Well, after one missed flight (I misread the 24-hour time), a night spent in the "bustling" Cracow airport -- where, BTW, virtually no one speaks English, and 36 hours without sleep (because I was afraid that I wouldn't wake up in time to catch my rescheduled flight in the AM) I am here in Israel!! Sarah actually took a train (by herself) from Modi'in to the airport to meet me. Then began the saga of the rented car (which was falling apart) and the GPS (which didn't work). PS -- after about 6 hours of driving around in circles (which, of course, we didn't realize we were doing) we hired a taxi to LEAD us to the community in which our apartment is located. Fast forward to next AM. After dropping Sarah off to visit with her Israeli JFI friends (she was in withdrawal after not seeing them for -- as she informed me -- 44 hours!) I headed back to the airport to get a car that was actually capable of going up hill without sounding like it was going to die and a GPS that not only works but speaks to me in English!!
Now for the good part. We, Sarah and I, are here in Sde Boker (about 45 minutes south of Be'er Sheva) visiting with my sister-in-law, Laurie, my niece, Shlomit, and her daughter (my great niece? I could never keep that stuff straight) Lia -- 3 1/2 years old. So what this means is that I am now in my Hebrew element -- preschool! I can count the pieces of the lego set with her and identify the colors; say kol hakavod when she throws a ball into a pail, suggest that we play b'yachad, ask her about what she wants to eat, etc. As far as Lia is concerned -- ani mideberet Ivrit (I speak Hebrew)! However, that means that she doesn't understand when I don't understand something that she says (like when she wanted me to change the channel on the TV). Luckily, we have a lot of translators at hand!
Later tonight we are all (not Lia) going to Be'er Sheva to participate in one of the demonstrations for social justice that have been sweeping this country. People can hardly speak about anything else. In case you haven't been following it, there are tent cities set up in almost all major cities (e.g., Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be'er Sheva, etc.). The issues generally have to do with the outrageous cost of living which has, for all intents and purposes, decimated the middle class in Israel. It turns out that 40% of the wealth of the country is owned by 10 families -- or so I am told. Of course, politics comes into play as well. Certainly a lot of money is going into security and specifically into the territories (both in terms of monitoring the Palestinians and protecting the ultra-Orthodox settlements). There is a very strong push for Israel to return the territories with some modest land exchanges (a la the suggestion of Obama). I find it fascinating that right under the surface is the issue of the power that the ultra-Orthodox have in the government. No one says it in so many words, but certainly there is unhappiness with the amounts of money that are spent on welfare programs (many of the ultra-Orthodox collect welfare because the husbands study all day and the wives are raising > 10 children! Add to that that virtually ALL of the settlements in the territories are populated by various ultra-Orthodox communities which need protection from the IDF, but in which almost none of them serve! What is most interesting is -- as was the case with the Arab Spring -- much of this organization has been facilitated by social media. It is becoming harder and harder to keep the "masses" in the dark (intentionally or otherwise). People are seeing that if they come together in a substantial way, change can be brought about. Certainly this has been the case with Egypt, etc. It has yet to be seen what the effects will be here in Israel but folks do feel some urgency with the threatened attempt by Hamas to ask the UN to declare a Palestinian State. The feeling here is, and I agree, that negotiating such a situation would be far preferable. I'm sure that I have oversimplified the politics of all of this, but I wanted to give you a flavor of what is transpiring. Will try to get some photos tonight.
On Monday night, Sarah and I will accompany my sister-in-law, Laurie, to an "iftar" in Be'er Sheva. Laurie is an active member of the "Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality" which works for recognition of the rights of the Bedouin tribes that are so prevalent here. So, you might ask, what is an iftar? Well, it is the break fast that occurs each night during Ramadan. It has been the practice of the Negev Coexistence Forum to sponsor an iftar each year, and Monday is the night this year. It will be a mix of Arabs (some Bedouin, some not) and Jews. Again, it should be interesting and not exactly your average tourist experience :-). Some of you may remember that on our last trip to Israel, Sarah and I went with Laurie to one of the Bedouin schools at which she works with teachers of English and had a chance to meet with the students of one of the classes. Marc says that Laurie is "still a hippie." I agree -- and so does she, but she takes that as a compliment. Again, for those who may not be familiar with the issues, the Bedouin have been "concentrated" (boy, I just realized what a potentially "hot" word that is) into a number of cities/towns that are recognized by the State of Israel. However, many have been raising sheep, etc., on their tribal lands for generations and don't want to live in these much more modern towns. So, they have established their own communities (made up largely of tin shacks). The problem is that Israel refuses to recognize them. Occasionally they have even forcibly made them move, but more frequently they just refuse to provide services to these communities, so they often have no electricity, water, sanitation services, etc. Hence the push for "civil equality". Again, for those of you with a more sophisticated understanding of these issues, please forgive the oversimplification. As in ANY conflict, there are certainly two sides to the story!
So I must sound kind of anti-Israel. Not at all. I wouldn't devote the time and money to spending the time here that I am if I didn't love this country deeply. Indeed, if I didn't love it so, I probably wouldn't care all that much about what I see to be some injustices in the way that it runs.
What is exciting is that the so-called "peace movement" which has always represented a minority (often a very small one) has experienced massive growth in the recent past and so the clamoring for the government to settle the Palestinian issue and pursue a "two-state solution" has never been stronger. The concern voiced by many in this movement is that it will only take one substantial security threat/breach and the government will be able to redirect attention to security to the exclusion of the very significant civil problems.
Okay, that's my political lecture for this trip. As I sign off, my niece, Lia, is watching some American super-hero program which is dubbed in Hebrew. It is just a scream to see this guy who looks like Spiderman (although he is probably someone else) speaking Hebrew!
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