I finally found common ground with Shimon Peres. My youngest son and Mr. Peres are celebrating their birthdays on the same day.
We?re planning for a modest, but fun affair - complete with balloons and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey (funny how the donkey I drew bears an uncanny resemblance to the Labor leader). Due to the overall economic situation, we will probably stick to a bit of ice cream and cake (no pizza this year). And the grave security situation has left me with a zero-tolerance level for excessive revelry - so seven friends of my soon-to-be (G-d-willing) seven-year-old will be allowed to whoop-it-up for an hour and a half and conclude the festivities with a resounding rendition of ?Happy Birthday To You? (at which time the shy little guy will probably crawl under the table).
Meanwhile, miles away from our home in the Golan, a gala celebration will be taking place...
Yes, while unrelenting tears are flowing in a good part of the country, the champagne will be flowing in Tel Aviv and Herzliya Pituach. A star-studded list of celebrities like Barbara Streisand, Steven Spielberg and super-model Naomi Campbell will join politicians like Bill Clinton and the current and former leaders of Germany, Poland and Russia (to name but a few) for what promises to be a lavish event.
While Bill Clinton sings Shimon?s praises - to the accompaniment of Barbara Streisand and Achinoam Nini, most of us in Israel will remain at home and reminisce about ?The Way We Were? and how it used to be that ?On A Clear Day You Can See Forever?. Kudos to Women in Green who will be protesting with their own rendition of the Streisand favorite, ?What Kind of Fool?.
Regardless of one?s political persuasion, I think most of us would agree that, in the present situation, it would be truly statesman-like if Peres canceled the happening and marked the occasion at home, over a quiet cup of tea with Sonya.
It?s really not fair for me to compare my son?s party with that of the grand statesman-turned-octogenarian. I mean, my son, at the ripe old age of seven, has not yet had time to leave a noticeable imprint on the world; whereas, a mere handshake orchestrated by Mr. Peres can cause the international community to erupt into applause, blood to flow and heaven and earth to quake.
As a prime example, almost two years ago on November 16 2001, in a speech to the United Nations, Mr. Peres announced that in Israel "there is support for Palestinian independence, support for a Palestinian state". At the time, the international press reported that Israel was angered and deeply troubled by the comments, and there were calls in the Knesset for Peres? resignation. However, Ariel Sharon managed to quell the uprising.
I wrote an opinion piece back then, and I feel that its re-circulation would be a fitting birthday tribute to Shimon Peres...
Listen up, Shimon
November 16, 2001
My grandmother used to say a lot of great stuff. I've forgotten most of it, but I have retained a few choice phrases. "Honey, the world is upside down." Yeah, she'd comfort me with that one every time I'd visit her and complain about everything from an unfair teacher to some social injustice.
As a young girl, I can't say that I ever shared her anxiety over a topsy-turvy world, because I figured that I'd just fix everything when I got older. And you know, I tried really hard to make the world a better place. Some of my modest endeavors got off the ground, some fizzled out and a few boomeranged on me and caused utter destruction. Now that I'm in my forties and I watch as an envelope of powder can instill more anxiety on both an international and individual level than a barrage of cruise missiles, and a few barefoot guys on horseback can give a fleet of cobra helicopters a run for their money, I can stare up at the heavens with resignation and say, "Gosh, Nanny - you were right. The world is upside down."
Trying to live right-side up in an upside down world is fraught with difficulties. Maintaining one's sense of balance and equilibrium can be especially challenging and downright nauseating. So, when I asked my husband to pick up some Tums at the pharmacy, I recalled how I would assist my grandmother as she would frantically search for antacids in her purse.
Shimon Peres, you give me heartburn. You don't represent me or the majority of this country. Living upside down gives me an occasional migraine, but it distorts your "vision".
Let me try to clarify things for you. I've brought six children into this world. The labors that I've endured make any of your peace maneuvers and diplomatic gymnastics look like child's play. So listen up, Shimon: This Israeli mother will be washing several sets of army fatigues in the near future and I can assure you that there is nobody in this world who wants peace more than I. Furthermore, I feel fully qualified to inform you that I, along with the majority of this country, wish that you and your "peace partners" would just go away.
Frankly, I found your presence at the U.N. to be an embarrassment. Israel has seen some pretty grim days in that international arena, but we've also had some glorious moments. Like the time Chaim Herzog demonstratively ripped up the document equating Zionism with racism.
What I would have given to storm down the aisle of the General Assembly and trash your speech. But I'll never get to play that role, as I'm too busy in the role of a mother in Israel, desperately trying keep some sense of stability and order for her children in a world gone mad, and all because of people like you, who will sell their souls and their country for a few rounds of applause.
Which reminds me of the time that I didn't get the part that I wanted in the school play. With a wave of her hand, my grandmother would dismiss it and say, "Honey, it's all politics."
We?re planning for a modest, but fun affair - complete with balloons and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey (funny how the donkey I drew bears an uncanny resemblance to the Labor leader). Due to the overall economic situation, we will probably stick to a bit of ice cream and cake (no pizza this year). And the grave security situation has left me with a zero-tolerance level for excessive revelry - so seven friends of my soon-to-be (G-d-willing) seven-year-old will be allowed to whoop-it-up for an hour and a half and conclude the festivities with a resounding rendition of ?Happy Birthday To You? (at which time the shy little guy will probably crawl under the table).
Meanwhile, miles away from our home in the Golan, a gala celebration will be taking place...
Yes, while unrelenting tears are flowing in a good part of the country, the champagne will be flowing in Tel Aviv and Herzliya Pituach. A star-studded list of celebrities like Barbara Streisand, Steven Spielberg and super-model Naomi Campbell will join politicians like Bill Clinton and the current and former leaders of Germany, Poland and Russia (to name but a few) for what promises to be a lavish event.
While Bill Clinton sings Shimon?s praises - to the accompaniment of Barbara Streisand and Achinoam Nini, most of us in Israel will remain at home and reminisce about ?The Way We Were? and how it used to be that ?On A Clear Day You Can See Forever?. Kudos to Women in Green who will be protesting with their own rendition of the Streisand favorite, ?What Kind of Fool?.
Regardless of one?s political persuasion, I think most of us would agree that, in the present situation, it would be truly statesman-like if Peres canceled the happening and marked the occasion at home, over a quiet cup of tea with Sonya.
It?s really not fair for me to compare my son?s party with that of the grand statesman-turned-octogenarian. I mean, my son, at the ripe old age of seven, has not yet had time to leave a noticeable imprint on the world; whereas, a mere handshake orchestrated by Mr. Peres can cause the international community to erupt into applause, blood to flow and heaven and earth to quake.
As a prime example, almost two years ago on November 16 2001, in a speech to the United Nations, Mr. Peres announced that in Israel "there is support for Palestinian independence, support for a Palestinian state". At the time, the international press reported that Israel was angered and deeply troubled by the comments, and there were calls in the Knesset for Peres? resignation. However, Ariel Sharon managed to quell the uprising.
I wrote an opinion piece back then, and I feel that its re-circulation would be a fitting birthday tribute to Shimon Peres...
Listen up, Shimon
November 16, 2001
My grandmother used to say a lot of great stuff. I've forgotten most of it, but I have retained a few choice phrases. "Honey, the world is upside down." Yeah, she'd comfort me with that one every time I'd visit her and complain about everything from an unfair teacher to some social injustice.
As a young girl, I can't say that I ever shared her anxiety over a topsy-turvy world, because I figured that I'd just fix everything when I got older. And you know, I tried really hard to make the world a better place. Some of my modest endeavors got off the ground, some fizzled out and a few boomeranged on me and caused utter destruction. Now that I'm in my forties and I watch as an envelope of powder can instill more anxiety on both an international and individual level than a barrage of cruise missiles, and a few barefoot guys on horseback can give a fleet of cobra helicopters a run for their money, I can stare up at the heavens with resignation and say, "Gosh, Nanny - you were right. The world is upside down."
Trying to live right-side up in an upside down world is fraught with difficulties. Maintaining one's sense of balance and equilibrium can be especially challenging and downright nauseating. So, when I asked my husband to pick up some Tums at the pharmacy, I recalled how I would assist my grandmother as she would frantically search for antacids in her purse.
Shimon Peres, you give me heartburn. You don't represent me or the majority of this country. Living upside down gives me an occasional migraine, but it distorts your "vision".
Let me try to clarify things for you. I've brought six children into this world. The labors that I've endured make any of your peace maneuvers and diplomatic gymnastics look like child's play. So listen up, Shimon: This Israeli mother will be washing several sets of army fatigues in the near future and I can assure you that there is nobody in this world who wants peace more than I. Furthermore, I feel fully qualified to inform you that I, along with the majority of this country, wish that you and your "peace partners" would just go away.
Frankly, I found your presence at the U.N. to be an embarrassment. Israel has seen some pretty grim days in that international arena, but we've also had some glorious moments. Like the time Chaim Herzog demonstratively ripped up the document equating Zionism with racism.
What I would have given to storm down the aisle of the General Assembly and trash your speech. But I'll never get to play that role, as I'm too busy in the role of a mother in Israel, desperately trying keep some sense of stability and order for her children in a world gone mad, and all because of people like you, who will sell their souls and their country for a few rounds of applause.
Which reminds me of the time that I didn't get the part that I wanted in the school play. With a wave of her hand, my grandmother would dismiss it and say, "Honey, it's all politics."