Elana Sztokman
26 במאי 2024
A day in Tel Aviv during this godforsaken war.
I spent much of the past 24 hours in Tel Aviv, and the collection of sights and sounds can make my head spin. Events big and small coalesce as part of one strange mush of extreme emotions turned everyday life. Calling it “surreal” doesn’t even capture the assault on one’s preconceived idea of what life is meant to be.
It’s a lot to take in. And you may be forgiven for not following all the crazy-making events here because, even though it is eye-popping stuff, it is also non-stop. To wit, while the Hague is looking to arrest our Prime Minister for war crimes — and he pretends it doesn’t matter by trying to blame this all-time-diplomatic low on the world instead of on himself — so many other things are also going on. The north is burning up, the army is hanging on by a thread, the government is openly lying (again), and more. My Whatsapp groups relating to the war has so many events, protests, sign-hanging gatherings all the time — ALL THE TIME — that I am having a hard time remembering where I was planning on going…. And then there are many little tidbits that normally should be news — like the PM’s son getting in trouble with the FBI, or Hebron being relabeled as “The Galilee” — all of which is both important and also possibly a deflection.
Which is why I’m writing this little round-up. Let's see if I can sum up the events of the last day, plus some.