Live and In Person: The WP in Israel ~ Week 3

Last Tuesday, we made the trip south to the Nova Festival site. Nothing, not even seeing the shelters in which kids hid during the attack prepares you for being at the site. It is silent there. Talk, if there is any at all, is hushed. I stood to one side and watched parents tidying their daughter's memorial site. Some memorials are full of yahrzeit candles and mementos, almost like little grave sites although there are no burials there, But the field of pictures and stories on posts is overwhelmingly sad. Your heart breaks every time you read about the smiling face staring back at you. These people came to dance and sing, not be murdered. You tread carefully amongst the posts, pausing to read each story, taking a moment to see what team scarf is tied to the side, what little things are left for the person who once was. These pictures, full of seemingly joyous faces, are vacant reminders of what could have been. The partners they left behind, the children they would never have, the laughter they would never share. The music they would never dance to again.

We also went to the car wall at Tkuma where the burnt vehicles were taken from Rte 232, Be'eri, Nir Oz, and other places. The skeletons are stacked, but each one out belonged to someone...a family, a senior resident, kids out for a fun weekend. These are not simply metal; they are the eyewitness to murder. This shell of an ambulance once contained more than a dozen Israelis trying to escape the terrorists. They were shot up with automatic weapons, before an RPG was thrown in, incinerating them all. 

At the Tkuma site, there is a memorial tent with testimony from those who survived the massacre. Listening to them tell their  stories is heart-wrenching and terrible. And important to hear. Jacqueline Gliksman was called by her son in the US. He told her to turn off the lights and be still. She came face to face with gunmen who searched her house, then inexplicably took her phone and left her alive. You can watch her tell her story in an extended interview. She is so worth hearing. At the end, there is a film of a cross-section of Israelis....Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze...talking about their own connection to October 7th...and ultimately their unexpected connection to each other. 

And in the end, that's exactly what Israel is about...the connections we have to each other. Israel, warts and all, is NOT an apartheid state, it's a democracy. Imperfect, flawed, and frustrating beyond belief, but a democracy all the same. The United States is no different. Especially not now. 

As my departure looms, I've already started thinking/worrying about election day in America. While I had no ballot for this year, that does relieve me of general election worries. Several states have gubernatorial elections but one state, Pennsylvania, has an interesting supreme court retention election. 

PA Justices Wecht, Donohue, and Dougherty

Three justices on this liberal-leaning court are up for reinstatement. At the bottom of the ballot, there is a simple YES/NO question asking if the justice should be retained for another 10 year term. This is supposed to be a non-partisan process, but alas....The GOP et al have poured millions into this race to stop their reinstatement. Philadelphia's public radio station, WWHY explains why there is concern:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has a 5-2 Democratic majority, so an across-the-board loss for Democrats in Tuesday’s election could produce a 2-2 ideological split for two years. Political stalemate could likely prevent their seats from being filled until the next judicial election in 2027, potentially leaving the court unable to decide voting or election-related cases through next year’s midterm elections.

If the justices are not retained, it provides an opportunity to ultimately replace the liberal justices with more conservative ones. Interviewed on CBSNews, Lauren Cristella, provided insight into what's at stake:

"We're seeing a lot of the partisanship that you see at the national level has hit home here in Pennsylvania," said Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, a nonprofit civic group based in Philadelphia. "And races that were typically not supposed to be partisan, the races don't even have Rs or Ds on the ballot, you'll not see that when you go to the polls on election day. But the partisanship at the national level has certainly affected this race and the spending you're seeing."...  

..."They typically aren't contentious races," Cristella said. "In fact, only one person has not been retained since that change in 1968. That was in 2005."

However, if justices are not retained, that would trigger an election. But that wouldn't happen until 2027, and Cristella said there's no mechanism in state law for a special election.

The governor could appoint interim justices to fill seats until that election, however they would also need approval from two-thirds of the state Senate, currently held by Republicans.

"With the way we're seeing, like, even the state budget go right now, I don't see anyone getting confirmed if that scenario were to happen," Cristella said.

This is not unlike what the GOP attempted to do in Wisconsin last year. What should be a non-partisan process is being turned into a political referendum. Your state supreme court's ability to rule on state issues like the state election process, voter eligibility, and the act of voting itself is crucial. Setting up kangaroo courts to kowtow to partisan interests is not in the best interest of the public, especially when free and fair elections are at stake. We have already witnessed the havoc of ridiculous attempts to overturn elections on national, state, and local levels. And if the Republicans succeed in interfering with state supreme court elections, you can bet your last bucko they're gonna be attempting to buy every state in the union.

Being the alarmist my sons think that I am, I got to wondering about what it would take for President Nero to invoke the Insurrection Act as a first step toward martial law. And if that happens, how far is he from overturning the Constitution? We have watched him make unilateral decisions without due process since he was sworn in again. He dances while millions of Americans are facing food insecurity. The great improvement to health care he promised in the first term and touted in the second never materialized while costs spiraled because he refused to continue tax credits. 

[*Now that the courts have ruled suspension of SNAP is illegal...just wait for him to take credit for magnanimously re-instating SNAP] 

OR

[Updated: President Nero is releasing only enough to cover half a month's funds needed for food benefits. What if he's attempting to provoke riots....and then claim sending in the troops is justifiable?]

And while the Great and Terrible Orange thinks we're not noticing the man behind the curtain, "two federal prosecutors have been placed on administrative leave just hours after describing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as perpetrated by 'thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters.'" He spends billions on his whims, many Americans are worried about skyrocketing heating costs in winter and whether or not they can pay for medicine and health care. The only thing he gives one shit about is lining his own pockets, giving tax breaks desperately needed by working Americans to his billionaire buddies, and pardoning friends who, just like him, foist grandiose lies on the American public. George Santos had a great role model, didn't he?

MeanwhiIe, back at the ranch, I worry what a Mamdani mayoral administration will mean for NYC, the Jews, and the arts. I hear him talk about wanting to teach about Jews in the school, and I looked at the proposed curriculum, Hidden Voices and while it seems innocuous enough, this is a guy who can't manage to call out Hamas as terrorists; I wonder how many revisions it will take before this curriculum more closely resembles UNRWA anti-Israel, anti-west lessons for children. 

Based on his track record of anti-semitic, anti-Israel statements coupled with his desire to arrest Netanyhu if he comes to the city, makes me fundamentally not trust him. Leopard/spots. Mamdani has, according to the AP, stated, "While he says he supports Israel’s right to exist, he describes any state or social hierarchy that favors Jews over others as incompatible with his belief in universal human rights." Does he object to 57 Islamic countries, 15 of which are considered Sharia states, most of which do not allow non-Muslims to be residents, citizens, or active participants in any branch of government? I can't tell if he sees those as similar problems to Jews living in a Jewish but democratic country. The double standard that he implies worries me.

But here's the thing: if New Yorkers elect Mamdani, they will elect the government they deserve. At the end of four years, they can decide if this is the government they want. 

This is my last post from Herzliya. In a few hours, I'll be heading to Ben Gurion to catch the 5 a.m. flight to Amsterdam, and then on to the Twin Cities. And I want to say something about just being here. 

Folks, this really is not an apartheid country. Transportation/road signs are in Hebrew/Arabic/English. Israel is decidedly not "white;" it's a rainbow of colors. I dare you to tell at a glance a Mizrachi from an Arab. Lots of women wear "religious" head coverings, not just Muslim women. You really don't even notice after a while and besides, no one appears to care. No one cares if your straight or gay, or any other part of that rainbow. You still get to serve in the army. You hear so many languages on the street, not just Hebrew. People are just people moving through life. Is it perfect? No, but neither is the US or anywhere else. 

Before you demonize Israel and the Israelis, I suggest you put your money where your mouth is and come here to see for yourself. In the meantime, these are not the enemies you're looking for. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Come to Israel.

Come sit in a park and watch children

with grandparents especially

That's the best equalizer there is.