Rockets and Bombs and Deaths - Oh My!

It's been a rough week.

After suffering through hives and the prednisone side effects, I ended up back at the clinic on Tuesday with a sinus infection. In the States, I have always had doctors check my nose, throat and ears, but this doctor decided to bypass my nose and ears and to press really hard on my face instead. I have witnesses who claim this is a legit means of diagnosis, but let me tell you, I prefer the less painful approach of looking at my ears and nose! The doc gave me scripts for amoxycillin and codeine - again, never had codeine prescribed for a sinus infection, but the pharmacist acted like it was normal. I only took three of them, one each evening the first three days, and I was amazed at how all the pressure in my head magically disappeared! Of course, instead of getting codeine's drowsiness, I ended up with amoxycillin's insomnia. I really can't win when it comes to side effects.

Of course, the real news of the week was the bombing near the central bus station on Wednesday. I was in class when it happened. Someone from the grad office came and told us the news and did a roll call. We were all in shock. I was actually there the day before, since the clinic is nearby. (Normally I have no reason to go there.) Class continued, but I can't say that I really paid attention after that. I spent the rest of the class checking Google News for updates and emailing my friends and family to let them know what had happened and that I was okay. It was initially reported as a bus bombing, but the bomb was actually on the sidewalk, near some of the bus stops. From what I understand, the blast hit two buses. Over thirty people were injured, and one, a 54-year-old British woman, was killed. That woman was a student at Rothberg and the classmate of one of my roommates. She came to Israel to learn Hebrew so she could translated the Hebrew Bible into one of the African dialects. She had spent 20 years living in west Africa and had already translated the New Testament. It's all so tragic.

Thursday, it was more or less business as usual, although we did learn bomb-related words in Hebrew.

Yesterday, four pipe bombs were found in the possession of several Palestinians at one of the checkpoints.

Prior to the bombing in Jerusalem, there were already increased tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians. I don't really know anything more than what I read on Google News (and I admit, I don't always check it as often as I should), but apparently Gaza has launched some rockets into Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beer-Sheba. In response to these rockets and the bombing on Wednesday, Israel has launched rockets into Gaza. And of course, Gaza responded to that with more rockets. The Israeli mortar attack killed 9 Palestinians, including 4 civilians - 3 of whom were children, with an additional 19 Palestinians injured. According to one report, there were "no victims" from the over 100 rockets launched by Gaza last week. Israel is threatening a major ground invasion, larger than Operation Cast Lead of 2008.

I don't know why Hamas and Gaza decided to attack Israel, and I don't trust the media to offer an unbiased report of the events. I do not condone violence (even if I am admittedly seemingly obsessed with it) and I do not agree with any of the violence that has occurred over the past week. Six months ago, Israel and Palestine were sitting down to talk about peace. Now they are bombing each other. How is violence going to lead to peace? I understand that the Palestinians are desperate, and honestly, I don't blame them. But are attacks on settlers, rockets and bombings going to solve anything? All it does is give Israel an excuse to retaliate, and let's face it, Israel can do far more damage to Palestine. Gaza managed to launch over 100 rockets without killing any Israelis, military or civilians, but with just one hour of bombing, Israel killed 9, including 3 children. I don't know if Gaza intentionally chose targets that wouldn't result in fatalities or if Israel wanted their bombs to be lethal (although the latter seems likely, since the Israeli defense of the deaths was that they took out 4 known Palestinians militants), but the statistics don't lie: the Israelis are more efficient when it comes to killing their enemy. There is no question about Israel's military prowess. So why is Hamas giving Israel any excuse to attack innocent Palestinians? I don't understand it. And after Wednesday's bombing, and especially since the only fatality was a foreigner, Israel pretty much has the world's support.

Don't get me wrong. What happened on Wednesday was inexcusable. But so was the death of four innocent Palestinians, among whom were three children, at the hands of Israel.