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 4 Aug 2005 @ 11:01
Frequent army checkpoints checking for authorized residency, soldiers standing all day in mid-summer heat and then arriving by busloads to take advantage of kibbutz pools at night; Gaza settlers blatantly flaunting their 'orange' colour of protest, and life becomes a series of question marks as the Gaza disengagement gets closer and closer.
Well, I've disengaged. Am now in North America visiting family and taking a far away look at what is happening over there in the Western Negev.
Just before I left, Wednesday August 3rd, Fox TV crews had begun to occupy temporary quarters on the kibbutz. A few strangers were wandering our small kibbutz store to look for basics - junk food, coffee and humous.
Doing t'ai chi, Tuesday night on our tennis courts, it became a constant concentration exercise (more than usual)while detaching from the outer sounds of a serious soccer game right beside us and the laughter of soldiers at the pool with the radio turned up loud to the Army Channel (Galei Tzahal). Along with hip-hop and rock, the trusty news broadcasts shouted out every half hour breaking the momentum. And what's a poolparty without a barbecue? Suddenly meat invaded the space one step further.
Meat on one side and ammonia stink carried on the gentle breeze from the neighbouring kibbutz's factory - (what won't the breeze bring next?) and there, in a nutshell, was the mosaic of a single evening.
More evenings and days will mount up till the final disengagement date.
I'll be over here for awhile, but like most people who live in Israel, I'll be glued to news updates from www.haaretz.com and from friends.
Will keep you posted. More >
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 15 Jul 2005 @ 04:54
This week has seen a lot of action.
Suicide bomber on a pedestrian crosswalk near a Netanya mall killed 5 and injured almost a hundred others. Qassam rockets have been fired on an Israeli settlement, Netiv Ha'asera, and 'disengagement' tactics have even reached our kibbutz.
Starting off with the homescene:
A few weeks ago, I commented that there were Army checkpoints on the road from Be'er Sheva to the road leading to our kibbutz. This week, with Gush Katif residents and supporters preparing anti-disengagement protests, the Government stepped in and closed the road to the Gaza settlements to non-residents. See link: [link]
Since our fields lead straight over to Gaza, the army has begun patrolling entry into our kibbutz to prevent non-resident supporters from sneaking into Gaza via our fields.
Soldiers are now dropping by the Kibbutz Col-bo (mini-market) to buy cigarettes and watermelon. Trips out of the area are beginning to involve delays to account for checkpoints where we have to show our residency ID.
Meanwhile, there are constant palestinian infiltrations or at least attempts. Six wannabe bombers were stopped by Army yesterday.
There have been military retaliations on Gaza (see link: [link]
Settlers and supporters are planning a march from Gaza to Jerusalem from Monday to Wednesday.
And as for me, I'm trying to minimize sweating out the super hot weather and political turmoil, safe inside with a heavenly A/C to watch the Tour de France.
Have a good weekend.
judih More >
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 30 Jun 2005 @ 17:28
Coming home to the kibbutz from Be'er Sheva today, June 30th, my friend and I were stopped by the Army and asked to show ID that we were, indeed, residents of the kibbutzim this side of the Gaza Strip.
It's begun. Roadblocks and Special ID cards. It's started. In the kibbutz fields, soldiers were spotted with jeeps. They were patrolling on foot. On the roads were young people, religious young people, wearing orange arm bands to indicate they're anti-disengagement. As they were trying to hitch, my friend muttered: "You must be kidding"...
It's going to be at least 45 days of restricted movement. Certain roads are blocked to general traffic and to get home, we'll have to prove we truly live there.
A long summer. I'll comment here, no doubt.
A last look at the green wheat fields as they appeared a few months ago. Today, after the harvest, we're down to summertime flat.
Look at the green
think towards the future
this particular chaos will subside
and nature will recycle
Our dining room
In and out
stomachs and laughter More >
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 25 Jun 2005 @ 06:19
written after reading a poet (but it could have been any user of language)that once-again feeling with the same old vocabulary used in the same old comments - dried up abuse of language- causing this reader to knee-jerk respond
alzheimer's turpitude
i read you
and i forget
how it was 3 lifetimes ago
spitting banality
echoing diatribe
metaphors lining the hallway
like christmas lights stolen from grinch
around and around
same old cyclical
never knew you to be so dull
you toss your stupidity
your aim worse than your brain
smatterings from the inbetween
no meaning, no force
rigor mortis of the cerebrum
autopsy certain
yet your spittle flows
your words deny reason
muh muh mutterings
forgotten in the dirt
judih
june 25
image: [link]'nightmare hallway' More >
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 13 May 2005 @ 17:30
7 thousand miles away
somewhere
7 thousand miles away
we sit together
coffee cups
band sound background
face to breathing face
our pores flashbacking
hands in sweaty immediacy
someway
7 thousand miles away
we scrape forks on empty plates
our over-easies, scented toast ambience
elbow to elbow
sleeves rolled up
as we dig into life's stories
smacking our lips on words hungrily chewed
napkins in ready to catch the overflow
and we flow on
someday
7 thousand miles away
we wait for the silence to remind us we're real
heat of our bodies
shared on a calendar day like this
and we sigh
with nothing more to say
judih More >
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