As I was reading through this article many things popped into my head, but one that was there all the time was a yearning desire to one day (despite all what’s happening around us) be able to say Tel Aviv co-exists so blissfully with its Arab capitals with a constant flow of cultural influence from both places to on one another. This might not happen in 20 or 30 or 50 years, but it eventually has too, or the whole region is destined for an all out destructive war.

I thought of my city Beirut and the similarities in such an ironic way with Tel Aviv. Thoughts of how a cultural dialogue between open minded individuals can bridge gaps and destroy hate. Forgetting all the ideological issues I have with the state of Israel and its existence, the fact of the matter is that its there, and people live there. I might not like who the Israelis are choosing as their representatives, and have been doing so since the establishment of this state, and I certainly dont see a bright future any time soon (things seem to be getting diabolically worse), but I do hope that in a city that seems so open, peace loving thoughts will eventually emerge out of the darkness that only leads to more darkness, and will spread out.

“when the commanding officer of the home front said that a relatively small percentage of fallen soldiers came from Tel Aviv — indicating, he said, a lower level of patriotism amongst denizens of the Big Orange.”

This should be attributed to Maj. Gen. Elazar Stern, who was head of the human resources directorate (or: personnel directorate, the name keeps changing).