22 january 2013, no longer

There was a time when I would stay up all night for the results of israeli elections. They were so much more exciting than in britain. It wasn't just a matter of whether prices would go up a bit or some mines would close; it was war or peace, nirvana or total destruction. I even named my never-finished novel after the 1996 election: went to bed in a dream, woke in a nightmare (read a bit in ...and here's how it ended). Then, I was heavily invested, partying all night on the news that shimon peres had won: the forces of good and reason, a sane world, the closing of the circle of peace, not just with the palestinians, but with the jordanians, the saudis, the syrians, the moon ! Then, in the morning, we discovered that actually netanyahu had won, the epilogue to the assassination of rabin incited nine months earlier, the twisting of the knife that finally killed the years of what could have been. So went the hopes of a generation, the left never really getting over losing first that election and then the bitterness of the second intifada. We failed (29 september 2009) - and here we are, a generation later, still voting for bibi, and in bigger numbers than ever. I'm not staying up tonight - oh well, not too late anyway, there's always hope...