Working in DC

Sorry I haven't updated sooner. They don't leave us with a lot of time for blogging. I tried to update from work today, but my work computer is a little funky. It's okay though; I'll have a real cubicle with a better computer soon enough. But why were you trying to update your personal blog from work instead of working, you ask? Well, I was told I should try to follow the current events in Israel, see what people are twittering about (oh yea, I got a twitter for this job... gross, right?), and blog about it. So I had started to write something I thought would be a good first assignment, but then realized I was being too harsh on the U.S. and that didn't properly express the opinions of Americans for Peace Now. So I stopped. And now I can't completely remember what I said, but my point was the USA should take its money away from where its mouth is. Money is dirty. Stop spending on "aid" to Israel, and then tell Israel to freeze its settlements, which are largely built with (and the Palestinian homes destroyed by) that US aid or with the assistance US companies. But APN supports Obama in his stance to weigh heavily on Israel to remove their outposts without compromising the US/Israeli alliance. I guess I support that too.

Anyway, so that was what I was thinking about at work today, when I wasn't trying to conjure up "Top Five Tips on How to Depolarize a College Campus." This work is a lot healthier for me than Arava was, I think. I feel a lot more optimistic now than I did when I was surrounded by Israelis and Palestinians personally exhausted from the fighting. Now, when I read in Haaretz that Abbas believes there will be an independent Palestinian state peacefully beside the state of Israel in two years, I actually believe it. I'm not so sure I believe Gilad Shalit's release is imminent, but we'll see.

So, basically, I love DC. I love my internship. I love the class that has so far been taught by Rabbi David Saperstein. Hopefully I'll still love it when its not being taught by Rabbi David Saperstein. Life is good.