Raining Hope, Flooding Hate

Today was a short day in class. Arabic was canceled as Dr. Hakim had to have one of his front teeth replaced. Apparently he lost it in a falafel ball whilst eating in Haifa--a falafel ball he adamantly maintains to have been the best on the planet. Seeing as how it procured his front tooth as its price of consumption I'm a bit wary about such claims. But who am I to deny an old man his right to obstinacy?

Currently we're reading articles on European involvement in the Middle East during the 19th Century and learning about the inner workings of the Ottoman Empire at its height of power in the 16th Century. It's all interesting stuff, but the readings are long and written by insufferable academics whose entire lives revolve around convincing their colleagues that they belong in the Ivory Tower.

This sometimes translates into thirty pages of historical facts mixed with theories disguised as facts designed more to impress the intelligentsia than to inform the reader. This is tantamount to having a bunch of football coaches gathered around on the sideline squabbling about why Jimmy ran the wrong route. Meanwhile all the players, including poor Jimmy, are standing around with their hands on their hips waiting for them to use the information at their disposal to just call a freaking play.

Knowledge of the past is supposed to allow us to make better decisions in the present with which to shape and benefit the future. In any field, theory is only as useful as its application. I hope that we start using our growing knowledge of the past in the Middle East to start reaching conclusions about the present. That's a big reason why many people are in this program.

C'est la vie.

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In other news, the big story right now in Israel is the rain (geshem in Hebrew). We had hurricane-like weather most of this morning and through the early afternoon. The wind was easily blowing anywhere from twenty-five to thirty miles per hour with gusts of over fifty. And the torrential downpour had some of us (i.e. me) looking silly without our umbrellas or rain jackets. Honestly, I didn't think it would actually rain in Israel.

God: Eleventy Billion. Drew: 0.

The past few days have seen an exorbitant amount of rainfall. This has been badly needed over here. Long before I arrived Israel was suffering from a severe water shortage. It was pretty much the policy of everyone in Israel to ration water. There were even mutterings by the Netanyahu Administration that Israel may have to start importing water from Turkey.

Those who have been paying attention know that Israel and Turkey's relationship hasn't exactly been copacetic lately. Turkey has made a great deal out of Operation: Cast Lead. Prime Minister Erdogan publicly accused Israel of war crimes on multiple occasions. Turkey recently dropped out of a NATO exercise because Israel was to be included and one of the most popular shows on Turkish television at the moment is a despicably duplicitous miniseries that portrays IDF soldiers gunning down smiling Palestinian children.

The demonizing of Israel is like American Idol over here. Whoever concocts the most asinine story to disparage the Jews wins the adoration of the throngs of ululating masses. In the 1980's the Saudis really got the ball rolling in "Season One" with the resurrection and popularization of the "blood libel." Those who aren't familiar with the "blood libel" might find themselves guffawing aloud. The blood libel essentially claims that during Passover (Passat) Jews have to make the traditional matsah bread with the fresh blood of a Christian boy.

Don't go back to the previous sentence. You definitely read it right the first time. This is the type of hatred and the level of insanity that Israel faces.

Sure, Ahmadinejad went Platinum in "Season Two" with that classic hit "Holocaust Me No More," but the blood libel has to be the most creatively evil accusation still widely believed throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

I guess now it's Turkey's turn to take the stage as they portray Israeli soldiers as bloodthirsty murderers giddily gunning down toddlers and smiling little girls.

There's no telling what's next, but one thing is for certain at the moment. It's still raining.