When I started this blog, I promised myself never to talk about the subject that Israelies like to talk about the most – politics. I have no explanation why we do so, maybe it’s the constant will to show to the world that we’re not the bad guy, of maybe it’s just because we always need to say something (the well known Israeli temperament).

But, these days, Israel is boiling and bubbling, several different protests started in the same time, combining forces against the government to try to change the Israeli reality. Israeli people are known to be very loud. But as loud as we are, we tend to accept everything without protesting. Increase in taxes, economic state of the country, and problems with the religious Jews etc. Now it has been changed. It started with a simple product like Cottage cheese.

The government increased the taxes on dairy products and the Cottage cheese, which is the most basic Israeli dairy product at home after milk, costs 2,3 euros for 100 gr. It is absurd. So the people gathered around to boycott all the dairy products, the protest took place in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa and of course over Facebook and guess what – it worked.

Now a Cottage chest costs 1,2 euros for 100 gr. It was the beginning of a revolution. Afterwards came the Doctors protests over the low salaries and the hard working conditions. They all left the hospitals, they all resigned together and the heads of the doctors associations are marching all over the country protesting. And they not gonna stop till they will get an improvement. Later came the big tent revolution about the tuition fees in the Israeli universities and the renting costs in Tel Aviv and the rest of the cities in the country.

People left their homes and moved into tents all over the country, but the biggest protest takes place in Tel Aviv, on Rothschild Avenue. Hundreds of tents, people outside although it’s hot and humid. This is Tahrir square revolution, the Israeli style. More polite, more civilized, more political and less violent. Yesterday I’ve been there to support the doctors, and brought you some photos. This is how an Israeli revolution looks like. Enjoy.

PS. I forgot how many hot guys you can find in Tel Aviv..wow..it’s hot and steamy, they’re half naked and smoking hot.

Think about where you’ve been and what you’ve done for the last 5 year. What have you achieved in your lives, new friends you made, new experiences, maybe you got education, maybe you traveled and enjoyed the wonders of this world.

Now think about spending those 5 years undergrounds, in prison, locked without seeing the daylight. You don’t know where you are, you’ve been kidnaped. Your kidnapers don’t tell you what’s going on in your country, they just tell you every day a handful of lies, to break your spirit – that your prime minister went to the press and said that he gave up looking for you, that the price for your release is too high for his to agree. They are telling you that your mother committed a suicide, your father has been admitted to a mental facility and your brother got married and left the country. These are all bunch of lies.

5 years ago, Gilad Shalit, a tank fighter was kidnaped by the action of the Hammas to Gaza. Early on Sunday morning, 25 June 2006, Gilad was captured by Palestinian militants who infiltrated an Israeli army post on the Israeli side of the southern Gaza Strip border after crossing through an underground tunnel near the border. During the attack, two soldiers were killed and three others wounded, aside from Gilad, who reportedly suffered a broken left hand and a light shoulder wound after his tank was hit with a RPG.

I knew Gilad. When he was kidnaped, I was in the beginning of my military training to become a tank combat soldier. Gilad showed me how to use the tank’s systems. I cannot forget when my officer in charge took us, all the young soldiers to the amphitheater in the base and told us what happened. And then he said – “the Israeli government and the army will do everything to bring him back today or tomorrow the latest”. 5 years passed from that speech. He is still there, and I finished my duty, studied 2 years in med school and going back for another year of duty.

I don’t know why they forgot you Gilad, but be never forgot and will never forget – until you’ll be here with us again.

“Give us rain in it's due time,

and scatter flowers for us in the spring,

And let him come back to his home,

we don't need more than that.

We have already hurt a thousand scars,

and we hid a sigh deep inside,

Our eyes are dry,

please tell us we passed the test”

~Shlomo Artzi~