Israeli Tourism is Savaged by War

"Nobody is feeling the effects of the debacle more acutely than El Al Israel Airlines"

Ok, there's a couple of things that seem wrong about this...

First of all, calling the conflict between Israel and Lebanon a "debacle" might be just a little bit trite. I mean, a debacle is when you lose a softball game 20-0 in three innings, or when you and a bunch of buddies accidentally kill a hooker in Las Vegas... When the sky is raining down bombs, I think I would tend to use language like crisis, conflict, or apocalypse.

Second, I find it hard to believe that an airline carrier is suffering more than anyone else in Israel. Call me crazy, but maybe, just maybe, a poor farmer who got blown up by an errant bomb or a soldier who got shot in the throat while on a raid in Lebanon might be feeling the effects just a little more "acutely."

But hey, what do I know?

"Preliminary figures show that tourist arrivals were down by 30% in the first two weeks of the fighting,"

While I'm at it, I'm kind of suprised that tourism is only down 30%. I'd say all things considering, that's not too bad. After all, being surrounded by a sub-continent full of countries that want to wipe you from the face of the planet might not be highlighted in your tourism pamphlet. Given the choice, I think I would book a tour of Purina's dog food factory before I'd book a flight to Tel Aviv...

But hey, what do I know?