Monthly Archives: May 2012

From Shavuot to Tulkarm

28 Monday May 2012

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Walking back from Shavuot dawn prayers

Today with a friend (thanks Betsey!) I visited an arts organization in Tulkarm. Both the journey and the destination were fascinating. First, this morning at dawn thousands of observant Jews gathered at the Western Wall after staying up all night studying in celebration of the giving of the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. As I walked to East Jerusalem to catch my bus to the West Bank I passed a practically continuous parade of the celebrants heading home. I find the all night study ending with a public ritual a wonderful way of showing gratitude for a sacred text, and I’m glad I saw a part of it.

On my minibus ride a woman sitting next to me pointed to a small Israeli settlement and said, “That was my grandfather’s land.” As we spoke more, I discovered she was a member of the wealthy al-Masri family, and as we entered the city of Nablus she noted several of her family’s beautiful houses on the hills. My trip up took me past Yitzhar, one of the many small Israeli settlements deep in the West Bank. Yesterday, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, “A man from the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar shot and wounded a Palestinian man on Saturday in a clash that began when a group of settlers set fire to fields belonging to a Palestinian village, officials said.”

From Tulkarm, with Netanya in the distance

Out of the window of the arts group in Tulkarm one could look to the high-rises of Netanya on the sea (though visiting the beach is almost impossible for the people of Tulkarm.) The director noted that he did not get involved with politics, yet also described a putting on a play for Nakba Day about how rumors spread “and caused our grandfathers to flee.” My confusion about this seeming contradiction cleared up when later he said that a few years ago one (Palestinian) political party or another tried to “make us illegal” but that he and his arts organization “fought back” and won. While I was not entirely clear why a political party would want to shut him down, he also noted that for a while the mosques also preached against his group because the music and drama workshops were co-ed: “boys and girls together!” he imitated the Imam saying in a shocked voice. He laughingly claimed that for a while he and his colleagues would “decide what the sermon would be next week” based on what provocative act they would undertake that week. So as I’ve noted before, while the occupation is the background burden for all here, Palestinian political structures also make life more difficult. Palestinian political parties (and religious groups, sometimes amounting to the same thng) seek to control arts groups to control their message.

Fortunately this arts organization seemed to be thriving, and operated on almost no money. At the moment they had space in a building, but the director described plenty of times when they “set up chairs on the street” and put on performances wherever they could. We joked that this was the ultimate in organizational transparency.

All in all, another complex, disturbing and rewarding trip from West Jerusalem to the Occupied Territories and back.

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Egypt on election day

23 Wednesday May 2012

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20120523-191455.jpgSince this is my first time in Egypt, I have nothing with which to compare my experiences. Several impressions, however, have stuck with me. The people with whom I have spoken seem very upbeat. Several people brought up independently that today was election day. There are posters of the candidates everywhere, covering an enormous amount of wall space. People seem quite invested, in a positive way.

All four of the Egyptians I have asked so far favored Hamdeen Sabahi. They described him as one of the people. Our guide at the Pyramids, a man who had learned his very good English on the job and had never gone to school, pointed to the little boy working with him and said, “Hamdeen cares about people like us, like him.” They happily described Sabahi as Nassarite, which to me means stifling protectionism, inefficient nationalized industries, and unrealizable dreams of pan-Arabism. I’m not sure he would be my choice, though as this article notes, I’m not sure my candidate is on the scene. I also get the sense that the people with whom I spoke (all male, all young or middle aged, all working in tourism) don’t think their candidate will win. One predicted Ahmed Shafiq, with the rest saying they had no idea.

Tourism is way down here, and we can feel it. It works to our advantage – we were able to ride horses right up to the Pyramids, have never waited in line, and have had some museums and monuments all to ourselves. Of course, however, it is terrible for the country. We have felt totally safe and would come back in a flash – I hope both events and perceptions bring back the tourist trade.

Two teachings and a thought after Yad VaShem

18 Friday May 2012

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A monument and a memorial

I listened to two different tour leaders at the exit to Yad VaShem, the Holocaust Museum, summarize their experience to their groups. The first, speaking to a group of religious girls, argued that really the Holocaust wasn’t perpetrated by Nazis only, but by all anti-Semites. She continued by noting that religious Jews were the primary target. She listed the typical religious dress (in whch the girls were currently attired), and then said that those who wore it “were picked out first.” “You need to know this!” she practically shouted. Her core message: as religious Jews, you are still the primary target of powerful anti-Semites.

The second guide was speaking to a group of American Jewish teens. First he showed them a view in which one could see new residential buildings being constructed. “This gives me hope. We just saw all that destruction and here you see building.” Later he said, “You are citizens of the most powerful government force since the Roman Empire” he said to them. He argued that they must go back home and do everything they can to support the state of Israel.

I heard two messages: you are always potential victims, and you must support Israel. More universal lessons, however, occurred to me. For example, I thought of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The museum also brought to mind the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations: “We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained…have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.”

Religions in the desert

15 Tuesday May 2012

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Black Hebrew Israelite ceremony

The two portraits Israel tends to give of religious attitudes are symbolized by Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Jerusalem has its ultra-Orthodox, its overlapping and controversial holy sites, everyone trying to tell their story or to ignore other peoples’ stories. Tel Aviv has its all-night parties, its skimpy clothing and beach scene, its Bauhaus buildings historical only in the recent architectural sense.

This weekend I encountered several more religiosities when we took a family trip to the desert. Our hosts live in a beautiful moshav on the Jordanian border south fo the Dead Sea. Within two minutes of meeting them they spoke of loving the desert for its “power.” A few minutes later they asked us our astrological signs. If one had to assign these folks a role in the dichotomous “secular – religious” framework of Israeli discussions, they would be secular – no kippa on the man, tank top on the woman. And yet clearly they had their religious worldview.

The next day a handyman stopped by bearing the very un-Israeli name of Henry. He was introduced to me as a Mennonite, and it turns out that he has studied theology and philosophy and settled in the moshav with his Israeli wife. Henry is very committed to unschooling – he has many children and they learn by living in the rich environment he and his wife provide. Similar to some ultra-Orthodox and conservative Muslims I have spoken with this year, his family’s lack of a television stood as a symbol for him of his educational (and religious?) beliefs.

At the edge of a crater in the desert we encountered yet another faith that one does not see in Jerusalem. A group of mostly women in beautiful African dress were circled up in a ceremony. As we listened we heard English in clearly American accents. These were the African Hebrew Israelites, a group of African-Americans who believe themselves to be descendants of an ancient Israelite tribe and who have moved to Israel.

Masada at sunrise

We also encountered more frequently seen religious traditions – the Jewish settlements around Palestinian Hebron, Palestinian villages with minarets rising up, caves of Christian monks from the 6th Century in the desert, the fortress of Masada overlooking the Dead Sea. But the Black Hebrew Israelites, the astrologers and the Mennonite were newer pieces of the religious puzzle of Israel and Palestine.

Less and more encouraging signs in Ramallah

09 Wednesday May 2012

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Qalandia in the morning; schoolgirls heading to Jerusalem

In the morning I crossed the Qalandia checkpoint, as I often do, at the same time as many students. In this case I was heading to Ramallah while many kids were heading in the other direction. My goal was to meet a representative of the PA Ministry of Education who could introduce me to teachers to interview.

PA Ministry of Education

Ministry of Education sign

The PA Ministry of Education is far less architecturally imposing than the Israeli Ministry, but I draw no real conclusions from that other than the PA building is in the traditional style and the Israeli building was unfortunately erected as an Internationalist wonder, probably in the 70s.

I had no appointment, only a name, so several people gave me directions through the building. The third person actually offered to guide me. An Austrian-Palestinian, Sami Aburoza is a consultant for the German Icon Institut and, I found out later, someone who has done significant work and writing on Palestinian economic issues. His goal is to centralize all the various educational donor projects under a single plan. As he noted, the possibilities for saving money are significant – for example, to have all donors accept the same report rather than having different bureaucrats write different reports for donors with whom they are working.

Poster supporting hunger strikers

Upon reaching my contact’s office, we discovered that many people (including students) would be out for the afternoon for a rally in support of the hunger striking prisoners in Israeli jails. While my contact was out, his assistant got all my information and I will set up a meeting for next week.

Small rally in clocktower square supporting hunger strikers

I then went over to clocktower square to see the rally. The organizers had set up a tent with photos of the prisoners, music was playing, and some students were chanting. Perhaps several hundred people were there, and it did not seem to have yet gotten off the ground. I went to lunch, and upon return things were quiet. It seems the rally was less of a massive event and more one of many that are currently revolving around the hunger strike. While I find hunger striking saddening, I do hope that the shift to non-violent techniques on the Palestinian side continues.

Poster for Nakba Day insisting on right of return

Meanwhile Nakba Day is coming up, the day on which Palestinians mourn their loss in the 1948 war and subsequent refugee status. Signs have been put up, some of which state that the right of return to homes in 1948 Israel is the only condition that will statisfy them. As I’ve written before, since Israel has most of the power and will never agree to that demand, I find it gets in the way of thinking about a route forward to the two-state solution, which I believe is still the quickest way for most Palestinians to improve their lives.

Benzion Netanyahu on the essential nature of Arabs

05 Saturday May 2012

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Professor of History Benzion Netanyahu recently died, and because his son is the Prime Minister of Israel, his work has been revisited in many places. I recently read on the blog +972 excerpts from a 2009 interview with Prof. Netanyahu. See the excerpts below.

I’m most interested in his belief in cultural essentialism, which I believe is inaccurate. Acemoglu and Robinson’s Why Nations Fail argues powerfully against cultural essentialism, as does Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel. As a teacher, I wonder how pervasive cultural essentialism is in the schools, or to say it more positively, what kind of work is being done to question, complicate and problematize that worldview.

On the “essence” of Arabs
Prof. Netanyahu: The Jews and the Arabs are like two goats facing each other on a narrow bridge. One must jump to the river – but that involves a danger of death. The strong goat will make the weaker one jump … and I believe the Jewish power will prevail.
Q: What does the Arabs’ “jump” entail?
A: That they won’t be able to face [anymore] war with us, which will include withholding food from Arab cities, preventing education, terminating electrical power and more. They won’t be able to exist, and they will run away from here. But it all depends on the war, and whether we will win the battles with them.
Q: I suppose you don’t believe in the peace process.
A: I don’t see any signs that the Arabs want peace. … We will face fierce attacks from the Arabs, and we must react firmly. If we don’t, they will go on and Jews will start leaving the country. … We just handed them a strong beating in Gaza, and they still bargain with us over one hostage. … If we gave them a beating that would really hurt them, they would have given us Gilad Shalit back.
Q: Operation Cast Lead was one of the worst beatings we ever handed on a civilian population.
A: That’s not enough. It’s possible that we should have hit harder.
Q: You don’t like the Arabs, to say the least.
A: The Bible finds no worse image than that of the man from the desert. And why? Because he has no respect for any law. Because in the desert he can do as he pleases. The tendency toward conflict is in the essence of the Arab. He is an enemy by essence. His personality won’t allow him any compromise or agreement. It doesn’t matter what kind of resistance he will meet, what price he will pay. His existence is one of perpetual war.
Q: Is there any hope of peace?
A: Out of an agreement? No. The other side might keep the peace if it understands that doing anything [else] will cause it enormous pain. The two-state solution doesn’t exist. There are no two peoples here. There is a Jewish people and an Arab population. … There is no Palestinian people, so you don’t create a state for an imaginary nation. … They only call themselves a people in order to fight the Jews.
Q: So what’s the solution?
A: No solution but force … strong military rule. Any outbreak will bring upon the Arabs enormous suffering. We shouldn’t wait for a big uprising to start, but rather act immediately with great force to prevent them from carrying on. … If it’s possible, we should conquer any disputed territory in the Land of Israel. Conquer and hold it, even if it brings us years of war. We should conquer Gaza, and parts of the Galilee, and the Golan. This will bring upon us a bloody war, since war is difficult for us – we don’t have a lot of territory, while the Arabs have lots of space to retreat to. But that’s the only way to survive here.
There is valuable experience [on this matter] we don’t pay notice to. I mean the Ottoman rule over the Arabs. The Turks ruled over the Arabs for 400 years, and there was peace and quiet everywhere. The Arabs hated the Ottomans, but every little thing they did brought mass killings and hanging in towns squares. They were hanging people in Damascus, and Izmir … every town had hanging posts in its center. … The Arabs were so badly beaten, they didn’t dare revolt. Naturally, I don’t recommend the use of hangings as a show of force like the Turks did, I just want to show that the only thing that might move the Arabs from the rejectionist position is force.
On the peace process
Prof. Netanyahu: The problem with the Left is that it thinks the war with the Arabs is like all the wars that nations around the world are conducting. These wars end with a compromise after one side wins or after both sides get tired from war and understand that victory is not possible. But in the Arabs’ case, their nature and character won’t allow any compromise. When they talk of compromise, it’s a way of deceiving. They want to make the other side stop giving its best efforts and fall into the trap of compromising. The Left helps them with that goal.
Q: If compromise replaces war, what is the damage?
A: Compromise is not realistic. It weakens our positions and brings us to a state of limpness, of false believes, of illusions. Every illusion is weakening.
On Arab citizens of Israel
Prof. Netanyahu: We don’t have a real partnership with them. The Arab citizens’ goal is to destroy us. They don’t deny that they want to destroy us. Except for a small minority who is willing to live with us under certain agreements because of the economic benefits they receive, the vast majority of the Israeli Arabs would chose to exterminate us if they had the option to do so. Because of our power they can’t say this, so they keep quiet and concentrate on their daily life.
I think we should speak to the Israeli Arabs in the language they understand and admire – the language of force. If we act with strength against any crime they commit, they will understand we show no forgiveness. Had we used this language from the start, they would have been more careful.
I am talking about strength that is based on justice. They should know that we will maintain a just attitude toward them, but a tough one. You don’t kill or hurt people or deny their right to make a living just like that. In the villages that we rule, we need to grant them all the rights – infrastructure, and transportation and education … but they have to give things in return. If the teachers are inciting the students, we should close the schools and expel the teachers. … We should preserve their rights, but also ours.
On his son, Israel’s prime minister
Prof. Netanyahu: Benjamin, or Bibi, is, in several aspects, a great man. He can influence and motivate people to do what’s necessary. … He is loyal to his people, and has a sense of responsibility. … He is not one who prefers the comfort of compromise just to rid himself of pressure.
Q. Is he influenced by your opinions?
A: Sometimes I feel Bibi is influenced by them from a very early age, and sometimes I don’t. We don’t always have the same opinions…
Q: And still, how much do you think you’ve influenced his opinions today?
A: I have a general idea. Bibi might aim for the same goals as mine, but he keeps to himself the ways to achieve them, because if he gave expression to them, he would expose his goals.
Q: Is that your wish?
A: No, I just believe that this could be the case. Because he is smart. Because he is very careful. Because he has his ways of handling himself. I am talking about tactics regarding the revealing of theories that people with a different ideology might not accept. That’s why he doesn’t expose them – because of the reaction from his enemies as well as from the people whose support he seeks. It’s an assumption, but it might be correct.