Long before OWS, or even this blog, he had been participating in huge protests against economic hardship in his country, much like we are now doing here. Finances were really stressful. We compared real estate prices and what you could get here and there for what price.
The cost of living there is astronomical, I was astounded. I don't know how anyone could afford to live there. Not to mention living in a place where there is such political unrest, and terrorist attacks and the threat of war are part of the daily dialogue. I can't imagine what it is like to live in that environment with children. He, of course, would shrug and say, "it is what it is." Friends have been moving away to places like Australia and Canada and here.
More recently, the right wing coalition has passed laws that attack the independence of the judiciary, and many have accused Netanyahu of attempting dictatorship. Apparently the Supreme Court made orders regarding settlements that Netanyahu didn't like... and he appears to be trying to pull a Henry VIII. "You won't let me do what I want? Okay, I will make my own court that will give me my way." This appears to have had some serious civil liberties repercussions as well.
Add to that the fact that the military is ramping up its presence on the Egyptian border in the expectation of terrorist attacks, the Defense Minister has said that it is probable that Israel could carry out military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, taking them out, with the prospect of only 500 casualties should Iran decide to retaliate. You know.. only 500. How do you even come up with a number like that? "Just" 500. 500 who? Of course, a rhetorical response was immediately released stating that Israel was just looking for sanctions, that the threats were just sabre rattling. That's usually the type of thing that governments say right before they do something stupid.
Again, how do you live under that constant threat with children? How do you keep your fear for them in check... keep it from becoming so debilatating you can barely function? He would say it is something they all live with. They have all been in the military, have all seen these things. You just do it. It is what it is.
So... the usual unrest is heightened and everyone is very tense, Sasha is no exception. He sounds frustrated and tired. I understand. I know how being held so tight in the grip of stress can be physically painful. How you go through your day caught between panic and surrender, until you can't take it anymore and you go numb. Then the numbness gives way to a dull, buzzing, impotent anger. It's bitter and it makes you feel helpless and overwhelmed, which makes you angrier. Its a vicious cycle. It is what it is.
We talk about him leaving. We talk about him staying. How do you leave your home and everything you know? When is it time to go, and when is it too late? Is it the right choice?
Why must we live at the whim of others more powerful than us, how did they get so much power, and how can we, the powerless, affect any sort of change?
Can we really at all, or is it just a form of denial of our powerlessness over our own situations? We go out into the street, we march, we yell, we make plans of action. Are they nothing more than motions to offset the terrible stress, until we get used to living at that level of anxiety, and simply give up?
I don't know the answer to that.
Today I thought about people in the past. How did they live under the rule of despotic kings, dictators, horrific rulers? Acceptance seems to be the rule, and change the exception. Most times that change came at the hands of terrible violence, and it wasn't what the revolutionaries expected. Most of them became fodder for the revolution machine, and the revolution became its antithesis. Can we win?
I worry for my friend and his family, and wish there was something I could do, but there isn't.
I worry for the world, and wish there was something I could do. I am not sure there is.
How do we go from "it is what it is," to something else? Something new. Something good. Is that even possible?
I hope he will write soon.
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