No Longer Abstract

⚠️ This video contains air raid sirens recorded during the rocket attacks on Tel Aviv.

OK, I have to admit that now that it hit home, something's changed. The siren, office evacuation, frantic running-down-the-stairs-to-reach-the-bomb-shelter and hearing a big explosion not so far away while still on the way to the shelter, gave me a new realization about what the people of Sderot and the rest of the Southern District in Israel have been going through for the past 12 years.

Leaving politics aside, and taking the current military operation as a given, I'm amazed by the enormous effort taken by the Israel Defense Forces to surgically attack missile launchers deeply embedded inside the civilian population.

The absurdity of it all, having thousands upon thousands of Syrians slaughtered for months - just a few kilometers to the north - while the world stands still; having terrorists launch rockets targeted at women and children in Israel, while hiding behind women and children in Gaza; having Israel announce the invasion via Twitter, and both sides @replying to each other...

All this reminds me again and again what a snarky genius Einstein was:

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

• Albert Einstein (allegedly)