White nights, flagwaving days. Sun and sand

Ain't life a beach these days? In Israel, the spring sunshine is beaming down and the entire armed forces of Israel seem to be up in the sky, practicing for the next pre-emptive strike and ready to take on the new Sejil missiles of Iran. Think loud and proud. And relentless.
No problem, though. A sleepless White Night for urban debauchery is underway in Tel Aviv after the shabbat. White nights are far preferable to white blights: and here in the Big Falafel, there's no sign of Willy Pete- aka white phosphorus- washing up on the rather polluted Mediterranean sands of the shoreline of Zion. (Eretz Israel.) However, cautious Gazans are hesitating to eat locally grown fresh produce in case they ingest any strange chemicals that were dropped as smokescreens back in January. American-manufactured tank shells with depleted uranium (for its armor-piercing properties) also were unleashed, and little of the mildly radioactive rubble has been cleared from Gazas fields and playgrounds. It's an environmental time bomb, and it doesn't glow in the dark.
In seaside Gaza, the rumour mill is buzzing about imminent Israeli attack, as it so often does. But there are some rather broad hints: indeed, Bibi Netanyahu, the new premier, campaigned on strong arm tactics and had even suggested while an international donors' meeting took place earlier this year that expenditures on rebuilding Gaza might be "premature"... the inference being that further lessons might be delivered by Israel to the rocket-launchers in the blighted enclave bordering the Negev. Presumably, the sabras are rattling sabers and will have the decency to wait til after Obama comes back from Egypt.
Jerusalem Day was celebrated yesterday by groups of patriotic Jews roaming around in the sunshine, singing and waving flags, in vista points overlooking "undivided Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Maoz Esther,that outpost which was dismantled before the cameras and international media was quickly re-erected, and the beat goes on. Israelity bites.

Gaza bleeds under Israeli airstrikes

Safa, a young woman friend in Gaza City, shares her first impressions of this morning's airstrikes which killed more than 229 people and wounded at least 700 more. The "lull" is well and truly over. This is the most carnage in a single day of conflict for decades, according to local reports.

Gaza Today

I've never seen anything like this. It all happened so fast but the amount of death and destruction is inconceivable, even to me and I'm in the middle of it and a few hours have already passed. I think 15 locations were hit during the air raid on Gaza City. [some Israelis sources said 150 targets were struck] The images are probably not broadcast in US media. There are piles and piles of bodies in the locations that were hit. As you look at them you can see that a few of the young men are still alive, someone lifts a hand here, and another raise his head there. They probably died within moments because their bodies are burned, most have lost limbs, some have their guts hanging out and they're all lying in pools of blood. Outside my home, (which is close to the universities) a bomb fell on a large group of young men, university students, they'd been warned not to stand in groups, it makes them an easy target, but they were waiting for buses to take them home. This was about 3 hours ago 7 were killed, 4 students and 3 of our neighbors kids, teenagers who were from the same family (Rayes) and were best friends. As I'm writing this I heard a funeral procession go by outside, I looked out the window and it was the 3 Rayes boys, They spent all their time together when they were alive, and now their sharing the same funeral together. Nothing could stop my 14 year old brother from rushing out to see the bodies of his friends laying in the street after they were killed. He hasn't spoken a word since.
A little further down the street about an hour earlier 3 girls happened to be passing by one of the locations when a bomb fell. The girls bodies were torn into pieces and covered the street from one side to the other.

These are just a couple of images that I've witnessed. In all the locations people are going through the dead terrified of recognizing a family member among them. The city is in a state of alarm, panic and confusion, cell phones aren't working, hospitals and morgues are backed up and some of the dead are still lying in the streets with their families gathered around them, kissing their faces, holding on to them. Outside the destroyed buildings old men are kneeling on the floor weeping. Their slim hopes of finding their sons still alive vanished after taking one look at what had become of their office buildings.

At least 160 people dead in today's air raid. That means 160 funeral processions, a few today, most of them tomorrow probably. To think that yesterday these families were worried about food and heat and electricity. At this point I think they -actually all of us- would gladly have Hamas sign off every last basic right we've been calling for the last few months forever if it could have stopped this from ever having happened.

The bombing was very close to my home. Most of my extended family live in the area. My family is ok, but 2 of my uncles' homes were damaged, another relative was injured.
I don't know why I'm sending this. It doesn't even begin to tell the story on any level. Just flashes of thing that happened today that are going through my head.

The Arab League is summoning an emergency meeting to brainstorm how to respond to such bloodshed as the Israeli leaders threaten wider attacks.

When Izzy visited there in early November, the IDF tanks had rolled in and killed a dozen people, and everyone was glumly predicting more Israeli military action before January. And here you go.

According to the Financal Times, Ehud Olmert, the lame duck leader, is under intense pressure both from within the government and from the rightwing opposition to order a military offensive against Gaza.

Until recently, the prime minister seemed reluctant to follow the advice of his hawkish critics, possibly out of concern for the expected high casualties and anticipating a negative response around the world.

Over the past days, however, Israeli political and military leaders have increasingly presented an attack on Gaza as inevitable. Gabi Ashkenazi, the chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces, said on Thursday that "this reality cannot be allowed to continue and we will need to use our full force to hit the terrorist infrastructure".

Israeli media reported yesterday that the army was preparing for a "limited" operation in the Gaza Strip, combining air strikes and small-scale incursions.

The conflict with Hamas has also increasingly come to dominate the early phase of the election campaign, which will last until polling day on February 10.

Viagra to keep IAF pilots up

Viagra will render Israeli fighter pilots a potent force, according to James Hider, the Times' Jerusalem correspondent. It's not quite the air force blue we're accustomed to. Do these pills work on the principle of more bloodflow to the main brain? It's second-generation Viagra, lasting 36 hours and alcohol consumption is not a problem. If you support Israel's erect fighting men, read on:

Israeli fighter pilots may soon be receiving Viagra-style pills to help them to perform better at greater heights, according to a study by military officials released yesterday.

While the potential use of anti-impotence pills may make pilots’ enemies in the Middle East crack a joke or two at their expense, military researchers believe the ingredients that allow improved blood flow for men suffering from sexual problems may help flyers operating at very high altitudes.

The proposal, to be presented to the air force by a retired general, developed from a study by Israeli doctors among mountain climbers scaling Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, according to Bamahaneh (“On the Army Base”), an official military magazine. The study found that tadalafil, the active ingredient in Cialis, a Viagra-like antiimpotence drug, helped climbers to ward off fatigue and dizziness at greater heights.

With combat pilots operating hi-tech equipment in low-pressure environments, doctors believe the drug could enhance their operational abilities.

“The Viagra family of drugs is considered effective in these conditions because when there is a long shortage in oxygen it leads to high blood pressure in the lungs, and the drugs help fight that,” a military medical officer told the weekly magazine.

“The study’s findings justify the continuation of tests with drugs of this type in low-oxygen environments,” an air force officer said.

Israeli air force pilots are sometimes called upon to perform incredible feats of airmanship, such as the 1981 operation to destroy Iraq’s nascent nuclear reactor. Eight F16 fighter-bombers, escorted by six F15 tactical fighters, flew almost 700 miles (1,100km) across Jordanian, Saudi Arabian and Iraqi airspace to destroy the French-built reactor.

According to some accounts, the jets flew in such close formation that any radar pickup would have identified them as one large passenger aircraft.

ON THE UP

— Viagra saved the life of Lewis Goodfellow, born prematurely last year and weighing only 1lb 8oz, when one of his lungs failed. It caused tiny blood vessels in the lung to widen, to give his body sufficient oxygen

— Argentinian research last year found that the drug may be useful in treating jet lag. Hamsters subjected to simulated jet lag recovered up to 50 per cent faster when given the drug, known generically as sildenafil

— In an American study in 2005 Viagra was given to pregnant women with high blood pressure. It helped to maintain healthy circulation and possibly contributed to easier, safer childbirth

— Viagra mixed with stimulants such as cocaine or Ecstasy has become increasingly popular in nightclubs. The combined drug — known as “sextasy” — is taken to fuel all-night dancing and sex marathons

Oy veh, fellas. Straighten up and fly right