Holidays!

Flight home tomorrow booked with Pegasus via Istanbul to Stansted. Likely to be heavily delayed and then we have to get to Luton to retrieve the car to drive home. It will be a long day as we will be leaving the flat at 0430.

Have also got reservations on a 48 hour hold with El Al to Luton on 19th October (the earliest available) in case we don't fly tomorrow. It is all very fluid and worrying and reminds me of March 2020 when I was also stuck in Israel (as you will remember) and also flew back to Stansted.

I have been reading and watching what is going on in Britain and other Western nations. The demostrations against Israel are bizarre. I really don't understand why a group of white western youths and young adults are so supportive of a terrorist regime. The reason I don't understand is the question of what would happen if Israel and the Jews disppeared overnight. The resultant power vaccum would be a return to Dark Age Islamic mentality of murdering LBTQ+ people, subjecting women to appalling treatment and would encourage further attacks on the West to create an Islamic State similar to the short lived nightmare of a few years ago in Iraq and Syria. Currently Israel is a country with huge civil liberties so that there is little discrimination against LBGQ+ and women are in their rightful place in all sections of politics, business and society.

Clearly there are conflicting demands on the land by Jews who have an over 2,500 year connection but were largely absent and the people who had settled there but were by no means ever an independent nation, only ever a province of larger empire. This can be resolved but not by constant terror attacks and certainly not by moronic right wing Israelis fomenting trouble for no good reason. I hope that with the recent Abrahamic accords sense will be seen and a way forward found.

I'll say no more now on this topic. I just need somewhere to write my thoughts and I hope you understand even if you don't agree.

I cannot disagree with any of that.

The current government is only in power because of the need to keep Netanyahu out of prison on charges of corruption. He was an excellent Prime Minister for many years but like all politicians; he failed to step away at the top.

Could you maybe get out of the country overland some way?

Alas I doubt that any flights will be at a good price whilst there are plenty of tourists and non-residents eager to get out of the country and there are few airlines to serve them. At least if you get to Dubai there are dozens of onward flights to the UK departing every day. Might have to just pay up and get out unfortunately.

I suppose that the days of ferries to Cyprus are long gone?

Oh heck! Hope your car is in a different location!

Hopefully he's parked in the long stay car park on the edge of the airport. I am surprised there was no automatic fire suppression system in the car park. But then if a car went up in flames would it have done much?

Fingers crossed they all get on a flight to somewhere today even if it's Cyrpus.

Whatever vehicle caused it, can you begin to imagine the cost of the insurance claim?
“Yes Sir/Madam, how can I help you today?”
“Well, y’see, my car went on fire”
“OK, don’t worry, your policy covers that, can I ask, when and where did this happen?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing, have you seen the news today, about Luton Airport?”
“Ah, yes, erm, I just need to put you on hold for a moment while I speak to my manager…”
😬