Independence Day: a Hodge-Podge of thoughts.

Hello all,

This may be my last post! Other than a possible reflection once I am back in the US.

Waking up to memorial day was hard, the stories on the tv, and the music playing all very much reflected the sorrow for those who have been lost.

Shenhav and I went into South Tel Aviv to gather supplies for a Bachelorette party she is throwing for a friend later this month. It was fun to see all the shops, and all of the preparations for the celebration that night. The silly string began to cover the streets as shop keepers wanted people to know their shop was the place to buy, we bought some patriotic toys for later that night and we after a few hours had found everything we needed at the shops.

Heading over to the Juice Stand I found, I had decided to go with Shenhav into the city pretty much in hopes of getting juice from a shop. I took Shenhav to the hostel I had stayed at in Tel Aviv to show her their new Mural, and I paid for a tour I will be taking later this month. It has begun to feel like business as usual.

As night fell we began to et ready to go out, and we drive over to a friend of Shenhav's house, which was a beautiful house, the pond in the backyard reminded me of the pond in my families back yard accept theirs seemed cleaner. I got to have this fresh friend bread, which again I have to stress how happy I want to have eaten that and it not upset my stomach. Shir, one of Shenhav's best friends is a beautiful soul. She is curious and happy and caring, I really admire people who are themselves with out worrying about the way others see them. Well, her sister just returned from Mexico. It is common for people when they finish the army to go on a vacation and that is why Shir's sister was in Mexico. Here its mandatory military, women have two years and men three.

I appreciate the mandatory service, because its not all combative, or even combat oriented, some of it is working in a hospital, at a school or for a city. I know that this is partially because I am a big advocate of community service, but it teaches you so much. From 18-20 or 21 you are in the army here, then when you finish you begin your studies, which means you have 2-3 years to figure out what you want to study, you have worked, you have experiences to a certain degree. I think going to college at 18 is a mistake, which is why I like this system, at least at face value.

We were all in Shir's room as she gets ready and I began to see how our lives can be similar and different. Housing is expensive, so people live with their parents, as Shir does which is nice but her room is pristine, and that is not reflected in her personality. She mentioned that her mom is adiment that everything in her room has a place and should be put away, I could not handle that, I have lived on my own since I was 20, I will be with my family this summer, which I am already bracing myself for that challenge. Even when I was 19 and I lived at home, I was always in the city staying over at friends or boyfriends houses, and that is not how it works here.

I can resonate with something that I see we have in common, the US has done some horrible things, and so has Israel, yet us girls, all sitting in that room have the privileges we do in part because of these actions. To add to those privileges, we have the opportunity to completely ignore the wrongs that currently are happening in the world. For me it is hard, how do you confront a privilege, to even be educated in the United States to the point where I read about and discuss the atrocities that my country has committed is because of the fact that I am a white upper class female.  I know that people in Israel exist that feel what I am feeling, I know people in ever country exist that feel what I am feeling, I have just had a hard time finding them.

As we leave the house these thoughts are still on my mind, as we get to the streets of Tel Aviv, I see the excitement and love in the air just as I see in large groups of youth at events in the US. I dance, and I have a good time, they really know how to party in Israel and the police shut down the streets when people fill them, where as in the US the people would just be dispersed. People spray nasty white foam in the air, drumming groups come together and add to the excitement in the streets. Drunk kids that are probably in the army right now get transfixed by how many tattoos I have and as questions, realizing im from Chicago and I do not speak hebrew, they begin to ask me about Al Capone. I continue to think about places that are privileged enough to have this amount of Chaos in the streets with out the police trying to break it up with violence. The fact that places I have been, in the United States, in Edinburgh, Tel Aviv, these places have opportunities like this, but places like Guatemala or Palestine do not have these instances.

Around 3am we headed back to the car and after dropping everyone off we returned home by 4,  Shenhav worked 6am-2pm so when I woke up I decided to go for a run, and clear my head. I drank 900mL of water and I figured I would be fine. As I got to my 25 minute mark while running away from Shenhav's I realized that I was very dehydrated from the night before and that 900mL was not enough. I had turned around a corner and was running through a primarily Ethiopian neighborhood.

The Ethiopian Jewish population came in two waves in 1984 and 1991. They came as Beta Israel, when the political climate in Ethiopia became to unstable. They were actually in large part airlifted in.

Many Ethiopians in Israel have less opportunity than other Jewish communities. It seems that the power hierarchy is Western European Jews, Eastern European Jews, Arab Jews and then African Jews. Well as I stopped in this neighborhood obviously hurting for water. A family that was barbecuing sent one of their kids over with water. When I said thank you in English, she got very excited. She brought me over to the other kids and told them I speak english. Then the rest of the family began asking me questions. This was so cool, I love being pulled off the street, they offered me chicken and usually I would say no thank you and finish my run but, I fell in love with the hospitality.

 As I sat down to talk with then for 45 minutes or so, they engaged me in conversation. This felt amazing, these people speak quite a few languages yet they, during their independence day Barbecue they chose to spend time with a complete stranger speaking english. After thanking them profusely, I began my journey back to Shenhav's, walking because running after chicken and rice was not a good idea. On my walk I thought about how the creation of Israel gave these people a place to go in a time of uncertainty in their home country. They truly appreciate the Independent state of Israel in a conscious and thoughtful way. This experience will change the way that I think about and participate in the 4th of July this year.

Well, tonight I am packing up all my belongings to continue my journey! I will not be continuing my journey on this blog, but I hope that my posts were insightful to all. Writing all of this down has been extremely helpful as I process my experience here in Israel.

Thank you Eilat and Susie for organizing all of this for me! Rivi, Einav and Melanie for showing me around your beautiful cities, and Shenhav and her family for hosting me in their home for an entire week!

-Jliv

Memorial Day

Tuesday morning,

Shenhav and I realized that going to the Holocaust Center in Rohovot was no going to work out. Luckily Shenhav has a friend that has family that works at the Palmach Museum. So we figured out how to get a tour scheduled during the time that Shenhav needed to go to school. 

I have continued to eat food, which is very exciting and I had a few other errands to run while in Tel Aviv. So, on Shenhav's way to school she dropped me off at the Palmach Museum.

The Palmach Museum pulls you in, and attaches you to a young recruit at the beginning of the Palmach and takes you through their personal journey. It was heroic, the idea of an underdog, and miracles came to mind well walking through this experience. Also later that night at the Memorial ceremony, Shenhav pointed out people from Palmach holding the Israeli flag on the stage. 

I understand that the Palmach is a large reason as to why Israel has had the opportunity to be so successful. I respect that they achieved what many thought to be impossible, but the consistent thought of Palestine and its underdogs has been coming up in my mind. I understand that Wikipedia is not a reliable source, but for timelines it is my go-to, and the Palmach timeline is littered with destruction. 

I do not know war, but I do know that the words war and destruction are almost interchangeable at times. On this day as many begin to mourn those that they have lost, all I can think of is that this is a shared destruction. No one seems to be ultimately right or wrong, but being at the Palmach Museum, and then spending time reading about the Palmach, seeing the heroics and the destruction that accompanies these heroics, is a reminder of the grey area. 

Shenhav and I have talked quite a bit, she is a Middle Eastern studies major. She has mentioned to that in a place like Israel it is hard to remain objective. People do not want to recognize and remember the bad that happened in order to create Israel they want to cherish and remember the good. 

Later in the night Shenhav and I went to the memorial ceremony in Rohovot, the high security reminded me of the constant alter to attacks. It also gave me the opportunity to reflect. In the States all we are worried about at a memorial are protestors, here it is a silent, deadly attack that is constantly on the verge of happening. I have begun to understand the word terror in much clearer terms. Yet the Israeli people still turn up for the memorial, ride the busses and go to the Cafes, pressing on to live with out fear.

Memorial in Rohovot

I think about what it is like on the other side, Shenhav mentioned that here you have a minute, 60 seconds, to get to a stairwell or a bunker. With the limited technology in places like the West bank and specifically Gaza,  no one is detecting the bombs, no one can counter them properly, if Israel wants to bomb a building they will do it, in many cases with out warning.

 I considered this a memorial in my mind for all that have died, human life is precious regardless of its origins, we are all human before we can be Arab or Jewish or Palestinian or Israeli or Muslim or any label you would like to throw into this mix. 

I have grown to love the Israeli people and I understand the necessity for a Jewish state to exist, but does that justify the terror that they reign over the Palestinian people? and I know, with the suicide bombers and the fact that every country that boarders Israel hates them, the choices Israel has to maintain its self and keep its people safe are slim, but is their a better way to go about this?

I believe I have gotten to the basis of the conflict, whether or not I believe that the creation of Israel in the specific geographic place was a good idea, it has now existed for over half a century. This place is established, it is stable, not to mention being from the US I appreciate its democracy. Israel and the Israeli people are not going anywhere anytime soon, two groups feel they have rights to this land so either way everyone will feel as if they are loosing out. So how does an issue like this get resolved? (Not resolved on an international scale, it really peeve's me that countries make choices to please other countries and cannot act in their or humanities best interests) How do we get to a point where Arabs and Jews in this region can stop retribution killing, and have set boundaries and rules that they both agree too, and feel at peace with. 

What are the Israeli's needs? what are the Palestinian's needs? What needs can we achieve with out conflicting each others, and those that conflict, who is willing to bend or change their needs with the ultimate goal of peace? 

I feel like Rabin may have come close to this, maybe the need is for another Rabin, someone respected and trusted by the Jewish community that will bend with an end goal in mind that is larger than the anger felt in the present, a Palestinian version of Rabin would be nice too, in a perfect world. 

Well, as you all can tell my mind is racing, with thoughts that consistently conflict. My thought process, though it may not have seemed memorial day oriented, the thoughts were produced with those who have died over the last century due to this conflict in mind. 

-Jliv

Ramen to the Rescue!

Hello!

This post does not so much pertain to learning about Israel, but being sick in another country teaches you quite a bit about the people.

I am all better! Thank the powers that be, I am so happy I will not be missing out on the Independence day food.

Well, following the Dead Sea, the next day we went to the Mediterranean to insure that I was thoroughly sunburned, turns out being sick and laying in the breeze of the Sea is not that bad. We listen to music and talked about peoples experience in the Army, and how school works here.
The more opportunity I can find to compare and contrast my life with the women I have met here, the more curious and intrigued I become.

After the Beach we went out for Hummus, which is amazing but it was not the best idea for my still unsettled stomach.

We went back to the house and I quickly tried to begin sleeping and staying hydrated in preperation for the following day.

Sadly I realized the next morning I was still not running on all cylinders, and I needed to continue resting. Shenhav's mom, who does not speak English (so our communications were quite limited) was very helpful.

Of all things in the world, I was craving Ramen, and I had this idea that Ramen would fix my stomach, Shenhav's mom brought home instant noodles, and waalaa! That was the beginning of being better again. She continued to bring back considerably more instant noodles, more than I could possibly eat in my time remaining in their house, which was very sweet of her.

So I am back on my feet, and ready to take on Tuesdays adventures. thanks to one of the most unhealthy American past times, Ramen noodles.

-Jliv

Dead Sea... oh my Dead Sea

Friday night I met with Shenhav, after catching the last train to Rohovot.

That night we got to know each other pretty well, she and I have quite a bit in common and we quickly hit it off, it feels like I have known her for quite a bit longer than 2-3 days. Then we headed to the Dead Sea the next morning with four of her friends. I am pretty sure in Tel Aviv I got food poisoning. Because it has been pretty hard to hold anything down since I got to Rohovot. 

I still really wanted to go to the Dead Sea. The thing is, to get to the Dead Sea you have to take a winding road which was not a good match for my stomach. Lets just say I have never felt more comfortable with a group of girls after puking as I did with Shenhav and her friends. 

The Dead Sea is HOT, very very hot. It is also beautiful. I spend the rest of the day laying in the shade drinking water, eating fresh fruits and realizing how similar Shenhav's friends are to mine. Girls in their early 20's seem to be pretty similar all over the world. 

After a bit I was feeling considerably better and we bought some mud, let me repeat that, the mud in the sea, that use to be free, is now not free anymore. Which all of the girls seemed to be a bit outraged by. The day revolved around eating, sun bathing and dipping into the water that is so dense with salt that you float. This floating is not like normal floating, its as if you are sitting on a flotation device in the water, but in reality it is the water working as the flotation device. 

As the sun began to creep behind the tall mountains of dry rock and sand, we packed up to head back to Rohovot. All of the girls I met live in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, and their personalities resonated so much with all of my friends from back home. It is exciting to see just how similar we all really are around the world. We talked about what kind of Music they listen too and what it was like to be in the Army, how school is going and how excited they all are to be tan for Independence day. I also began to realize that the excessive Israeli flags everywhere are for Independence day and that they do not just have this many flags and banners up all of the time. 

Food poisoning sucks, but of all of the things I could have done, laying out under an umbrella at the beach was not so bad. 

-Jliv

Friday's in Israel > Friday's in the US

I think we need to learn how to do Friday's like they do them in Tel Aviv.

Okay, this was my first free day, as in, I got to do whatever I wanted. Though I do not sleep in, I liked having the option too. The women at the front desk said that the Hostel in Tev Aviv had better breakfast than the one in Jerusalem, and she was right, Halva, they had Halva for breakfast. I love this stuff, its like a sweet sesame seed paste with different flavors, its like ice cream but its not cold. Also, people eat salads for breakfast here, I love breakfast so this was exciting for me, having so many different options with different tastes. Also, I realized while speaking with someone this morning that Pride in Tel Aviv is the day before I fly out in June, so I booked that night at the same Hostel, I get to do pride in Tel Aviv and in Chicago this year, I really an a lucky girl.

Then I wandered to the Artisan market that Eilat and.. just about everyone I spoke too recommended to me. I was walking and though I took some pictures of maps with my phone I felt like I was lost, but Friday's in Tel Aviv everyone is out riding bikes, shopping and walking their dogs so getting lost was fun. Side note: Israeli's need to come to the states and teach people how to have a dog in an urban setting, these dogs are the most well behaved dogs I have ever seen, they just wander around very chill, I never see then pulling on a leash or chasing rodents, then again I haven't seem any squirrels, but the dogs also interact with the cats well its crazy! Okay, well eventually I found the market, and all of the artists are working their crafts while they are selling, and no one is trying to convince you to buy anything they just let you look and respond if you have a question which was amazing. I picked up some jewelry for people back home.

A few more blocks towards the water I found the massive market, the market that had everything you could need spices, toothpaste, underwear and home decor. I had been stealing toothpaste from people for the last 5 days, not knowing that I had toothpaste in my bag so I bought some toothpaste and then I began to wander and watch everyone interact, then I realized how easy it would be to get lost and headed for the exit I entered through. I found some pants, you know the hippie pants that happen to be at every market in the world, so hopefully my sister appreciates that I tried to find something that did not have elephants on it, since elephants do not live in Israel. I repeat for all of those in the US that are geographically challenged, Elephants do not exist in Israel, they do have camels though :)



Then I went to the beach, and water all of the men play this paddle game with a rubber looking ping pong ball, I tried to play for a bit and it was fun, but it is considerably more work than it looks. Maybe thats why everyone who was doing it was in decent shape. I dipped my toes in the Mediterranean, and laid out until I needed to head back to the hostel to grab my bags and catch a train to meet with Shenhav in Rohovot.

Luckily I met a man on the bus who did his service in Rohovot and he showed me a short cut, which meant I was able to catch the last train out to Rohovot just on time, Friday nights Shabbat starts, the trains stop, good things to remember.

Over all I loved walking around Tel Aviv in the markets, it felt like home, but better, with the Markets and the shops and the fact that all of the adults are walking around because it is the first day of their weekend, but their kids are still in school.

I cannot wait to return for Pride!!

-Jliv

1st day in Tel Aviv!

Tel Aviv, a perfect mix of modern with a dash of tradition. 

As remembrance day continued, I woke up and got all of my things together at the Hostel in Jerusalem. I stopped at the ATM and then got on the train, being able to navigate the city so well was very exciting. In the US when we have a special day it is usually celebrated from the morning to the evening on one day, but here is Israel the holiday goes from midday one day to midday the next day.

When I got to the central bus station I realized that my ease in navigation would quickly change because suddenly english was not on any of the signs. Luckily, a nice older man walked me towards the ticket counter and made sure that I got the ticket I needed, he also asked all of the men behind the ticket counter if they would like to marry a nice American girl like me. People here really crack me up.

I got on the bus and headed to Tel Aviv, once in Tel Aviv it took a bit to find my guide for the day but eventually Melanie and I were able to find each other. Right when she found he she said, "you know what is about to happen in 2 minutes right?" and I said yes, before I realized what she was talking about. As we walked out of the station and towards the taxis and other busses all tries to squeeze in and out of small terminal lanes, a Siren began to sound and everyone turned off their busses and cars got out and stood in remembrance of those who died in the Holocaust. Though not much was happening, everything stopped, and the fact that this was happening all over the country set into my mind. This was the most meaningful memorial I have ever seen or participated in.

(Left)Melaine and I at a Museum in Tev Aviv (Right) Yafo market 

I also realized through out the day, the places I was going were not very important, well they have importance, but what has really made this experience are the people I am with and their perspectives. Tzvi, the man from Israel Experts that put together my itinerary, thank you for giving me the experience of being with and learning from such diverse people. The first day I was with Rivi who is religious, she is from Canada, and showed me the beauty and history of the old city. Next I was with Einav who did not seem to be as religious, did her time in the Army here and showed me Yad Vashem, then I got to spend the day with Melanie who is from New York, went to Cornell, then came to Tel Aviv for her masters. All 4 of Melanie's grandparents survived the Holocaust, which is astonishing, and to ad upon that she is constantly beaming with passion to show how much she loves Israel, and how important this place is to her. Actually attached is a link to a blog she wrote in honor of the day of remembrance. She made Aliyah, after her time at a University in Tel Aviv, deciding to live here, and she works to provide people on their Birth Right or on other trips to Israel with an experience of the true Israel. 

Melanie's blog --> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/bringing-my-grandparents-home-from-auschwitz-to-israel/

(Left) Melanie and I at a a pier in Yafo (right) an amazing view of the Tel Aviv skyline

This was a fun day for the both of us because, though we did have a museum or two to go to, she got to show me why she loves Tel Aviv, coming from the United States she was able to understand what would resonate with me. We went to her old campus to a museum there and then to a museum about Rabin, which is one of my new favorite historical figures. Then we got juice, which was amazing juice, the Juice in Tel Aviv from the stands that are on almost ever block might be the best Juice I have ever had. we then went to Yafo and had some lunch, by the end of the day it was as if we were just friends talking about life, and shopping and boys. I truly enjoyed getting to spend the day with her and I felt oddly at home in her presence, I hope she felt the same.

That night I got back to the Hostel in Tel Aviv with my bag which is way to big. I had my sweets from this awesome Arab bakery, I sat down at the bar in the hostel got a beer and shared my sweets with the bartender. It's Cinco De Mayo, which is absurdly stupid, they don't even celebrate this in Mexico, but any reason is a good reason to make tacos. So mostly the staff and a few others at the hostel and I took over the kitchen making tacos. It amazes me how easy it is to assimilate into another culture, and by the end of the day I had begun to fall in love with Tel Aviv too.

Narratives of our past: Day 2 Day of Remembrance

An image means something different to everyone, for the state of Israel, this image as you walk out of the Holocaust museum is a symbol of hope and future possibilities, what does this image mean to others?

Today my tour guide was Einav, she is pretty cool, she was in the Israeli Army where they trained her to be a tour guide to better educate her fellow soldiers about Israel and its history. I learned quite a bit from Einav and how her perspective works. She is very personable and very intelligent, and she had so much to tell me about all of the places that we went. The fact that she was an Israeli soldier and that today is the day of remembrance did very much effect the way that our touring went today. From my perspective of working in a majority Muslim community in Minneapolis, it is very hard to understand the animosity that exists in Jerusalem between Muslims and Jewish people. After spending the day with Einav, I came to understand where this animosity comes from. I remember hearing before I left to come to Israel that divisions between Palestinians and Israelis was very much deepened by the British role in this land. From that division came violence, and from that violence came retribution and now, decades later so much has happened that everyone feels personally effected. The words explaining animosity are useless with out seeing it manifested in society, I could see this in Einav, and her openness and willingness to share her thoughts with me is something I will always value. Studying this last semester about the same division in India between Hindus and Muslims, incited by the British. It amazes me the differences we create between each other when in reality we are all humans and have much more in common than we do in differences.

Through out my day, from the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem to the Friends of Zion Museum all the way to Mount Herzl, the narrative of divisions and unity continued to come up in my mind.

To jump ahead to the end of the night, I just spent 2 hours listening to a Holocaust survivor speak about his experience as a 'horse' at Auschwitz(a group of boys chosen to live because they could be utilized to pull a cart in place of a horse). His ability to tell these stories with out an emotional breakdown is as impressive as it is haunting. He talked about a loss of humanity that everyone in Europe experienced to a certain degree at the time of Nazi Germany. At the end of his history, one of the men in the room asked a question filled with passion, "if in the Torah it says, an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth a hand for a hand and a leg for a leg, how can you as a victim of this atrocity speak of the moments of kindness you experienced from SS officers? I say, we build an Auchwitz in Israel and invite the Germans here" he was then cut off and asked to leave. The holocaust, happened and it needs to be remembered and recognized, yet the means of remembering and recognizing can lead to as much hatred and separation as it can lead to remembrance and unity in insuring that something like this does not happen again.

When we utilize a history to create unity, that unity cannot be created with out the counter balance of separation. At least, after today that is the conclusion I have come to. Whether it be this man, and his anger towards the German people, who by the way are generations passed, or it be the Israeli Palestinian conflict. This is a place where people from all over the world have come for sanctuary from persecution. The survival of the Jewish people in its self is amazing, 6 million Jews died in the holocaust, yet they continue to thrive here in Israel now. This unity, I have realized exists as a yin and yang situation, for togetherness to exist, an 'other' also must exist. This seems to be the crux, to my understanding of Israel and its history.

As I walked through the Holocaust museum, I wanted to label the Germans as evil, as I was taught too. Yet I continued to draw similarities to other tragedies all over the world to the happenings of the Holocaust. The way that European settlers treated the Native Americans, was an atrocity, and they are a people that have not returned to thriving like the Jewish in Israel, they are a people who's history has been erased for the most part. How amazing is it that so much was recovered from the Holocaust, and that it is an event that can be remembered through out our history. What about the way the Dutch ripped through the Congo, we do not learn about that in our history classes, and I do not consider the Dutch from that time period to be evil or the European Americans, so how can I consider the Germans to be?  Our speaker tonight made a point to mention that SS officers gave him salami once and soup another time, and that though these officers were brutal and they committed atrocities, no one is pure evil. So what is the function of a narrative that shows a good people and a bad people, it is easy to read, it is easy to understand, and you can always alter the story to feel as if you are on the right side. Is that what history is for? I mean WE create history, it only exists in the present, in our minds, so is their value in this good verse evil ideology? What purpose does it serve other than to comfort, and make sense of life as it is now? What if life is not meant be comfortable, a definite good and bad, black and white is not meant to exist? Then how do we approach history, do we squirm in uncertainty or create a sense certainty to put our minds at ease.

Yehuda Bacon, I cannot explain how cool of a man this person is, google him. 

so far I have come to the conclusion that the inability to recognize legitimacy with in each others narratives is where the Israeli Palestinian problems seem to stem. Also, as Palestinian unity strengthens, the label of Israeli's as 'other' also strengthens and vice versa. With a love for your home country comes a distain for another.

This is a deep post, and maybe it does not make perfect sense, because my ability to convey thoughts onto a computer screen is hard. Also, if anything in this upsets or offends, that is not my intentions this is my thought process as an outsider looking in on Israel, I have my own perspectives and prejudices that exists no matter how hard I try to be objective.

A question to leave on, what are things with in your life that you define as a black and white issue, something or someone who is good and something or someone who is bad? What needs of yours are fulfilled through this definition that you have created? How can you challenge yourself to look beyond these simple explanations?