Tuesday, July 22, 2008

2nd Tractor attack in Jerusalem

My basic Israel itinerary is one week in each city in the following order: Jerusalem, Tzfat (Sefad), Tel Aviv. However, I've been charged with the mission of hand-carrying posters of the Coexisence Exhibit from the Museum on the Seam back to Dhaka. (In case your wondering why I'm being a personal schlepper instead of just shipping it, please remember that Bangladesh-along with various other nations- doesn't recognize that Israel exists, even as it celebrates its 60th year. I personally think this denial is quiet dangerous for Israel, but that's a theme I won't expand at the moment.)

So, when a friend, B. called me in Tel Aviv late last night and asked me if I wanted to take a day-trip to Jerusalem with him today, I pounced on the opportunity to pick up the posters and check off my list my one major "job" for the trip. So around 8am, we hoped on a bus to Jerusalem.

B. has gone to apartment hunt and study for finals and I went to the Museum on the Seam. As I walked from the bus stop to the Museum I saw a multitude of police and emergency vehicles with sirens blaring heading quickly in the direction from which I had just come. As my mother taught me, I said a quick prayer for the success of their efforts and the safety of all people involved in the accident/ emergency- whatever that maybe- and walked into the museum.

After seeing the current exhibit at the museum and picking up the posters I hopped into a cab and headed for an internet cafe. First of all, the cab driver, Ori, was the absolute nicest cab driver I've ever met and a really good teacher of Hebrew. When many (all for a while) of the roads we needed to follow were closed I recalled the sirens and asked what happened. Ori told me that there was another tractor attack today near the hotel where Obama was suppose to stay upon arrival tomorrow. The information was delivered very factually, without any demonstrative change in emotion. The delivery seemed to make the conversation almost normal and commonplace.

Needless to say, I wasn't in the area of the tractor attack. I'm still waiting to hear from my friends, but I'm pretty sure they were away from the attack as well.

Obviously there are so many thoughts running through my head- however, since my recent peeps into the gripping depth of Jew-hatred in Bangladesh and consequence reading, my brain seems to be constantly returning to this subject. For the moment, I'll let the thoughts run through my head. I don't want to write anything here until I have the exact facts/ references that support them. For the meantime, know that I am well.

2 comments:

Mandy Halpin said...

1. Glad you're safe.

2. How's the press there reporting on Obama's travels?

The Gypsy Queen's Daughter said...

I haven't read much press on Obama- but I have had some really interesting conversations here about Obama. The general sentiment is that he would be very bad for Israel because he would try to appease aggressors and doesn’t understand the fundamental, non-western mentality of conflict that exists in the Middle East. They also worry that Obama doesn't have a defined platform and is only succeeding because he is too savvy a politian. Additionally, for those (Isrealis and Americans) who grew up in Communist Russia, they are very worried about the PR/ rhetoric/ imagery used by the Obama campaign because it mimics the cult-like rhetoric/ messianic imagery used by leaders in the USSR.