the conflict

One thing that makes my aliyah different from others is that I am married to an Israeli. This means that although I may seem lost in some aspects of Israeli society, I have a large, ready-made sephardic israeli family to show me the ropes. This covers everything from shopping in a grocery store to attending major events. Sometimes it leaves me feeling even more american than usual, but sometimes its nice to have family around.

Last thursday my youngest brother in law became an officer in magav, the israeli border police. We got to attend the ceremony in the west bank, just out past modiin. It was really an exciting experience for him, and we were glad to be there to support him. The other military ceremonies I have been to have been for hundreds of soldiers, so I was surprised to see just 18 or 20 soldiers getting their rank. The head of the police was there to give a speech, and then they recieved their rank.

Following the ceremony, during the typical Israeli style picnic, we got into a discussion about the opening of route 443, which was the freeway we took out to the base. Recently the courts ordered that it be opened to Palestinian traffic, giving the surrounding Palestinian towns a quicker way into Israel proper. My husbands family is strongly right wing, and were all against the opening. As a Californian I was torn... I know that this can lead to many problems, but part of me hates the racist aspect of having a road closed to a local population. There is still a debate going on here about it, and it may be a while before the road actually opens.

There was also an article in the weekend paper about a group of terrorists who were caught in the south, planning a pigua here in KG. This seems very unlikely, as there isnt much here, but this is a stop for many soldiers on their way to bases, especially golani. Luckily my brother-in-laws unit caught them while they were still 70 or so miles away... but its a little scary. I always told people that I am glad to live in the boonies, because no one is purposely trying to attack us... I guess the point is that they want to reach everywhere in Israel. luckily we live in safer times (BH) Heres to a quiet week (and year!)

Joining the ranks

Like most Israeli families, living here in Israel means having relatives in the army. My in-laws are unusual, in that every one of their children have served, and a majority of them have served in combat forces. I currently have two brother-in-laws and a sister-in-law in the army. It is very much a part of daily life here, since men and women are drafted into the army at 18. My sister-in-law chose to do national service at the beginning (religious women are allowed to forgo the army service in favor of national service- like working in a hospital), but now she works at an army base directing troops. My eldest brother-in-law (the second eldest boy in the family) is currently a high ranking army official in a special unit. He has seen far more action than I can ever imagine, and was even filmed during the last war. His goal is to get to the US as a representative of the Israeli army, and he may get to do that in the next year or two.

Tal, the youngest boy, is currently in the army. He served in Magav, the army police unit. Near the end of his service he decided to increase his time, and joined the officers course. He underwent basic training (again) and then started the first course on his way to becoming an officer. Today was his graduation. Every level in the Israeli army has a ceremony, so we headed down to the desert to watch him receive his stripe.

Army ceremonies always impress me. The majority of the soldiers were 20-22, and its so hard to compare them to Americans at the same age. These boys (the ceremony was only for boys this time) spend their days in drills, learning how to shoot guns, find their way through the desert without a map, defend themselves and lead others. They will come out of the course in a couple months as Officers, ready to lead others into battle (or at least behind battle lines). They are still teenagers in a lot of ways, but they understand that there is something bigger than themselves. Its impressive to watch. The ceremony always ends with HaTikvah, the national anthem... which is a post for another day. I am proud of my youngest brother-in-law, who today joined the ranks of the army officers, and made his own mark