Experiences of an Israeli mother and blogger during this war on terror.
Lisa Brink
My roots are in South Africa but my heart has always been in Israel. I realised a lifelong dream and made aliyah with my 2 children in June 2006 and – despite the country throwing a war to welcome us – have never looked back. We made our home amongst the famous strawberry fields of Hod Hasharon where I run a cookery school and spend more time than I care to admit on social networking and news sites.
I’ve learned that seeing the initial photographs of soldiers we’ve lost, and later pictures of their funerals, feels like being disemboweled without an anesthetic.
– I’ve learned to resist the urge to throw something heavy at the television screen when BBC and CNN news anchors deliver their venomous, biased reports.
– I’ve learned that it takes only the slightest amount of fanning to turn the ever-present spark of anti-Semitism into a raging fire.
– I’ve learned that, when you reach the ballot box, it’s more important to vote for the candidate you’d want leading the country in war time, than times of peace.
– I’ve learned that friends with sons in Gaza inexplicably manage to work, eat, shop, cook, and answer well meaning questions, all the while holding their breath.
– I’ve learned to only ever leave the house wearing waterproof mascara.
– I’ve learned the sheer terror that comes with being caught outdoors the very first time I ever heard a siren, and running home because I didn’t yet know I should be hitting the ground instead, all the while expecting to see rocket fire light up the night sky.
– I’ve learned that 30 000 people will brave the punishing, July heat to attend the funeral of a lone soldier they’d never met, and that so many thousands of people will visit recuperating lone soldiers in hospital, that an announcement will be made on the news, asking well-wishers to allow our heroes to rest.
– I’ve learned that 800 metres from your home isn’t very far at all, when rocket debris is falling on your neighborhood fields.