I am going to be leaving WdC, because is expensive for me (because shekels are not so good as U.S. dollars) and I am really only using the blog.

You can still follow me if you want to, at this: http://noaeliyahu.wordpress.com/

Is all the same . I really like WdC, and I will come back to read other blogs. I promise!

Just a few more weeks, and then summer!
 

I need to stop drinking . But tonight? Tonight was very, very good.

You know, because life is short? And I like the Sephardi men. They look like Arabs, they talk like Jews...and they're really, really, really good...for romance .

If my mother knew...

Shabbat shalom! L'Chaim!
 

I hate the deportation orders for the West Bank. Is doing nothing for peace.

I want all this fighting, all this controversy, all of this animosity to just end, you know? Because now I am on the boardwalk, and I have falafel and a fruit juice and good conversation and this is the Israel I want. I want this, without knowing that my brother is fighting near Lebanon and my father will report for military service soon and maybe tomorrow people will die. The Mediterranean Sea is so beautiful, and the sky is so blue, and people are laughing, and this is what I love. The Jewish homeland is this.

People who do not know us, they say that we are executioners and murderers, imprisoning the Palestinians in their own homes, shooting at civillians to avenge a crime they did not do. But this is not Israelis. We are not this. And nobody really knows the history--like how this land was promised to us by the British, and then it was promised months later to the Arabs, and then we were forced to fight for it. And nobody talks about the agreements we have made, and the wars we have not fought, and the territory we have not kept for ourselves.

When people think Tel Aviv they do not think of all that is beautiful in life. When people think Gaza they do not think of the stories of its sand and buildings. When people think Jerusalem, they do not think G-d. This a loss we have suffered.

They say we Israelis have won every war. But we have lost so much, I wonder sometimes why we still bother to fight.
 

The firm demand to sustain an independent Jewish state, one that holds its security in its own hands while at the same time tirelessly seeking peace as well as the demand to treat threats of annihilation, Holocaust denials, and terror mongering with the utmost severity. - Shimon Peres

Almighty G-d, remember the six million people that were gassed, killed, drowned, burned alive, tortured, beaten or frozen to death. For the sake of one man, a whole nation was crucified, while the world looked on in silence. In our hearts, their sacred memory will last forever and ever. Amen.

G-d of Our Fathers, let the ashes of the children incinerated in Auschwitz, the rivers of blood spilled at Babbi Yar or Majdanek, be a warning to mankind that hatred is destructive, violence is contagious, while man has an unlimited capacity to cruelty. Almighty God, fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares . . . nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Amen.

For my grandmother and my grandfather, and their parents, and their siblings, and their friends, and for all those we have never met and never will meet.

Baruch dayan emet
 

I am considering moving to New York for my graduate school a year from this Fall. It would be out of comfort zone, away from my family, and in another country, but I think I need a change. I think also I need to learn the opinions of others, and be able to learn not to think like an Israeli. And there are so many Jews in New York that I would not feel like I was alone, and I could still go to synagogues and celebrate holidays.

I am very much thinking this. But is big decision.

Pesach is alright. I try so hard to like Matzoh, but is difficult. Is just okay. Mostly I am enjoying fruit.

I love that the Palestinian students here in Tel Aviv like Matzoh. Is hilarious to see these Arabs eating Matzoh ball soup, pizza, or just enjoying it plain. Irony . We are so similar!
 

Two IDF soldiers were killed . Baruch dayan emet. Always makes me very sad to hear this, because, as a former soldier, I know what it means to be afraid while on duty. Mostly our fears go unrecognized, but, as this shows, sometimes they come true. Border control is the hardest sort of job, because all terrorists must, at some point, pass through. I am glad for my brother not having this obligation at this time.

Shabbat was okay. Nice to have everyone home, but akward, too, because my father and my brother do not agree politically on many things. My father is conservative, and agrees with Bibi Netanyahu's agenda, and my brother has opinion that the country is going in the wrong direction. Politics I am thinking do not belong at Shabbat.

Pesach next week! I always lose weight . Is wonderful to have the week off from classes.

Weather is beautiful again. Beach, beach, beach...frozen pomegranate juice...baba ganoush...mmm...

I have decided no more vodka ever. Only wine. Also no fruit vodka drinks, because, as it has taken me several years to figure out, these are no more better than just vodka when you have three or four or five.
 

The talks are not going well between President Obama and Bibi Netanyahu. Is not good news. Is a conservative trying to talk with someone more liberal. Still, there is hope for at least agreeing to disagree on some policies.

America, I would like to say mazel tov for passing your health care bill! I have heard much criticism from Americans at school here in Tel Aviv about it, and I know from reading American newspapers that not every American is happy, but still, is probably a step in the right direction? Perhaps.

My brother will home this Shabbat! Will be my whole family there .
 

Just bought a really cool shirt. Is blue, and in write print says PEACE and then shalom in Hebrew script and then salaam in Arabic script. I like it very much .

I have talked also with my friend Suzana from Germany. She says I can come visit in the summer any time with friends, if I am wanting still to take a vacation out of Israel. My friend Lior has a friend in Hamburg, near where Suzana lives, so we are thinking maybe of taking a few weeks to visit. Why not?

Much work to be done. The puppy is already so big!
 

I want to go to Europe. Everything is calm in Europe. There is peace. People are kind.

I don't want to be here right now. Is like going crazy.

Vacation!!!!!!!
 

So, besides the American-Israeli relationship on the rocks ("Oi vey!"), there is good news! The Palestinians appear to be as creative as ever, going so far as to paint themselves blue like the alien characters in that movie Avatar, comparing the occupation to that of the human presence in the planet featured in the film. Meanwhile, they continue to attach their long flowing braids to the long flowing tails of giant flying alligators so as to peacefully ascend to the floating mountains right above Hebron...

I am too good a mood to talk politics .

I had a delicious coffee this morning! Was very wonderful. Had caramel, two extra espresso shots, good milk, dark coffee beans...delicious! Is very good to start the day off in this way, I think.

I must write two pages on any subject in the world I wish for an internship I am applying for. So this is two pages, on any subject. But the internship is in politics, so I am thinking I will write about a political situation. Is harder than I have expected.

Favorite coffee drink? I love cafe afuchim, but also just a good cappuccino. When I do have normal coffee, no cream, no sugar. Bitter is the best .