Day 13 - Israel is "Hot" in More Ways than One

     I think it would be fair to say that despite the fact that the temperature has climbed higher as this week has progressed, the weather is hardly the only -- or the most concerning -- way in which Israel is "heating up."  As I mentioned in my last post, I was in Be'er Sheva when the first air raid alarms since April were sounded.  As I imagine most, if not all, of you know by now that those were only the opening volleys.


     Things really escalated on Thursday with the infiltration into Israel of (what is estimated to have been 15-20) terrorists from Gaza.  They attacked a couple of buses (one of which was blown up by a suicide bomber killing the driver who was, thankfully, the only person on board) as well as planting some bombs along the road to Eilat and shooting at several cars, killing two couples who were on their way to vacation in Eilat.  [The photos of the smoldering shell of this bus is eerily reminiscent of the pictures we used to see all the time before the security fence was erected.  While the construction of this fence was -- and is -- controversial, it cannot be denied that after its erection the number of devastating terrorist attacks which had previously been prolific declined to almost zero.] This then led to a retaliatory air raid by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) which killed a number of folks including at least one of the leaders of Hamas in Gaza.  The response was the unleashing of something like 30 rockets being shot into Southern Israel (Be'er Sheva, Ashdod, Ashkelon).  While most of these "missed" and a few were intercepted by Iron Dome (the mobile anti-rocket defense system which Israel has developed to protect communities in the North and the South -- and which was just deployed in April of this year!) several did fall in populated areas and there were at least three fatalities.  Ironically, the three men killed were themselves Palestinians working in Israel.  There were also 3 Egyptian policemen shot and killed by Israeli police (on Egyptian soil) as they pursued several of the terrorists.


     So, all of this led to my making a change in my weekend plans.  [This is hardly the most significant result of the escalation in violence -- but it is the one that effects me directly.]  I had originally planned to return to Be'er Sheva for the weekend to visit with my niece and her daughter while Sarah stayed in Modi'in with some JFI friends.  However, by Friday morning the situation in the South seemed sufficiently unstable to warrant a change in plans.  Sarah was very nervous about my returning to Be'er Sheva right now and, frankly, I wasn't too hard to convince to do otherwise.   As luck would have it, I was able to get a really good rate (last minute) on a hotel in J'm.  This is the kind of place that I would never pay full rate for.  It's called the American Colony Hotel and rivals the King David in terms of service and rates.  


     It's actually quite a remarkable place.  It began as a home built by Rabbah Daoud Amin Effendi El Husseini for himself and his FOUR wives.  Hence the need for a pretty big house :-).  In the very late 19th century a family from Chicago -- the Spaffords -- moved to J'm after the tragic death of their four daughters in a shipwreck and purchased the home.  They soon added rooms for visitors and it eventually became a hotel.  It is a favorite place for journalists from all over the world to stay.  Additionally, it has been host to a wide variety of notable guests including General Allenby (his walking stick -- with his name engraved in silver -- is displayed right outside my room!), Winston Churchill, Mikhail Gorbachev, Leon Uris, Marc Chagall, Peter O'Toole, Robert DeNiro, and Bob Dylan!  It is built almost entirely of stone and has a very Moorish feeling.  The staff fall all over themselves trying to make the guests comfortable.  I must say that I have NEVER before checked into a hotel where I was offered a glass of wine while I registered!


     Tomorrow it is back to Matityahu.  Sarah and I will spend a couple of days exploring Tel Aviv and then we are off to the north (staying in Haifa for a few nights) followed by about five days in J'm.  This will include our opportunity to pray with the Women of the Wall.  All of this, of course, is based on the presumption that the conflicts here do not heat up to levels at which safety might be compromised.