During the last Israeli military operation, one of Daniel's colleagues received advice about riding the bus: The best seats are at the very front or the very back, because suicide bombers tend to sit in the middle for the greatest impact when they trigger the explosion. When I was riding in an extremely crowded bus one night a few weeks ago, I noticed that the aisle next to me was noticeably roomier than the front and the back of the bus despite all the standing passengers. I guess most Israelis got that memo. I was sitting in the most middle seat on the bus.
A big difference between how things are done in Israel vs. China seems to be that, in China, no matter how well-organized and conscientious you are about fulfilling the stated procedures for anything official, there are always still at least ten hidden steps that nobody's willing to help you with or be responsible for. In Israel, the bureaucracy can get pretty bad too, but as long as you inquire ahead of time and are prepared for the fine prints, you will most likely succeed. There's a nurses' strike going on right now, and one of the conditions is that patients are not allowed to go inside a lot of the clinics around where we live. Thus, the doors are locked and watched over by security. Unfortunately, I've been trying to get a blood testing done since I was 26 weeks pregnant (I'm 35 weeks now) and have been unsuccessful in my attempt amidst my confusion about the Israeli medical system. Since my "deadline" is coming up and my midwife really needs some information beyond the July blood test information, Daniel and I showed my medical card and argued with all the details we've learned by this point about what is required. The security guard acquiesced our entrance through the locked door...and while waiting, I noticed that nobody was actually turned away as long as they knocked on the door and made arguments for why they should still enter. That's really awesome... how the culture is so people-oriented. Things may be hard, and people could be really abrasive on the surface, but when push comes to shove, I witness time and time again how Israelis value helping people over the official policies.
I still didn't end up getting my blood test because I was confused about how glucose testing is done here vs. in the States. My bad... trying again on Thursday. The clinic said to go back then, despite the nurses' strike. Cool.
Somewhat related to my second passing observation just now, I'm really impressed by how developed and diverse Israeli humanitarian/volunteer organizations are. This is one of the biggest reasons why I'm troubled by accusations of Israel being a "military occupier" or "terrorist country" or called "Israheil" aka the new Nazis via a lot of Palestinian advocacy sites I've started following for the sake of being more well-rounded in my information regarding the Middle East land conflict. On one hand, I'm troubled by the Israeli government's push for more settlements in contested territory. And I have actual dreams in which I tried to work out (in my dreams) how Israel and Palestine might in fact co-exist peacefully without blockades around Gaza or IDF presence in the West Bank. And I do not by any means discount Palestinian deaths, even if a lot of the deaths happen as a result of open hostilities and provoked attacks triggered on the part of the Palestinians themselves. I've been trying to understand to the best of my ability, without any sense of allegiance to Israel itself (since I'm just a visitor here), just why Israel is so hated and opposed... And, honestly, I'm not saying that Israel's without its problems of social equality like other countries, but there's no real apartheid here. There's no discrimination against Arab-Jewish citizens on the same level as hatred towards the Jews. And right now, Israeli mothers and other Israeli citizens are rounding up blankets and clothes to send to Syria for the enormous refugee population. Syrian refugees, most of whom do not acknowledge Israel's right to exist. Time and time again, I learn about Israel's humanitarian aid to official enemies or non-Israel-supporting entities. Gaza receives medical supply and support on a regular basis from Israel despite the fact that its ruling body is so consistently deficient in payment that other Arab countries around the region (such as Jordan) now refuse to provide Gaza with any medical supplies.
The last passing observation is something that I'm still following closely, because I am genuinely confused by all the vitriol that I find out there regarding anything Israel. Once again, in living here, I see a lot of things that Israel could do better, need to do better, in order to show its willingness to co-exist. The argument that Israel should be wiped out altogether is a ridiculous idea to me, for reasons I don't have time to get into right now; That really should not be the only condition for peace to be possible.
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