Life sign

My husband has started blogging (Hebrew)! That means that I have to kick my own butt and kick some life in my own blog.

This summer a revolution started in Israel, protesting against a monopolized economy that has skyrocketed the living expenses to a degree where only the richest can get by without a struggle. Besides that, liberal democracy is in jeopardy, with rightist fear-mongering as the general discourse among the ones who rule the country.

Pita on a demonstration.

Her sweater is a word game:

"Yesh li pipi ve kaki" means "I need to pee and poo"

On the sweater instead it says "Yesh li Bibi ve kaki"... ;)

I was demonstrating this summer, so was my dog and so where our kids and their mother with boyfriend - all but my husband. I know that he has the heart in the right place, but I could not seem to break him out of his indifference. Maybe not indifference, but rather despair.

Then a few days ago he just told me "I want to start a blog!" and I helped him set it up and there are two posts so far and all of a sudden he is far more outspoken and engaged than he has been even in our private discussions. I look forward to more of his thoughts. For you non-Hebrews, there is always Google translate!

Me and Pita.

She is 8 months old and

I am 22 weeks pregnant in the picture.

Another thing that has been neglected on the blog is that we are expecting a baby. As of today I am 24 weeks pregnant with a boy. He will be born around the beginning of April, at home in a birthing pool accompanied by a midwife. That is of course a separate story all by itself and there will be more about it.

Now I have to tend to my husband who just came home from a 35 km run together with Pita. He is preparing for Tiberias marathon on the 12h of January. Pita can follow him on those long runs, but Barak cannot. He is not the athletic type... ;)

Landed here for 5 minutes

Jan Nevelius has been here again and we have had five days filled with wonderful aikido revelations. He also visited Tivon one day, as well as our own little hojo, which was an honor. What happened there will stay there, but it did involve aikido, yes. The result from everything is that we have a lot of new material to work on, mostly in our own dojo, where we are more free to express what we want for ourselves.

On Wednesday I go for my annual February vacation in Sweden, which will span over four packed weeks, in Malmö, Stockholm and Västervik. I will manage family, friends, as well as a week with Endo Sensei.

My new job has somewhat eliminated my efforts to keep a steady pace on this blog, and my boss would probably be happy to know that. Nevertheless, I am not planning to shut it down just yet, since we are living in interesting times here in the Middle East.

Anna Veeder on Newsmill

For you Swedish-speakers I want to share my good friend Anna Veeder's article on Newsmill. Probably the sharpest reaction I have seen so far on the Stockholm suicide bombing.

En självmordsbombning? I Stockholm? Förlåt en luttrad israel, men är det inte hopplöst ute? Känns så... Netanya 2003.

Swedish blue eyes...

Yoram told me this morning, that the first time is the most scary one. Then you get numb. I don't even think that most Swedes got scared when the first suicide bombing on Swedish soil took place yesterday afternoon. Their naivety strikes me. The first eye witness went up to the trashed body and tried to resuscitate him, after removing a keffiyeh from his face. In the interview he said that the first thing that struck his mind was that the guy probably was a terrorist, and that he understood that something had exploded on his stomach. Hello?!? Did it cross your mind that there might be more explosives that did not trigger yet? A sane person would stay as far away from him as possible.

Luckily, the pathetic idiot only succeeded to kill himself, and he did not even succeed to shred his own body properly to pieces. His shortcomings make me think that he probably acted alone, and was not backed by any larger terror organization. But on the other hand, he might just be so stupid that he fucked everything up, although he had a mastermind behind him.

Nevertheless, those who think that this was a one-timer should reconsider. Radical Islamism is spreading and the global jihad hates everything that our freedom and democracy stands for. Imagine yourself all the possible targets. But, on the other hand, like Nima Dervish said: The ones who says that it has nothing to do with Islam is wrong, but the ones who blame all Muslims are also wrong. It is important not to further stigmatizing all Muslims for what some extremist lowlifes are on to, but we need to prevent terrorism.

I have lived in Israel for one and a half years now, and although no suicide attacks have been occurring here lately I am myself stripped off of any naive illusions from living with these people who grew up under a constant terror threat. I just hoped that the Swedes would never need to get numb. I guess those days are over.

Stop building and draw that damn border!

I believe that the only right thing to do is to halt settlement construction until the future border is agreed upon. Although I know that many settlers were encouraged to move to the territories by generous subsidies from the state, I find the settlement enterprise of today appalling and not more than an arrogant strategy to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. Same goes for East Jerusalem.

The proponents of the settlement enterprise often argue for a need of the settlements as a geopolitical security measure, and indeed was this once a legitimate reason. However, in present time, when Israel has agreed upon a two-state solution, there is no morally acceptable reason to keep on building in Jewish settlements until we know which settlements will be evacuated or not. Especially not for the reason of "natural growth". If my children one day want a house, they cannot demand that there automatically will be a house for them in Kiryat Tivon, so why on earth would it be so for people living on land that is not even Israeli yet - if it will ever be.

Then the settlers claim the unfairness in not halting constructions for the Palestinians, but as I see it there is one fundamental difference. There are no Arab cities or villages in the West Bank that risk being evacuated in order to be annexed by Israel, whereas all the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are disputed until the day the final border has been drawn. Every inch that does not contain Jewish settlements (plus of course the settlements that will be evacuated), will become Palestinian territory in their future state - so why can the Palestinians not build on that land?

Foggy distance

I noticed that the rightist news broadcasting in Israel mentioned that the party "Sverigedemokraterna" (Swedish Democrats) have taken seats in the Swedish parliament after the general elections last Sunday. They referred to it as an anti-Muslim and pro-Israeli party, as if they were allies of some sort. However, they forgot to mention the important detail that the party has its origin in the neo-nazi movement. Alas, the flirting with the pro-Israeli lobby is just a dirty scam. They do not like Jews more than they like Arabs. Clearly, the Israeli coverage of Sweden is not more accurate than the Swedish coverage of Israel...

Update: Haaretz seems a bit more sober on the matter.

Still a blueberry

I am pouring up a cold drink in preparation to watch live broadcasting from Washington, when Yoram looks at me with a funny grin on his face and says: "I can tell that this is your first peace process".

It is hard for people born elsewhere to grasp how deep the despair and cynicism goes...

Day by day

A second terror attack in two days. It is pretty clear that there are strong opponents against any kind of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and I am sure we have not seen the end of that. On the other hand, the Jewish settler bullies promise to continue building on their settlements and outposts as a mere answer to the terror attacks. This is how peace talks are shattered, and it is not the first time. It is a pattern. I just hope that there will not be another terror wave within Israeli territory.

I wish that leftist pro-Palestinians in Sweden and other European countries would realise that supporting the Palestinian resistance movement is not any more about achieving peace and a sovereign state for the Palestinian people. Hailing Hamas, equals supporting a fascistic and ultra-nationalistic regime whose ultimate goal is to eliminate Israel and to create a totalitarian, theocratic state that will oppress women, as well as persecuting anyone who will not abide to their mediaeval moral standards. Sometimes I wonder what drug dazed the minds of these notorious Israel-haters.

Speaking of drugs, I have previously tried to illustrate with words how it is to live in this intense region, where life is embraced like every day was the last one, for valid reasons! Lately I have seen several persons refer to it like the whole population being on drugs. Michael Totten have published some interesting interviews with people who have extensive experience from both Israel and Lebanon that pictures the parallel universes that seem to exist within a nation. The bright side is that most people choose life in this environment of dark forces of terror, oppressing power and continuous war.

A night-club in the Lebanese capital Beirut has made a commercial that expresses this contrast in a fascinating, but at the same time disturbing way. Lebanon is much more polarised than Israel, but Beirut is still in many ways comparable to Tel Aviv, where people dance their heads off although bombs can start dropping any minute.

We have aikido friends in Lebanon. I wish that we one day can take the car and drive straight up to Beirut and join for a freeing aikido session. First we need to withdraw from the drugs. However, the heaviest addicts have to be dealt with first, and that is people like Ahmadinejad, Nasrallah, Haniyeh and Meshal, who seem to go on a mix of crack, meth and PCP.

Washington summit

"Everybody already know how the final agreement will look like", Moshe Amirav says on the TV news. Suddenly it strikes me that he is right. There is no other way. Approximately 9% of the West Bank will be annexed to Israel in a land swap, and this includes the largest settlement blocs. Jerusalem will be divided with the holy basin run by a special regime, and the Eastern Arab neighbourhoods will become the Palestinian capital. No Palestinian refugees will return to Israeli territory. The dream of a united Jerusalem is the sacrifice for the Jewish nation and the right to return is the Palestinian dream that is shattered. The procrastination is only a charade. The question is whether the leaders are brave enough. Are they ready to do the concessions? Bibi? Abu Mazen? Yalla! Kadima!

Then of course we have Hamas to deal with, who like loyal clockworks executed a terror attack just in time for the initiation of the peace negotiations. I do not have to put in words how I feel about the settlement enterprise, but being savagely shot down is a bit harsh punishment for occupying land.

Then there is Iran. I wish that people would understand that the Mideast conflict is about more than just some land in the Levant...

Medical marijuana in Israel

Some friends, like Assi, like to call me a hippie. Not only because I choose to see the good in people before I judge (if I judge at all). I just happen to believe that I am generally a little bit more in touch with my true nature, as well as the nature around us. I cannot understand the negative hysteria around naked bodies, and I think that processed food tastes like crap. I also happen to know that weed is not as harmful to you as the authorities in for example Sweden want to scare everybody into believing.

It is not only pleasurable to smoke some weed for recreational purposes now and then. It also has a very strong indication for medical use. 14 states in the US have legalised medical marijuana. It is prescribed to patients with terminal diseases in order to relieve pain and negative side-effects from other strong drugs, like chemotherapy. Patients with terminal cancer, or AIDS, get pain relief, but they also get an improved life quality through regained appetite, better sleep and general relaxation. Who is to decide over a dying person anyway?

Israel also has a medical marijuana program today. The company Tikun Olam grows and distributes medicinal marijuana under the good eye of the Israeli Health Ministry. Today around 1,800 people get help to relieve pain caused by various conditions. Stories like this gives me hope for this country.

Phoney license

Now I am well established in the stable in Sde Yaakov, and I will keep on going there to ride their horses. However, after seeing my riding skills, I was asked by both the owner and the instructor if I have an instructor's license. Of course I have none. I am not even an official resident yet (but in a month I will be). Besides, in Sweden it is not necessary, at least not when you are instructing adults.

I started to investigate this kind of license and discovered a corrupt system that is built on money and not competence. Several private "academies" (like this one) offer instructor education's that are certified by the Israeli Sports Ministry and accepted by the insurance establishment. They learn about security and first aid, as well as some methodology and didactics, which most likely enables them to keep students safe around the horses. However, this is not where the shoe hurts. These institutions accept students that never sat on a horse before. In 300 hours training you can go from a complete novice, to teaching other people how to ride. Any one who is an experienced horse rider understands that this is impossible if you want to maintain a high quality. For this you have to pay around 10,000 ILS (20,000 SEK)!

Here I come, with 30 years of experience from various horse disciplines, and I am not allowed to teach even adults. I would say that the Israeli horse-riding instructor license is a big fraud that dupes eager students into believing that they will learn from an experienced rider. Instead, most of these newly-baked instructors can teach beginners to hold on to a horse in all gaits, but that's it. And that is not riding, as far as I am concerned. It is just travelling on a horse, which is something completely different. Truth is that it takes years and years to develop your own skills enough so you can actually work a horse in a correct way, and even more years before you can channel this knowledge into other riders.

Anyway, I will not spend 10,000 ILS on studying on a level where I do not belong, even though it would give me a license. I will keep on sharing my knowledge and assistance with anyone who desires it. License or not.

My own gut morals

I know that speaking in terms of pre-1967 borders and Green line (1949 Armistice Agreements) has very little to do with a future drawing of the border between Israel and Palestine. The 1949 Armistice Agreements were intended to serve only as interim agreements until replaced by permanent peace treaties, and in the aftermath of the Six Day War in 1967, the UN Security Council Resolution 242 clearly called for the establishment of “secure and recognised boundaries", created after negotiations.

Both Israel and the PA have agreed on land swapping, which means that the largest Jewish settlements along the Green line will be incorporated in Israel, while Palestine will get corresponding areas from Israeli land. Bottom-line is, that I know that not all settlements will have to evacuate, and I acknowledge a somewhat difference between people who are born and brought up in the largest well-established settlements very close to the Green line, compared to the fundamentalist youngsters who notoriously build new outposts deep into the West Bank. But what to do with a settlement like Ariel, which is so large that it is defined as a city, goes beyond my imagination, as it is situated right in the centre of the Northern part of the West Bank.

Nevertheless, every time I meet an Israeli who lives on the other side of the Green line, or a company that operates from there, I get a strong gut feeling of wrongness. I accept the complexity of the situation, and that there have been strategic security reasons for establishing some of the settlements, simply paving the way for the intentions in Resolution 242. I also know that many of these settlers will be allowed to stay after a final agreement, but my own conscience and morals would never allow myself to go and live on the other side of the Green line. Most likely not even work there. Settlement of the disputed territories is simply not something that I would like to be involved in, because every inch causes more tensions and aversion against the Israeli nation, in addition to slowing down the peace process. Fact remains that the Israelis have been able to "mark territories", while the Palestinians have not had the same opportunity. That is not fair game.

Then on the other hand, without any direct negotiations we will never get close to any final agreements, and Abu Mazen obviously has more important things on his mind that coming to the negotiation table, or to accept any offers from the Israelis. The Fatah-Hamas conflict, internal fractions in Gaza (in Swedish) and the threats from Iran and its new ally Turkey(!) complicates the question far beyond what the Israel-Palestine "experts" in far-away countries like Sweden can comprehend. Alas, no clear solution to the conflict this time either.

Moral conduct and removed privileges

It is popular to holler about the alleged immoral character of the Israeli Defence Forces. This is of course always done without any consideration to the fact that the IDF is involved in operations of war. In a war situation, tragical mistakes do happen, innocent people die and get injured. Sometimes even individual soldiers fail to follow the general moral codes and orders. We simply have a human factor involved.

However, when these mistakes are taken out of context it is easy to create an image of a systematic immoral conduct. Not only do you need to take a look at what routines there are on measurements taken after incidents like these, but also modus operandi of the opponent, and in what situations the soldiers find themselves.

About one and a half year after Operation Cast Lead, an Israeli soldier is now facing charges over the shooting of two Palestinian women. The soldier disregarded the IDF's rules of engagement and fired at a group of civilians that according to witnesses waived a white flag. This is the third indictment against soldiers who participated in the operation, where the two pervious ones were for theft and illegal use of credit cards, and overstepping authority.

Please show me one military force in this whole wide world that never has incidents like these. And please, put the IDF into comparison with Hamas, who oppresses, kills and tortures their own people, while celebrating every Israeli civilian victim they deliberately succeed to hit. And no, there are no extenuating circumstances just because they are the underdog.

To finish off with something completely different, I am happy to note that the Israeli Supreme Court is starting to clean up among the slackers and racists in the Haredi swamp. Mikael Tossavainen wrote nicely about this on his blog.

Feeding the "Ha! I told you so..."

I wonder why Uri Avnery (Translated artice in Dagens Nyheter) and Gideon Levy (Translated artice in Svenska Dagbladet) are the most hailed Israeli journalists in Sweden. Or, as a matter of fact I know why already. They say exactly what the Swede wants to hear.

- Israel is solely responsible for everything, while on the boats there were merely innocent peace activists. Hep!

- As soon as the siege over Gaza is lifted, the Mideast will turn into a Garden of Eden. Hep!

It does not matter how much I actually do agree with their factual criticism of the Israeli method of operating, but I still consider their biased approach a mock on the complexity of the Mideast situation. And as far as the Swedes are concerned, they search for information where they know that they will find what they want to hear. Unfortunately it will keep them from lifting their vision from the blame game. How can we use that constructively? We cannot.

I do not suggest that you avoid reading them. They do provide just criticism, but unless you find some appropriate complementation, you will find yourself intellectually malnutritioned.

Diversity and boycotts

On Saturday we took a trip to Daliyat al-Karmel, to visit their colourful market that is open on Saturdays. We needed a finjan to make coffee in, and it was the first thing that we bought. During bargaining for the pot and some small cups, we were told that one of the guys in the stand was a Copt who had fled from Egypt. While Copts always have been persecuted and discriminated due to religious intolerance in the Egyptian society, sectarian violence against them have increased in recent years.

This inevitably brings me to think of the constant condemnations of discrimination and segregation in the Israeli society. The situation is far from perfect here, and Arab communities do deal with many problems, some of which have an explanation in the inhabitants own choices, while others are fair enough to blame on higher-level issues. Israel do have a government at the moment with some despicable and racist leaders, like the foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and the interior minister Eli Yishai, who continuously makes statements that make you gasp for air. However, I do not find these individuals representative for the general attitude in Israeli population. Things must be put in perspective and even though this kind are alive and kickin', the situation for ethnic minorities, as well as people with other than conformal heterosexual preferences, Israel is like a "Gan Eden" compared to in the adjacent theocratic Islamist nations.

Today I made a hummus batch with a tahina made in Nablus. I do not boycott products from the Palestinian territories just because some people there want to execute terror attacks on Israelis. Boycott is one of the stupidest strategies to put pressure on any regime or organisation. Boycotting Israeli products is also laughable. First of all it would not be enough to stop buying Jaffa oranges, or even look for the Israeli bar code "729". You would also have to shut down your mobile phone and most likely your TV, as well as other high-tech equipment, since it contains Israeli-made components. But if you still would focus on fruits and vegetables, I want you to know that "729" also covers the territories, so boycotting Israeli agricultural products means that you boycott not only Arab farmers within the green line, but also Palestinian farmers in the territories, of which some co-operates with the large export companies in Israel. Clever?

UN Council of Israel-bashing

The world is now beginning to realise that the activists on the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara is linked to the Islamist organisation IHH, and several of the killed activists have previously expressed a desire to become martyrs. Back in Istanbul, the "victory" is morbidly celebrated. Human lives were ruthlessly sacrificed to give Israel a huge PR blow. Still, the defenders of the flotilla refuse to acknowledge any responsibility on the behalf of the activists.

The United Nations Human Rights Council decided Wednesday to dispatch an international committee of inquiry to the region to look into the events of the Gaza flotilla. A total of 32 countries voted in favor of the committee of inquiry, nine abstained and three - the U.S., the Netherlands and Italy - voted against.

In this council, there is a majority of countries with ties to Arab nations. This makes it easy for them to create their own agenda in the voting procedures. Israel had been condemned 15 times in less than two years. By April 2007, the council had passed nine resolutions condemning Israel, the only country which it had specifically condemned. The council voted on 30 June 2006 to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent feature of every council session. The resolution, which was sponsored by Organization of the Islamic Conference, passed by a vote of 29 to 12 with five abstentions. Toward Sudan, another country with human rights abuses as documented by the council's working groups, it has expressed "deep concern."

What is your bet on the next report? What fool is going to put his name on this one?

Obama has suggested that Israel probes the incident themselves (something they will do anyway), but under US supervision, although Netanyahu is delaying to come up with an answer due to internal disagreements in the government. To me, this seems like a more reliable solution than allowing the UN council to do it, a council that long ago diverted from the original dream of Eleanor Roosevelt, René Cassain and the other eminent figures that created the Commission of Human Rights at Lake Geneva some 60 years ago.

At the same time, Hamas is proving its dishonest intentions by blocking Israel from delivering the aids from the ships into Gaza. It surely makes me wonder how disastrous the situation in Gaza really is. On one hand, Hamas is known to confiscate aids for their own benefits and starve their own citizens, but then a Danish reporter presented an article (Danish) after visiting Gaza the other day, which shows that the problems look slightly different from what Palestinian media sources want to present. There are no real shortage of food and building material, but rather low employment rates, which prevent the citizens from buying the goods. This can can easily be explained by the agenda of the Hamas regime, who instead of focusing on building up the economy, direct all their resources on violent resistance against Israel. The blooming economy on the West Bank, where roadblocks and checkpoints continuously are removed should be proof enough.

To repeat myself, I am not defending the blockade. I find it non-effective on both preventing radicalisation and the continuous terror attacks, but the security question is real and valid and it needs to be taken into consideration. See what happened when Israel left Gaza the first time. Hamas is not any spring chicken. This Iran-backed theocracy butchers its own citizens if they open their mouths and confiscate humanitarian aids. What makes you think that they would stop if they had open borders?

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:

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...

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...