What A Mess

In the past few weeks I've gone to two events sponsored by JStreetU Jerusalem, a local chapter of the American lobbying organization JStreet. While I don't know much about JStreet and their policy positions (their website proclaims them to be "pro-Israel, pro-peace") these events have been incredibly fascinating and valuable assets to my time here so far. This post is a pretty long summary plus reflection I guess about the stuff I've seen and done with them so far.

The first event was a speaker panel from Combatants for Peace, an organization of Israelis and Palestinians who used to be fighters in the intifada/conflict but now work on the peace movement. The Israelis are a lot of IDFers who refuse to serve in the West Bank. Essentially their goal is to end the occupation with the idea that if the occupation ends, violence will stop. I’m still processing my opinions on these issues, but I found their stories fascinating. The courage of these men was really inspiring. The Israeli had to defy his orders on moral grounds, committing an act of civil disobedience essentially, when he refused orders to serve in the West Bank. He talked about the conflict between being an Israeli, doing duty for your country, and serving in the impressive force that the IDF is on the one hand, and the moral opposition he feels to the occupation on the other. The Palestinian talked about the hardships his family has encountered: the tragic killing of his brother by an IDF gunshot while they were driving down the street, for example. Yet despite his tragic situation, he has turned away from violence and committed himself to working with the very people who murdered his brother. Needless to say, their stories were inspiring and I’m really glad I got a chance to hear them speak. There were some pretty obnoxious American-Israelis in the audience who were pretty belligerent with their questions, and just made things awkward for the rest of us, but there were also some really interesting questions asked that got to the heart of a lot of issues. The two men on the panel advocate a two-state solution which is something I've been thinking a lot more about lately, so it was interesting to hear their perspectives.

The second event was even more thought provoking and mind bloggling: a tour called “What is a Settlement?”. We (students from HebrewU, Tel Aviv, various Yeshivas, and a few community members) drove into the West Bank to Gush Etzion, which is a large block of settlements southwest of Bethlehem. There we spoke with two residents of the settlement. They told us why they live their, the history of the settlement, why they feel so attached to that particular piece of land, and basically gave a spiel that made some sense out of the complicated question of who and what the settlements and settlers are that we read about in the papers all the time. Afterwards we drove through the area, looking at some of the settlements, the lay of the land, the path of the “separation wall”, and how Palestinian villages and Jewish settlements differ so starkly. During that time we had a woman from PeaceNow, who is an expert on settlements, present a very different perspective on the issue—one that was much less sympathetic to the settlers.

Now I know that absolutely nothing about the larger Arab-Israeli conflict is black and white, but I went into this tour feeling like the settlements issue was at least as clear cut as any related issue can be, with the opinion that the settlements are illegal, settlers have no business being there, and any settler who says differently is just being selfish and doesn’t have the right to be on that land. I pretty much felt they were just complicating matters for everyone and asking for the conflict their presence creates. Now, that opinion has been thrown into a lot more question. After listening to the two Gush Etzion men, I think I understand a lot more where they’re coming from. For instance, this particular settlement has been around since before 1948. These men’s families have lived on this land for over 75 years and it is their home—they want to live where their ancestors lived and that is why they refuse to leave. They have a close relationship with the neighboring Palestinian villages (supposedly), are enthusiastic about the peace process, condemn the extremists who make a bad name for the settlers, and are really just normal guys who want to live their lives and raise their families on the land they’ve always lived on. In some ways, you can’t argue with that. They have done nothing wrong.

But then you think about the fact that there are probably Palestinians who feel the exact same way about the land there too. This land is technically outside the “green line”, so it’s in Palestinian territory, but it’s recognized by Israel and an international “consensus” that it will remain part of Israel forever. The security wall is built specifically to include this community, veering away from the demarcated green line to do so. So if there’s a two state solution and Gush Etzion is allowed to remain part of Israel, how do you tell the settlers in settlements 20 km away that they aren’t allowed to be part of Israel? Where is the line drawn (literally)? And what about the Palestinians living in neighboring communities? They’re swept in with the Israelis with no one considering their rights, their desires, and their emotional, familial ties to the exact same property. Furthermore, Gush Etzion is really as uncontroversial a settlement as you can get. Not all settlements are like this. So is the way to decide which settlements are legitimate and which aren’t to look at when and how they were founded? It seems awfully subjective, but maybe that’s the way to go.

The Gush Etzion guys talked about how they put the love of this land before their lives because technically it’s dangerous living there. But when asked if they would be willing to live there with the same life, same rights, Israeli citizenship, etc but within a Palestinian state, they said they would not be brave enough to do so. I wonder if that fear springs from a fear of how an Israeli minority would be treated in a Palestinian state? They’re probably judging such conditions based on how Palestinians are treated in Israel. Maybe if Palestinians in Israel had full equality (it’s really hard for a lot of them to get citizenship, there’s mega profiling when it comes to check points, difficulty getting permits to cross Israel/territory borders, etc), the Jewish minority in a new Palestine wouldn’t worry. I think it comes down to the question: what are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of peace? I understand that this is their home, this is the only thing they know, this is the place they love and the place in which they dream of raising children and grandchildren. But if staying there means continued strife, and if there’s even a chance that moving away will bring the region a step closer to the peace that’s so desperately needed, I think it’s just stubborn not to. Obviously I don’t live there, it’s not my home, and it’s entirely possible that if I were in their shoes I would feel exactly the same way. So I’m not saying every Israeli in Palestinian territory needs to move right now. But, I do think it’s something that needs to be more seriously discussed and considered. And if they’re not willing to leave, they need to be willing to live under Palestinian control. Because I don’t see how the peace process can progress in any other way.

Honestly, I don’t know what it feels like to live there. I don’t know what the security threat really is, but what I do know is that the situation is much more complicated than I thought. I definitely got a lot of questions cleared up and understand the situation a lot better after the tour today, but I also came away from it was a million more questions. I’m still processing everything I heard and saw today and working on coherently expressing what I think about it all, but for now I have to say that it’s all even more tangled that I anticipated. But I love being here to really see it all first hand.

Old City and Downtown

Before last week I hadn’t yet ventured into the Old City of Jerusalem. But, the university offered a tour in English, so I hopped on the bus and joined a group of students on a trip to the Old City last Tuesday. We started at the Jaffa gate, and went through the Christian and Jewish quarters (the old city is divided into four sections, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Armenian). As part of the tour we went through the Church of the Holy Sepluchre (where tradition has it the sites of the crucifixion and tomb of Christ are held). It’s a really fascinating structure—each denomination has control of a different chamber in the church, with the Armenians and Greek Orthodox holding the most important points. There was a lot of fighting and debacle concerning who would have control of what part and in the mid 19^th century they even made a treaty of sorts that lays out lots of specifics about the status quo of the church. For example, it’s an Arab Muslim who holds the keys to the church and opens it every morning, just so that no one denomination has that kind of power. Very interesting.

We also went on the roof of the church where the smaller, protestant denominations have their section. There’s an Ethiopian village ontop of the church. It was insane, there’s so much going on in Jerusalem, even on the roofs! We also walked down the Via Dolorosa, which is the route the 14 stations of the cross took place on. We did it backwards, from the church of the sepluchre to the beginning, and only got to number 4, but it was still cool to see this site that so many people flock to.

We saw some other sites from all different time periods—Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Crusader, British Mandate, modern, etc. It’s really neat how one building can have stones that were placed in all of those time periods with a modern falafel stand right next to it. That’s one of the things I love about Jerusalem. The mix of old and new, overlap of people from all over the world, combination of faiths, holy sites, historical sites—everything you could possibly want, all in one place. I’m so thrilled I get to call this place my home for 4 more months.

I went back to the Old City yesterday to explore some more the places we skipped over during our official tour. We were trying to find this certain rooftop that had an incredible view of the Temple Mount but couldn’t find it, and instead stopped by the Western Wall. Since it was evening there were a whole bunch of military guys doing some kind of ceremony that none of us could figure out but it was VERY cool. First they stood in a big circle and recited what looked like some kind of oath, then they got in lines and began running into a tunnel where they were super bunched up, jumping up and down and chanting and singing. At one point they were singing a White Strips song, an Israeli folk song, some other generic tunes we didn’t recognize, and then just the same word over and over again that we assumed was the name of their unit/whatever sized group they were. Abba, I will be certainly asking you the meaning of all of these things next time I talk to you. Anyway, it was really awesome. By the time we left the soldiers and their rally it was pretty dark and Cody REALLY wanted baklava so we wandered trying to find some and ended up unexpectedly in some super sketchy dark deserted alleyway in what I can only assume was in the Muslim quarter, based on the writing on the signs around us.There were raw skinned carcasses hanging from shop windows, empty crates strewn around the street, flickering lights, dripping water….basically all the signs of a place you do NOT want to be if you don’t belong. We could sense the shop owners giggling to themselves at us, because we were so obviously out of place. We made it out though (I really don’t think we were in any kind of danger at all) and Cody got his baklava. And we decided to come back to the Muslim quarter when it's light out. (Fun fact I learned on the tour: all around the Muslim quarter you can see writing on walls and house fronts which looks like mega graffiti. It's not! Apparently, after Muslims go on the hajj it is their duty to tell everyone back home that they went on the journey and the way they do that is by painting the front of their house. So what looks like graffiti is actually just profession of the hajj!).

Despite getting turned around a few times in the incredibly confusing maze that the old city is, we found our way out and headed to Ben Yehuda street/downtown area for the evening. Ben Yehuda is a big pedestrian zone with tons of shops, restaurants, bars, both touristy and local. We had been told about a really good Humus place so we tried it and it was delightfully delicious (again, EVERYTHING in Israel is tasty). Afterwards we wandered a bit more and went to a bar to meet up with some other people for the rest of the evening. For my firstish night “on the town”, it was a wonderful success. I’m obsessed with Jerusalem. I may never leave.

Also, I posted pictures on Facebook for those of you who are interested. This is just a smattering here. And my camera batteries enjoy dying at inopportune times so i don't have as many pictures as I'd like. But that will change. And to all you haters out there who have shown an outpouring of animosity towards my love of Bamba, I have nothing to say to you other than taking your hating somewhere else. I don't want to hear it.

Memory from Childhood

I finally broke down and bought my favorite Israeli snack food, Bamba, when I went to the supermarket today. This picture is of a half-eaten bag because I opened it the second I got out of the grocery store and finished half of it during the 3 block walk back to my apartment. Imagine the texture of a cheetoh puff, with peanut butter flavor. Incredible. I shared with some friends and converted them to the cause...I'm working on others.

Some early exploration

A few days ago, we went on a “practical tour” of Jerusalem. Some of the Israeli students organized the tour just to give us an overview of the city center—where to go, where not to go, best/cheapest places to buy things, best restraunts and bars, etc. It was super helpful and also a really cool chance to get to know some other students.Then yesterday, I went back to one of the places they showed us on the tour, the "shouk". The shouk is a marketplace with pretty much anything you could possibly want, as fresh and as cheap as you’ll find in all Jerusalem. Fruits, vegetables, bread, pastries, fish, meat, juices, nuts, dried fruit, olives—literally anything and everything. Even clothing, scarves, bags, hookahs, junk food, kippot. Everything. I was so overwhelmed and wanted to buy everything. They also have really good ethnic food. We ate at an Indian place which was incredibly delicious. I’m getting really adventurous in my food selection which has yet to steer me wrong. So I’m just convinced all food in Israel is good. Even the junk food.

That's our plate of indian food above....delicious.

Also, this is not that interesting, but it's something that I have noticed: there are cats EVERYWHERE here. It’s insane. They’re like squirrels at W&L or rabbits at Woodbridge, only more. And there’s one that really likes my apartment apparently. It has shown up in here a few times, which is impressive because you have to go up a flight of stairs (or in the elevator) to get here. We shoo her out of the apartment but then we’ll hear her meowing and scratching at the door. I have come back to the apartment from being gone several times and seen her sitting outside our door, waiting for us. It’s a trick to get in the door without letting the cat in. I’m developing a special bond with said kitty. There was another cat (I have named him Bernard) who I met while I was waiting for friends to come down and meet me to walk to class this morning. I set my backpack down on a bench so I could look for something inside of it, when Bernard pounced on it. I picked it up off the bench and he followed it, wherever I moved it. He must have smelled the pita and apple I had in my backpack for lunch. Poor hungry Bernard! He and I had a stare off and I showed him who was boss so he went away eventually. Anyway, I'm glad the cats that flock to me are the cute little ones, not the terrifying huge furry crookshanks-esque ones that I have seen in other buildings.

Ulpan begins

Yesterday was my first day of Ulpan, which is the intensive Hebrew learning program I’m doing before starting the actual semester of classes. We meet for five hours every day in very small classes and speak nothing but Hebrew. It’s very intense but incredible how much I feel I have learned in just two days! My class has 13 students, from all over the world: Canada, France, Brazil, South Africa, Korea, Hong Kong, Scotland, and the US. It’s really neat to see how many different types of people want to learn Hebrew! My teacher is wonderful—for the entire five hours yesterday and today she spoke probably 4 words in English, but I completely understood everything that went on simply because she used such great gesticulations and sound effects and props and pictures. I’m in a very very basic level class, with some people who have clearly never heard a word of Hebrew and others who have a little more under their belts like I do. I think I know almost all the vocabulary we learned already, but I have absolutely no knowledge of anything written, so starting from scratch with letters and sounds and reading is perfect, even if I’m a little bit ahead of the class in spoken stuff. I’ve found myself encountering words that I didn’t think I knew until they’re said in class. I guess the language is still embedded somewhere subconsciously and it’s from the depths of my brain that these random words and phrases are springing. I also really love the other people in my class. We’ve already laughed together a ton and I can tell it’s a dynamic group, all of whom seem as enthusiastic as I feel. I just hope that sentiment continues. I’m having an absolute blast so far.
Also, when I was buying my book in the “Academon” (campus bookstore) I saw a whole section of children’s books in Hebrew. One that caught my eye, naturally, was a book of Disney Princess stories. This led me to my new goal for the Ulpan/semester: be able to read the Disney Hebrew book by the end of the semester. Now if that’s not incentive, I don’t know what is.
One thing that I’ve loved about being here is the fact that my name is pronounced correctly every single time it’s said. It’s kind of fun to watch the Israelis I meet struggle with names like Alyssa or Jackie but then hear my name and say “Oh that one’s easy”. That certainly doesn’t happen every day back home.
In the past couple of days I’ve had the chance to wander around campus and found two spots that are just wonderful. One is an ampitheater that has a spectacular view of part of the Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. It was the setting for the dedication of the university in 1925, which lots of really cool people like Freud and Einstein attended.


Another of my favorite places on campus is the botanical garden. There are so many paths criss-crossing and winding through it that I could probably wander through every day I’m here and never follow the same path. Within the garden is every type of plant and herb found indigenously in the state of Israel! There’s even an excavated tomb in the middle. Jerusalem holds so much history, it’s surreal.

I'm about to put more pictures up on facebook too. I haven't ventured into city center Jerusalem too much yet because it's been pretty hectic getting settled and figuring out the bus system and everything, but I'll do that soon and have more for you about what Jerusalem itself is like!! Until then!

It's Like Freshman Year All Over Again!

I’m now a real student of Hebrew University: I have a student ID card, email address, computer login, dorm room, map, and other essentials branding me a member of this University. Yesterday morning I moved into my room—one of five singles in a suite-style apartment in the Student Village about a 10 minute walk from the rest of campus. I got a little lost finding where I was supposed to check in, and as I rounded a certain building and looked up to figure out where I was, I saw the iconic picture of Jerusalem: the Dome of the Rock and old city wall surrounding it. I had no idea that our dorms had such an incredible view of the Old City and seeing that for the first time really punched the reality into me…I’m in Jerusalem. And will be. For the next 5 months. It’s pretty unreal.

Anyway, yesterday was filled with hours of wandering around campus with new acquaintances, a campus tour, settling into the dorm, and multiple pinch-me moments every time that picturesque view came into sight again. Today I got to see my wonderful grandfather for a little bit and then did some grocery shopping (trying to do price conversions in my head in the middle of the aisle while typically pushy Israelis are shoving past showed me that shopping will certainly be an endeavor that will take practice). Tonight is orientation, where I’ll meet a lot more students and tomorrow I start the Ulpan! Up until now every time I try to formulate a concept in Hebrew my mind jumps straight to German, because my brain thinks “not english” so it goes directly to the foreign language I know best, which is German. It’s great because it means I’m speaking German to myself better than I’ve ever spoken German before, but not so great because saying Enschuldigung instead of Slicha or Danke instead of Todah doesn’t do much for me. So hopefully after a few days of 5 hours of Hebrew/day I’ll have kicked the German habit. Next time I blog I’ll be a step closer to knowing some Hebrew.

Here’s a few pictures for the benefit of whoever it was that hat the gall to comment ANONYMOUSLY that they want pictures.

That's the view of Jerusalem from the walk between campus and my dorm. The camera doesn't capture it too well, but you can see the Dome of the Rock in the middle. The picture below is the entrance to the student village where I live. It's pretty nice, apparently way nicer than the old dorms. More pictures coming soon, I promise (Kathryn...).

Ramblings about the first (relatively uneventful) 48 hours!!!

I’m here! I arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday, after a trip that lasted forever (I got on the plane to go from London to Tel Aviv and the nice British gentleman next to me said “good morning” and it took me a second to realize that it was, in fact, about 8:00 in the morning, not still evening of the day I left as my brain and body thought it was). The flights were fine—I spent a good four hours watching Josh Duhamel which made the time pass wonderfully. There was also a nice Israeli boy on my flight who first asked me how to decipher his seat letter and then, upon realizing we were in the same row, welcomed me to row 32, only to discover that he was sitting in the wrong row and had to move. We said a tearful goodbye and he switched rows (tearful on his part—I wasn’t looking for a friend on the flight, I just wanted to read my Julie Andrews memoir). At the end of the flight he asked me “How was the flight in row 32?” I replied that it was fine and asked about row 34. He answered wittily “It was the same flight”. Thanks, smarty pants, welcome to Israel.

My spanking new Israeli passport in hand, I zipped through passport control like a champ, thrilled they let me in the country (I even understood the question they were asking me in Hebrew). My cousin Dan picked me up at the airport and I was able to spend last night and today with my wonderful family! I got to meet who I can say unreservedly is my favorite baby on the planet, my almost-two year old second cousin. Tomorrow I head to Jerusalem to check in, get my housing, and settle in. I’m certainly looking forward to finally being in the place that will be my home for the next 5 ½ months.

It's Time!!

Well, in 36 hours or so it will be. Friday morning I leave the beloved John Wayne Airport for a what is sure to be seemingly endless journey through Chicago, London, and lots of airspace, to eventually land in Tel Aviv on Saturday! I’ll stay with family for a few nights and on Monday set off for my home for the next five months, Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The first couple weeks will be spent doing an Ulpan, which is an intensive Hebrew language learning program, during which time I’ll register from my regular classes and get to know Jerusalem better. Mid-February I’ll begin my real classes, taught in English, but accompanied by Israelis and international students and focused on Middle East topics. I’m a healthy bit of nervous but mostly very excited to see what’s in store for me and will use this blog as a way to share my exploits with you, my stateside friends, family, etc. There’s a ton I’m looking forward to (a lot of which are food related I must admit) and certainly things I will miss about the states (which is why a trip to Yogurtland is planned for tomorrow), but I’m mostly just anxious to get there and see what everything is like. So, here I go, and next time I write this I’ll be in Israel!

Also, I’ve been singing a certain song for the past several weeks anytime someone says anything about the Promised Land or whatever other “creative” titles they come up with for my destination. Although it has virtually no application to my current situation, I’m including it for your enjoyment (and because it reminds me of my childhood). Besides, who doesn’t love watching gourds, grapes, and peas sing about milk and honey? Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZrHoyAu4zg&feature=player_detailpage#t=397s