Shark Attack

The Israeli press had reports over the weekend that the 5th grade teacher of Gilad Shalit (the kidnapped soldier held in Gaza since last summer) gave his parents an essay written when he was 10. In it he describes a dolphin who meets a shark who wants to kill him, but the dolphin convinces him to be friends even though their mothers aren't so happy with the arrangement.

Isn't that just so prescient, cooed one female newscaster, given what happened to him. Would that his childhood dream would come true and we could all live together.

For the millionth time I marvel at the naivete (or stupidity) of the Israel press. I mean, the dolphin is not the problem here. Co-existence with dolphins (who are known for intelligence and loyalty) is easy. The threat comes from the sharks, known for sniffing blood and killing without mercy. It doesn't appear to me that the aquatic version of the lion lying down with the lamb is going to happen any time soon in the Middle East or anywhere, for that matter.

And it's not because of the Jews, lambs and dolphins, either. Or Gilad Shalit. (May he and the other 2 kidnapped soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, be reunited with their families in the very near future, healthy and whole. Without endangering any more lives by releasing more sharks, er, terrorists, to prey on innocents.)

Perhaps it's time we learned from nature.