Nahal Alexander

To call the Alexander a river is somewhat overstating it. The part of it that forms the northern border of Kibbutz Maabarot is little more than a drainage ditch with delusions of grandeur. In the summer, the slow-running, nearly stagnant water becomes choked with algae and is a putrid green.

This wasn’t always so. People my age tell me they remember when they were children riding on inner tubes in it all the way to the sea. While that sounds like gobs of fun, the thought of actually touching that water now not only makes my skin crawl, it makes it scamper back home to a safe corner and assume the fetal position.

Yesterday a woman’s dismembered body was found in the river, where exactly I don’t know. It’s horrific. I have watched endless “CSI” episodes and I’m a great fan of murder mysteries. But never before has it come to the stream where I live, and I am outraged.

The victim has not yet been identified, at least not to the media. But whoever she was, I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to her family and friends. I pray you will have justice.