Foxnews.com

This morning I received an email from a news editor at Foxnews.com. She got my name through my friend Courtney and she is looking for reactions from Americans living in Israel and Lebanon. I debated all day writing her back. I do not consider Fox News to be the best of news sources, but in the end I sent her my thoughts. She was probably only looking for a line or two, but after writing all of these blog entries, I couldn't stop there. Here is my response to her:

Hello Liza,
Any friend of Berman is a friend of mine. I am happy to give you my take on the latest current events in this region, although I'm not sure how interesting you will find them. For what it is worth, here you go:

"Living in Tel Aviv can be like living in a bubble, where you know what is going on around you, but you are never truly confronted with it. When the disengagement was going on last summer, there were rallies all over the countries. People would tie different colored ribbons to their cars to express their views, and the nightly news was full off commentary and first-hand accounts of what was taking place. Of course living in Tel Aviv, you would never know it. The pubs were always packed, the cafes were full and people walked down the street like nothing was different.



For the past week Israel has been bombarded with katyusha rockets from the north, Qassam rockets from the south and suicide bombers trying to carry out their missions in between. The news runs all night long and everyone, in Israel and abroad, has something to say. Although, walking down the streets of Tel Aviv, you might not know it. There are still lines outside of the bars, people laying on the beach and others escaping the heat in the air conditioned malls.



Even though everything seems normal, if you scratch under the surface and ask people how they are feeling, you will get a different picture. Israel is a small country, roughly the size of New Jersey, and everyone knows someone who has been affected by these latest events. People continue their lives as routinely as they can to help cope with the new reality they are faced with. In Tel Aviv it is easy to keep your routine.



I moved to Israel one year ago and I am not going anywhere, nor are any of my friends. When we came to Israel we knew that life was not going to be easy. Unfortunately rockets and terrorist attacks are part of our reality, but that is not going to send me packing. Israel has fought for the past 58 years to exist; Today is no different."


Liza- I realize that you got more of an answer than you bargained for. Take it or leave it as you like. As far as the details go, I am 25 yrs old and I am originally from CT, although I moved here from Boston last year. As far as why I am over here, that is a much harder question. I made aliyah, I immigrated to Israel, and now this is my home.

hope this helps. good luck,
Leora