I started this blog when war was waged; when i needed to share my reflections on the situation and since i wanted to make a change. I wanted to show that not all Israelites are monsters who wish only to destroy Lebanon. To show where we can change the world – as a community.
The blogging community is a different community than the rest of the world. They sometimes go Avant Garde; they do things that people won’t do regularly. They (sometimes) share their most intimate moments with complete strangers. Not out of exhibitionism, but from the will to share – since they know that sharing is a mean to gain understanding. it’s a mean for a stable community. On the other hand, some bloggers use this power for propaganda. They try to speak, but not to listen. They try hard to repeat what they said in several ways, use violence and censor. These bloggers, though they are a part of the community, are not the mainstream.
When Ahmadinejad started his “own†blog (hebrew parody link) it wasn’t a real blog – it was another propaganda machine. On the other hand, when i started my first blog i had no apparent cause for it – i just wanted to write. In the beginning it blogged on the same site both in hebrew and in english, but no one read it. Knowing that no one reads it, i felt free to write what i want about what i want. Not to hold myself, not to avoid embarrassing moments. I spoke freely about my lovelife, about my opinions, about my actions. That was what brought me my readers, and i think that that’s what’s keeping them there.
Now, that the war is “overâ€, i can’t help but to think what will be of my English blog? Do i need it or do i just keep on writing from the inertia? What can i write about which interests both me and the international community? Should i just translate my hebrew articles? If so, then why? I don’t want just to force myself to write. I want to write in order to get other people’s thoughts on the matters.
More than a year ago, during the disengagement, i translated Guns N’ Roses “Civil War†into hebrew, Civil war, the war of the civilians. (Maya is probably laughing now). I sent the post also by mail to some acquaintances, mostly because most of them didn’t know i blog. One of them was Parliament member Yossi Sarid. I felt honored to receive a reply from him after reading it – saying that he agrees with my worries.
When 2005 ended, i made a post which summarized all i did in one blog post. I called it “PostShanaâ€, i had some hopes there. One was to enact several statutes, the other was to annul some others. I will start doing it when i get back.
I guess that this blog will start being more personal, as i know less people read it than my hebrew one. I also guess that i will have to translate some of the hebrew posts when i’ll want them to be diggdotted or something.
On sunday morning Ma’ariv will publish my opinion and legal commentary on the proposal to the Israeli Statute of Copyright (digital works) 2006. It is a thousand words in total. I already wrote the political commentary to the post (500 more); the question is – whether it interests the readers here or not. I believe not.
I’ll just start to write about life in Tel-Aviv, another boring personal blog, isn’t it?
i think you should go on with this particular blog (or, perhaps, i wish you to go on)… Even if disagree on some issues i enjoy
reading it
maybe, just maybe, this blog is a chance for message in a bottle 😉
How did Queen sing: “There must be more to life than this…”?
there must be more to Internet than just “surveillance, information, espionage and propaganda”
good luck =)
yes, go on blogging, in English, that is. The world, that is those of us that happens to read your blog, will become a bit wiser. Even if you write about life in Tel Aviv, just think of all the people who’ve never been there.
I’ll link to you, because I believe we should take time to listen to as many voices as possible. You may disagree with what I write, but then you may find some surprises, too.
Good luck!
First of all,
thanks. I’m just now on the plane back from Germany to Tel-Aviv and i guess i’ll continue writing. I’ll find something to write about sometime. I never knew who exactly read me, that’s why i asked.
J.
Jonathan, as Snobar mentioned, you are a window into ‘life in Tel Aviv’. For me, I would really want to learn more about Israel and its domestic politics from someone who’s Israeli, rather than someone who’s a supposed ‘expert’ in some newspaper (speaking as a foreigner to you of course) who has their own motive for their opinions. Bloggers for the most part tend to mince no words as to what their real opinions are and share their motives or reason for those opinions. People who write for newspapers have their own ‘censorship’ if you will. Either a certain political leaning of a newspaper, or not being allowed to write certain things or having to make sure that certain groups are not offended. That is why I rather get a glimps of life in Israel from you. Plus, as you were the first to really articulate it and it opened my eyes really (I knew it but unconsciously, I was just going through the experience)..blogging is about communicating. And the bloggers whose sites I frequent are the ones I have gotten to know and you develop rapport. I am glad you are deciding to continue in English. And war or not..I still believe that the kind of peace that needs to exist in your region is not only a political one, but a literally sustainable one where there is the sort of economical and resource interdependence that gives everyone a stake into keeping the peace, but most importantly, a desire to resolve issues non violently. I am sure it is not an easy goal, but without a clear objective, it would be a whole lot more difficult.
Looking forward to reading about your Germany ‘adventure’..if you were so inclined to write about it anyway..
Ingrid
that’s funny, I’m having the same thoughts about our Israeli women project blog. i already have Hebrew blogs and i don’t feel like sustaining our war blog, there are enough people blogging in English for people who’re just interested. if you don’t have a Hebrew blog i think you should keep this one since blogging is fun. and i would love to keep following it too.
Like the others said, you are a window to life in Tel Aviv and Israel, and that is interesting for foreigners, and also for locals like myself.
I started blogging just a few days before the war broke out, and I started writing in both languages. I think that some things are interesting only to Israelis, some only to foreigners, some to both and some to both, but in a different style.
Anyway, you have another reader for your English blog.
And, it isn’t that certain that the ceasefire will hold…
Nice site, u know ^^ SD59SDV21S65D20SRD89S6
You wrote:
“I wanted to show that not all Israelites are monsters who wish only to destroy Lebanon. ”
I don’t think ANY Israelis want to destroy Lebanon. They just want Lebanon to leave us alone.