סושיBaba

Ahh, the holiday of trees - or ecological destruction….
Most of you who are reading this probably think I have fallen of the deep end, but Tu B’Shvat -the holiday of planting trees, has come to symbolize the destruction of natural ecosystems.
I am sure you remember at Sunday school or for any important Jewish event in the life of a Diaspora Jew, you would plant a tree in Israel, or one would be planted in your honor. And what an honor it was, to help the Land of Israel flourish - make it green, make it bloom. Little did we know that our money was going to planting pine tree forests all throughout the land. Where are there are some endemic species of pine in Israel, these forests did not grow in the desert. And why should they? The desert has it’s own unique beauty of openness, serenity, unique landscapes and formations, the ability to examine the historical geology of the area, cleanliness. It’s lack of plant and animal life is what makes it special. So what did the JNF do? They went and planted a thick pine forest in the middle of the desert. Not only does it not belong, not only does it destroy the natural ecosystem that existed prior, but they planted pine trees in perfectly spaced columns and rows - nothing natural looking about it.

And even though in recent years the JNF has made efforts to plant other types of trees as well, they still continue the practice of planting pines - whose needles cover the forest floor, suffocating the other plant life that grows beneath.

So think again when you are looking for a Bar-Mitzvah present. I recommend the New Israel Fund.

Udi and I watched Michael Moore’s “Farenheit 9/11″ tonight. I realize it’s been out for a while, and that the corruption and scandals it reveals are already well known, but still, it got me thinking. First of all, if it is true, most of it, you don’t even need all of it to be true, it just makes no sense - how the American people (me included) let Bush hold his first term (he wasn’t really elected), let him get by on the whole 9/11 fiasco without having to give testimony to a tribunal proving that he did everything in his power to prevent such an attack, let him take out all the nation’s aggression on an innocent country such as Iraq, let him continue the attack even after it was proved to be based on a lie, and then let him be re-elected. It makes absolutely no sense.
As I was watching the movie, I recalled how Clinton’s sexual escapades led him to impeachment, how the media focused only on that for the better part of the year, how he had to defend himself infront of Congress, and all for what? Cheating on your wife is something you should be ashamed of, but starting a war that has resulted in the deaths of thousands and thousands of innocent people, a loss of thousands of American soldiers and the utter destruction of a country - where is that impeachment? Where is the Congressional inquiry? Hello????

And that brings me to my current country of residence - Israel. The last few weeks have been overrun by the President’s sexual misconduct and maybe even rape of his former personal assistants. I am not saying it isn’t something to be ashamed of, and the President (who has no real policy related resposibilities) should be released from his duties, but those crimes can not be compared with the travesty of the war that afflicted this region over the last summer. A second political scandal involving the former Minister of Justice (how appropriate) and how he slipped the tongue when kissing a flirtateous young girl who asked to take a picture with him. She is not to blame - he probably did something wrong and overstepped boundaries. But I just don’t care. This country is overridden with so many problems - a never ending war, kidnapped soldiers, an oppressed Palestinian population, major water pollution (that’s my job), vast poverty, conjestion, air pollution, failing municipal governments, and the list goes on. Yet our judicial resources are being devoted to a french kiss. It only took six months before the case of the kiss was heard and decided on in court. I am involved in a court case at work regarding the illegal construction of sewage lines adjacent to drinking water wells. Our court date was set to over a year after the complaint was made.
These kisses take up time in our courts, take up pages and pages of our stupid newspapers, and aremaking us stupid and complacent. Instead of focusing on the real issues, instead of gathering in public squares, protesting the lack of vision, the lack of solution-seeking on behalf of our political “non-leaders”, we are busy following the soap opera of who kissed who. Keep your penis in your pants and focus on running the country.

When will we ever wake up?

Spoons

Originally uploaded by Udi Oron.

Happy hanuca!

We are alive and kicking in Israel, for those who missed it.

Here is a classic picture. Let’s see who knows where is it from.

Chau,
Udi+Sarit