It's Friday afternoon. Things are slowing down a bit, as they do here on Friday afternoon, and Frank has just left for Friday evening services. Early in the week I walked on Habonim beach with my friend Naomi, and we saw this lovely collection of Little Egrets on the way. The beach is beautiful there, just south of Haifa.

Barack Obama visited here in the middle of the week. He visited Sderot where the Qassams fell all during the spring; visited with the parents of Ehud Goldwasser and Uri Regev, the two soldeiers whose bodies were returned in a prisoner exachange with Hezbollah last week; and he spoke with Gilad Shalit's father (Shalit is the young corporal still in captivity by Hamas). He repeated again and again on TV that he supports Israel's security 100% and will be a friend of Israel. And he also visited Machmud Abbas (Abu Mazen), the head of the Palestinian Authority and reiterated his support for a two-state solution to the conflict here. This morning a beautiful picture of him wearing a white kipa (yarmulka, skull cap) at the Western Wall (a holy site), putting a little note into the wall. The cracks between the huge stones of the wall are filled with small crumpled papers, prayers tucked there by people who come to pray.

Israelis by and large support McCain. Israelis think that Bush has been the best presidential friend that Israel has ever had, and they know that McCain will continue Bush's policies, which are basically hands off. While Bush and Rice support a two-state solution, they have not ever insisted on changes in policy as Israel continues to expand settlements, carries out home demolitions of Palestinian homes which are purported by the Israelis to be illegal, and turns a blind eye to the harrassment of Palestinians by Jewish settlers in the West Bank. The Israeli government explains most of these activities as necessary to meet the security needs of Israel. Whether or not these activities and others like it are justified is not the relevant issue in what I am trying to say here; the point is that the policies of the Bush administration are by and large to not press the Israelis into any concessions to the Palestinians.

When Obama was still running against Hillary Clinton in the primaries his opposition began to publish information designed to scare people, especially Jews: that Obama's middle name is Hussein, that he was educated in a Muslim school, that he is a Muslim, that he is an Arab and therefore can't be trusted, that he is too inexperienced, etc. This kind of publicity continues (if you don't believe me, watch Fox News) and it does scare both American Jews and Israelis. Never mind the fact that some of these accusations are patently false. I ask people all the time about what they think about the coming election, and I am trying to learn to listen without getting defensive! What happens in the next US presidential election will have influence on what happens here in the Middle East; there is no doubt about that. And whereas I do not believe that there will be any major changes in US policy towards Israel or towards the Palestinians, I also believe that Obama has great potential to bring everyone to the table, which would be a good start. That is one of his primary talents, I think, and also his stated goal in all the policies he is presenting. I believe this is very hopeful, both for the US and also for Israel.

Later....
I didn't get this blog posted when I intended to, and now it is Sunday. We are enjoying some lovely cool and clear weather. Yesterday I went to the beach with my friend Ruti and her four-year-old son Yehonaton and we played in the water for about an hour. The sea was very rough and it was quite exciting; I thought that the lifeguards had a tough time overseeing a sea full of great big waves and a whole lot of people, including many small children! After our guests left I went to a place where there is a lovely view of Haifa Bay, usually not very visible because of haze in the summer. Here is the picture. If you look at the very top of the bay you will see (maybe) a white spot. That is Rosh HaNikra, a grotto in white cliffs that sits on the Lebanon border! You can never see it from here in the summer, but there it is, some 30 kilometers north.



Love,
Pat