More on Gaza

Fascinating article by Robert Fisk in the Independent. Here is an interesting excerpt from it:

"Quite a lot of the dead this weekend appear to have been Hamas members, but what is it supposed to solve? Is Hamas going to say: "Wow, this blitz is awesome – we'd better recognise the state of Israel, fall in line with the Palestinian Authority, lay down our weapons and pray we are taken prisoner and locked up indefinitely and support a new American 'peace process' in the Middle East!" Is that what the Israelis and the Americans and Gordon Brown think Hamas is going to do?

Yes, let's remember Hamas's cynicism, the cynicism of all armed Islamist groups. Their need for Muslim martyrs is as crucial to them as Israel's need to create them. The lesson Israel thinks it is teaching – come to heel or we will crush you – is not the lesson Hamas is learning. Hamas needs violence to emphasise the oppression of the Palestinians – and relies on Israel to provide it. A few rockets into Israel and Israel obliges."

(I pray for peace).

Irony: Of the 3 or 4 Israelis killed by Gazan rockets, 2 are Arabs.

Sergeant Major Lutafi Nasraladin, 38, was from Daliat al-Karmel, a Druze town near Haifa. He was killed Monday evening by mortar fire on a military base in the Negev.

Also, Hani al Mahdi, a 27-year-old construction worker from the Bedouin village of Aroer, was killed while working at a building site in Ashkelon. He was fatally wounded by shrapnel from a Grad rocket when he was caught in the open en route to a protected area.

Gaza

While Israel's attacks on Gaza are legal, are they moral?

I understand that many Israelis feel we had no other choice but to attack and kill, and that may be reality, but

...so many human beings are dying...

Hebron Evacuation

This past Thursday, the Israeli Army and Police evacuated Jewish settlers from Hebron, in the West Bank. It was all over the Israeli media--tv, print, and more. It was an extremely tense time (albeit quick), and resulted in settlers rioting, setting olive trees on fire, and vandalism. From my sense, many Israelis (who live within internationally recognized borders) were embarrassed and ashamed at the behavior of other Jews in Hebron.

A settler even shot 2 Palestinians. B'Tselem (where I work) field workers, captured this on.
It can be downloaded: http://rcpt.yousendit.com/631443484/697192997f170707c66c1790caefec62

Hopefully from all this, something peaceful will come. This photo, which is beautiful and seems hopeful, is from a NY Times article, "From an Israeli Settlement, a Rabbi’s Unorthodox Plan for Peace"


Here is an interesting article, presenting some alternative thoughts on what's going on in Hebron.
"Hebron like you've never imagined it"

SMSing in Palestine

It's been almost a month since last posting--busy busy! I was in Southern California for Thanksgiving with family. Lots of fun! Will post pics soon.

I got back in at 3 am this morning, and am back at work. I dont have much motivation to write now, but here's a link to an amazing project!

Text Messaging in Palestine for jobs and aid.
http://souktel.org/

Translation: Souk means market, tel refers to phone: phone market?

This is amazing.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

Better version: http://www.patrickmoberg.com/november-4-2008.jpg

Obama.

This website is amazing and very worth checking out.

http://www.30reasons.org/

Look back at some of the older posters.

So many reasons. But the one I feel in my gut is this: When I look at Barack Obama's life story, I see America.

Artist

Brett Yasko
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
www.BrettYasko.com

Israeli HipHop--Ha'dag Nahash

The Israeli band, Ha'dag Nahash (Fish Snake) has always been one of my favorites, especially because of their willingness to sing about political issues.



I've seen them in concert 3 times-- the third time was this last Friday, at an afternoon show in Tel Aviv. One song that was particularly popular, and continues to be, is "Shirat Ha'Sticker," "The Sticker Song." It's based on various bumper stickers, and other random stickers, that one can see displayed throughout Israel. It's written by Israeli novelist, David Grossman.

In a NY Times article from 2004, the song is described: "'Shirat Ha'Sticker'' (''The Sticker Song'') is no mere novelty, however. It offers a kind of aural collage of the fractious and volatile political environment here. Over a Jamaican dub beat, the singer Sha'anan Streett chants slogans as irreconcilable as ''A strong people makes peace,'' ''No Arabs, no terror'' and ''Long live the king Messiah.''

Here are some pictures from the show, including when they sang "Shirat Ha'sticker."








Here's the English translation, with the Hebrew following it, taken from another excellent blog.

[Bumper] Sticker Song
Lyrics: David Grossman

A whole generation demands peace
Let the IDF win
A strong people makes peace
Let the IDF take them down
No peace with Arabs
Don’t give them guns
There is no service like combat service, bro’
Draft for all [or] exemption for all
There is no despair in the world
Judea, Samaria and Gaza are here! [within the Green Line]
Na, Nah, Nahman, the faithful
No Fear, the Messiah’s in town
No Arabs, no terror attacks
The Supreme Court endangers Jews
The people are with the Golan
The people are for [population] transfer
Test in Yarka [sticker of a vehicle inspection garage in the village of Yarka]
Friend, you are missed
The Holy One, blessed be He, we vote for [choose] You
Direct elections [for prime minister] are bad
The Holy One, blessed be He, we are your zealots
Death to zealots [or "death to the jealous" in cases where the sticker appears on very old cars]

CHORUS:
How much evil can you swallow?
Father have mercy, Father have mercy
They call me Nachman and I stammer
How much evil can you swallow?
Father have mercy, Father have mercy
Thank God I’m breathing

A State based on halacha is no State at all
He who is born wins
Long live the Messiah
I trust the peace of Sharon
Hebron – from time immemorial and forever
He who is not born loses
Hebron, city of the Fathers
Peace through Transfer
Kahane was right
CNN lies
We need a strong leader
Peace please, thank you for security
We have no children for needless wars
The Left helps the Arabs
Bibi is good for the Jews
Oslo criminals [should be brought] to justice
We here, they [the Arabs] there
You do not forsake brothers [on the battle field, or by implication settlers in the Territories]
Uprooting the settlements divides the people
Death to traitors
Let the animals live
Death to values

CHORUS

Liquidate, kill, expel, mislead
No Fear, subdue, quarantine, punishment of death
Lay waste, destroy, rout, eradicate
It’s all your fault, Haver [Friend]

–translation: Richard Silverstein

שירת הסטיקר
מאת דויד גרוסמן

דור שלם דורש שלום
תנו לצה”ל לנצח
עם חזק עושה שלום
תנו לצה”ל לכסח
אין שלום עם ערבים
אל תתנו להם רובים
קרבי זה הכי אחי
גיוס לכולם, פטור לכולם
אין שום ייאוש בעולם
יש”ע זה כאן
נ נח נחמן מאומן
No Fear, משיח בעיר
אין ערבים אין פיגועים
בג”ץ מסכן יהודים
העם עם הגולן
העם עם הטרנספר
טסט בירכא
חבר, אתה חסר
הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו בוחרים בך
בחירה ישירה זה רע
הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו קנאים לך
ימותו הקנאים

כמה רוע אפשר לבלוע
אבא תרחם אבא תרחם
קוראים לי נחמן ואני מגמגם
כמה רוע אפשר לבלוע
אבא תרחם אבא תרחם
ברוך השם אני נושם

מדינת הלכה - הלכה המדינה
מי שנולד הרוויח
יחי המלך המשיח
יש לי בטחון בשלום של שרון
חברון מאז ולתמיד
ומי שלא נולד הפסיד
חברון עיר האבות
שלום טרנספר
כהנא צדק
CNN משקר
צריך מנהיג חזק
סחתין על השלום תודה על הבטחון
אין לנו ילדים למלחמות מיותרות
השמאל עוזר לערבים
ביבי טוב ליהודים
פושעי אוסלו לדין
אנחנו כאן הם שם
אחים לא מפקירים
עקירת ישובים מפלגת את העם
מוות לבוגדים
תנו לחיות לחיות
מוות לערכים

כמה רוע אפשר…

לחסל, להרוג, לגרש, להטעות
להדביר, להסגיר, עונש מוות, NO FEAR
להשמיד, להכחיד, למגר, לבער
הכל בגללך, חבר

–lyrics from Shiron.net

What is Zionism?

I often ask myself, "What is Zionism?" Is this a relevant question in 2008? Where do I find the answers? What is post-Zionism? Creative Zionism (I interviewed recently for a position at PresenTense)?

Is Zionism meaning being pro-Israel? Is not being Zionist mean being anti-Israel? Can I say I'm not a Zionist, but support Israel? Why do many people equate Israel with Zionism? Why is "supporting Israel" such a big deal?

I am American, and criticize America, but am not anti-America. Why does this same logic not seem to apply in Israel?

I was reading a document released a few years ago by the Van Leer Institute. When I am confused about an idea, I find it's often useful to go back to the very beginning. Here are some of the basics:

The Zionist Vision and the National Interests
“The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

“. . . This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.

“The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for an Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete
equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

…

“We appeal – in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months – to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and
permanent institutions.”
(Excepts from the Declaration of Independence)


(continued from report) Today, too, it is necessary to ensure the existence of a Jewish and democratic State of Israel. Four founding principles have been accepted by the vast majority of the Zionist movement since its founding until the present day:

1. Concentrating a majority of the Jewish People in its homeland, the Land of Israel.
2. Preserving a Jewish state with an absolute Jewish majority in the Land of Israel.
3. Reviving Hebrew culture (language, literature, history, plastic arts) as the spiritual foundation of the Jewish State in the Land of Israel.
4. Aspiring to make the Jewish people a nation like all other nations, living freely in its own State and maintaining a high-quality life of abundance, progress and
culture.

Dubai and Israel

Just reading this article today in the NY Times, "Young and Arab in Land of Mosques and Bars."

One Dubai-resident, originally from Jordan, describes the ambiance:

"In this way, Dubai offers another prescription for promoting moderation. It offers a chance to lead a modern life in an Arab Islamic country. Mr. Abu Zanad raised his beer high, almost in a toast, and said he liked being able to walk through a mall and still hear the call to prayer.

“We like that it’s free and it still has Arab heritage,” he said “It’s not religion, it’s the culture, the Middle Eastern culture.”

This description sounds oddly familiar--it sounds like things many young Jews have said about Israel, including myself! Part of the reason I like living in Israel is what I'll call the "Jewish backdrop." Hebrew is spoken, holidays are celebrated, human rights are advocated for based on Jewish values. In Jerusalem (my new city), it's a bit more difficult to live the secular, "Jewish backdrop" lifestyle, but I am finding my way.

This picture is in the article, and I made it my computer's desktop. I love the colors.

Articles

Two articles. First one by me (posted here recently), "A Day in Bethlehem" was posted on the Palestine-Israel Journal blog and the second one, "In Israel, era of mass immigration ends" about new immigrants and me.

These two articles are an interesting dichotomy: both relating my experience of life in Israel, yet one discussing aliyah and the other discussing the consequences of Israel's Occupation.

This dilemma is one I consider every day.

Life Update

Here's a quick life update.

Spent the first half of August in the states. Will post pictures soon from Maui, LA, and San Diego. Also managed to visit the Colliseum in Rome, on my layover, on the flight back to Tel Aviv!




Oded and I are looking for an apartment in Jerusalem. If anyone knows of anything...we'd love to know!

I am starting a new job on September 1 at B'tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It should be really interesting, although I am not sure yet exactly what I"ll be doing!

Oded is starting in November to study photography at Musrara.

I am looking forward to a new city and all its new adventures!

Being Critical, but Always Hoping

There's an excellent blog posting by Daniel Pipes, titled "May An American Comment on Israel." A short excerpt: "Schweitzer [an Israeli counter-terrorism expert] does not spell out the logic behind his resentment, but it rings familiar: Unless a person lives in Israel, the argument goes, pays its taxes, puts himself at risk in its streets, and has children in its armed forces, he should not second-guess Israeli decision making. This approach, broadly speaking, stands behind the positions taken by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other prominent Jewish institutions."

Pipes logically points out that his job, as a foreign policy analyst, is to do exactly this. That he, and this Israeli counter-terrorism expert comment on multiple countries' policies all the time.

What about the rest of us who aren't foreign policy analysts and counter-terrorism experts, who live outside of Israel? Pipes state: "On a more profound level, I protest the whole concept of privileged information – that one's location, age, ethnicity, academic degrees, experience, or some other quality validates one's views."

I agree. While I do now live in Israel, I am very frequently told that because I didn't serve in the army, and don't have friends that died in terror attacks, that my opinion is not valid. While this holds some weight, I would suggest that for this very reason my opinion is extremely valid--I am often able to see things in Israel and the Middle East without the jaded eyes of many Israelis; I often say that because I haven't lived there all my life, perhaps I will have a new suggestion for peace, or see things in a slightly different light that is obviously needed for the current, seemingly hopeless situation.

On the flip side of being critical, there is maintaining optimism and hope. In many conversations on Middle East politics and the Situation (ha'matzav), I am told I don't know what I am talking about, as I said above. When the conversation gets to this point, I return to my refrain: how can we live without hope? We must have hope--after all, the Israeli national anthem is called "Ha'Tikva," or "The Hope." And then the conversation takes on a new tone; I'm often told, "I used to have hope, but since x or y happened, I don't anymore."

Maybe I'm naive. But the only way to live is with hope and a fresh vision.

Bethlehem

I had said I was going to write something about my day trip to Bethlehem, in April. I finally got around to it--mostly because I had to submit it to the Middle East Studies Dept for a newsletter they're doing. Here it is, at last!

*********************************************************************************************


We asked him many questions—in English, Hebrew, and broken Arabic. But he asked only one, as he glanced over his shoulder at me: "Do you believe in God?" After a long day of historical and political sightseeing in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, I was awake, but in a dream-like state. Brian, my travel companion, was fast asleep in the back of the taxi next to me.

Why was I being asked this question? Was there a correct answer? The man who had asked me this question was Ashraff, our taxi driver for the day. It was through his eyes that I saw Bethlehem. Ashraff in Arabic means "nobler" or "more distinguished." He took Brian and me all around Bethlehem and its sites on a clear, sunny April day. While I saw the Church of the Nativity and other famous sites, it was this soft-spoken, noble taxi driver that left the strongest memories of the day.

After some reflection, I think Ashraff asked me this question because he saw the commonality in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—he was a Muslim who believed in God and I was a Jew who believed in God. This shared belief should be one that brings us together.

Ashraff was a kind man, whose family had fled/been expelled from the Negev prior to the 1948 Independence War/Nakba. His family moved to a refugee camp outside of Bethlehem 60 years ago and has been there ever since. Throughout this day of sightseeing, I learned about Ashraff's opinions and stories, each one of them reflected a longing for a better future and disenchantment with the current state of affairs, but never with any feelings of vengeance or hatred. Ashraff said that tourism was important for the economy and wished there were more tourists, especially Jews.

There are so many memorable conversations and moments with Ashraff, and a few stand out. We started off at the Shepherd's Field. This is a lesser-known tourist attraction, where there are several different sites said to be related to the announcement of Jesus' birth. Ashraff didn't know how to explain what this site was. Somehow, Brian and I had indicated that we were Jewish, and that I was Israeli, so he began speaking to me in Hebrew. Soon enough, we were carrying on a fluent, sophisticated conversation. Brian was very frightened to hear us speaking Hebrew, loudly, in Bethlehem. Ashraff said he'd tell us when it was okay to speak Hebrew and when to revert back to English.

Ashraff told us that, before the Second Intifada started, he had worked in Eilat and Beer Sheva for many years, so his Hebrew was excellent. It was clear that Ashraff wanted to tell us as much as he could about Bethlehem, the city he had grown up in. He was excited for Jews to be in his city, learning about the West Bank, its cities and what was going on in them. All he wanted was to tell stories and have us listen and learn.

Later, Ashraff was very intent on showing us the Separation Wall. All the times I had seen it from the Israeli side, it was very sterile, unemotional, simply a big, gray wall. It was usually in the middle of a relatively open expanse of dirt. Ashraff took us to the area in Bethlehem where the Wall encircles Rachel's Tomb. I was amazed to feel its foreboding, physical, dark presence. There was a watchtower at one of the corners: from below I looked up and I felt the gaze of the Israeli soldier's eyes. The power of this huge structure could not be seen in any other way—Israel controlled this space.

Despite the Wall's domination and oppression, the artwork managed to express resistance. One mural depicted a lone, live tree, surrounded by a tall wall. Outside of the wall, all the other trees were dead, and just the stumps were left. Ashraff and his people were being choked by this wall, but they would not let it kill them.

From the Israeli perspective, this wall, this sterile, gray object maintains one purpose: to prevent terrorism. From what Ashraff showed and expressed to us, this was a place where daily existence was challenged, and passionate voices cried out in expressions of desire and an unwillingness to acquiesce.

It was almost time to eat. Ashraff promised us a good meal at his home. Should we have been scared to go to his home, in a refugee camp, outside of Bethlehem? We weighed our options, and decided that it was more important to see all that we could, to learn and understand about what Ashraff's life is like. Ashraff lives in a 4-story house, with each generation having added on a floor. Before eating, we sat in the living room with Ashraff and his friend. They were so happy we were there. Ashraff saw that I was looking at a lithograph of the 99 names of Allah. He started to translate each name to Hebrew. Again, I felt that he wanted so badly for me to understand that his religion was just like mine—Allah's names are merciful, ever-forgiving, all-knowing, and so much more. I was slowly coming to realize what Ashraff wanted was no different than anything each Israeli—all humans in fact—speak about and fight all their lives for.

We went into the living room and sat on the floor, devouring chicken, rice, salad, all with our hands. Ashraff insisted we keep eating, and offered more food. He wanted us to feel comfortable and welcome. His young daughter crawled over, stared at us curiously and made her way to her mother's lap. We continued tearing chicken meat from its bone, balling yellow rice together, sharing one meal, together, occasionally glancing at each other, rejoicing in sitting together, simply as humans.

Oil...

I was listening to an npr radioshow that I often listen to--"left, right and center"--and they were talking about offshore drilling. One commentator asked the other about if he supports offshore drilling, then what will happen to the coastline off of santa barbara.

This reminded me of when we used to visit california from hawaii, when I was young, and I'd see the "oil horses" along the sides of the highway. When I just google'd "oil horses," apparently that's not what others call them. The are referred to as "nodding donkeys." How bizarre. But very evocative.


I remember that those black machines seemed almost alive. They were so foreign to me, having always seen the landscape of sugar cane fields, ocean, and volcanoes growing up on Maui. I loved seeing those oil horses; it was like getting to see aliens, for me. The slow-moving horse, actually a machine, against the backdrop of the ocean or the green fields, along the highway.

Today, in the nytimes, there's an article on offshore drilling, with an amazing photograph. In the same way that the oil horses (or apparently nodding donkeys) made me see some perverted beauty, I see it here too: the horror of our greed for oil, and the beauty of what we must destroy for it.

More Banksy, from Grandma

My grandma, who my brother says should get the "Senior Computer Literacy Award" is awesome at using the Internet, and finding articles.

(This is my grandma and me before my graduation from Berkeley in 2004).

Here's a link to a fascinating (long) New Yorker article on Banksy, from my Grandma!!:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins

Tel Aviv Grafitti

A while back, I posted grafitti from Neve Tzedek. Throughout Tel Aviv, there are a number of graffiti art drawings of people, babies, and dogs with gas masks on, in a very unique style.

I never knew that they were Banksy copies. Banksy is an anonymous British artist, but apparently these aren't his. But they're fascinating and insightful.

There is also an unofficial website that has more fascinating photos of Banksy's art--worth checking out. Here's just one of them.

Goat Cheese. Give me more!

I know I said my next posting would be on Bethlehem, but I'm too inspired by something else--goat cheese! (this picture isn't mine...but gives the cheese's accurate texture and sensation).
Goat cheese, the 23% fat type, is AMAZING. I had eaten goat cheese before living in Israel, but my roommate turned me on to this certain brand that is so good. It's sort of like cream cheese in its consistency, a little bit firmer, and has a distinct flavor...I am not sure how to describe it. But it goes with everything!

Normally, I don't cook or make anything that takes more than 3 minutes of preparation time (ie, I usually spoon the tuna out of a can onto toasted bread, cereal with milk, PB and J, sometimes pasta if I'm really inspired).

But this goat cheese has been taking me to new places! I somehow followed a recipe I found online and made a tomato and goat cheese quiche! It was really easy, and turned out really well. Right now, I just made some sort of cucumber and goat cheese salad. Also excellent.

Passover Seder and Backpacking Trip.

Seder Plate. Saturday night.


The hagadah. I read outloud when it was my turn. I sounded like a 12 year old with my level of Hebrew.


We started our hike the morning after the seder. This is where we put on sunblock and got ready


The second morning. Bright and cheery-eyed!


That afternoon. In a gas station. A bit less bright and cheery eyed.


Awesome 200+ year old Olive trees above the Arab village of Deir Hanna.



Beautiful purple flowers in a field.


A turtle. With cute, stubby legs.


Next post, soon to come: Day trip to Bethlehem.

04.06.08...06.04.08

7:26 am on Sunday morning. The week starts. again. But I say again in a way that I'm looking forward to it! A few thoughts to share.

The second semester is about a third of the way through. 2 more months. And that's it! Wow.

I have a midterm in Arabic tomorrow. Lots of vocabulary and grammar. But it's fun. I like learning new languages.

Oded was here in Beer Sheva last week. We had fun together. After my bike got stolen (boo), we went and got a new one together, went food shopping, sat in a cafe. It felt like a normal life.

A friend from Otzma is visiting here for the weekend. We went on a bike ride yesterday up to the Negev Brigade Memorial. Here's a picture that he took from the interesting and beautiful sculpture.


On Thursday, my Conflict Resolution Class goes to Jerusalem to the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, to meet with someone from the Israeli Negotiation Team, and some others. Should be really fascinating. And a chance to see how this conflict is playing out immediately, on a higher level.

This same friend and I are also considering going to Bethlehem and Ramallah during my Passover Break. We would go for one day to each city. Only a week and a half more of class til break. I am looking forward to it!

The new living situation (since Mar 1) is great. It's so much better. The weather is usually sunny and I love sitting outside on our porch, on the couch. My room-mate also somehow got a sheep, who is supposed to be trimming the overgrown weeds. She's a funny sheep, she scratches her nose on the side of the house, and often wildly gallops around the yard. Occasionally eating grass too. Here's a picture of the porch with the sheep in the background.

More Pics.

For more pics of Hebron, go here.

I have intentionally tried not to write too much about this city. The rights and wrongs abound on both sides, and in general I have been trying to listen more to what people say, and opine less. Please feel free to tell me what you think and share your impressions.

Hebron

I was on a tour in the West Bank city of Hebron, last Friday. Shovrim Shtika (Breaking the Silence) guided the tour. Hebron is a very complicated place. I can't even begin to explain in this blog posting. For a detailed article and history, read this Ha'aretz piece. Here are a few pictures, with a brief explanation. I am well aware that these photos and what I saw only reveal a small part of what is going on there. To really understand, or to start to at least, one must go to the city.


A sign displayed for visitors. Also appears in Hebrew.

Jewish graffiti: נקמה, revenge. A lot is covered up because it was bad for the Jewish settlers' PR.


The few Palestinian families who still live in the IDF-controlled area caged themselves in. Their front doors are bolted shut, by the IDF. They are only allowed out their roof or their back door.


The tomb of Abraham, in the Tomb of Patriarchs, a holy site.

A beautiful almond tree, amidst all the difficult, horrible, confusing things going on.

Is there any way out?

I was at a bike store in Beer Sheva with some friends yesterday. An older man named Jacques started talking with me. Jacques is probably 60ish, born in Fez, Morocco, and lived there until his family made aliyah at the age of 16. He started asking me if I love Israel too (my friend who was at the store had made aliyah and was saying how much she does). I said I love the place and the people, but not what the state does. And then I said, let's not get into this, as soon as I saw him gearing up for a fight. (I have slowly and painfully been learning that most Israelis are not open-minded in regards to Israel's military actions and support the state almost blindly, no matter what).

I tried to stop the conversation, but it was too late. Jacques is telling me that he knows Arabs because he grew up with them, and he served in the army. He provided me with an anecdote: if you say hello and good morning to an Arab, he'll kill you. If you say hello, while at the same time hitting him to keep him in his place, then he'll treat you ok. Jacques continued to tell me that the way for Israel to proceed is to kill as many Arabs as possible—the more the better.

Of course, no Israeli thinks my opinion is worthwhile, because I didn't know grow up here or serve in the IDF. I understand this, but I also know that many of these people I talk to have not even considered the alternatives; they have not read any of the important, academic articles that the intellectuals (both Israeli and Arab) have produced, showing that there is a very different side to the whole argument. But no one will listen; no one can see beyond his own fears.

Jacques went on to ask me what I think of Blacks in the US. I said, I can't answer, this shouldn't even be a question. And he asked if I'm going to vote for that "black guy running for President?" I said that'd be the best thing to happen to the US if Obama wins. He told me that Obama is a Muslim and how could I do that. At this point, I started to understand that Jacques didn't have all his facts straight.

Despite his lack of accurate information, Jacques represents a portion of the Israeli population; he is a bit more extreme in his call to kill all Arabs, but he knows only one narrative, and there is no discussion.

The way I see it, there will never be peace and understanding if one cannot open his mind to different ideas.

Then, a few minutes later, we heard there was a suicide bombing in Dimona. Jacques is from Dimona and his wife works in the exact area where the explosion was.

What can I say to that? The conflict here (sich-sooch in Hebrew; סכסוך) cannot be explained or described. I cannot help but understand what Jacques says. I cannot help but understand the Gazan plight for food, gas, and water. Is there any way out?

Sore Elbows

Classes ends about 2 weeks ago. We have 6 weeks off until the Spring semester starts, and during this break we must write our term papers. I have to write three 15+ page papers. So far, I've gotten 2 more or less done. I am working on the third one now. I have only had a few moments of panic, and I still have another 8 days to finish this last one. The topics include:

-the situation of foreign workers' children in Israel, who identify as Israeli, but are not considered "real Israelis"
-Mizrachi music and its role as producing counter-hegemonic resistance to the Ashkenazi hegemony; examinzation of Tipex and Zohar Argov (2 Israeli Mizrachi musicians/groups)
-(this one I'm still working on): the ways that Istanbul's urban fabric changed post-Tanzimat (1839) in an attempt to westernize; close examination of "westernization" in the Ottoman empire.

What's the point here? My elbows are killing me! I spend so much time at my computer reading and typing, resting on my elbows, that they really hurt! I'd never thought this would happen...but it's pretty serious.

Here's a picture of an elbow to enjoy.

I try sitting in different ways, resting on my hands, not putting my arms on the desk when I'm just reading, anything!

Being Ethiopian in Israel.

I was just reading an article for a paper I'm writing about the identity of foreign workers' children in Israel. While this article is about Ethiopians and not foreign workers, it's related because identity is both elusive and strictly guarded in the Jewish state of Israel where the Orthodox Rabbinate has a monopoly on deciding "Who is a Jew" and therefore who is a "real Israeli."

This article is about the identity of the Ethiopians who came to Israel in the last 20 years. It argues that a new kind of racism developed in Israeli society. But that Ethiopians have been able to create an unique identity. "In fact, they have developed a hybrid identity that meshes Israeliness, Jewishness, and blackness. Have they succeeded in escaping their marginalised status and in establishing their hybrid conception within Israeli
society?"

A paragraph I read in the article recalls the post I wrote a while back about the term "kushi." Before I speculated. Now, the author spoke to some Ethiopian youth: "Some Ethiopian youngsters aged 16 to 18 seemed to suggest that they were rebelling against the image that had been foisted onto them. Asked how they reacted to being called kushi (black), a term that connotes a slave in their traditional culture, they replied unequivocally that whereas in the past they had been offended and backed off, now they would lash out at anyone who used the term and ‘let him have it’, in the words of one interviewee."

Ben-eliezer, Uri (2004) 'Becoming a black Jew: cultural racism and anti-racism in contemporary Israel', Social Identities, 10:2, 245 - 266

שוקו בשקית--Chocolate in a Bag

I was just craving Shoko B'sakit (שוקו בשקית)! And then it occured to me that it's a worthwhile topic for a post.


This concept at first seemed really gross to me--sucking chocolate milk out of a plastic bag after ripping off the corner with your mouth--but then I realized how great of a satisfying snack it is!

Here's an excellent short "How to" video:

Post Modernity

As the semester comes to an end, all my classes seem to be converging on an interesting and important subject: Modernity and Post Modernity. While it seems that these are terms we throw around all the time, I don't often have a chance to really think about them...Here are some thoughts (albeit just a few) that have been discussed, interspersed with some photos I took from the net.

Modernity can be traced to the 17th century: the scientific revolution, new technology, and transportation (railroad and steamship) which all provided for totally new possibilities. The origins of modernity are located in Europe. Progress is big! There is a whole change in the way people understand their world, in every way.


Of course, besides there being this new forward-moving direction that history was thought to be moving in, there is a dark side: Colonialism (an ideology while acceptable at the time was about racism and imposing ideas on people), WWI and its unfathomable amount of death and suffering, WWII and the Holocaust, the invention of the atomic bomb.

In contrast to modernity and post-modernity, modernism and post-modernism are aesthetic styles, referring to literature, art, architecture, music. This style is clean and simple. One example is Bauhaus architecture.


The post modern era started in the 1970s, among French intellectuals. Existentialism and questioning of what really is truth. This new outlook can be termed a"paradigm shift," where there are no more certainties in life, and the concept of progress is dead. The post modern turn can be seen in subaltern studies, cultural studies, and social history. In the post modern era, there is also a resurgence of religion (since there is nothing else to believe in!). Nietzsche is confused.


Anthony Giddens writes in The Consequences of Modernity: "living in the modern world is more like being aboard a careering juggernaut rather than being in a carefully controlled and well-driven motor car."


In my class, "Muslim Mediterranean Cities," the professor challenged us with these questions: "Is post modernity just another stage of modernity? Is it an imploding of modernism?" I don't know the answers.

In a different class ("Production of Resistance in Arab Countries"), the professor posited that there are different concepts of modernity in the West and East. Western modernity can be seen as a total break from the past. In the East, modernity has some connection to tradition as well. They are not mutually exclusive. For example, Eastern music cannot be understood without looking at traditional music styles to understand the contemporary.

New Year's.

Here's an interesting (read: crappy camera phone) series of a few photos from Oded and my fun and low-key New Year's in Tel Aviv.

(Card from the bar we were at: "One who doesn't drink doesn't pee.")