mondoweiss yom haatzmaut

Foist of all, I was speaking to Witty. Second of all- “every dog its day will come”. Third of all, the Zionist Jews will not be free until freedom is available for pennies on the dollar for all. But fourth of all, habits are tough to break and Ari Ben Canaan is a hero of mine and so is Sal Mineo, so “od lo avda tikva’teinu, ha’tikva shnot alpayim, lihyot am chofshi b’artzeinu b’eretz tziyon yerushalayim.”
עוד לא אבדה תקותינו התקוה שנות אלפיים להיות עם חפשי בארצינו בארץ ציון ירושלים
And in honor of Martin Buber here is the new national anthem for the new state that will have room for all. (sung to the tune of “Baby Face”)

Holy land.
It’s great to live here in the holy land.
Ain’t it grand
it was planned
for us to live together in the
Holy land.

I went to the store before. It’s a 24/6 store. Actually it closes two hours or so before Shabbat and opens an hour after Shabbat, so it’s not strictly speaking 24/6, but almost. So it was open today, selling charcoal and mangals, whereas the mega store and the entire mall is closed. Inside working was a Palestinian. I would not go up to him and tell him happy yom haatzmaut. farkhan yam istaklal. I realize that there are sensitivities and losses and one man’s independence is another man’s exile and occupation and I accept the limitations.

In lieu of an apology I offered my alternative anthem. Not that I believe that the utopia of open borders will exist in my lifetime. It’s a myth of sorts. Just like Paul Newman and Sal Mineo is a myth of a fictitious past, so the utopia to me is a myth of a fictitious future. But I offered it in lieu of an apology.