JANUARY 28, 2024

“If a siren should sound during the movie there is no need to create a drama…., or a comedy.  Remain seated, cover your head with your hands and arms, and wait 10 minutes; after that, the movie will continue.

Last night at 2:35 AM the siren went off and once again neighbors met in the shelter in our building. It was the fourth time this week that the Houthis in Yemen launched ballistic missiles into Israel. I still haven’t figured out why they are bombing Israel when Wikipedia says they portray themselves as “fighting for economic development and the end of the political marginalization of Zaydi Shias, as well as by promoting regional political-religious issues in its media”.

Daily life in Israel has always had its challenges. Although most of us continue in our routine there are still 100 hostages being held in Gaza (although Hamas doesn’t seem to know where they are), and 300,000 reservists are serving in the army; many three to four months at a time. There is cautious hope for the cease-fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon to hold and for an agreement to be reached with Hamas in Gaza. Several small Israeli towns have been destroyed, along with what appears to be most of Gaza, and the number of people displaced and killed will never be known. This seems to be the new “normal”, along with occasional terrorist attacks, including one this Friday, which we have learned to live with over the decades. Glimmers and past bold steps towards peace have flickered out and we are living in a holding pattern that raises questions, but not answers, to what life in the region will look like for our children and grandchildren.

Being in the Middle East, and with Israel fighting Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Iran, and Yemen it is difficult to get a sense of what is going on. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, those committed to peace talk of accepting two or multiple narratives. This also means accepting the ambiguity of whatever reality can be grasped. Southern Lebanon has been dominated by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, committed to destroying Israel, for years. No foreign body has been able to root them out and restore any realistic governing structure. Israel has found tunnels, similar to those built in Gaza, where one can believe that attacks, similar to October 7th, were planned. Gaza was, and seems to still be, controlled by Hamas, which with Iran is also committed to destroying Israel. Syria is in a state of change and the many different factions in that country have yet to come together.

Prior to World War I, in 1909 & 1910, two influential and renowned books were published. The first, The Great Illusion, by Norman Angell arguing that the financial and economic interdependence of nations made war unprofitable and each warring nation would suffer equally. The premise was that war would bring such huge economic disaster and individual suffering that it would become unthinkable. The second book, equally as influential, was called Germany and the Next War by Friedrich von Bernhardi. It professed that war was a biological necessity and part of the progress of nations. I don’t think either was right, however being in the midst of war, tremendous suffering, a region immersed in trauma, and lacking clear stable leadership, it doesn’t appear that much has changed or has been learned from two world wars.

Staying optimistic about the future is difficult. Israel’s domestic issues, mainly crime, have been pushed to the side. Conflict between Arabs and Jews in Israel appears to have decreased and a recent study at the Tel Aviv University’s  Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation revealed that an increasing number of Arab/Palestinian citizens of Israel, (57.8%)  report that the current multi-front war created a shared sense of destiny between Jews and Arab citizens of Israel. Additionally, 70% supported the inclusion of Arab parties in the Israeli government, and half supported joining any government, not only a center-left coalition. I would like to think that a survey of Jewish Israelis would produce the same results. If I dig deep, a possible renewal of Trump’s Abraham Accord could change Israel’s long-standing occupation, however, it feels like there is a long road ahead before there will be any stability in the region.  Meanwhile, I find the only reliable measure of what is going on is if foreign airlines renew flights to Israel; none have. In the meantime, we will live through the dramas, remain seated, cover our heads with our hands and arms, and wait 10 minutes hoping that everyday life will continue as best as possible.