Record Lows

We are in the teeth of a cold snap in Israel that has many of my Israeli friends remarking that they "can't remember a time when it was this cold here." Surprise! I guess the joke is on me - I was under the impression that I wouldn't have to put up with a real winter this year. The temperature has routinely dropped into the thirties at night up at the university. Tonight will be no different. Thank God I'm in Haifa too, as it is colder elsewhere. Safed had a frost last night, while it fell to around 16 degrees fahrenheit at the Hermon mountain in the very northern part of the Golan Heights last night.

Of course the weather won't keep me indoors. I went out to a pub last night with Omri to watch the Maccabi Haifa - Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer match, which Haifa won handily, 3-1. This morning I got up and went to the market to buy some produce. I must say, the shuk is a different place on Monday than it is on Friday. It was so much less crowded than I'm used to, so things went quicker and the service was better. Plus, with no one pressing up against you in a crowd, you don't worry about being pick pocketed the whole time.

Because it's been a while, I'd like to give a quick update regarding two important political processes ongoing in Israel right now. First, the faculty strike at the universities continued through its 85th day today, after an attempt by the university Presidents to garner a court injunction against the professors forcing them to break the strike failed. This leaves few options to prevent the cancellation of the semester. In fact, the Presidents had promised to cancel the semester, and possibly the whole academic year today if the courts did not force the faculty back to work. They have since backtracked from that, but I'm betting it's only a few days before they reach the inescapable conclusion that this semester is irreparably damaged and needs to be canceled. The exams for these classes would have been held next week, had the semester begun on time.

Also in the news, Israel and the Palestinian Authority began "Final Status" negotiations this morning at a Jerusalem hotel. For those unfamiliar with the concept, I will give a brief explanation: Final Status negotiations are intended to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, create a Palestinian state on land currently occupied by Israel, and guarantee Israel's security. Personally, I think this is a terrible decision that will eventually lead to more violence. There are a host of reasons why the time is not ripe for these negotiations, but perhaps most important is that the Palestinian Authority has no control over what happens in the Gaza Strip, which is envisioned as an inseperable part of a future Palestine. Israel cannot and will not negotiate with Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the territory, so Gaza would not truly be included even if a peace treaty was signed by the two parties. I hope I'm wrong, but I am certain that these discussions are doomed to fail.