Some Thoughts on Today’s Shooting

flagstoetherIt’s hard to be on a set in a TV studio in Israel and discuss the killing of over 50 people and already know that nothing is going to done to stop the next killing.  I spent an hour on air today, during which the full extent of the tragedy was becoming clear, discussing the implications and what can be done, and I realized tragically nothing.  I read on air the Nevada state gun rules; you do not need a permit to carry openly, no ban on assault weapons and no limit to the size of the magazine.  Also, no limitations to carrying guns into casinos, bars and no problem carrying a gun while drunk.  It hard to explain to an Israeli how it’s possible for anyone to just buy an assault weapon, but frankly it’s hard to explain it a New Yorker.

I was actually amazed my fellow guest in the studio who is actually i24News Arab Affairs correspondent but grew up in Kansas City was describing how it’s now usual to see people walking around the streets carry their guns openly.  As the hour progressed, off cameras, during the commercial breaks we would lament about what has gone wrong in American society that has brought it to this.  Many of us have still not gotten over the election of President Trump, and cannot believe that enough American actually voted for him to get him elected.  So many of them seem unphased by his actions.  Today he gave a short Presidential speech on the tragedy, but of course now is not the time to talk about actions to prevent the next deaths, the 33,000 gun deaths that occur in the US every year.

Events seem to be happening faster than ever, and no it is not communications and not Twitter or Facebook. My on-air appearance today, was to take place at the same time as my weekly radio appearance, so I had my host call me early and I did the show in a cab on the way to Jaffo. There we discussed the chances of war with North Korea-very real, the disaster the US pulling out of the Iran deal would be ( no gain since Iran already received much of what it wanted) and crazy need of the Catalonians to go it alone.  All of this is happening while the people of Puerto Rico suffer.

All the problematic things that have been happening in Israel these past few months seem to pale in comparison to recent events in the US and the world