לערב יום הזכרון, ויום העצמאות

(Temporary Hebrew Mode)

האמת שחשבתי לכתוב את הפוסט הזה בעברית. אפילו ניסיתי, עד שהפנמתי את האמת המרה: עד כמה שאני גרוע בלבטא את עצמי באנגלית, אני אפילו גרוע יותר בעברית. בקרוב סוגר 9 שנים מחוץ לישראל (חוץ מביקורים שנתיים) אז באמת, אין פלא. אבל בקרוב הכל ישתנה.

נחזור לאנגלית, שם אולי יש לי סיכוי…

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The text you see above was the consequence of myself trying to write a post in Hebrew, my mother tongue. I really tried, given the special circumstances today in Israel—today is the annual Memorial Day—however I quickly realized that even worse than I am expressing myself in English, I do in Hebrew. Clear sign that maybe I have been here for a long, long time already.

So, lets give this a shot… spare the rotten tomatoes.

I felt bad after writing my last post; it wasn’t a positive one. Forget about the mild annoyances in adjusting to Vancouver’s rhythm and the bureaucracy involved; that will pass. While writing, my mind was somehow carried away to international politics in general, and the security situation in Israel in particular. As time goes by and I’m having a pretty decent time here in Canada, I can’t help but becoming more and more worried about my home country—if only for the reason that my entire family lives there, plus some of my best friends.

I ended that post wishing Europe “Good Luck”, now that it has to deal with the consequences of the blind political-correctness and multiculturalism it has imposed upon itself, ever so stupidly and recklessly, over the past few decades.

Guess I was a bit upset, and you know what… perhaps that’s understandable. After all, when the official European Union’s foreign policy calls to devoid my home country from its values (as well as its right over some of its land), while paying millions over millions of soon-to-be-worthless Euros to all sorts of “liberation organizations” (the common to all of which is their stated goal of painting an entire country blue and merge it with the beautiful Mediterranean Sea)… I guess I can allow myself to get into a bit of a defensive mood.

While following Mark Knopfler’s Get Lucky tour, I met so many wonderful people in Europe—many of which I am still in touch with. My dear friends there, I really and honestly wish you all well and I know you clearly don’t deserve the change that Europe is going to go through over the next ten years or so. My condolences; I wish your governments were at least as smart as you are. Vote better, next time around (except for Italy, where it really doesn’t matter who you vote for).

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Tonight is Memorial Eve in Israel; it takes place annually, usually in mid-May (as its exact date is determined by the Hebrew calendar rather than the Gregorian one), but always 24 hours before Israel celebrates Independence Day. The proximity of the two is intentional; the paramount role of Israel’s fallen soldiers (as well as the Israeli casualties of fanatic Islamist’s terrorism) in shaping and strengthening the country is unshakeable and this distinction is instilled with Israeli people right from infancy (at least, that’s how things used to be when I was growing up).

Up until the early 2000’s, Memorial Day (which starts at Memorial Eve and lasts for 24 hours, when Independence Day celebrations commence) was there to commemorate those who had fallen in Israel’s many wars (all of which were, and still are, involuntary; Israel has never declared war upon any country). Once the number of terror casualties was too hard to dismiss as yet another statistic, the law was changed to include those who fell casualties to terrorist acts.

Being in a state of war… for, effectively, 63 years. Ever since the country has been established. Hell, the first war broke a few hours after the country’s declaration of independence; many (including myself) see today’s ongoing fanatic Islam’s terrorism as an indirect continuation to that war, so in effect, really, Israel has been in war for 63 years.

Can you imagine this for a moment? Imagine that, ever since you’re a small kid, you’re being told that there is a huge group of people “out there” that would like you dead. Sounds rough, I know; but then you grow up, and you start doubting it. Is it really true? no, it can’t be. I mean, a perfect world wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen…

And then, when you’re around 15 years old, getting ready for an important test in high school, news break and tells you that dozens of people have died courtesy to the supreme idiocy of some suicide bomber who decided to bomb himself inside a bus, to prove that his stupid religion is so important to him.

When you live your life like that, you tend to lose your naivety well before adulthood. Unless you’re a moron (and unfortunately, morons procreate faster than non-morons nowadays), you start connecting the dots and realizing that, hey, nothing here should be taken for granted.

At the meantime, some lunatic morons leading the European Union’s foreign policy tell you that you’re actually an aggressor, and that if you only “let go”, then “everything will be OK”. Comes this guy who answers to the name Javier Solana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Solana), somehow gets appointed to be the Secretary-General of the EU and starts lecturing to you, on a weekly basis, that you’re effectively a paranoid and that nobody’s really there to kill you. Never mind the fact that this complete dumbass of a sub-human comes from a little country called Spain, which boasts a wonderful, tiny city named Madrid, where 191 people were killed (and another 1,800 wounded) when fanatic Islamists decided that, apparently, the Cercanías (Spain’s commuter train) system isn’t efficient enough for modern society so it simply must blow up.

Same goes for another lunatic who goes by the name Jack Straw. This fellow used to be the UK’s Foreign Minister back in the happy Gordon Brown days; throughout his entire tenure, imbecile Mr. Straw has repeatedly proven himself to be a complete ass by invalidating Israel’s right to protect itself from aggression. And no, he didn’t even stop after July 7, 2005, when (well, what do you know, once again) a group of fanatic Islamists decided that they aren’t very happy with London’s famous Tube system and decided to re-architect the Circle Line and Piccadilly Line with the little aid of some fireworks. 42 people dead, 700 injured.

So, all of these experiences and mixed signals you get from around the world, kinda gets to you. Especially once you leave the country and go live in a peaceful place such as Canada, when you realize how chaotic things are and that the only people who are more moronic than those who drive mass-media, are the masses that actually follow them.

Not that Canada lacks its share of idiots, of course. Michael Ignatieff, the (now former) leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, was quoted in 2006 accusing Israel of committing war crimes against Lebanon, when the former retaliated following years over years of being subject to missiles being fired by yet another group of fanatics. Ignatieff later retracted his comment, apparently after being ridiculed to oblivion.

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The results, however, speak for themselves. The country still exists and is thriving. Of course it has its own set of peculiar problem—generally rooted in completely incompetent leadership—but still, a great country.

It won, and it’s still winning. Happy birthday, Israel!

Isaac