Sat 4th Mar 06
Dear friends and
family,
The other day I
had sold some picture books of
The tourism
situation had been so bad that I hadn't had a request for these kind of things for about 6 years.
Tourists
seeking these books and videos etc. was a good sign that
Naturally I was
very happy about this. Unfortunately my reverie about the beauties of
You all know, of
course, that we have a wall in
I suppose this
store is taking advantage of its proximity to the wall to get a cheap rent. I'm
sure there can't be another reason for living here, in the shadow of this monstrous
wall.
Before the wall
was built you'd get a view of the grandeur of the mountains and valleys leading
to the Dead Sea and
It's really
unpleasant because it makes you feel that you are in a prison or that the
people on the other side are in prison.
The village
where the wall stands, El Lazaria, the
The wall carry's
a message, loud and clear "don't mess with the state". If terrorists
think they have power it's nothing compared to the power in the hands of the
state.
The state has
the power to employ some ugly instruments, even a wall that obliterates nature
in its effort to prevent the ugliness of terrorism.
Every state in
the world is a powerful instrument. The state of
The state is
capable of much greater power than the individual who seeks to overthrow it.
Individual terrorists coming from El Lazaria had the
power to perform ugly acts of force that killed people but didn't have the
power to obliterate nature. Even if they succeeded in causing deep suffering
for their victims the rest of us could continue to enjoy the scenary.
The state, on
the other hand, in its efforts to prevent terrorism creates permanent ugliness.
Something which not only the people getting punished suffer
but which all of us must suffer.
I compare this
to the absurd necessity to stand for about 2 hours at airports for a security
check or to stand in a long line waiting for a security check at the bus
station, or having to pass through a metal detector every time I go to the
Wailing Wall and uncountable other nuisances which have become necessities
throughout the world because of a handful of terrorists.
I was always
very happy that churches, which I visit often with tourists, were one of the
few places, untill now, where there was no security
check because they'd never been targeted by terrorist.
Since last
night's attack on the church of the anunciation in
The Israeli
police did a great job of, not only dispersing the mob without killing or badly
injuring anybody, but also rescuing the perpetrators from the hands of the mob
who were so churned up that they wanted to lynch them.
Now we'll have
security checks at all holy places.
In view of the
circumstances this is necessary, but in my opinion, these metal detectors are
very ugly things and really spoil the beauty and the feeling of holiness at
these wonderful sites.
Have a great no
news day.
Reply to: legork@netvision.net.il
Tel/fax 02 5810732
Mobile phone 052 3801867
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