What I think of when I think of Israel: a beautiful country with peaceful vistas, lovely cities, and wonderful wildlife. A country that’s accomplished so much in its short and threatened existence. A country that was to provide a safe haven after centuries of pogroms and after the Holocaust destroyed the long-established Jewish communities of Europe.
Israel is a country whose population and whose very existence is now threatened again, threatened with unthinkable massacres done by men with automatic weapons aimed at unarmed civilians. On the weekend, the massacres began with cold-blooded killing of young people at a concert, indiscriminate murder of families in their homes, with numerous other attacks on unarmed men, women, and even babies, and with rockets meant to kill even more. The Hamas charter called for killing them all. I believe that that’s their goal. It’s horrifying. The Israelis have no choice but to fight for their existence, fight to protect all their citizens.
What I think of when I think of Israel: such peaceful scenes. Here are a few photos from our most recent trip there in March, 2018.
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| An ibex in the Negev desert. |
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| Waiting for birds at at sunset, Eilat, Israel. |
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| The Tel Aviv skyline seen from Jaffa. |
12 comments:
Beautiful post and photos of your trip to Israel. The heinous attack on the children, woman, elderly and civilian people of Israel is inconceivable and shocking beyond belief. I am comforted to see bloggers address it.
Your photos are very beautiful and peaceful. Then, we turn to the TV and see the horrific pictures of the barbaric assault on innocent civilians in Israel. Hamas is an inhuman terrorist organization; nothing can condone their savage killing and capturing of those young people, families, children and elders – nothing. It is hard to go on with our day to day activities knowing that so many are hurting and in despair. When will all this end? I’m afraid we will see more destruction and a spiraling death toll. Will we ever learn not to kill? My heart breaks for the families who are waiting for news about their loved ones.
Beautiful pictures of Israel -- I am so sorry for the vicious, incomprehensible attacks on its people. I hope that peace you found in your travels there can be restored.
I pray for peace!
we are living in such frightening times Mae. When will it ever end? I fear never as greedy men (yes usually men) always favour profit over humanity.
Beautiful photos from Israel! Israel must fight to protect their people and country. I hope these evil people can be stopped, prayers for the hostages and the people of Israel.
Thank you for sharing photos from your last visit to this beautiful place. It is incomprehensible to me that this is now the site of death and destruction and hatred. I am filled with shock and sorrow, as well as a feeling of gloom and hopelessness for the world.
Your images are so beautiful, May, and I know it must hurt one who has been at a spot in person even more to see the terror and horrible things happening in Israel. My mind spins with the brutality of this.
Your photos are beautiful!
My heart goes out to the people of Israel.
Another unnecessary, cruel war.
Beautiful, peaceful photos...
Your photos are stunning and serene. It's difficult to imagine this is the same place I see on TV with burned out buildings and black smoke rising from between the high rises.
I also stand with Israel, but I feel for the Palestinians, too. They are caught in the middle and have seemingly nowhere to go, since Egypt won't take them in. This is Hamas's fault and we should never forget where we need to place the blame.
I am deeply troubled by the situation in Israel, and my sadness is profound in so many ways. I have no conviction that there will ever be a resolution to this conflict, and what may happen if a group like Hamas ever got its hands on nuclear weapons doesn’t even bear thinking about. Hamas and ISIS have become interchangeable. It is trivial I know, but I was twice scheduled to go to Israel in the past and twice cancelled due to the outbreak of Intifadas, and then again this year I looked seriously into going, and would have been there next month, had it not been so incredibly expensive compared with other destinations. I am quite sure that I will never make it there, and that is very sad. Shalom has a whole new resonance now, doesn’t it?
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