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
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