If you think Jews are a strange lot. We thrive on news about how Israelis are suffering, tsk-tsk. The anguish of an Israeli seems to be good for our souls. We mourn for "those" poor Israelis who manage under such terrible circumstances, and offer "them" suggestions as to what "they" should do. The families that remain in the Diaspora might ask important questions about what their unfortunate children are doing "there", and show concern for "their" fate or welfare.
Is all this breast-beating necessary? Must we read or tolerate all of those stories about how hard and bad it is, and how much Israelis - or our own children - suffer?
Is that attitude our punishment for moving here?
Perhaps those who speak out don't realize how they carefully distance their statements by the grammatical third person. After all, it should not be "those" people. They are "our" Israelis. We should discuss things that "we" should do. We're all in this together.
Or was that minor point forgotten?
That being the case, we should stop feeling sorry for ourselves. It's time to speak out about the good Israeli life. So far, this has only been done by a pathetically ineffectual foreign ministry, or by some half-hearted government hasbara (public relations) departments.
Those of us who do live in Israel have good reason to speak out:
things can't get worse
it's probably only because
you lack sufficient imagination
- Source unknown
Read more about how bad it is
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Keywords: Complaining, Involvement, Media, Unity
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