Originally Posted by
Spiff
I'm not going to live in fear of the remote possibility of an attack by a not-properly-armed assailant on a plane who has been screened for real weapons. I'm also not going to spend my life looking over my shoulder in fear of an unknown assailant shooting or stabbing me in the park. That's a sure ticket to an early grave - via hypertension/stroke/etc.
Elsewhere in the world, it is a remote possibility. In Israel, such is not the case.
I remember once when I was working with some Israelis at a mall kiosk. On a very slow day sales-wise, me and one of the other gentlemen went to the food court to eat and we had a very long and pleasant conversation. At one point, the conversation was this:
Him: "This is amazing to me"
Me: "What is?"
Him: "Sitting here for this long"
Me: "Why is that?"
Him: "In Israel, we don't sit in a food court for an hour and eat lunch."
Me: "Well, why not?"
Him: "Because it could blow up."
Without saying anything more, I understood far more about life in Israel.
Originally Posted by
Dovster
Israel has been under constant attack since it was created. To be able to continue to exist, and to protect ourselves, we have to do things we don't particularly enjoy.
^
Israel is a sovereign nation and can choose the lengths to which it will go in the name of security. Many of the things that are done in Israel in the name of security would happen in the United States over my dead body - but I accept that when traveling to another country, sometimes I'll have to follow laws and submit to practices that would be unacceptable in my own.