Back to war with Iran.
It’s back… You know – that sound that makes you shiver down your spine, the sound that is all too familiar, which we haven’t heard since last summer.
The sound that makes you stop and pause anything you’re doing, the sound that gets you out of bed in the night or early morning, going for cover.
Actually, in a kind of strange way, it’s a bit of relief that this sound is finally here again, because we have been walking in circles waiting for this to happen, the inevitable.
Naturally, I’m talking about the current escalation with the evil regime in Iran, which has butchered thousands of its own people while wanting to annihilate the Jewish state as well.
It all started this past Saturday around 8 am, when the sirens began blaring throughout Israel. I was thinking, “Here we go again, may the Lord protect our brave military and protect the Holy Land!”
My personal situation is quite different from when we were at war last year, when I was comfortably living in my own apartment with a bomb shelter within and also a fully stocked fridge, freezer, and pantry.
This time I am sitting in East Jerusalem with my whole existence being couped up in a single room I am renting. This room is in an apartment I am sharing with a dear elderly lady, along with a sweet lady from Hong Kong renting the other room next door.
With the onset of this latest round of war, where you are suddenly confined to just being in one room and sharing a small fridge where you barely have a full shelf for yourself, is a challenge.
The circumstances make it completely impossible to stock up and have the same provisions as I had before, and I wish I had found my own apartment and settled in before this war began!
But putting all of this aside, we are in quite a significant time in history regarding the extraordinary partnership of President Donald J. Trump and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. I believe God created it for such a time as this.
With Israel being in a state of emergency, the guidelines for the entire nation are restricted. This means no work, no school, no kindergarten, and only essential shopping (food and basic necessities) is allowed.
It’s a peculiar way of living, because you know that any given moment, the evil regime in Iran is attempting to eliminate you, which becomes crystal clear when you see one of their ballistic missiles flying over your head!
However, at some point, you have to go outside your house to do some food shopping, as I mentioned above. Until yesterday, I just happened to be in my apartment when missiles were flying over my head.
Can you imagine for a moment what it was like for me when I was actually in the supermarket, and I saw another missile attack in the skies right above? The threat of a missile strike is one concern, and then there is the issue of missile debris falling on us in open areas. Sheltering is a very real necessity for both of these reasons!
I’m currently living in East Jerusalem, so when I go to our local supermarket, it’s a mix of Jewish and Arab people! As I was finishing up my shopping and getting the goods that I needed to the checkout, I could hear people’s phones sounding off with the missile warning alerts from Home Front Command.
Oddly enough, I didn’t see anyone rushing around or getting frantic, but they just continued doing their shopping, and I had just started putting my things up to be checked out. Then, at that moment, an announcement came over the speakers that everybody needed to take cover in the parking garage or find a bomb shelter.
I’m looking around, and I see Russian nuns, Arabs, Jews, and then there is me, this Danish blogger named Jane Kiel. It was quite an assortment of humanity being forced to deal with the threat of an incoming Iranian missile that didn’t care about race or nationality.
As I start walking towards the parking garage, everybody is still calm and moving in a casual manner, but then we are being told it’s a false alarm. So, people come back into the store, and the young lady behind the checkout is taking all of my goods through the scanner.
I had just finished paying her and was waiting to get my change back when the Red Alert signal went off, and the siren was blasting throughout all of Jerusalem. So now everybody quickly moves to the basement, and I’m taking my trolley with my food, as I start walking towards a place where I can seek shelter in the parking garage.
Thankfully, I didn’t see or hear any missiles, so I slowly walked back to my home. It was such a surreal experience, as I watched mothers with their children running for their lives to bomb shelters during these alerts that seemed to come too often.
Then yesterday, I was in downtown Jerusalem, and I had just finished shopping as I watched people being out and about. They were sitting at cafés, having lunch and enjoying the sunset, with the Police patrolling up and down Yaffa Street.
Then all of a sudden, the sirens started blasting again, and I was right outside the City Hall in Jerusalem. People came from all directions, including police officers, and they ran down to the underground parking garage. So naturally, I rush over there also, and I’m actually recording on my phone, but it ran out of storage. It was my old phone that simply gave up operating.
So, we were all standing around, waiting in the underground parking of City Hall, and all of a sudden, we heard a massive explosion just above our heads. I had a new iPhone with me, and as I was coming out of the parking garage, I unwrapped the new phone and was able to record the interception just above our heads.
It’s hard to describe what it’s like to live like that when you’re out and about, whether you are on the bus, the light rail, in the supermarket, or you’re walking on the street, and you know at any given moment, one of these missile attacks can come.
It might be from the Iranian regime or Hezbollah in Lebanon, who have joined the war, that purposefully fire missiles and rockets with the intention of wanting to killing you…
The Jewish people are stronger and more resilient than ever
But I have to say this, even though it’s deeply marked in our souls and our physical bodies after everything we’ve been through since October 7, the Jewish people are stronger and more resilient than ever, and I didn’t see any panic on the streets yesterday. Yes, people were running, but that’s a normal and natural response, and the way it’s supposed to be, even for police officers.
It’s certainly not a coincidence at least that’s what I believe, that all of this is happening just around the Jewish holiday of Purim, and when I was downtown, I still saw children and people in costume, even though all celebrations, of course has been canceled due to us being in a state of war.
However, even as the evil Haman in Persia was trying to annihilate the Jewish people during the time of Queen Esther, so the Jewish state is now teamed up with the strongest military in the world. Together with our amazing ally America, we are now striking against the evil regime in Iran and taking them all out.
This is just extraordinary, and we are literally witnessing a time in history where Israel is rising up like lions in taking out all of these enemies who have tried to annihilate them.
It is nothing but remarkable to see what the Israeli military is accomplishing, and they have my uttermost respect, while I still think about the physical toll taken by all of our brave soldiers on the front lines year in and year out, defending the Jewish homeland against all of these evil monsters!
Then came my wakeup call this morning at 6 AM. It’s the sound again from Home Front Command telling me and you that a ballistic missile was on the way. I watched it being intercepted from my balcony of the old apartment that I’m currently staying in; there is no bomb shelter inside it.
You have to go down in the basement, and it is not equipped with anything, so I actually choose to be in our house and peep out and make some videos, because for such a time as this, I know that I have been sent here to be a voice to share with the world what the Jewish people are facing right now.
While this is going on and after we had a missile over our house this morning, I did normal things like showering and doing laundry, making breakfast, and now writing this new blog while sitting in God’s Holy City – Jerusalem, the Jewish Capital - knowing that any moment the siren could interrupt everything I do!
You won’t always hear mainstream media give all the facts, I’m girlie “boots on the ground,” and I’m sharing what I experience as I have lived in Israel for so many years, and even though it’s tough, it’s also a tremendous honor and privilege!
People ask me if I’m afraid, and the answer is, “No, I’m not.” If I were afraid, then I would not film on the balcony during an attack, and now that it’s the second or actually third time around with such intense circumstances, I’m entirely sure you will never get used to it. The better answer is, “Of course not, not even for a second!”
On the other hand, maybe - just maybe - you’re more prepared while we are watching in awe the action of the Israeli and American Air Forces over Iran, and at the same time, watching the IDF and Israeli Air Force doing their thing in Lebanon against Hezbollah!
The courageous move of President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring freedom to the Iranian people, to stop Iran’s race to the nuclear bomb, and eliminate the top snakes of terrorism in the world is impressive and history in the making - thank you!