I just wanted to quickly say, to close the case on this Israel pull-out, that despite certain comments (or seemingly insensitive jokes) I may have made about the forced evacuation (and, for the record, I am an equal opportunity off-colour joke maker, so don't think this is an Israel thing!), I feel an immense amount of sympathy, and I'd even say pity, for the settlers who have been evicted from their homes. This is OF COURSE qualified by the fact that I stand vigilantly by the protocols of international law that condemn the ORIGINAL occupation of Palestinian land. I just can't imagine, though, how difficult it must be for someone who has lived in the same home for decades, who has cultivated the land (regardless of the history of the soil), and who has worked literally with their HANDS to build a life for themselves, to have that life (albeit in a democratic process in accordance with the terms of their national constitution) in many ways ripped from him/her. For that reason, although (I repeat myself) I disagree with the settlements in the first place, I understand the needs of some settlers to fight to the last possible moment for their homes, refusing to walk off the land of their own accord. That said, I think that it is a TOTALLY different case when it comes to protesters who left their New York apartments (as many interviewed on the news had) or flew to Israel from other places to sit-in on the move-out in protest of the blow to Israel's survival potential that they saw this as being. They and their children were not asked to leave their homes, and they and their children are not the ones who worked to build the greenhouses, stores, farms etc. that would just be GIVEN to other people (many of whom they consider to be threats to their survival) or quickly bulldozed. I actually think that pulling out of Gaza is probably doing more to strengthen Israel's national security profile than to harm it (and I'm sure MANY Israeli strategists advising Sharon came to the same conclusion before the proposal was ever made), and so the only angst that I really support in this process -- since I don't buy the argument that this is bad for Israel's security (the reason for the fly-in protesters) -- is that of the people who are losing their homes and are uncertain about their future happiness and livelihood (regardless of what some would consider to be generous re-settlement options).
Ok that's it for Israel, and for seriousness. Now for some funny India stuff -->
Well I TRIED to watch cricket today while studying Arabic. I still don't understand all the rules, although I think I understand the rules regarding the positioning of the bowler, as well as the points assigned to the runners. I also think that I understand that each side gets 10 wickets (in a one-day match), and I more or less understand how "outs" are called. There are TONS of intricacies (it seems) of cricket protocol (alterterable boundaries, match lengths, run scoring...) that I don't understand, and have never (despite trying several times in the past to read about the sport online) been able to quite grasp. Anyway, actually watching a match, today, did a ton for my comprehension of the game -- much more than internet descriptions have; it also gave me a few *choice* quotes from the absolutely hysterical ESPN India commentator. The match ended up being a real nail-biter between India and New Zealand that India pulled-out in the end).
Here are the two best quotes:
* "That shot left the bat like greased lightening...he wanted to give the fielders a real spanking and he did: 'Spank, spank. Take that!' "
* "I view the world like a fruitcake and in every fruitcake there has to be a few nuts. In this case, India is absolutely nuts."
I am STILL intending to blog about Herat and the books I've read, but I've been sleeping a lot and studying Arabic, so we'll see what I get around to, this evening.
Happy belated birthdays to:
- my awesome niece (who I wish I could show around Egypt! I might actually like it if she were there with me!)
- my equally awesome sister (for whom I am fielding wedding proposals, but only if you are extremely intelligent, ethical, cultured, not going to cramp my niece's style...and have a cool last name)
- my ex, Land Plot (he gave HIMSELF that nickname!).
Also, happy Independence Day to Afghanistan (and belatedly, to India).
Ok, I'm going to pump-out some more Arabic vocab. Ever since Slim Masry showed me how to type in Arabic on my computer, I'm a total Arabic machine.
VC [in Arabic...actually in Persian, since we don't have "V" in Arabic: ويسي ]