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I'm a good sleeper. I woke up this morning at about 05:30 this morning when a preliminary alert went off on my phone. Shortly thereafter we heard the get-to-your-safe-space siren, though I'm not fully convinced it was for us. Either way, off we went. Actually, Tzippi went and told me that I better do so as well. Once I was there she then told me that this was the third alert of the night. It seems I comfortably slept through the others. The all clear came about ten minutes later and I went back to bed (and to sleep) until 07:30. Tzippi decided to stay in the safe room, and try to sleep there. I left for the college a bit before 08:00 and have been semi-busy here. Being here today was definitely desirable since my cell still hasn't been connected properly to the office phone so that after two rings in the office it rings on my cell, meaning that I wouldn't get the three phone calls for help that I've so far received today. It's now almost 12:00 and I decided to do a bit of writing now because ten minutes ago we had a preliminary alert here (and I wanted to note it now because I may not remember it later). There's a nearby shelter in the building I'm in so I'm no more stressed than I'd be if I were at home.
I accomplished quite a bit of work, primarily busywork, but still things that had to be attended to, while at the college, and left for home at 16:00. It's now 23:00, and if I remember correctly we haven't had any alerts by us since then. The evening news, however, showed a number of damaged buildings and cars and reported a few minor injuries. I'm sure that I've already noted that back in June of last year we were told that Hezbollah had been pretty fully deterred and that Iran as well was no longer the threat it was, yet every day there's constant shelling from Lebanon. Though the promise is that we'll no longer be threatened, at present Israelis in the north are very far from secure (as is also the case to a lesser extent throughout other parts of the country) and it's unclear how pride in being a superpower is able to compensate for continually living in a war zone.
Of course the news also reported that Israel, or Israel and the States, have now destroyed two thirds of Iran's missile capabilities. To me that's particularly interesting because yesterday we were told that 70% had been destroyed, and I have enough math in order to know that two-thirds is less than 70%. So maybe we're moving backwards, or, and it's a better guess, our experts don't really know. We're also being told that because of the great success of this war it may only go on for another few weeks. I don't have enough math in order to understand that calculation.
And while our war drags on our government continues to further laws that clearly (and to my mind purposefully) move us away from a democracy to a situation in which there are almost no checks and balances on governmental power. Of course that's within Israel proper. There's no democracy in the occupied territories, nor even any intent of democracy. What we do have in the territories is a wild west of a land grab and an ongoing expulsion of Palestinians living there via a combination of law, compulsion and violence. This is what David Shulman talks about in the NYRB interview he forwarded. Sadly, he's right.
It's been a quiet evening. Tomorrow I'll be at the college for about half a day, primarily because the phone connection, from the office to my cell, hasn't yet been dealt with. But I'll have a quiet morning to get some things one, so I'm not complaining, and it doesn't hurt to get to sleep a bit earlier than usual.
Laila tov.
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