For most of us here in North America, Israel’s one of those places that we often talk about but haven’t visited. Even among Wendy’s and my immediate families — remember, her family’s Jewish — I believe only my Dad has been there. He went there as a young man in the early 1960s and probably saw a different country than it is today, both newly-formed and ancient at the same time. It was well before the Six-Day War, Golda Meir, Munich, Entebbe, Begin and Sadat, Lebanon, the Intifadahs, Gulf Wars and suicide bombings.
[To the left is a snapshot of channel 2 in Tel Aviv; Lisa’s the second person from the left.] I am probably quite unqualified to talk about the socio-politico-complexo-migraino issues surrounding Israel, but my friend Lisa Goldman is. She’s my friend Deenster’s older sister and is a journalist living in Tel Aviv. When I want a view of what’s going on in Israel and the West Bank that I’m not going to find in the news or the foaming-at-the-mouth pundits on either side of the Israel/Palestine debate, I go to her blog, On the Face.
Lisa’ latest entry covers Monday’s suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. She was about a fifteen-minute walk away when it happened, and she’s got words and pictures covering the aftermath. I’m glad to see she’s unharmed.