It is late Tuesday afternoon here and we really have not posted to the blog in many days. We are now in the second week of a very fragile cease fire. Everyone seems to agree that the firing may have stopped but the war is not over by any means.
Somehow everyone is making an effort to get back to some degree of normal living. Haifa is again a bustling city; Rehov Freud which goes by our house is again one huge traffic jam; the stores are having "end of season" sales, trying to get customers to return after a month of nearly empty stores; the long summer vacation is near its end and youngsters are thinking about returning to school at the beginning of September.
Yet, things are not the same. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in one of his speeches before the war that he was looking foirward to an Israel where people could live and have fun. That does not describe the current mood here. Everyone talks about how we missed the mark in so many ways. Military intelligence apparently paid little attention to developments with Hezbollah in Lebanon; equipment did not reach the soldiers on the front lines; reservists were sent to the front with inadequate preparation. Not at all like the IDF that everyone counted on. So, people to contnue to be nervous and uncertain about the future. There is a serious lack of confidence in the military and political leadership of the country. Not good news, hard to write about.
Yet people want to talk about their personal experiences during the last weeks. Where they were when sirens sounded; how did it feel to hear the boom of rockets; why they stayed in Haifa or why they left; the connectedness of family and friends of soldiers who served in Lebanon and who may have been wounded or who made the ultimate sacrifice.
It is important to notice the reluctance of the international community to follow-up on their commitments stipulated in the UN Resolution which resulted in the cease fire. It will take a long time to pull together an international force that will provide security for Israel on the northern border and to keep Hezbollah in check.
So, what is to be learned from these last weeks? The issues are not just between Hezbollah and Israel. The picture is a much broader and deeper one. We certainly now know more about Hezbollah and power of the Iranian-Syrian connection; the conflict is much larger, between radical Islam and the West with the Lebanese border the current venue. Pat has pointed out that Israel cannot go alone here. We need a coalition of allies who understand the bigger picture and are willing and able to resist the evils of Hezbollah.
More to follow.
Frank
Somehow everyone is making an effort to get back to some degree of normal living. Haifa is again a bustling city; Rehov Freud which goes by our house is again one huge traffic jam; the stores are having "end of season" sales, trying to get customers to return after a month of nearly empty stores; the long summer vacation is near its end and youngsters are thinking about returning to school at the beginning of September.
Yet, things are not the same. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in one of his speeches before the war that he was looking foirward to an Israel where people could live and have fun. That does not describe the current mood here. Everyone talks about how we missed the mark in so many ways. Military intelligence apparently paid little attention to developments with Hezbollah in Lebanon; equipment did not reach the soldiers on the front lines; reservists were sent to the front with inadequate preparation. Not at all like the IDF that everyone counted on. So, people to contnue to be nervous and uncertain about the future. There is a serious lack of confidence in the military and political leadership of the country. Not good news, hard to write about.
Yet people want to talk about their personal experiences during the last weeks. Where they were when sirens sounded; how did it feel to hear the boom of rockets; why they stayed in Haifa or why they left; the connectedness of family and friends of soldiers who served in Lebanon and who may have been wounded or who made the ultimate sacrifice.
It is important to notice the reluctance of the international community to follow-up on their commitments stipulated in the UN Resolution which resulted in the cease fire. It will take a long time to pull together an international force that will provide security for Israel on the northern border and to keep Hezbollah in check.
So, what is to be learned from these last weeks? The issues are not just between Hezbollah and Israel. The picture is a much broader and deeper one. We certainly now know more about Hezbollah and power of the Iranian-Syrian connection; the conflict is much larger, between radical Islam and the West with the Lebanese border the current venue. Pat has pointed out that Israel cannot go alone here. We need a coalition of allies who understand the bigger picture and are willing and able to resist the evils of Hezbollah.
More to follow.
Frank
posted by Frank and Pat Fischer at 8:36 AM
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