Israel: 'A Soldier's Mother,' on Iran, and Defining 'Normal'

Click on the image for a full-sized, readable photo (Courtesy: Israel Homefront Command)

A Soldier's Mother has a painfully poignant entry about what the average Israeli must face daily, and, especially in recent days over the prospect of a missile war with Iran, and other neighboring countries and entities:

"They sent us something that is designed to be attached, hung, or using the magnet conveniently located on the back, stuck to the refrigerator door. The slogan says, “To be protected exactly in time.” (Trust me, it sounds better in Hebrew).

"The rest of the hand-out features a map of Israel in various colors. To the right of the map, the question: “How much time do we have to get to a protected area?”

"Below the question, there’s a legend, divided into two parts. The top part covers the bulk of Israel from the north Isra(bordering Lebanon and Syria), the instructions say to enter immediately. The next area, just to the south and west of these areas shows that you have 30 seconds. From there, down through the rest of the country, you have anywhere from 60 seconds to 3 minutes. To comfort those who know us personally, we are in the 3 minute zone, aren’t we lucky?"

Read the rest.

Day By Day at an Israeli Army Checkpoint

Colleague Joel Leyden writes:

"A grey, blustery sand storm rolls fiercely into Kalandia. The sky turns a dark brown over this Israeli checkpoint bordering Jerusalem and Rahmallah. The dust burns your eyes as you focus on a Palestinian family approaching the cement block which serves as your desk. They wear red and white scarves over their faces, protection from the freezing, relentless winds. They reach for their identity cards, but you know that it could be a gun or a knife. You are half Mr. Nice Guy and half combat soldier. You must be able to go from a warm smile to loading your M-16 in half a second. You are an IDF volunteer who the Palestinians and Israeli soldiers refer to as a Humanitarian Officer."

More posts about the IDF here.