Friday, February 21, 2014

Sign of the times

Conversation overheard in an organic food shop in Haifa (an outpost for greenie lefties if ever there was one)

Customer with a strong American accent : "I don't like buying products from the (occupied) territories"
Saleswoman: "But it's from the Golan Heights"
Customer: "Yes, that's occupied territory"
Saleswoman: "But it's ours - we annexed the Golan already"

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Hospitals in East Jerusalem don't exist

12/2 there has been a big fuss in the Israeli media these last few days about the grave financial problems of Jerusalem's biggest hospital, Hadassah.  In news items on radio and TV, the reporters stress that Jerusalemites  have only one other alternative hospital , Shaarei Tsedek. They don not even mention for one moment that there are two other hospitals in Jerusalem, but in East Jerusalem , run and staffed by Arabs , Mokassed and Augusta Victoria . It is presumable beyound the bounds of imagination of Jewish Israeli reporters (and their public) to contemplate the idea of being treated in an ARAB hospital. There might be other issues to be resolved, such as financial agreements between these hospitals and the Israeli health care funds but that is not even raises. It is apparently inconconceivable that the wealthy and successful Jews could need the poor and disorganized Arabs.

So much for the undivided city of Jerusalem

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Middle East Peace....according to Google Maps

Google Maps is not letting a few minor geopolitical complications get in its way....
While researching a vacation in Russia I indadvertedly asked Google Maps to find me driving directions from my home in Haifa, israel to Moscow. To my amusement it proposes 3 alternative routes , one via Iraq and Iran, one via Syria and Turkey and one via Libya, Tunisia and Italy. The shortest of the 3 (83 driving hours according to Google Maps) has me driving down Israel to Eilat (that's ok) , then across Jihadi-infested Egyptian Sinai to Cairo, down some Muslim Brotherhood enclaves to Hurghada, by ferry to Saudi Arabia, across through Iraq, Iran and Azerbaijan onto Russia's excellent roads. If an Israel driving across Iran doesn't sound right, then you can turn left in Iraq and drive through civil-war-torn Syria into Turkey, across to peaceful Ukraine and then it's a doddle to Moscow. If you really want to play it safe, enjoy driving from Cairo along Libya's coast and through Tunisia to a ferry to Italy. Happy driving!