Life between the booms

Yesterday... what can I say about yesterday?

We are still stuck in the house with the Internet, phone and TV as our connection to the outside world.

My daughter managed to speak to one of her friends on the phone. She had been trying to contact them since the weekend but it seems most of her friends have already ‘gone south’. I expected her to ask if we were leaving too but neither her or my son complain much about staying indoors. Everyday my son looks at the summer camp schedule bemoaning what they have missed doing and my daughter is a little upset that she can'’t go to the pool. Other than that they are doing well.

In the evening I phoned my South Lebanese friend. When the IDF withdrew from Lebanon in 2000 she and her family had to flee for their lives. Hizbollah and other Muslim militia declared a death sentence on all members of the Christian South Lebanese Army because they had supported Israel.

Her children are quite nervous remembering the bombardments in Lebanon when Hizbollah fired katuyshas on Christian civilians as well as on Israel. When I asked about shelters in Lebanon she said that the underground crypt of every church had been converted to a shelter.

She assured me that her friends and family were safe in an area of Beirut far away from Nasrallah and his cohorts. She hopes the IDF will finish the job and rid her country of Hizbollah so she will have some chance of returning home.

The shelter near her house wasn’'t in a great state and when she called the town hall to get it fixed she laughed with our Mayor that Hizbollah hadn'’t managed to kill her in Lebanon so she hoped they wouldn’'t get her here!

Yesterday my husband work a full shift and wasn'’t home until 8pm, just in time for the news –- an Israeli ritual.

My father prefers Channel 1. It is what he is used to, before he came to England in 1980 it was the only channel in Israel, just getting colour and closed on Shabbat.

Now there are three terrestrial channels and hundreds more on cable.

We are devotees of Yaacov and Miki on Channel 10 (or the ‘'Babes in Journalism Channel’' being the channel with the best and the best-looking journalists).

These days Miki looks both worried and angry, gone are the girlish giggles from the World Cup. Yaacov is solemn and serious but otherwise calm as usual.

Nitzan gives a round up of the international media. He is so cute and enthusiastic but urgh! the international news media have me pulling my hair out - – ‘'Israel Attacks Lebanon','‘Israeli Agression'?

I hate to get all schoolyard but they started it. Are we the only country in the world forbidden from defending ourselves? In the eyes of the international Media is an Israeli life - my life - worth so much less than anybody else'’s?

I take a deep breath, calm down and back to the news.

The reporters on location have been very obviously suffering from a lack of sleep this week but last night Alon seemed to have napped for a few hours. Poor Ynon had not been so lucky. Wrapped in a Kevlar vest he was positively grey around the gills.

Zvi from the Arab desk, who is able to explain it all so clearly, also seemed to have had time for a rest and a haircut too. He looked so sombre maybe because he understands the enemy better than the rest of us.

Despite the comfort of these familiar faces the news was still distressing. The most shocking report was that despite the warnings and leaflets from the IDF most South Lebanese civilians cannot leave: Hizbollah won'’t let them evacuate or even wave a white flag -– they want a human shield and a maximum of civilian casualties.

ES