Monday, July 26, 2010

A rock...a BB gun...a slingshot

If there's one thing I've learned this summer, it's that you really shouldn't trust the media about what's happening in Israel. Details about an incident are instantly shouted to the world authoritatively without being properly checked.
Driving back from the northern part of Israel Sunday afternoon, our bus' right rear window shattered. That sounds much more dramatic than it was. The window was a two-paner and only the outer bit shattered. No one was hurt, or even really panicked for a while. The bus stopped behind another pulled-over bus. And then all hell broke loose. Things that were told in the next two hours:
1. It was kids throwing rocks.
2. A bunch of the guys went in pursuit of those who committed the crime.
3. People were shooting at the buses with a BB gun.
4. It was a slingshot.
5. The kids were Arabs, definitely Arabs.
6. It was some bored Israelis.
The bus went off to the police station to be photographed and have the window temporarily cared for. We hung out at a store with ice cream and beer (of which I had neither). We arrived safely in Jerusalem an hour and a half later than anticipated.
The real story (at least for now) is that it was merely bored Jewish Israeli boys with a slingshot. Stupid, but not a national or ideological action.

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