Alon

I met him in Byron Bay. He is Jewish, in his early twenties. Skinny, dark hair and blue eyes. He wants to fight the Palestinians. When I asked him why he replied: “Because they are fighting us and we have to fight them back”. I tried to understand
his reasons but the only thing that he knew was that “them” (he never called them Palestinians) were fighting Israel and so was his duty to defend his country. “Did you ever fight?” I asked him. And he replied “No, but I want to”.
It’s been weeks now that Israel started what is probably the most ferocious attack into the Gaza Strip. I don’t have much time to follow the news but I know that Israel is calling all of its reserves to support this attack. Alon is one of those. Good luck young man.
By the way: I do find nonsense the 3-hours daily truce to let humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip. Is now Israel a “good boy” because at least it leaves room for some relief?? This is what I call sadism.
Of course Mr Bush did not say much about it. Neither the rest of the world did. The international silence that followed the early attacks, seemed to acknowledge and accept such sudden violence. I was bewildered. Let’s hope the president-elect will put more efforts to solve such miserable and self-destructive situation in the Middle East.
Let's hope Obama really is the change the world needs to believe in.