Today's Events

There was a bombing in Jerusalem today.
Things like this happen, and I suddenly remember that I am, in fact, in Israel.  For better or worse.
I had planned on paying more attention than usual in Women in Israel today (great topic, but the professor's misuse of prepositions makes it nigh impossible to follow her lecture as closely as one might like), when a Gchat from my Hebrew University friends informed me of the bombing.  For the rest of the class, I had one eye on the Arabic movie with English subtitles being projected onto the whiteboard, and the other on Haaretz, JPost and CNN for updates.  All of my Israel friends are fine, to the best of my knowledge.  But even all the way up in Haifa, I felt pretty shaken up.  Partly for my own sake, but mostly, I think, in solidarity with those that were closer to the tragedy.  Israel's a small place--when events like this occur, you begin to feel connected to everyone.
Then I read about the events in the south these past few weeks with the rockets (I really believe that the International School should keep us more informed of current events in Israel--I'm actually quite annoyed that I only heard about about the killing in Itamar and the rockets in Beer Sheva by coincidence many days after the facts).  All of this news fills me with worry for the state of the State of Israel.  I know that we are strong, but I hope that we won't have to pay with any more lives.  (Am I allowed to say "we"?  I've been force-fed the Bnei Akiva doctrine of "Israel is YOUR home" for nine years of my life, and I've now lived in this country for a total of six--albeit nonconsecutive--months.  But can I count myself in the "we" yet?  A question that I still haven't answered for myself.)
One thing scares me most is that I'm now at the age where I know boys and girls that are serving in the Israeli army.  On the one hand, I'm glad that the army is so present and ready to defend us should the occasion call; on the other, I'm not glad that it is my friends--present and former both--that will have to be the ones to do so.  It brings everything much closer to home, adds another degree of worry to the list.

Just to be clear, I do not feel unsafe here.  My program has given us no indication that we should be wary of any places or bus lines, and life in Haifa is continuing as usual.  Given the responsible and efficient way that the university handled the evacuation during the Carmel fire last semester, I am confident that, in the event of an emergency, the correct measures will be taken to ensure our safety.

Until next time, hopefully with happier thoughts to share,
Ariel