Okay, we’re back from the antipodes—in this case, Jordan and Israel. I think I accomplished my main objective, which was to come home in the same pants size (travel is broadening).
When they hear you have been to Jerusalem, people just naturally ask “were you on pilgrimage, seeking forgiveness for your life of sin?” It’s closer to truth to say that we went for the halva. But in fact, it was mostly a matter of tromping over ancient ruins, seeking satisfaction for an impulse of idle curiosity. Ruins, including ancient, is one thing they’ve got a bit of out there—a wise man says that the Eastern Mediterranean “has more history than it can consume locally.” The real trick is sorting it out: Greek from Roman, Roman from Jewish, Jewish from Christian, then Muslim and Byzantine and Crusader, then even bits of Lawrence of Arabia, though I grant you he is not quite ancient—all this and various permutations. You get this straight and you can move onto Intermediate Bronze Age (when, apparently, nothing happened), 10th Century Iron Age (nothing again, at least per the archaeologists) and Pre-pottery Neolithic B. For a child of the Pre-Tupperware Cybernetic, this is heavy stuff indeed.
Looking over my notes, I’d say we were pretty thorough. We visited Sodom in the company of a couple celebrating their wedding anniversary. Near Armageddon, we admired Israeli F-15s whizzing north towards the Lebanese border on a look-see (your tax dollars at work). Further up at Dan, we walked by a rushing stream through a bosky dell (who knew?) to a lookout point over which the Israelis and their adversaries just last summer were throwing pig iron at each other. On the edge of the Golan Heights, we scarfed down Seattle-born farm trout served up by a guy who said the tourist business is off this year, he guessed he knew why. The trout were tasty and unpretentious, on that last point not unlike the Israelis themselves who were also smart, energetic and generally good company, so much so that it took work to remember that they were also at the same time incinerating innocent babies in the Gaza Strip.
I see we had an election. And that, in the immortal words of Amy Poehler, “Iraq brought regime change to the U.S” (thanks, John).
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
In which I Suspend my Suspension from Blogging
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5 comments:
>>...the Israelis themselves who were also smart, energetic and generally good company, so much so that it took work to remember that they were also at the same time incinerating innocent babies in the Gaza Strip<<
Ahem! If you allow terrorists to fire on Israel and its own innocent babies practically from your own baby's cradle in Lebanon, don't act surprised if the Israeli's fire back at you.
It's called self-defense. Surely you've heard of that?
Or would you prefer to let the thugs in Lebanon incinerate Israeli babies? That would be cool because...?
--The New York Crank
(and feeling pretty damn mad and offended at the moment.)
A bit of a correction is in order. I somehow thought you were referring to Lebanon. Call it over-excited reading. You were referring to Gaza, which only launches "human" bombs against Israel. However, the principal remains intact.
--The New York Crank
If you visited Sderot while you were over there, and saw the place where hundreds of missles a month are shot by Gaza-based terrorists at Israel (with the shooters joyously celebrating and instantly achieving hero-status if they were lucky enough to hit a medical clinic or a pre-school), I suspect maybe you would be slower to judge Israel for her occassional efforts to target the rocket launch sites and the rocket-makers in Gaza. If you visited Gaza and saw how the bombers cynically locate their bomb-making facilities in hospitals and behind schools and day care centers, in the hope that the retaliation by Israel will kill some sick people or young children and create "good publicity," maybe you would understand a bit better what Israel faces. If you spoke with the thousands of Israelis whose family members were -- for the sin of sipping coffee at an outdoor cafe or taking the bus across town -- blown to pieces (nothing left but charred skin and bone fragments) by Hamas and Islamic Jihad suicide bombers (many of whom were youngsters sent by their parents and community leaders to blow up Jews so they could gain entry into Heaven), you might be slower to judge as well. If you want to form judgments about the conflict and Israel's role in it, maybe you should have done something more than tramp around Roman ruins for a few weeks.
Hm, this last comment must be directed at some other post. I don't see any judgment in my remarks at all. Anyway, most of the ruins were neolithic.
If you don't see a judgment in the inflamatory reference to "incinerating innocent babies" then you are not perceptive.
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