Israel has 2 memorial days. one a week ago (see the date) for
the Holocaust, and one today, for the
soldiers that died on duty. It used to be the soldiers who died in the
wars, but that wasn't
pc enough. So now it includes soldiers who shot themselves while playing with their guns, etc. But enough cynicism.
Oh, what the hell, let's have some more cynicism: here's the deal: on Holocaust memorial day, there is a 2-minute siren at 10:00 in the morning. Everyone stands up and pays their respects. so no matter what you're doing at that time, you stop it, stand up, and be silent for 2 minutes, with only the siren blazing all of the country, from Metulla to Eilat, as we fondly say in Israel. On memorial day (today) there are two sirens. There's a minute-long one at 20:00 at the eve of the day (Jewish, and thus Israeli holidays and such are from dusk till dusk). Then there's a 2-minute-long siren at 11:00 the following morning (i.e. just about right now). I can understand the rationale behind it, but I do think they're overdoing it with the 2 sirens today. Nevermind. 2 points I wish to make:
One: I would love to see tourists' faces as this siren blasts away, when they are unaware of it. Especially a tourist, say, on a bus in the middle of Tel Aviv, in the middle of a junction during a green light. The bus driver stops and everyone stands up. It must be so bloody surreal. Imagine that - all traffic stops. People stand up, lower their heads, and are silent for 2 minutes.
Two: Children. 4-year old children in pre-kindergarten stand up. They already know what's going on. Do they? Why are they standing up? They're not paying their respects. I agree it's important to have a memorial day, especially in a country such as Israel, where our existence is not so obvious and wavers on a thin line. But it does make you wonder. After the siren yesterday, I talked with my girlfriend on the phone. She asked what I was doing doing the siren. I told her I was at home, alone, locating an article on the net. She said, "But you did stand up, didn't you?"
Why stand up? I'm alone. It only makes sense to stand up when there are people around, whether you're paying respect or not. It's the social thing. So i said to her, "Why? it's only social conditioning. There's no other reason to stand up when you're alone."
"I never thought about it like that, you have a point", she said. I think she sat through today's siren.