Journal entry: 26/9/2011

(This is a journal entry I wrote three days ago. It was an hour or two after I found out that my physical profile isn't high enough to join any of the infantry units that I have been training for and dreaming of.  Anything in parenthesis is added just for the post.)

OK. I have my profile. 72.
I will not be invited to try out for a סיירת (advanced unit).
I will not be a צנחן (paratrooper, what I hoped for).
I have "mild asthma". I was born with this. I have beat this. Over and over.
I need to make this list. Because some things can never win. Not even for one day.
So I never forget.
Why I am here.

-To protect a country that has protected my grandparents and will protect my grandchildren.
-To read and speak and dream עברית (Hebrew).
-To eat חומוס (chummus) with everything. To eat bowls of nothing but חומוס (chummus).
-To look back in 10 years and know that I followed something I believed in more than anything I have ever believed in.
-Because this is the same belief that drove my סבא (grandfather) to sneak into Palestine when it was still ruled by the British. From Iraq. (Eventually he got caught and was sent back. To Iraq.)
-Because this is the same country that my father protected in המלחמת יום הכיפורים (The Yom Kippur War). That my cousins protect now. That every Israeli in the past 63 years has protected.
-My parents are scared shitless. But they are proud of me. I think that means something.
-To know that when I need my country she will be there for me. Just like how I am here for her.

A Step at a Time

Hey guys! Guess what? This is my new blog.

I was just brainstorming about what I wanted my first post to be about. Too much has happened in the past month, I don't even know where I could possibly begin. So maybe this first time I won't even go into details about my day to day life. 

What I really want to write about is an experience I had a week ago. My roommate Jonah invited me to an event that was going on across Israel and was organized by the same movement that has been planning massive protests here. The same two questions were discussed at 8:30 pm. The responses were sent immediately to a think tank in Tel Aviv and then forwarded to the Israeli government. The two questions were: 

1) If you could change two things about Israel, what would they be?

2) What can we as individuals do to bring about these changes?

Jonah's uncle invited a few of his friends from a nearby Arab village to the discussion, and I was sitting at their table. When the first question went around, an Arab man named Abed said something along the lines of "I want people in this country to treat each other better. Instead of looking down and walking forward, we must keep our heads up to see how we can help". In essence, we all are here together so forget the conflict, let's do what we can to live a better life.

I feel really lucky to have sat at that table. Usually the tone seems to be Arabs and Israelis against each other instead of with each other. But I was so glad to hear these feelings because it solidifies my belief that things aren't as two-dimensional as they seem. Obviously there are still issues to work out and too much hate in the Middle East for anyone's good, but steps like these can only help. 

So I'll leave you guys with this: What can each of us do as individuals to make the world a better place?