IDF Archives

Loooooooooooooooong day.

I woke up at 6 today so I could get to the IDF Archives up in Tel HaShomer (near Tel Aviv) early and check out all the stuff I need. But I got to Be'er Sheva about 3 minutes after my train left. So I had to take the bus, which doesn't take much longer, but it meant I had to wait another half hour. I finally got to Tel Aviv and then wandered around the bus station looking for the right bus. I finally find it and when I comes, the driver tells me I need to cross the street and catch the one going the other direction. Great. So I crossed the street and waited for the next bus. I got on and took it all the way to the last stop and was finally at the archives. It was 11:30.

I met Doron, my contact there and he showed me how to get started. It was a little intimidating, I mean it was all in Hebrew, in pre-State Hebrew when Israelis still used Hebrew words for things that have since been replaced with English ones, with grammar that no one really uses anymore and of course the quality isn't the best. For many of the pages I felt like I must need glasses. But despite all that, I was able to read most of what I saw, if slowly and was able to search through hundreds of pages of documents to find the things I need. It was really cool!

The best part was when I found a document written right after Haifa fell to the Zionists. It spoke about how the city was finally "in our hands" and it ended with "לחיים! לחרות! לעצמאות!" "To life! To Freedom! To Independence!" and it was signed "צבא ההגנה לארץ ישראל" or the Land of Israel Defense Force. Since it was pre-state, it looks like that was the official name of the Haganah. I never knew that before. So awesome!

After a few hours pouring over documents it was time to leave. I was the last one there. Doron said he would mail me the docs I selected and hopefully I'll get them next week. I then grabbed a bus back to Tel Aviv to meet up with Peninah from USY. She made Aliyah a few years ago and got out of the army in September. I hadn't seen her since she made Aliyah so it was really great to hang out with her. We talked a lot and caught up. Last time I spoke with her she was on her way to the airport to go to Morocco. I was very jealous and we talked about her plans to travel the world this summer. I had never really thought about it, but I've been to a huge number of countries all over the place. She talked about how she wanted to go to Cuba and South America, so I was able to help her out a little bit there. We weren't able to hang out for too long because she had to head back home for a roommate meeting. But it was still really great to see her.

We went to this new kosher place on Rabin Square and the first table there had a chair with a sign on it saying "Reserved for Gilad Shalit." When was that last time any major American news network broadcast a story about Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier still held by the Taliban? When was the last time you heard or saw regular people talk or protest for his release? He seems to have been forgotten. That's not the case here. A common bumper sticker to see here is one with Gilad's face and the phrase "I was drafted too." In my Iran class when we were discussing the protests, Loren lamented the fact that Americans don't take to the streets anymore. I was critical of him and said it was a sign of democracy that anger is taken out in polling booths not streets. But now I'm inclined to agree with him. We don't protest over a lack of government action for Bergdahl and we don't protest the fact that the Pentagon spend billions on new fighter planes for use in yesteryear's wars while soldiers are driving around in Humvees without armor in the wars of today. It's interesting how seeing one small sign can change the way you look at the world.

Anyway, Peninah told me which bus to take back to the station and then I waited for the train and eventually made my way back to Dimona at around 10:30. Phew! Shoko is already sleeping on the bed. I think he has the right idea.