Most importantly, thank you to everyone who responded and took the time to think with me on the last entry having to do with Israel’s independence and the Palestinian Nakba. I have looked forward to responding to your thoughts for weeks and I regret the long delay.
Yesterday I finally had the opportunity and felt in the frame of mind to sit down and respond to the comments that I received both on the blog and personally, for which I am quite grateful. However, an unforeseen obstacle arose to my Thursday morning departure to the States, which rendered me useless to do anything but worry incessantly until this morning.
In the afternoon on Sunday, I discovered that unless I have in my possession a "Teudat Maavar" to present at border control at Ben Gurion Airport along with my U.S. passport, I will be unable to leave Israel to go to my own country because I am now also an Israeli citizen; and regardless of whether or not I have a valid U.S. passport, the Israeli government determines whether or not I can leave this country, so they say. I have my suspicions that I would have no problem leaving the country but getting back in may be cumbersome.
So as to avoid any possibility of going through the infamous, grueling, interrogation sessions at the airport, I rushed myself to the Misrad Hapnim (Ministry of the Interior) this morning ready with fifteen sob stories revolving around family emergencies that would win the sensitive hearts, hidden beneath the gruff and cruel exterior, of the clerks at the Ministry of the Interior, so that I may have the Teudat Maavar sooner than the standard seven business days for processing. And, as I've discovered, as with most things in Israel, everything is up for negotiation. I will have the damn temporary travel document at 8am Tuesday morning, less than 48 hours before my plane is scheduled to depart.
The point of sharing this story is that while my intention was to finally revisit the topic of Jews commemorating the Nakba yesterday afternoon, I was hardly in a mood to ponder and pontificate and felt like, in fact, every Israeli and Palestinian and their problems could "shove it," because my small life and the important plans in it were about to be affected in a tremendous way. How quickly my activism is thrown out the window when my freedoms are impinged upon...(The next obstacle is to get Eitan through immigration at LAX. Did anyone read that New York Times article about the Italian-citizen lawyer who came to visit his girlfriend in Virginia and was detained for ten days without access to counsel only to be deported back to Italy??!!!)
But, now that I have had my citizen’s right to international movement, as conferred upon me by my holding of a current and valid U.S. passport, restored -- I am ready to discuss.
In the weeks since Israel's Independence Day celebrations and Nakba commemorations, much has happened. President Bush visited to celebrate 60 years of Israel and expressed his vision that when Israel celebrates 120 years of Independence it will do so with a Palestinian state next to it. Also, a conference of presidents and world leaders convened in Jerusalem to discuss Israel's role and capabilities in many important global issues -- technology, industry, the environment and economics. Gorbachev even showed up, which excited many Russians in Israel, which I know because I overheard conversations in the w.c. at ulpan and in the streets of Tel Aviv.
On May 21, just on the other side of the separation wall six miles south of Jerusalem, the Palestine Investment Conference took place in Bethlehem with nearly 1,000 businesspeople from the United States, Europe, the UK, Russia, several Arab countries, Israel and 100 businessmen from Gaza received special permits to travel to the West Bank with over $1billion worth of contracts up for grabs. For more information and some criticism on this conference, please visit: http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/palestine-investment-conference-opens-in-bethlehem-20080522.html and
http://www.economy.ae/English/AboutUs/NewsAndEvents/Pages/economy23.aspx.
Since then, business is as usual in Israel. Rocket attacks on Sderot and Ashkelon, daily military incursions into Gaza with casualties suffered by men, women, children and militants, and a disturbing Israeli police-incited riot at a nonviolent Palestinian Nakba commemoration demonstration in which Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs came together to protest the forced expulsions and denial of these acts during and in the aftermath of Israel's War of Independence in 1948. Please read: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668678396&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
All of which, in addition to the comments themselves, have contributed to the following thoughts.
As far as this blog goes, I use this public forum as a way to process and filter what I read, see and hear in this country. It is overwhelming most of the time. I cannot contain everything I observe without inflicting psychological damage upon myself unless I write. Therefore, this is not an officially published/sponsored writing forum. It is of my own doing, independent of any news source and so on. That being said, I could be writing 24 hours every day and still not feel that my sentiments and reactions are properly dealt with, or adequately disseminated to readers, for the sake of having witnesses to my experiences and the information that I come across and choose to share.
In truth, none of these incidents matter in and of themselves. One letter signed off on by a group of U.K. Jews and U.S. Jews who are against Israel's military occupation of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, that decries Israel for its crimes against humanity and calls for worldwide boycotts of the Jewish State, as mentioned by a few commentators, does not make a noticeable impact or difference in decision making regarding Israel. I do believe it influences public discourse on the topic to a certain extent, but only among some circles while others may ignore such a petition, or may never even come across it.
In fact, this letter doesn't change anything at all in the immediate sense of time. AIPAC still has millions and millions more dollars than J-Street, the new Jewish political action committee, to "educate" voters, indirectly influencing campaigns and candidates about U.S. relations with Israel. Thus, AIPAC’s role in the U.S. government won't be challenged any time soon. As long as AIPAC-produced policy is adopted by the United States, nothing much at all will change on the ground in Israel or in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
However, when I received the e-mail asking me to sign this letter and another petition written in a similar vein, it mattered to me to understand why I didn't believe that what the signees were calling for provided any constructive solutions to the tension and the situation here in Israel. And, I felt, that if those words represented the progressive Jewish political public of the Diaspora, then there isn't much hope for the Jewish international community to work within Jewish communities to convey to Jews who support Israel blindly, that Israel cannot sustain its existence as it is -- surviving -- in a hostile environment that requires the dehumanization of an indigenous population that has been largely displaced; that continues to seek international aide to improve its plight by defaming Israel as well as highlighting breaches of international law and international humanitarian law; that has factions that consort with Iran to resist occupation; that is allegedly the key to normalized relations with the 22 nations of the Arab League, as outlined in the revised 2007 Arab Peace Initiative. Quite simply, I felt bummed out, big time.
I'm looking for solutions and perhaps stubbornly clinging to the naiveté that they exist.
I think the solutions are going to be found when there is good, honest, open communication about the problems. Something like Conflict Resolution 101. However, as of right now, a universal language to discuss Israel, and therefore Palestine, does not exist. Different populations require different vocabulary. It is such a heated, loaded subject. Israel bears the weight of thousands of years of Jewish persecution and ongoing anti-Semitism. Israel and the threat to its existence is one catalyst in the spreading of Islamophobia. Also, in the Muslim and Arab world, Israel’s existence is the fundamentalists’ linchpin that sustains anti-Western sentiment and acts of violence, also known as terrorism. These are the favorite topics of the media today and what a confusing, bungling, endless body of information we the public receive every day!
The letter doesn't really affect me. Neither did the rocket that fell on the Supersal grocery store in Sderot two days after I went shopping there for challah, orange juice, yogurt and hummus. But I worry about the day that these things do affect me. Maybe they will always be just worries. I don't really know.
I would like to think, however, than in the thousands of words I will have written over the course of my life, at some point, I'll figure out something to do that will affect me and the people around me to live differently, to find that common language even in the midst of purportedly intractable conflict. Obstinately, something tells me it's possible and if not, then I'll just keep working towards it. I don't really know what there is that is better for me to fill my days with instead.
I need to create an example of what I want to accomplish, to paraphrase another commentator. The problem is that I still don't know exactly what kind of example I want to set. Maybe one day, I’ll just come to peace with war, with humankind’s proclivity for self-destruction. As of now, I am still collecting information.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Diaspora Jews Commemorating the Nakba
Certainly, choosing not to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary of independence is a personal choice. In fact, many Israelis have criticized the Israeli government for spending too much money on 60th anniversary celebrations and not enough on education and elder care, which, in fact, forced the government to reallocate a proportion of the millions of shekels originally earmarked for Independence Day to improving schools and public spaces such as parks.
However, I have some issue with the group of diaspora Jews who published a letter on April 30, 2008, in the UK’s Guardian about not celebrating Israel’s Independence Day because it is also the anniversary Nakba, or the catastrophe, which is what the Palestinians call the eve of Israel’s independence and the ensuing war: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/30/israelandthepalestinians.
And additionally, with those Diaspora Jews in the United States who are now sending around a letter to be published in the Jewish Advocate, The Nation, and The New York Review of Books come Thursday, Israel’s Independence Day. Below are the statements with which the signatories of this letter agree to assist, support and encourage, some of which I strongly disagree. After listing them, I will explain why or why not.
Taken from the letter:
“…we refuse to celebrate ‘Israel 60.’ We will take action to make our shared position clear and visible. In cities across the U.S. and Canada this year, we pledge to participate in or to support:
- Refusal to participate in Israeli Independence Day activities;
- Peaceful disruption of these events;
- Nakba commemoration events and actions organized by Palestinians and the Palestine solidarity movement;
- Incorporation of Nakba remembrance into our Passover seders;
- The movement for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel;
- Other efforts to challenge the perceived Zionist consensus among American Jews through education of Jewish and broader communities about the Nakba, about the colonial nature of Zionism, and about the history of Jewish dissent and Palestinian resistance.”
http://notimetocelebrate.wordpress.com/
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, choosing not to participate in Israeli Independence Day activities is not something with which I have a problem. This is a personal choice and not even necessary to list as there is no mandate that all Jews must rejoice on this occasion.
Peaceful disruption of these events – I wholeheartedly believe in the right to freedom of speech, thought and assembly. I too support the right to disrupt Israeli Indepenence Day events on the basis of the right to dissent and opinion. My only hope is that these disruptions are constructive, informative and awareness-building and approach the situation as an opportunity to spark dialogue, not to cause further polarization and alienation between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian camps. My wish is that disruption of these events is in the name of promoting a pro-peace platform that envisions a win-win outcome for both sides, which is what the peace movements in Israeli and Palestinian societies are promoting and hoping for.
Nakba commemoration events and actions organized by Palestinians and the Palestine solidarity movement- I support this statement as well. It is important that history include all narratives of all peoples. In every war there is a winner and a loser, this is the miserable nature of battle and its outcome. Customarily it is the victor that tells the story and it is a wonderful human development that increasingly oral history and general efforts to document the history of the “other” are becoming more and more popular and funded in academia and in the non-governmental organizations of the world. It is especially necessary for Diasporic Jews to be aware of the fact that in 1948, not every indigenous Arab of Palestine attacked the Jewish population. Hundreds of Palestinian villages were razed to the ground, people were forcibly transferred to the far reaches of the West Bank and Gaza, never to return to their homes, and if they did, to find that new residents had taken up the space and called it home.
It is necessary to educate about the Nakba to understand the humiliation that every day Palestinians have endured and continue to endure under the brutality of a military occupation that assumes all are guilty or have potential to be guilty of wishing harm against the Israeli people and the State of Israel. Then, to further understand the damage this does to a society of people, and how it perpetuates a self-fulfilling prophecy of ill-will, hatred and violence.
Incorporation of Nakba remembrance into our Passover seders- I believe in this statement merely because as far as I have been taught, on Passover we remember and acknowledge the continued suffering of all people. And perhaps most importantly the Nakba because as long as the Paelstinians continue to suffer without reprieve, Israel will suffer and the stakes only grow higher every year this oppression continues.
The movement for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel- This is where I begin to part ways with this letter. Boycotts, divestment, sanctions of Israel, whether or not they ever happen, simply as a message from the outside Jewish community to the inside Israeli society creates an incredible chasm between those criticizing and those being criticized. If the criticizers want to be taken seriously and contribute to bettering the State of Israel, another approach would be more constructive and therefore actually useful.
Telling the Israeli people we support your financial ruin for the sake of the Palestinians creates a “who needs you anyway” attitude that allows Israelis to become further spiteful toward the outside world, and even more supportive of a sustained existence based on military might and NOT diplomacy, negotiation or coexistence, let alone creating foundations of trust necessary to establish a Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel.
For Jews in the Diaspora to promote divestment projects and boycotts of Israel, but not to call attention or for divestment and boycotts of the United States and the U.S. government in the same letter (especially since President Bush is flying here for the celebration) for its lack of real action when Israel makes a breach of its own policy, for example, continued settlement expansion, is ridiculous and a mistake in approach to this situation, by the Jews in the Diaspora.
Other efforts to challenge the perceived Zionist consensus among American Jews through education of Jewish and broader communities about the Nakba, about the colonial nature of Zionism, and about the history of Jewish dissent and Palestinian resistance- Challenging the “perceived Zionist consensus” about the State of Israel among American Jews strikes me as off-target for managing and ameliorating a rather uncomfortable, desperate and time-bomb ticking world issue as that which is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It ignores the fact that Israel isn’t simply the Jewish State, it is Israel, a nation-state in the global community. It ignores the fact that there are generations of Israelis who live here, who identify as Israeli first, and as Jewish second. This is their only home.
Zionism as colonialism? All nations are guilty of this transgression. It is no excuse, but it is hardly something to dwell on when those who are turning Zionism into a bad word by calling it colonialism are members of previous or current colonializing societies and therefore direct beneficiaries of colonialism over other nations whether in the form of traditional colonialism, or more modern forms of colonialism like globalization, its best friend outsourcing and outsourcing’s progeny—sweatshops and democracies supporting dictator-regimes to keep oil flowing.
If anything, today colonialism and the struggle to decolonize serve to catalyze independence movements, giving fuel to a people’s call for their own nation-state so that they do not have to live under another people’s self-serving, discriminating rule. (They can then create their own self-serving rule that will eventually discriminate against another people and the cycle will continue until once again we are a world of tribes and clans as opposed to nations, perhaps organized into confederations.)
When the United Nations created the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine, two states were created: Israel and Palestine. When the War of Independence and the initial phases of the Nakba were finished, did the West Bank and Gaza become a split state of Palestine as did Pakistan and East Pakistan, but with their independence intact no less? No. The West Bank and East Jerusalem fell under martial law of TransJordan, and Gaza belonged to Egypt.
I wonder if the State of Israel hadn’t survived, how do we know that the Palestinian statehood movement would have formed and persisted? Would Egypt and Jordan have duked it out over the “Holy Land” if the Zionist dream had never come true?
What example of successful democratic struggle do we have in the Middle East? Jordan- a kingdom, Egypt- practically a dictatorship, Lebanon- overwhelmed by Syria, Syria- practically a dictatorship, Morocco- a kingdom, Libya- a dictatorship, not so many examples of democratically-elected governments representing the will of the people.
The point is, with Israel it’s complicated. It’s not apartheid South Africa and it’s not Communist China. To illustrate this point it is worthwhile mentioning the more than 5,000 African refugees in Israel right now, who have fled Eritrea, the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and of course Darfur. These people have come to Israel in search of a better life, which they hear is possible even for them. And, because the Israeli people are making a big and welcomed-stink about the plight of these bonafide refugees, more and more receive work visas because Israeli individuals are demanding action from the Israeli government, and because Israelis, tourists and international volunteers are coming together to organize shelters and education and work opportunities for refugees (illegal and at the risk of being fined by government authorities) and language classes, these refugees have a chance at regaining -- and in some cases for the first time -- creating a life with dignity.
This is not a Jewish community thing protecting these refugees, this is an Israeli thing -- Israeli people and other international residents of Israel accepting Muslim, Arabic speaking African refugees. Is it frustrating that this same recognition of shared humanity cannot be extended to the Palestinians, indubitably, YES! And so, it does not make up for racist and dehumanizing behavior toward Palestinians, but before writing off the entire country to boycott, sanctions and divestment, try looking into the situation a little more deeply and seeing how there needs to be another answer to end the injustice.
Personally, I will celebrate Israel’s Independence. I will celebrate it in part in memory of the six million Jews who perished in the hell of Nazi Europe and also the nearly seven million others who were slaughtered by Hitler's forces for not fitting into the Aryan race, who did not have a safe haven to which they could flee.
I will celebrate Israel’s Independence Day as a reminder of the realization of a dream come true, a dream that all oppressed peoples of the world wish and fight and die for, at this very second as I write this sentence.
I will celebrate Israel’s Independence as a symbol of hope and possibility that because of the Palestinian Nakba, one day there will be a free Palestine and it will exist in independent imperfection, side-by-side to its equally imperfect neighbor, Israel.
However, I have some issue with the group of diaspora Jews who published a letter on April 30, 2008, in the UK’s Guardian about not celebrating Israel’s Independence Day because it is also the anniversary Nakba, or the catastrophe, which is what the Palestinians call the eve of Israel’s independence and the ensuing war: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/30/israelandthepalestinians.
And additionally, with those Diaspora Jews in the United States who are now sending around a letter to be published in the Jewish Advocate, The Nation, and The New York Review of Books come Thursday, Israel’s Independence Day. Below are the statements with which the signatories of this letter agree to assist, support and encourage, some of which I strongly disagree. After listing them, I will explain why or why not.
Taken from the letter:
“…we refuse to celebrate ‘Israel 60.’ We will take action to make our shared position clear and visible. In cities across the U.S. and Canada this year, we pledge to participate in or to support:
- Refusal to participate in Israeli Independence Day activities;
- Peaceful disruption of these events;
- Nakba commemoration events and actions organized by Palestinians and the Palestine solidarity movement;
- Incorporation of Nakba remembrance into our Passover seders;
- The movement for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel;
- Other efforts to challenge the perceived Zionist consensus among American Jews through education of Jewish and broader communities about the Nakba, about the colonial nature of Zionism, and about the history of Jewish dissent and Palestinian resistance.”
http://notimetocelebrate.wordpress.com/
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, choosing not to participate in Israeli Independence Day activities is not something with which I have a problem. This is a personal choice and not even necessary to list as there is no mandate that all Jews must rejoice on this occasion.
Peaceful disruption of these events – I wholeheartedly believe in the right to freedom of speech, thought and assembly. I too support the right to disrupt Israeli Indepenence Day events on the basis of the right to dissent and opinion. My only hope is that these disruptions are constructive, informative and awareness-building and approach the situation as an opportunity to spark dialogue, not to cause further polarization and alienation between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian camps. My wish is that disruption of these events is in the name of promoting a pro-peace platform that envisions a win-win outcome for both sides, which is what the peace movements in Israeli and Palestinian societies are promoting and hoping for.
Nakba commemoration events and actions organized by Palestinians and the Palestine solidarity movement- I support this statement as well. It is important that history include all narratives of all peoples. In every war there is a winner and a loser, this is the miserable nature of battle and its outcome. Customarily it is the victor that tells the story and it is a wonderful human development that increasingly oral history and general efforts to document the history of the “other” are becoming more and more popular and funded in academia and in the non-governmental organizations of the world. It is especially necessary for Diasporic Jews to be aware of the fact that in 1948, not every indigenous Arab of Palestine attacked the Jewish population. Hundreds of Palestinian villages were razed to the ground, people were forcibly transferred to the far reaches of the West Bank and Gaza, never to return to their homes, and if they did, to find that new residents had taken up the space and called it home.
It is necessary to educate about the Nakba to understand the humiliation that every day Palestinians have endured and continue to endure under the brutality of a military occupation that assumes all are guilty or have potential to be guilty of wishing harm against the Israeli people and the State of Israel. Then, to further understand the damage this does to a society of people, and how it perpetuates a self-fulfilling prophecy of ill-will, hatred and violence.
Incorporation of Nakba remembrance into our Passover seders- I believe in this statement merely because as far as I have been taught, on Passover we remember and acknowledge the continued suffering of all people. And perhaps most importantly the Nakba because as long as the Paelstinians continue to suffer without reprieve, Israel will suffer and the stakes only grow higher every year this oppression continues.
The movement for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel- This is where I begin to part ways with this letter. Boycotts, divestment, sanctions of Israel, whether or not they ever happen, simply as a message from the outside Jewish community to the inside Israeli society creates an incredible chasm between those criticizing and those being criticized. If the criticizers want to be taken seriously and contribute to bettering the State of Israel, another approach would be more constructive and therefore actually useful.
Telling the Israeli people we support your financial ruin for the sake of the Palestinians creates a “who needs you anyway” attitude that allows Israelis to become further spiteful toward the outside world, and even more supportive of a sustained existence based on military might and NOT diplomacy, negotiation or coexistence, let alone creating foundations of trust necessary to establish a Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel.
For Jews in the Diaspora to promote divestment projects and boycotts of Israel, but not to call attention or for divestment and boycotts of the United States and the U.S. government in the same letter (especially since President Bush is flying here for the celebration) for its lack of real action when Israel makes a breach of its own policy, for example, continued settlement expansion, is ridiculous and a mistake in approach to this situation, by the Jews in the Diaspora.
Other efforts to challenge the perceived Zionist consensus among American Jews through education of Jewish and broader communities about the Nakba, about the colonial nature of Zionism, and about the history of Jewish dissent and Palestinian resistance- Challenging the “perceived Zionist consensus” about the State of Israel among American Jews strikes me as off-target for managing and ameliorating a rather uncomfortable, desperate and time-bomb ticking world issue as that which is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It ignores the fact that Israel isn’t simply the Jewish State, it is Israel, a nation-state in the global community. It ignores the fact that there are generations of Israelis who live here, who identify as Israeli first, and as Jewish second. This is their only home.
Zionism as colonialism? All nations are guilty of this transgression. It is no excuse, but it is hardly something to dwell on when those who are turning Zionism into a bad word by calling it colonialism are members of previous or current colonializing societies and therefore direct beneficiaries of colonialism over other nations whether in the form of traditional colonialism, or more modern forms of colonialism like globalization, its best friend outsourcing and outsourcing’s progeny—sweatshops and democracies supporting dictator-regimes to keep oil flowing.
If anything, today colonialism and the struggle to decolonize serve to catalyze independence movements, giving fuel to a people’s call for their own nation-state so that they do not have to live under another people’s self-serving, discriminating rule. (They can then create their own self-serving rule that will eventually discriminate against another people and the cycle will continue until once again we are a world of tribes and clans as opposed to nations, perhaps organized into confederations.)
When the United Nations created the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine, two states were created: Israel and Palestine. When the War of Independence and the initial phases of the Nakba were finished, did the West Bank and Gaza become a split state of Palestine as did Pakistan and East Pakistan, but with their independence intact no less? No. The West Bank and East Jerusalem fell under martial law of TransJordan, and Gaza belonged to Egypt.
I wonder if the State of Israel hadn’t survived, how do we know that the Palestinian statehood movement would have formed and persisted? Would Egypt and Jordan have duked it out over the “Holy Land” if the Zionist dream had never come true?
What example of successful democratic struggle do we have in the Middle East? Jordan- a kingdom, Egypt- practically a dictatorship, Lebanon- overwhelmed by Syria, Syria- practically a dictatorship, Morocco- a kingdom, Libya- a dictatorship, not so many examples of democratically-elected governments representing the will of the people.
The point is, with Israel it’s complicated. It’s not apartheid South Africa and it’s not Communist China. To illustrate this point it is worthwhile mentioning the more than 5,000 African refugees in Israel right now, who have fled Eritrea, the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and of course Darfur. These people have come to Israel in search of a better life, which they hear is possible even for them. And, because the Israeli people are making a big and welcomed-stink about the plight of these bonafide refugees, more and more receive work visas because Israeli individuals are demanding action from the Israeli government, and because Israelis, tourists and international volunteers are coming together to organize shelters and education and work opportunities for refugees (illegal and at the risk of being fined by government authorities) and language classes, these refugees have a chance at regaining -- and in some cases for the first time -- creating a life with dignity.
This is not a Jewish community thing protecting these refugees, this is an Israeli thing -- Israeli people and other international residents of Israel accepting Muslim, Arabic speaking African refugees. Is it frustrating that this same recognition of shared humanity cannot be extended to the Palestinians, indubitably, YES! And so, it does not make up for racist and dehumanizing behavior toward Palestinians, but before writing off the entire country to boycott, sanctions and divestment, try looking into the situation a little more deeply and seeing how there needs to be another answer to end the injustice.
Personally, I will celebrate Israel’s Independence. I will celebrate it in part in memory of the six million Jews who perished in the hell of Nazi Europe and also the nearly seven million others who were slaughtered by Hitler's forces for not fitting into the Aryan race, who did not have a safe haven to which they could flee.
I will celebrate Israel’s Independence Day as a reminder of the realization of a dream come true, a dream that all oppressed peoples of the world wish and fight and die for, at this very second as I write this sentence.
I will celebrate Israel’s Independence as a symbol of hope and possibility that because of the Palestinian Nakba, one day there will be a free Palestine and it will exist in independent imperfection, side-by-side to its equally imperfect neighbor, Israel.
Friday Shopping in Sderot
In the car ride south from Tel Aviv toward Sderot, the neighboring Israeli city to Gaza which is one of the populated places that the rocket launchers in Gaza have determined they can hit with unsophisticated Kassam rockets, each week, launched from the Strip, I started to make a list of things I wouldn't do if I lived in Sderot. Get my eyebrows waxed, go to a movie, go to a yoga class, make a dentist appointment or get a cavity filled, be in a crowded place, sleep.
When the red alert sounds throughout the streets of the relatively small City of Sderot, the people have approximately 15 seconds to take cover before the rocket explodes upon impact to the ground. So, I thought, I'd never want to be in a situation where I didn't have freedom of movement or to be in a situation where my mind would be less than alert, in the event that I would be in a spot where a rocket would land bringing indescribable pain to my life, or an end to it, for that matter.
A few miles before our first stop, the driver turned down the radio and Eitan recited the Tefillat HaDerech, the prayer of the traveler. We were, after all, about to enter some shady territory. Afterward, the radio was turned up and we continued to hum along to Neil Young's, "Harvest Moon."
Then, at Yad Morecai, a few kilometers outside of Sderot, we pulled to what may be the only gas station/rest stop/cafe/sundries store still open for business down that way, to use the toilet and apparently to join a convoy of other cars headed to Sderot to show solidarity with the people there, and to do our Friday shopping. About 30 other cars were in the parking lot of this rest station, a couple of news cameras filming people attaching Israeli flags to car antennas, bumpers, rear windows and side mirrors. Some were Israeli, a few tour buses with American and British Jews were also milling about the parking lot waiting for the convoy to head to Sderot.
The driver of the car I was in also connected a flag to his rear window with Eitan's assistance.
I thought to myself, "we are moving targets, maybe I should have brought a extra pair of underwear, a tooth brush, a sweater, more water??"
Soon enough, we headed out onto the highway toward Sderot, took our place in the line of cars, and began to drive. To my right there were signs for Erez Crossing, Nahal Oz-- the "front lines," as Eitan's friend explained to me, of the border between Israel and Gaza.
After a few miles of slow, parade-style cruising, we arrived at the sign welcoming us to Sderot. What struck me about the entrance to the city were the two get-your-teeth-cleaned billboards advertising dentist services. Snickering to myself, I thought how certainly teeth cleaning is one of the main concerns for the residents of Sderot.
Along with the rest of the cars, the driver of the vehicle in which I rode, joined the honking of horns in excitement and encouragement that we were among the few Israelis who have not forgotten the people of Sderot, and that we were willing to show our support for them with our cars and grocery monies. Meanwhile, I was in the back seat breaking out in a cold sweat because the radio was too loud and I have read that people in Sderot don't ride with loud radios for fear of missing the red alert. Also, I was advised to remove my seatbelt in the event that we had to evacuate the car quickly.
I then added to my list of things that I wouldn't want to do in Sderot: be sitting in the backseat of a small, two-door sports car, moving slowly, through traffic, with a loud radio blasting.
On the driving tour through the center, I noticed the combination bus stop/bomb shelters that serve to provide shade and also shelter from falling rockets. I also observed groups of old men sitting on benches with sun hats and canes upon which old hands rested, smiling and waving at us as we slowly drove by. Store vendors had their wares out on the street and outside a candy and alcohol store, a dj was (loudly) spinning his music. Children were collecting wood for the upcoming holiday Lag B'Omer in which big bonfires are made throughout the country and children compete to collect the most wood for the biggest fire.
In fact, it felt like a city-wide block party. Finally, our driver determined we'd done enough parading and committed to a parking spot. We went in search of food and decided on a shawarma spot with big bowls of pickled vegetables and fried eggplant, which are what sold me on the place. After which we did our shopping for things like hummus, challah, orange juice, lemons and yogurt.
While walking around Sderot, we received many smiles and "kol hakavod lahem" -- which translates literally as all the respect/honor to you. People were pleased that we joined them on this Friday, in some ways risking our lives to prove the point, for Eitan-- we shouldn't be afraid to go anywhere in Israel, for his friend -- I want to show the people that I care about them, and for the rest of the convoy -- as a demonstration against the government's inactivity for the ongoing situation befalling Sderot.
I had a few things going through my mind to which I attach no final say or judgment, just thoughts. First, orginially Sderot was something along the lines of desert wasteland where the Israeli government sent Arab-Jewish immigrants from North AFrica, where they lived in tents for a time until they were able to build a more permanent residence. Later, the Russians and the Georgians were sent there. Common thread among the Sderot populations, in Israel, "Israelis" discriminated against these new immigrants and didn't want to see, let absorb and take care of them in the more established parts of the State like the Center -- the surrounds of Tel Aviv. Second, if it weren't for the rockets and protest of the situation, why would anyone go to Sderot in the first place? Like many other towns and cities, that's just what it is, another town in Israel and thus, how nice for the businesses here to enjoy some extra traffic in this time of undeclared war. Third, war always succeeds in creating opportunity for ingenuity in money-making. The "I love Sderot" t-shirts and magnets are some examples of the war being good for economy theory. Fourth, not so many miles away, the streets of cities in Gaza were and are overflowing with sewage, and diarrhea epidemics are predicted to break out amongst the old and the young. Fifth, the people of Sderot live in constant anxiety and possiblity of terror and destruction, and sometimes the anxiety is reality. The Gazans, they live in terror and destruction constantly.
I wouldn't want to live in either situation.
When the red alert sounds throughout the streets of the relatively small City of Sderot, the people have approximately 15 seconds to take cover before the rocket explodes upon impact to the ground. So, I thought, I'd never want to be in a situation where I didn't have freedom of movement or to be in a situation where my mind would be less than alert, in the event that I would be in a spot where a rocket would land bringing indescribable pain to my life, or an end to it, for that matter.
A few miles before our first stop, the driver turned down the radio and Eitan recited the Tefillat HaDerech, the prayer of the traveler. We were, after all, about to enter some shady territory. Afterward, the radio was turned up and we continued to hum along to Neil Young's, "Harvest Moon."
Then, at Yad Morecai, a few kilometers outside of Sderot, we pulled to what may be the only gas station/rest stop/cafe/sundries store still open for business down that way, to use the toilet and apparently to join a convoy of other cars headed to Sderot to show solidarity with the people there, and to do our Friday shopping. About 30 other cars were in the parking lot of this rest station, a couple of news cameras filming people attaching Israeli flags to car antennas, bumpers, rear windows and side mirrors. Some were Israeli, a few tour buses with American and British Jews were also milling about the parking lot waiting for the convoy to head to Sderot.
The driver of the car I was in also connected a flag to his rear window with Eitan's assistance.
I thought to myself, "we are moving targets, maybe I should have brought a extra pair of underwear, a tooth brush, a sweater, more water??"
Soon enough, we headed out onto the highway toward Sderot, took our place in the line of cars, and began to drive. To my right there were signs for Erez Crossing, Nahal Oz-- the "front lines," as Eitan's friend explained to me, of the border between Israel and Gaza.
After a few miles of slow, parade-style cruising, we arrived at the sign welcoming us to Sderot. What struck me about the entrance to the city were the two get-your-teeth-cleaned billboards advertising dentist services. Snickering to myself, I thought how certainly teeth cleaning is one of the main concerns for the residents of Sderot.
Along with the rest of the cars, the driver of the vehicle in which I rode, joined the honking of horns in excitement and encouragement that we were among the few Israelis who have not forgotten the people of Sderot, and that we were willing to show our support for them with our cars and grocery monies. Meanwhile, I was in the back seat breaking out in a cold sweat because the radio was too loud and I have read that people in Sderot don't ride with loud radios for fear of missing the red alert. Also, I was advised to remove my seatbelt in the event that we had to evacuate the car quickly.
I then added to my list of things that I wouldn't want to do in Sderot: be sitting in the backseat of a small, two-door sports car, moving slowly, through traffic, with a loud radio blasting.
On the driving tour through the center, I noticed the combination bus stop/bomb shelters that serve to provide shade and also shelter from falling rockets. I also observed groups of old men sitting on benches with sun hats and canes upon which old hands rested, smiling and waving at us as we slowly drove by. Store vendors had their wares out on the street and outside a candy and alcohol store, a dj was (loudly) spinning his music. Children were collecting wood for the upcoming holiday Lag B'Omer in which big bonfires are made throughout the country and children compete to collect the most wood for the biggest fire.
In fact, it felt like a city-wide block party. Finally, our driver determined we'd done enough parading and committed to a parking spot. We went in search of food and decided on a shawarma spot with big bowls of pickled vegetables and fried eggplant, which are what sold me on the place. After which we did our shopping for things like hummus, challah, orange juice, lemons and yogurt.
While walking around Sderot, we received many smiles and "kol hakavod lahem" -- which translates literally as all the respect/honor to you. People were pleased that we joined them on this Friday, in some ways risking our lives to prove the point, for Eitan-- we shouldn't be afraid to go anywhere in Israel, for his friend -- I want to show the people that I care about them, and for the rest of the convoy -- as a demonstration against the government's inactivity for the ongoing situation befalling Sderot.
I had a few things going through my mind to which I attach no final say or judgment, just thoughts. First, orginially Sderot was something along the lines of desert wasteland where the Israeli government sent Arab-Jewish immigrants from North AFrica, where they lived in tents for a time until they were able to build a more permanent residence. Later, the Russians and the Georgians were sent there. Common thread among the Sderot populations, in Israel, "Israelis" discriminated against these new immigrants and didn't want to see, let absorb and take care of them in the more established parts of the State like the Center -- the surrounds of Tel Aviv. Second, if it weren't for the rockets and protest of the situation, why would anyone go to Sderot in the first place? Like many other towns and cities, that's just what it is, another town in Israel and thus, how nice for the businesses here to enjoy some extra traffic in this time of undeclared war. Third, war always succeeds in creating opportunity for ingenuity in money-making. The "I love Sderot" t-shirts and magnets are some examples of the war being good for economy theory. Fourth, not so many miles away, the streets of cities in Gaza were and are overflowing with sewage, and diarrhea epidemics are predicted to break out amongst the old and the young. Fifth, the people of Sderot live in constant anxiety and possiblity of terror and destruction, and sometimes the anxiety is reality. The Gazans, they live in terror and destruction constantly.
I wouldn't want to live in either situation.
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