War(ped)

I feel like I have to say something, though truthfully I don't know what to say. I don't know how to respond to broken borders and blasted buildings - to rockets of all sorts of numbers and makes, sirens, shelters, soldiers in shrouds. An editorial in Haaretz today said this violence is different than the attacks of the Intifada, because it goes beyond busses and cafes and threatens the sacred spaces of homes. People in the North are returning to shelters carved in the ground. Parents all over this bite-sized country dread phones sounding off, commanding their kids back into uniforms.

On Wednesday, I attended a conference celebrating the creation of an index with the names of 200 Israeli women of all different backgrounds to be drafted as potential peace-makers in the event of negotiations with the Palestinians. Member of Knesset and Education Minister Yuli Tamir commented that it was the first time she felt there was truly no partner for peace. Women shouted about whether that will always be the excuse no matter what or whether circuits of dialogue have shorted beyond repair.

Friday afternoon, I paced around the shuk, forraging for a deal on hummus, for a carton of grapes and spices to mix with quinoa. I heard a woman hawking something. Before I could decode her words, I could have sworn she was yelling, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" Meanwhile tourists ordered cheese in broken Hebrew, girls with their heads covered pushed disposable candlesticks and prices on everything dropped as sunset drew closer. The only alarm was in the voice of that woman,who turned out to be pawning hot borekasim (flaky pastries stuffed with cheese, potatoes or veggies).

I'm worried about how war smears everything together. Individuals and governments, speakers of the same language, Gaza and Lebanon. Years spent designing and improving, building, organizing for civil society are smoked. Missles and rhetoric reduce things to rubble and pulp. . .

I pray for restraint, for the ability of those with power on all sides to see beyond their egos. For an Israel where war won't feel so much like home.