Day 11

Day 1117thOctober 2023 Yesterdayyou read about my reaction to one bang, one boom and my reaction, and you wereconcerned, for which I am truly grateful, but imagine living in a wonderfulrural area, but every day, every hour, a constant bombardment of rockets andmissiles, not one measly little bang. Children who have grown up in fear,hearing the siren, on a constant basis with 15 seconds to find shelter. Babieswho have barely known a night’s sleep and became used to having their days and nightsdisturbed. So you see, my single boom was irrelevant, an annoyance and Ishouldn’t complain. Thismorning I went to my art studio. It was a last minute decision because we allneeded to be with others in friendly surroundings. We have to keep ourselvesbusy. Zvi met his friends of the Tuesday parliament all thirsty for any fresh news.This evening I went to my movement class, just a few of us right next to ourestate. We danced outside on the deck of the community centre with its viewover Jerusalem and then we spoke about the connotations of that dance for eachof us. One felt deep guilt at dancing because those wonderful young people weredancing when they were mown down or captured; another felt that she was dancingfor those who can no longer dance; me, well I danced, looking over the lightsof Jerusalem in the distance determined to dance in honour of those who perished,the hostages, the families, willing this country to accept the pain, acceptthat we cannot change what was only what will be. Anunexpected invitation for supper from our neighbours Rachel and Yehuda, was anunexpected delight. Of course, the topic of conversation was around politicalleadership and the horrors of Black Sabbath, the 7th. We can’t helpit. As we left our house to walk up to theirs, we met with another neighbourout for a walk. “How are you? And the family?” to which she responded thattheir two sons and one son in law have all been called up and are down south.We responded the only way one can “Please God they will be safe and come homewhole” Again, I must explain the incredible togetherness, the care thatabounds, the need to do something, anything. I would be lying if I claimed thatthe rancour of the past months doesn’t creep into our lives. When the familiesof the hostages stood in silent demonstration outside the Defence Ministry,there were those who heckled them and worse, but it is rare. ShiraRuderman is here in Israel, down South, serving food to soldiers and so muchmore, Jay, her husband is back home and created this podcast of a First Responderwith United Hazolah who drove immediately, at 06:00 on the 7th, fromJerusalem to the scene in the South. Linor Attias tells what she found and whatshe did. This is essential listening. https://allaboutchangepodcast.com/  I am so proud of the Ruderman family. Jay isa member of the Impact-se Board Talking ofambulances, they have changed the sirens here so that they don’t sound like theRed Alert Sirens. PresidentBiden is coming tomorrow to show solidarity with the people of Israel. Israelisare deeply moved by his words which he has translated into action. ThePresident will meet with the families of Americans taken hostage and of coursewith the Emergency Cabinet. He will go on to meet with King Abdullah of Jordanand while in Amman he will meet also with President Sisi of Egypt. In anothermove of solidarity UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is coming next week. The liesabound. Today’s special was that Israel has bombed the Raffiah corridor preventinghumanitarian aid coming in to Gaza. There is one main problem with that claim –the aid never came in through the Raffiah corridor, it came in through KeremShalom from Israel not from Egypt. The Egyptians have closed any crossings anddo not give aid to the Gazans and now made it very clear that they refuse toaccept any Gazans into Egypt – a statement reiterated by King Abdullah!  In truth, nobody wants Gaza, citizens alwaysfomenting, inciting, hatred, uncontrollable. Israel took it on but left in 2005after we realised that the population was uncontrollable and liable to go on akilling spree of the Jews who lived there. If you remember e left them viable tomatofarms which they promptly burned! Remember I saidthat we have to stop donating to Universities in the USA where the anti-Israel sentimenthas become dangerous, so much so that Jewish students are in danger. WellLeslie and Abigail Wexner, of Victoria’s Secret fame have ceased to donate toHarvard University. It’s a good start! It’s nowlate and even during our delightful supper I could see the orange stripesappear on the television screen giving the list of towns and cities with RedAlerts, missiles in the air on the way to disturb everyone’s sleep. They arestill falling on the destroyed villages of the South, all the way up thecoastal area, including Tel Aviv, again, all the way to Kfar Saba. There have alsobeen a few missiles on Metulla in the North, yes, some Hezb-Allah operativesare trying to open up another front.  We need youto help us fight the inevitable media war. As you well know the world loves anunderdog and although we appear to be Goliath, in fact we are a tiny country,smaller than Wales, smaller than Maine, actually Maine is three times largerthan Israel! Remember my motto? If the media won’t inform us the we must informthe media. Talk to anyone and everyone about Israeli society, about the factthat thanks to Hamas, they not only slaughtered Jews they hold their ownpopulation under an oppressive regime ensuring abject poverty despite thebillions of dollars that pour into Hamas coffers to buy more and more armamentsto use against Israel. Please remember, Hamas = ISIS = Daeesh. You reallyare amazing, each and every one of you. Your support, be it moral, financial,verbal and just sending love, is incredible and know that I don’t take it forgranted. We are in what is turning into a world wide phenomenon, Jew hatred. Ifwe stand up strong, heads held high and respond to lies with truth, we can comeout the other side of this. Sending mylove, to each and every one of you. Thank youSheila  -- If the media does not inform us we must inform the mediaMy Website http://www.theviewfrommyveranda.info/Facebook      Sheila Silver Raviv Involvement   http://www.impact-se.org/