I’m finding myself more to the right these days than I care to admit. Why? Because it is on the historic american left than I’m finding the greatest anti-Israel sentiment. Now, it isn’t that I’m not open to hearing all 15 sides to this story, but I also need some pro-Israel nourishment.
In case you do things offline and don’t spend as much time blog hopping as I do, I thought I’d give you some links. Places I stop while I try to wrap my brain around the situation in Israel right now. But before that, a note from a friend in Israel, “I just wish it to end and no more israelies, solders & civils as one will be killed. I don’t want any lebanons to be killed either, although it’s really hard to say that once the Hizbhalla trying to kill us… here in the center and souther everything is quite, althout our hearts are with the ones livivng in the north of israel, and off course with our soldiers and their families.”
He captures the essence of how I feel. I’m sick to my stomach watching and reading the news. I don’t want Israel to be forced to drop another bomb, I don’t want Hezbollah or Hamas to fire another missile. I don’t want another life to be lost.
When I read about people cheering the IDF bombings, I cringe. More because I think of the warning we were given at the shores of the Red Sea during Exodus. Do not cheer the deaths of the Egyptians, for they are also God’s children. But I want to know that people are indeed cheering for the IDF (and cheering up the IDF with Pizza.)
Other people I drop in on for Israel monitoring include:
Soccer Dad. I don’t always agree with him (but if I did, would I be Jewish?) but he participates in Haveil Havalim and pulls together a lot of sources that I don’t have time to do.
JBlogosphere is now live blogging from the war. A good place to go and get a lot of links at once. One stop Jewish Blog Shopping.
And Truth Laid Bear now has a Middle East Conflict aggregator. Scroll down for the Israeli bloggers, but again–good one stop shopping.
For me, it is important to visit On The Face and An Unsealed Room. I think these bloggers are sisters (or at some point in the last few months, I’ve just randomly decided that and like to think so.) who provide insight from Israel. Both are active in building bridges in the blogosphere between Jews and Muslims and Christians from different countries in the middle east. Both are also excellent writers.
And of course, I drop in on Jihad Watch for a quick scan. Seraphic Secret is constantly updating with news. (I also suggest digging into his archives for the story of how he met his wife. A ray of sunshine in these dark days.)
So those are some of my stomping grounds–reading from the right to the left, from the left to the right. I don’t think anyone has the right answer and I agree with my friend in Israel. I don’t want to see anyone else die, but it is hard to say that, when some are trying to desperately to kill Jews.
Hi Leah,
Lisa and I aren’t sisters, but it tickles me to hear that that is the impression you have! We’re actually “just” good friends who met…through blogging. The truth is that we didn’t read each other’s blogs with any intensity, but at the first — and so far only — get-together of Israeli bloggers, we “clicked” and have been friends ever since.
Alison-
I’ll correct that. I’m always spreading misinformation about fellow bloggers based on some random “fact” I decide. I think you two are definitely blog-sisters, how about that?
Leah
You give me too much credit.
It’s the rotating hosts who deserve the credit for putting together Haveil Havalim. It’s only my idea, others execute it superbly, week after week.
But thank you for the kind mention.
Soccer Dad-
We’ll have to take a stab at hosting HH one of these weeks, if you think we’re up to it. We will also start submitting our best posts. HH is a great idea, but fine, no more credit for you.
the warning we were given at the shores of the Red Sea during Exodus. Do not cheer the deaths of the Egyptians, for they are also God’s children.
We were given no such warning. On the contrary, we were encouraged to sing about their deaths and praise God for them. The angels were told not to sing, which is an entirely different matter.