Election Results
All I can say is that it won’t be long before the next election.
So we have the lowest voter turnout–63%, no clear mandate for the winner (Kadima) getting only 28 seats. (The Knesset is 120 seats….61 as majority.)
Congrats to the Pensioner’s party, and so long to Shinui (who self-destructed, and deserved it.)
I feel very disconnected from Israel right now. I’m not happy with the messages from any of the top four parties.
At least we had a nice day off…
The girls and I went for a walk on the Goldman Promenade. It wraps around the front of the UN compound and has amazing views of Jerusalem, including the Old City, as well as the security fence. The highlights for the girls were the animals we saw. First there was an Arab man with his horse, who was grazing along the path. Then we saw a flock of sheep and goats. The sheep wanted to go where we were walking, and they were afraid to walk by us. We moved to the side of the path, and let them pass. Hadassa was a bit scared at how close they came, but they walked by without a problem.
Sorry for the lack of pictures…I didn’t think to bring the camera.
Explaining the Elections
Note: updated with a few additional notes
As many will know, tomorrow is election day here in Israel. This means a day off for everyone (including schools).
This will be my second election in Israel, and when I speak with family abroad about the elections, and tell them where I am voting (approximately), the response is: “oh dear, oh dear”.
So what makes this liberal democrat who has only lived in “Blue States” vote so far to the right?
I guess the first part of the answer is that Left and Right are so different here. Both sides deal with social issues (or not) and many of the issues I had in America (abortion, religious freedom, education) are just dealt with so differently here.
Q: Why would someone who believes in religious tolerance/freedom vote for a religious party?
A: Because the parties on the Left are ANTI-religion….take a look at the lovely little commercial made by the Shinui party.
Q: But what about Kadima? They have people from all backgrounds? And they are going to save Israel, and the US likes them.
A: Kadima is made up with failed politicans from all parties…I wouldn’t trust Ehud Olmert to water my plants. I feel that this is a party of opportunists jumping on the bandwagon of a leader who is now in a coma.
Q: Well, what about Likud?
A: I think Bibi makes a great Finance Minister, and I’d love to see him back in that position. In order to run a country, you need to be a team player, and be willing to take advice….that has not been shown by Bibi….also he has pulled some power plays which I think are pretty scummy.
Q: But by not voting for Likud/Labor/Kadima you aren’t voting for the prime minister.
A: Such is life.
Jewish/Zionist Film Festival I
One of the perks of working at a Film Archive is that I get to see many films. Although many of them are not worth seeing, we have 300 which are available on line for anyone to view (free).
Since it isn’t easy to know where to start, I’m going to do a periodic posting with my suggestion of a film to watch. The first film is The Land of Promise. It is a good place to start, being from 1935 when the word Palestine had completely different connotations. The film is almost an hour long, so get comfy with some popcorn and enjoy! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me.
Happy Purim
Lala and the princess wish you all a Happy Purim
Thus quote the not quite two year old
This is the exchange that took place with my little one at her childcare:
My daughter: shrugs her shoulders
Childcare worker: “Why are you shrugging?”
My daughter: “Don’t know”
Childcare worker: “What don’t you know?”
My daughter: “Hebwu”
I wish I had been there!!!
Good Customer Support
I’ve been using Dotphoto for several years to upload, store and print my digital photos. Until now, I’ve thought they were a great service, but the real test is when you have a problem.
They had a special deal during February that shipping would be free (within the US). So I finally ordered prints of pictures that had been sitting and waiting for me for almost a year. I ordered 107 pictures (in duplicate). Of course, I did this on the last day of the deal. Two days later I check the website, and it says my order failed. No other information, just that the order failed. I send a message to customer support and within 3 days they replied that there was a problem with some of the pictures, and that the order had been re-instated!
I checked today and the pictures have been shipped!!!
Thanks DotPhoto!!!
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