Holy Ground

I have a quick take on why this picture popped up in various slideshows of the week. (After bombing a weapons convoy in Syria last week, apparently these gas mask kits are suddenly the hot item in Israel.)

It seems the reason this photo is so compelling in the affluent West is because of the background — and just the hint of vulnerability to our own cultural temple, the mall.

(photo: Oren Ziv/Getty Images. caption: An Israeli woman walks with her child after collectiong gas mask kits from a distribution station in a mall January 31, 2013, in Pisgat Ze’ev, East Jerusalem, Israel. Israel remains on high alert after the Israeli air force reportedly launched an airstrike January 30, on a convoy that Israeli officials said was carrying weapons from Syria to Lebanon on the Syria-Lebanon border.)