Some people love Israel and think that the country can do no wrong. I think that as with most things, the more you know, the more problems you see. Today there were three articles in the Israeli news that caught my attention.
A man was fined 500 shekels for wearing a seatbelt under his arm. The U.S. might not be above such idiocy either, but the fact that there are such laws and such judges is disturbing. Also, a law was passed requiring all bike riders to wear helmets. There may be helmets in heaven, but there will be no helmet laws.
Yesterday Israel bulldozed the home of an Arab citizen in Ein Rafa, a community next to Abu Gosh. According to the story, they arrived at 5 in the morning without any immediate warning. If it was a Jewish owner, do you think they would have bulldozed the house? Not a chance.
An entire company of Israeli soldiers was suspended after a group car-jacked a Palestinian taxi. It seems that they didn’t want to patrol on foot. They also shot an unarmed man (his spade was mistaken for a gun), but they did not stop to check his status. Two observations on this story: the fact that the army suspended the unit and that the newspaper reports the story are things you would never see in a neighboring country. This reflects positively on Israel. On the other hand, what is the discipline level at when soldiers would do such a thing? For sure, this isn’t the first time this unit violated basic human rights.
And I hope you weren’t swimming in the Sea of Galilee this week.
“Fecal coliform was present off the beaches at twice the permitted levels, most likely from a sewage leak, they said.”
Ew.