No, thank you I can't make it in this lifetime
I found this article in Surline:In pictures: Surfing for peace
A Palestinian porter pushes surfboards past the security gates of the Erez Crossing, in the Gaza Strip. The boards have been donated to Palestinian youths by an elderly American surfer.
Dorian Paskowitz, 86, from Hawaii, handed over some of the surfboards himself. The retired Jewish doctor hopes a love of surfing will help bring Israelis and Palestinians together.
The beach is one of the few places Gazans can relax. However, it is closely monitored by the Israeli military which controls the sea off Gaza's coast and the airspace above.Several Israeli companies and donors also contributed to the donation of 12 surfboards. The gesture is part of the wider "Surfing for Peace" movement.
Gaza's surfing community is small. Dr Paskowitz said he was spurred into action after reading about two surfers in Gaza who only had one board to share between them.
Reading this from the comfort of my couch I have several thoughts. First and foremost why couldn't we have settled in Fiji? We wouldn't have bothered the Fijians. I would have been first in line to join the Israel Military and guard the important islands of Namotu and Tavarua against the dangers of sea turtles.
Second.. This Paskowitz guy lost his mind years ago. If you happened to watch the movie Surfwise about him and his 9 kids living in a camper, you saw that growing up surfing could be miserable. Then going anywhere near Hamas with surfboards?
Third ...The guys in the SL8R shirts are classic.
Fourth....I was going to post my complaints about the storm and the long weekend, but I was sobered after watching the news this morning. Both sides in this 2,000 year war are shooting missiles at each other again after the ceasefire.
We are lucky to live where our biggest surf issue is the rain. I went to a retirement party for a fancy exec at my wifes company a few weeks back. He was a Viet Nam Vet who went right into the thick of things. When people would come to him with their work problems he had a saying that rings true " Life is good! No one is shooting bullets at you"
