit has been denied visitors from anyone, not even the Red Cross or UN and he is in no way comparable to prisoners suspected of committing any crime. He is merely used as an instrument to put pressure on Israel. Where are their humanitarian hearts to find when it comes to Gilad, who did nothing but fulfilling his military service for his country?

Avigdor Lieberman, the infamous Israeli foreign minister, who any sensible person would like to see removed from his chair asap, has of course expressed his rage over the "Ship to Gaza" initiative, but this kind of reaction I find anything but constructive in this situation. Many scenarios have been presented over what Israel could or should do, but I wonder if the best thing would not just be to make a routine search for weapons and weapon-related materials at sea, and not in the Israeli harbour Ashdod, and then let them proceed to their final destination in Gaza. However, I would like to direct all the cameras to the shorelines of Gaza as these "neutral" and "non-political" passengers run straight into the arms of some of the worst oppressors on this planet at this moment, and then maybe even stay there. I think that it would leave off Israel in a better image than what the Lieberman statements will, but it will of course not happen...

1 year in Israel

Today it is one year ago since I came with my luggage stuffed with my most important items to settle here in Israel with Yoram. I never felt any cultural shock, in contrast to some other people I have spoken to. As far as I can remember I accepted everything with ease, thanks to my easygoing nature, which is a gift that I am very grateful for. Nevertheless, as I look back on the blog posts from that time I realise how much I have acclimatised in one years time. The blueberry is growing sabra thorns.

Some things are still not established as much as others, but I am in no rush. I will get my first working permit in a months time, which will open some more doors. Hebrew I have mostly studied on my own, with my books, and primarily the kids as guinea pigs. However, I feel that during the last few weeks I have shifted into a new gear and actually started to actively use the language with adults around me, to an extent that I did not do before. I force Hebrew on to Yoram, and I talk and chat with my friend Samir, whose English is poorer than my Hebrew. I clearly recall that I had the same mode of action when I learned Danish. I listened, read, talked in my mind for a long time, before I suddenly started to talk one day. This is somewhat the same. I have a first level language in there, and now it is time to start letting it out. No better way to celebrate one year in Israel!

أورشليم القدس - Jerusalem - ירושלים

The three Abrahamic religions

Yesterday I had a day in Jerusalem with my good friend Anna Veeder. On the way up we took the controversial route 443 that connects Modi'in with Jerusalem through a part of the West Bank. Since the second Intifada in 2000 the road has been closed to Palestinian traffic, due to many serious terror attacks on Israeli traffic, and the road basically consists of a corridor surrounded by high fences with barb wire. All the Palestinian access roads are blocked and Palestinian traffic is referred to poor donkey trails on the side or through small tunnels under 443. Israel's High Court of Justice have in 2009 ruled that the road should be reopened for Palestinian traffic and safety measures are now organised to make traffic as smooth as possible. More tedious checkpoints will inevitably be the result and this is exactly what the Jewish settlers oppose, because up until now they have a free flow all the way in, but if you ask me they can blame themselves. If they want to live in the West Bank they will have to get used to Palestinians, since they choose to settle on land that is supposed to be Palestinian. As far as I am concerned they can become an ethnic minority in a future Palestine and then we will see how they like it.

After this in so many ways disturbing drive we arrived to the holy city and although Jerusalem is one of the most infected issues in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict it is also in some peculiar way what always gives me a sensation of hope. First we walked up Jaffa Street to visit an excellent book store, Sefer VeSefel on 2 Ya'Avetz Street. This bookstore is a gold mine with mostly used books, lots of English literature about Judaism, history, culture and religion. Anna was looking for a particular book for her Jewish studies but did not find it. I could have easily bought a whole bunch of books on different subjects, but my economy definitely does not allow that right now. Nevertheless, it was a joy walking around among all this knowledge.

We had sambusak for lunch and then we parted for a while. Anna needed to work for a few hours with her friend from Emek Shaveh, which is a non-profit association for archaeologists, local residents and human rights activists working to change the role of archaeology in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for example in the Arab neighbourhood Silwan in East Jerusalem, where the ancient Jewish site City of David is located. City of David is today administered by a settler organisation, Ir David Foundation, that uses the site as a political instrument to strengthen the control over the village, which of course is unacceptable. It is not reasonable that archaeological findings should serve as a means to prove possession by one people or one religion. It should neither ignore the local population. They should instead be an integral part of local culture. This is the mission of Emek Shaveh.

As Anna did her good cause, I headed to the Old City. I have stopped taking pictures there since I don't think that a picture ever can capture the real magical atmosphere. It has to be experienced, including the sounds and the smells. This was the first time I actually walked around alone in there so I picked up a map over the area from the tourist information office, but even with that, as well as my above-average sense of orientation, I was occasionally pretty disoriented, however never feeling lost. In here you get a sense of unity that right outside of the walls dissolves. Muslims, Jews and Christians mingle, Arabic, Hebrew and other languages are spoken and you get a taste of how it could be if bitterness and resistance were turned into unification and generosity. How difficult can it be to break down the imaginary walls and allow free movement? Jerusalem is a holy city for the three Abrahamic religions and will always be. There is no way around it and it has to be acknowledged and accepted.

I have passed the shouk-shopping honeymoon long ago and will not exit with bags full of scarfs, baubles and other souvenirs. However, I bought a nice pair of leather sandals that I bargained down to half price, which I was pretty satisfied with. I also got a bunch of natural sponges for some Swedes and a pack of Arabic coffee with cardamon for me and Yoram. Shopping in Mideastern shouks is not for the weak ones, unless you accept to be ripped off properly. If you don't bargain the salesmen will most likely go behind the curtain and laugh their heads off to the stupid tourist, rubbing their hands over how much money they earned. The first price offered is always way over what the product is really worth, except for groceries, and even after the most experienced bargainers (like my own Yoram) you can be sure that they still profited from the deal. I feel like an idiot most of the time, because I know that I am getting ripped off, but I try to think that as long as I find the price reasonable, I can accept that they "win". Nevertheless, I am improving my bargaining skills every time.

After a few hours Anna came back to the Old City and we took a walk around the shouk too. She wanted two scarfs for her daughter and that mission was quickly accomplished. Then we got caught in one of the junk dealer's small shop. In a small hole in the wall the floor, walls and ceiling was covered with old metal junk; plates, pots, lamps, mugs, jewellery, axes and chandeliers, in all kinds of metals, most of the things with a lot of patina on. We had a long conversation with the shop-owner Omar, and old Arab man. We mixed Arabic with Hebrew and English, drank coffee and looked at things. Every item seemed to have a story to tell and I could have easily picked a whole bunch of stuff. He had the most amazing lanterns hanging in the ceiling and it was not difficult to imagine my future garden with these lanterns hanging in the trees. This day he did not close any deal, but I will probably be back when the time is right (and the money is in my pocket).

Time flew and it was time for our last point on the schedule. We went to the Swedish Christian Study Centre (SCSC) close to the Jaffa Gate to hear a lecture by PhD Anders Runesson on "Myths and Facts about Parting of the Ways between Judaism and Christianity in the first Five Centuries". It was a very interesting lecture that dealt with the first centuries AD, where the Christ followers diverged from Judaism and created Christianity. Anders' approach was very refreshing in the way that instead of relying on theological scriptures he also took a starting point in archaeological findings to build hypotheses on the inter- and intra religious relationships within and between the different groups at the time.

There were mostly Christians attending, many of them Swedes that work in the region, and once again I felt the strong sensation of not belonging with them. There was an old Greek-Orthodox man who almost took over during the questioning and as if he was not aware of that there were Jews present in the room he ranted on about Judaism in a way that was anything but sympathetic. Some Christians also possess a for me pretty scary "holier-than-thou" kind of demeanour which seems more sanctimonious than genuine. On the way home I ventilated with Anna my inexplicable sympathy and feeling of belonging with the Jewishness rather than Christianity, and she explained that she had clearly sensed my vibes during the lecture. Lately I have discovered that I have some Jewish ancestors on both sides, however not close enough to claim Jewishness, but the label is not important to me. I am neither religious enough to convert. My spirituality is my own. Just as Jerusalem belongs to all of us, no matter what we are.

Strenger than Fiction

I routinely read editorials, blogs and other publications covering the Mideast situation and I have discovered a new favourite. For almost a year the Tel Aviv University Psychology Professor Carlo Strenger writes his own blog on Haaretz, called "Strenger than Fiction". Not much more to say except that he has a very balanced and sensible approach to things and I could only wish that more people would be able to find the same path. Read!

Doggy porn

Mr Handsome

Last Friday a bitch owner came here with his young dog. She is about 18 months and in heat for the second time, which is were it is considered OK to breed on her. However, the owner is an amateur and does not now anything about breeding dogs. He brought his two daughters, who were pretty much out of control, and the whole meeting turned into an overexcited mayhem, with screaming and laughing kids and stressed dogs. The bitch had not reached her peak either, so she did not let Barak near her rear end.

Two days later we went to their house instead and this time we settled that the kids stayed in the house to leave the dogs with some peace and quiet. Now the bitch was receptive and Barak mounted her several times, but he never tied. When dogs breed, the male has swelling glands at the base of the penis that swell inside of the bitch and in that way tie them together for some time, up to 20 minutes. This is by no means necessary for the bitch to conceive, but this was exactly what the bitch owner had been told by his vet, who even offered him to milk Barak of sperm, make a cocktail and inseminate the bitch for 800 ILS. We even talked to our own vet Pini, who just shook his head and mumbled something about bogus.

Some show-off with my dog at the beach

On the third day Barak also mounted the bitch on several occasions, but never tied. The bitch acted very inexperienced as the virgin she really is and did not stand still, so I assisted them a lot as he came on to her. After the third day I was convinced that she was full of sperm, since she even started to reject him, but to make the owner calmer, we gave it another go.

As we arrived on the fourth day she first rejected him completely. We tried to hold her still, but then she got frantic. We then let them run freely for a while and all of a sudden he was on top of her again. I kept some distance not to disturb, but observed them carefully in case that she would panic if he tied to her. To our satisfaction he was stuck, and just as I predicted, her inexperience made her panic and try to pull away. I was quickly there to calm her down and they ended up in a nice tying for about 15 minutes.

The tied dogs after Barak has turned around

The owner had initially wanted to leave the dogs completely alone down in the garden, while we went for coffee upstairs, but I never agreed to this. A responsible dog breeder would never allow dogs to breed unsupervised, especially when one or both of the dogs are less experienced. If I had not been there when she panicked, Barak could have ended up with a seriously injured penis. Now everybody is happy and soon we will see some beautiful puppies. Same day we went to see another beautiful long-haired German Shepherd bitch, but she has another 3-4 days before she is receptive.

Lest we forget...

Yesterday we went for a family gathering in a park in Ra'anana. Yoram's mother came with us, but except her and us there were mostly people from Yoram's fathers side, of which most of them I had still not yet met. Yoram's father fled Europe during the Holocaust with his wife and first son. They later got more kids in Israel. After his first wife had diseased, he met Yoram's mother, who was 25 years younger than him, they got married and conceived Yoram and his younger sister. Yoram's father died over 20 years ago. Thus, there are two batches of kids, separated by over 20 years, which means that among other things Yoram has an uncle in his own age, with whom he grew up as brothers.

Yoram's brother was born in 1942 in Europe. When he was a blond toddler, his bright hair colour once saved his whole (and future) family from being captured by the Nazis. The father had figured out that they had to leave their homes, and as they were on the road, they were stopped by German soldiers at some point. The soldiers tried to figure out whether their capture were Jews, but when they saw the totally blond boy they looked at each other and said that "A boy that blond can never be a Jew", and they let them go. What this says about Nazi intelligence I leave free for interpretation...

Not until now, when I live among Jews, I am starting to sense the depth of what centuries of pogroms do to the mentality of a people and I can understand the general "paranoia" among Jews, which ignorant people choose to call it. Not that I don't think that they should work on exercising their imagination more than their memories - everybody should - but knowing history in close-up by meeting Holocaust survivors in person, and at the same time reading stories about opinions like these and these, then I cannot avoid acknowledging that the anti-Semitism is actually out there, and it is very real, and once more increasing. In addition, the ones who claim that everything started with Israel's national policies can be catalogued to the same intelligence level like the Nazis who let Yoram's brother go due to his hair colour.

Processed food and its juicy contents

Every Friday we go grocery shopping in one of the big supermarkets in Haifa. Breakfast at home can easily be skipped since you exit the supermarket with a belly full of all the crappy food they serve tastings of around the store; chips, schnitzel, sausages, sweet dessert creams, cheese spreads, sweet yoghurts, breads etc. This is also the only time we ever eat these kinds of things. I am not fanatic with health although I am highly aware, so I do indulge myself occasionally, but these are things that I simply would never buy for myself and my family and bring home.

Another hobby we (I) have is to study other peoples shopping carts and speculate about their lives through looking at the groceries they buy. I am amazed over how many families have their carts filled to the brim with only unhealthy things; white bread, sweet soft drinks (in masses), ready-made foods like schnitzel and sausages, sugar-drowned cereals and all those small one-portion sweet "desserts" that so effectively remove any interest in real food in a child. I bet they get all their inspiration from the TV commercials, which they swallow without any discriminative thought going through their minds.

The other day I showed a video clip about good-quality food in relation to fat-burning to Yoram. (It really wants to sell a whole package of DVD's, books and stuff, so don't mind the selling attitude, but the information about physiology and food is totally correct, so if you are normally gifted, the information should be enough.) Yoram has a few kilos left around the waist that he wants to remove, but they are very persistent. He cut away a lot of unhealthy things already last year, but then we stagnated. He kept on eating bread, popping a cookie here and there and besides that, he drinks Coke Zero. He thought that it was a brilliant idea, since it contains zero calories, and my continuous commenting about aspartame being toxic on the body was simply sliding off of him like water on a duck. In the video it was explained how a diet high on synthetic food additives will exhaust the liver. The liver has two important functions (among other things); to break down toxic substances and to take part in the degradation of body fat. If the body is busy breaking down all the chemicals you take in through processed food, then do you think that there are any resources left for burning fat? Hardly, irrespectively of how little you eat. I think that he finally understood this now when he heard it from another source than me, which is typical, but the days after he seemed very aware of the dangers of nasty things like aspartame and Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).

I very rarely touch packed meats, like slices of sausage, "ham" or "pastrami", which mostly is the left-overs scraped off of the floor in the slaughter house, which is assembled with some nice "meat glue" and juicy additives to make it delicious (sic!). Today we looked for sausages for the kids, who as you know have terrible food-preferences, and for the first time Yoram actually looked at the content lists on the packages. It turned out that we did not find even one brand without MSG, which I find outrageous. Clearly Israel is left behind when it comes to building awareness on these things. In Sweden today, products like these are mostly free of MSG. We ended up buying some package anyway, but Yoram said that this has to end sooner or later. At least I don't think that he will touch it himself anymore. Then you can discuss still giving it to the kids, but they are still too complicated with foods, and removing too many things would leave nothing left that they accept to eat. There our opinions differ, and Yoram is too worried about their nutrition (as if they get the nutrients they need now) to put them through a food boot-camp. I say that they will eat whatever when they get hungry enough. Now they are just spoiled. But, one step at a time.

To finish this off, I can mention that Yoram started loosing more weight after cutting Coke Zero and the other "insignificant" bites here and there of less natural foods. Say no more...

Giving aikido class in Tel Aviv

Monday has become the day for our weekly visit to Miles Kessler's Integral Aikido Dojo in Tel Aviv. This Monday I was at home with the dogs during the day and took the bus in the afternoon, since the bus came first. It is always the million dollar question of the day whether the sherut or the bus comes first. I am always hoping for the sherut, since it is cheaper and faster, but when the bus comes first I have to take it, because I cannot trust the sherut frequency enough to be sure to be on time in Tel Aviv.

Miles has an urban meditation retreat in the dojo this week with the Buddhist monk Sayadaw Vivekananda. Vivekananda is a charismatic man with a powerful presence. I met him also last week and we immediately started to chit-chat again, together with Yoram who had also just arrived from work. The monk suddenly asked "So, what's new?", upon which we thought ourselves obliged to give some recent deep revelation or introspective discovery, but instead we suddenly found ourselves discussing news in general, and the economical crisis in particular. We all agreed to that the crisis has been build up by the crediting culture we live in. Consumption is a subject all by itself, and it will not solely make us happy, but the big problem is when people (and companies and banks and nations) consume from fictive money. That is a negative spiral, whereas consuming "real" money will cause the positive spiral that will make the overall economy grow. We concluded that right now they are planning another rescue package, which will merely take the crisis deeper into the abyss. Yoram was honestly surprised that a Buddhist monk was so well-oriented in earthly things, but Miles explained that he actually reads the newspaper every day. It was almost a bit comical how we talked about him as something other than a common human being.

With the full schedule in the dojo, Miles needed to breathe a bit, so he asked me to give the first class. I focused on some basic exercises to build up confidence for the free high falls and everybody seemed to enjoy it very much, and several also told me so after the class.

I really find the uke role the most intriguing part of aikido, and the ukemi in particular. I believe that the more mobile and free you are, the better you can take care of yourself with any partner. I also believe that resisting a technique is not a good strategy unless you are the strongest man on Earth. Not only will there always be someone stronger than you, but the tension that resistance creates will inevitable cause a disruption in the flow of the ki. Instead I promote absorbing and accepting the technique that you receive, since this will have you back on your legs faster again and ready to provide a new attack. This does not mean that you need to be light as a feather! You can put a lot of weight in and move ponderously, as long as the ki keeps moving and the heaviness comes from the centre and not from the limbs.

This freedom of movement, but also the "right" quality of heaviness, are built through a growing sense of confidence in your body, as well as hours and hours of practice on these particular things. I have myself been taught many good exercises to work on this and I shared some of those things with the aikidokas this evening. It was an honour and a great pleasure that Miles trusted me with his students yet another time. He is truly a teacher in control of his ego, who gladly shares his space for others to express themselves. I am so happy to have him as a friend.

What would you have done?

There is a television show on Channel 2 called "Ma atem haitem osim? (?מה אתם הייתם עושים), which basically means "What would you have done?" It is a show that tests the civil courage in the Israeli population. Hidden cameras are observing how people are reacting when actors are staging different disturbing situations. Last nights subject was racism, and a guy working in a gas station continuously refused to serve an Arab woman wearing a hijab. 53% of the customers intervened in some way, everything from trying to buy the things for the Arab woman, to refusing themselves to make business with this racist guy, and many also protested loudly. 42% stayed indifferent and 5% actually agreed with the man behind the counter. Of course you can never know that was going on in the mind of the indifferent 42%, but expecting all of them to giving a quiet consent is not reasonable. I think that there were a fair amount that also dissented, but chose not to intervene for whatever reason.

For those who blindly trust the image of Israel and Israelis that is delivered by media in Europe, it is easy to believe that Israelis are a homogenous bunch of Arab-haters, but nothing could be more untrue. One fifth of the Israeli population consists of Arabs, and although racism and discrimination of course occur, just like in any other country, if you pick anyone Israeli off the street, the chance is very high that it is an open-minded and non-prejudice person. Then putting this in the context of a long history of terror-attacks from Arab extremists, I find it pretty noticeable that so many people avoid becoming arabophobic.

Sadly, I don't think that the results would have been much different, had the experiment been performed in Sweden. Instead, I think that the level of indifference would have been even higher. Swedes are taught to mind their own business, while Israelis do meddle in everything around them. Considering the circumstances, I think that the Israelis passed this test with good results.

Honourable blueberry?

We are getting married in July. Already when our relationship was still in its cradle in 2008, and we were exploring one another tentatively over mails and chat, we were both pretty clear that we wanted to get married, as long as our relationship would take off in the right direction. Yoram was then still technically married and for several reasons they did not stress with the divorce. Now that has all passed, and plans are set. We have talked and joked about marriage for so long now that a formal proposal felt like an overkill, so one day as I had decided who is going to preside over the ceremony and the invitations were ready, I just told Yoram that I would change our Facebook status and send the invitations out.

Not that this was a big thing either. Only family and the closest friends from the Swedish side are invited, and we will have the whole arrangement in my parents garden. Invitation was only a jpeg delivered in the mail. The ceremony will be civil, led by a wonderful and charismatic woman, who is an MD and sexologist, i.e. pretty far from any traditional religious wedding. Then my Mum and I, plus anyone that wants to add to it, will have made a huge buffet with different foods and serve wine, beer and some advanced spirits, in true Scandinavian tradition. The list of guest consists of a bunch of diverse colourful beings and I predict a pretty wild party going on a few hours after the ceremony is over.

The people from the Israeli side will simply have to wait until we get back from Sweden, and then we will throw a BBQ picnic in the pecan grove or something, where everybody will have to bring some food. For some reason I think that this event still will count more guests than the actual ceremony in Sweden.

Lazy days - Mourning Goshen

Just as we joked about it earlier, the days with only Goshen have been like a quiet Sunday stroll compared to when also Barak is at home. We never need to think about keeping a dog in check; the door can stand open and Goshen walks in and out when I hang laundry, no one comes and begs for food when we eat, and no one wakes us up with a big wet Shepherd kiss too early in the morning.

The trip to Hararit was a joy doing with Goshen. She always stays by our side and you never have to worry about other men or beasts with her. She could not hurt a fly. Yesterday I brought her to Tel Aviv in the morning and we stayed all day, walking around the city, visiting friends, and in the evening she behaved like the perfect "aikidog" as Yoram and me practised for almost three hours in the Integral dojo. She was laying with the tip of her nose up on the tatami, sleeping deeply, while 15 people were exercising intensively.

I have no doubt that Barak will show the same calm and discipline one day, but we are still not there. He is way too inquisitive and strong-minded and needs to be managed at all times. Speaking of Barak, although we enjoy quiet days with Goshen, she enjoys it less. It is painfully obvious that she misses him. She has no appetite and is in a very tame mood. On Friday he comes home again, to everybody's joy. The vet agreed to start counting from the day of the snap and not from the day he was quarantained, which means that he will only stay eight nights in that terrible place. I do miss his wet morning kisses...

Hararit - On the top of the world

On Shabbat we finally really paid Ofra a visit in Hararit. It was the Lag BaOmer holiday, which means bon fires and BBQ. Hararit is a small communal settlement consisting of about 60 families and it was founded in the 80's by Transcendental Meditation practitioners. They also offer recreational facilities and there is a new website, but the English part of it is yet not fully built.

Hararit is situated on a mountain ridge, in line with Avtalyon and Yodfat, with the Arab villages Sakhnin and Arraba in the North side valley, and Bu'eine Nujeidat on the other side of the valley to the South. Climbing up to Hararit is a delight for the eye and when you walk around in Hararit it almost feels like you are looking down on Earth from the heavenly skies. In each direction the view is astonishing and both the Mediterranean in the West and Sea of Galilee in the East are visible from Hararit on a good day.

At some point soon we want to get ourselves a house with a garden, and not necessarily in Tivon, but definitely in the North. Everything is about money, driving distances and compromises. We were both completely enchanted by Hararit and was joking about putting a house on every vacant lot we could see. The BBQ in Ofra's place was so fun and she had invited a whole bunch of lovely friends from near and far away. It was with a slight melancholic feeling we left Hararit in the evening and drove back home. Maybe one day...

Looking South from Hararit

Looking East from Hararit,

with the Sea of Galilee far away

Looking North from Hararit,

standing on a vacant lot. Building a house here?

Sunny day...

Goshen is much better already today and was not limping at all even during the morning pee pee ride! The Superflex supplement we are giving her is clearly a very effective product and together with the other drugs I think that we have good chances to keep her arthritis in check. Today we are packing the car with Samir's meatballs, marinated chicken wings and some wine, and head to Hararit to visit Ofra for a nice BBQ with a bunch of friends. Goshen comes with us of course.