they're the people that you meet when you're walking down the street

the gilad shalit vigil is no longer alone. 
since bibi declared a 10-month settlement freeze. we've had a big protest: 

and now a tent has been set up with folks there all day and sometimes at night (but not on shabbos!):

it's hard to see two issues to which i have such very different emotional reactions side by side. i walk past the gilad shalit table and feel sadness for his family and hope for his return.
i walk past the settlers and feel mostly anger and frustration. there they are with their posters that say "we will continue to build in the west bank!" and my blood just boils.
like any political decision in Israel, the settlement freeze seems to have made lots of people unhappy. the very right wing is upset that there is any kind of halt to building in land they want to claim as jewish. the very left wing isn't satisfied unless the freeze is permanent, settlements are dismantled, and east jerusalem is included in the discussion.
here in this land that has been contested for millennia, emotions run high, opinions are many, and solutions are few.

i've got something to say about it. and it goes something like this...

people here are very passionate about their beliefs. surprise surprise! i just happen to live in the same neighborhood as the Prime Minister, a block away, in fact, so in addition to the frequent traffic issues this causes, our little pocket of Jerusalem is also a popular site for protesters to set up camp. 


this summer, while walking around looking at apartments, i noticed the Gilad Shalit vigil. a white tent with a sign counting how many days he had been held in captivity, a table with informational flyers. a banner proclaiming הצילו (rescue him). since that visit, we passed the 3 year anniversary of his capture, and the release of a video of him in captivity. the protest has ramped up significantly.

across the street, protestors have images and signs against "freeing terrorists." this likely refers to prisoner exchange, which is one of the ways israel has previously secured the return of captive soldiers. 

we are also host to protests about the occupation. these seniors gather every friday:

i don't feel the same palpable tension in the air as i did when i was here in 1996, when Rabin had just been assassinated and buses were being bombed frequently. 

and i don't feel the easy hopefulness i felt when i was here in 1999, when the peace process seemed to be clicking along. 

i feel some wounded hesitation, and i see many more visual representations of the frustration israelis are feeling at the political situation.

more tomorrow...