Believe it or not, tomorrow is Israellycool‘s 15th year in existence. In other words, it precedes Facebook, Twitter, and almost every other blog you know today.
Started because I found out about a new thing called “weblogs” and decided to give one a go, my first blog post in March 2003 had nothing to do with Israel at all. Rather, I wrote about cricket.
Monday morning here in Israel and I must say I am in a very good mood today. Australia once again won a game of cricket, and here I am, without a care in the world. It is amazing how sports can help a person transcend the reality of life and can really affect one’s mood or frame of mind. Or perhaps that is only how sports affect ME.
I remember when I was in Perth, I would get extremely nervous when my beloved West Coast Eagles were playing. I could not bear for them to lose. Most of the time I would only watch a replay of the game if I knew they had won. Sad but true…..
But back to the cricket. Another fine performance from the Aussies. They have way too much depth for any other team. Now that Jonty Rhodes has retired, I think the gap between Australia and the next best team, South Africa, has widened. Does this dominance make cricket more boring? Probably if you are not an Aussie. But I love it. There is nothing better than watching a well oiled machine. Or if you are Shane Warne, that is not oil but some illegal diuretics.
Today I look forward to watching the South Africa vs Sri Lanka match. We have a TV here at work and implicit permission to watch when we feel the urge.
Let’s all just agree this blog would not have lasted this long had I continued to post like that…about that.
A few months after that disastrous effort, I posted about a failed assassination attempt on Hamas-hole Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi
Yesterday’s attempted assassination of Hamas leader Rantisi was only regrettable from the point of view that he escaped and still lives.
This is a man who coordinates terror operations against innocent men, women and children. To those who say “but he is only resisting the occupation of lands captured in the six day war”, I would respond by providing a few excerpts from the Hamas covenant. You decide whether Hamas only wants Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders.
Still not quite the style I have today, but that post was cited by an Aussie blogger. Having someone on the other side of the world quote the post was the seminal moment I realized I could make a difference with the blog. Over time, I honed my writing style, developed a stronger focus on Israel, brought on some more contributors, and Israellycool became what it is today.
Over the 15 years, there have been close to 20,000 posts written, over 14,000 by me, and the remainder by contributors, guests and readers. I do not have all the traffic stats over this time, but since late Nov 2011, Google Analytics has registered nearly 18 million page views. This includes close to 3 million in the last year alone.
I am proud of the fact that I have been able to make a difference with this blog over the past 15 years – whether it be my liveblogging during the Second Lebanon War, numerous mainstream media mentions, becoming a thorn in the side of antisemites, having celebrity guest posts, or a Wikipedia page for Israellycool created by a Muslim woman!
Here is a look at Israellycool over the years. The blog has had more facelifts than Meg Ryan.
2003:
2004:
2005:
2006:
2007:
2009:
2011:
2012:
2014:
2015:
2017:
I have reached the point due to the success with the blog, as well as my personal circumstances, that I would love to be able to devote myself to this full time. Given after 15 years, I still lose money from this, that is a tall order. But with support from you, my readers, if I will it, it is no dream.
If you are someone who appreciates Israellycool, please consider a one-off donation or subscription.
Thank you for your support over the years. Looking forward to at least 15 more!
