I was awoken this morning to the lovely sounds of police men and IDF soldiers shouting directions over a mega phone and a helicopter roaring above. The Pope has officially come to town. There is currently a ceremony (tekes in hebrew) at Yad Vashem, the new Holocaust memorial museum with Shimon Peres, the current president of Israel. He was greeted by three "children of Israel" a girl with an australian accent, a boy who spoke in Hebrew and a girl from Nazareth who welcomed the Pope in Arabic. It's interesting to witness this kind of ceremony because it is evident that it is very much a presentation, a staging of sorts. It is conducted in a manner much like a performance, but I suppose that's the way when any influential political or religious figure visits. Pope Benedict visiting Israel is very important because of his stand against anti-semitism, although he allowed an excommunicate Bishop who does not believe in the Holocaust to re-enter the church. I know he is controversial on many topics but it is still interesting to see interactions like this between the Catholic church and Israel.
In other news, on Saturday, Rachel, Talia and I went on a day trip to the West Bank. I hadn't gone in with any expectations and I came out with a bit of a new perspective of the situation in Israel. We took one of the Arab buses to Ramallah, as they are the only mode of public transportation you can find on Saturday until Shabbat is over. I had never seen the "Green Line" before, the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank, from Palestine, and as we rode up to it I realized how massive it was. Once on the other side, one could see that the graffiti stretched for miles. Most of it right near the checkpoint was absolutely exquisite. I remember one large section was painted with "David Copperfield Was Here." I'm not sure what it was referring to, but it took up a large section of the wall, sticking out amongst the smaller signs painted around it. There were portraits of various leaders as well as phrases in Arabic. WOW.
Ramallah is a huge city, one of the most affluent in the West Bank. Some of the houses were grand one family houses that looked like they had come out of some of the more affluent areas of Israel. Downtown was bustling with people, but for some reason, the bus station was shut down, so we took a shuttle the hour ride to the checkpoint in Nablus; from there we took a cab to the Old City. Once in Nablus, we wandered around for a bit in the Old City trying to find Jacob's well and the church that was associated with it. We had no idea what the church was called, and although Rachel's Arabic was pretty good, she didn't know the name for well. We asked directions from two women who pointed us in one direction, telling us to go straight for a long time and then when the road curved to the right the church would be on the left. 15 minutes of walking later, we figured we weren't getting anywhere and should find our way back downtown to another church. The next church we found ourselves at was an old Anglican Church, still in use. The owner of the church let us in and, although Rachel tried to get across what we were looking for, he didn't understand Jacob fromt he bible, the well, or a church that we were looking for. He did, however, find us someone who spoke English who told us where we could find a map. We were on the search for the tourist center. Now, when you think of a tourist center, I would imagine the first thing that comes to mind is not a small kiosk in the middle of a busy intersection in the city center. Well, that's what we got. We were about to walk past it when I noticed the peeling red letters on the top of the kiosk. We didn't end up getting a map, but we did end up finding the "only tour guide in Nablus" complete with an ID card that stated just this. He wanted 200 nis for the tour for the three of us, about three hours, but we got him down to 40 nis each, which was well worth it. The tour that we were about to embark upon would definitely open up my eyes to the situation in the West Bank, in Palestine, and how those citizens see their situation. He spoke as if he were reading from a script. He would repeat himself when we asked him questions, not quite answering them, but giving us information nonetheless. He studied at the University in Jordan for four years and was asked to be an English teacher back in Nablus, after which he retired and became a tour guide.
Our first stop was a soap factory, one of the 12 in Nablus, but it was not working anymore. There are only two working soap factories because of the lack of interest in the soap and the fact that it cannot be exported to neighboring Arab countries (which we were told many times, a result of the "occupation" of the West Bank by Israel). As you walked across the room with the soap on the floor, you slid on the slippery surface. He showed us how the soap was cut into blocks and then showed us the room where the soap was stored; there were stacks of soap everywhere, stacks that could not be sold. He took us through a lot of the Old City, pointing out Churches and Mosques that had changed hands, surving one purpose during Roman times, then another during the Byzantine Era, Turkish rule, etc. It was all fascinating information, but the most interesting part of the trip, for me at least, was hearing him talk about the occupation and what it had done to Nablus. One of the first things he told us was that Israeli media will try to protray Nablus as a very dangerous city full of terrorists, warning tourists not to come (which he attributed to Israel wanting to destroy their economy), when, as he reinforced many times, the people in Nablus are very friendly and welcoming, and we were safe especially with him as our tourguide. It's true that we didn't run into any problems with anyone and everyone Rachel asked directions for was very helpful.
He took us to a few noteable places: a Turkish bath, a center for herbs and coffee, where we had strong, bitter Bedouin tea, and a few places that are representative of the struggle that has been going on for many decades. One of these places was a house that was completely blown up in 2002, killing every family member inside. He told us the Israeli army had given no warning beforehand as to their intentions and the sign that commemorated the act was called a "massacre committed by the Israeli army" with a heading that said "never forgive, never forget." I don't know the details of the situation, but I do know that there was most likely a good reason for blowing up the house, not to say that it was either wrong nor right. It's just very interesting how both sides portray the same thing.
We also got to see the site we had come for: Jacob's well, which was right outside of a refugee camp on the edge of the city. The church the stands over the well was seriously damaged during an earthquake in 2005, so the church that we saw was newly renovated and gorgeous. The Well itself was pretty cool to see; we even got to drink some water from it, which is supposed to bring good health.
All in all it was a great trip, definitely eye opening. The West Bank, from what I observed, works and operates as an autonomous country, despite the fact that it is occupied. A two state solution, from how I see it, is the only real answer to the issue at hand, but it all depends on what each side is willing to give up, and at this point, I know Israel does not want to give up East Jerusalem (where I currently am studying) to Palestine for their capital.
I'm looking forward to going back to the West Bank at least once more before I go, preferably to Ramallah to actually explore and to Bethlehem.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
A Weekend By the Kinneret
I've realized that I'm not that good at keeping up this blog thing. I thought I'd want to sit down and write about everything that's been happening, but I guess I'm almost to busy doing to remember to write a bit here and there. There's a lot (as always) to catch up on and I don't want to sit here for hours recounting everything that's been happening so I'll break it up (as usual) and hope that those who have been waiting for the following posts will enjoy reading them!
Yesterday, Emfish, Amit (an Israeli counselor from camp who lives in Jerusalem) and I drove up to the North near the Kinneret to visit Ruvik, the head of the aquatics program at camp. He had been bugging us to come visit him the whole semester and we finally made time to do it, and I'm really happy I did because I think it's been one of the best experiences I've had since I've been here. Of course it's always enjoyable to visit places in and around Israel, to go hiking, to see the cities and experience the nightlife, but it's another experience entirely to be with people who know the history of the area and who have lived there their whole lives. When we got up to the north at around 1 in the afternoon, we met Ruvik on the Kibbutz and followed him as he dropped off his eldest granddaughter to his son's house on a nearby Moshav. Moshavim and Kibbutzim used to be very different villages, but it has become harder to distinguish between the two aas kibbutzim have shifted from totally socialist/communal areas to more independent ones when it comes to the people who live on them.
After meeting his son Ofir, Ruvik took us to a place on the Jordan River where you can rent canoes. Of course, he knew the owner and along the way ran into a lot of other community members he knew. We took two canoes, Emily and Ruvik in one, Amit and I in the other, and had a very nice, relaxing time, canoeing up and down a part of the Jordan. All along the banks you could see garbage left behind by the people who had celebrated Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day) there along with campsites, people fishing, and just lounging around. As we turned around and headed back to the banks of the river, we were welcomed by the beautiful sounds of a band. It was a mixture of jazz, folk, rock, and almost rap, with one guy singing and playing the flute, another singer, a woman who sang and played tuba and trombone, a guitarist, drummer and bassist. We sat, listening the music, while enjoying a cup of tea that was steeping on a nearby fire. There were kids running around all over the place, one who was naked especially caught my attention. He was definitely enjoying himself running around without a care in the world, hopping from rock to rock. It seemed like a great communal place to come enjoy the banks of the river, go for a swim, use the swinging rope to jump into the water, listen to music and just chat.
After we left, Ruvik drove us to the place where he teaches sailing on the Kinneret. He is a PE teacher for the local, private school that all the Kibbutzim in the area send their kids to. He has been teaching there for over thirty years. The grounds of the school itself are gorgeous. There are flowers all over the place and as you walk along the paths, you pass one-level buildings that serve as classrooms. There's a bomb-shelter, but, as he explained to us, when he was in school there, there was only a bunker that they used to jump into every time there was an air raid. It's so amazing that he went to the school and now teaches there. When we returned to the kibbutz, we met his wife, after which we took a bunch of communal bikes and rode around the Kibbutz. I'm forgetting something- an explanation of the Kibbutz we were staying on. Kibbutz Degania Bet is one of the oldest Kibbutzim in Israel. It is right next to Kibbutz Degania Aleph which is the oldest, I believe. Degania Bet turns 90 next year, Aleph 100. Ruvik's great grandfather was one of the first people to build the kibbutz. His grandparenet, parents, and he were all born on the kibbutz. Thus, the best place to observe the generations of the kibbutz, to get a feel of who lived there, was to visit the cemetary. He brought us to the graves of his great grandmother and grandfather to show us the difference between the two graves because his great grandfather was one of the first founders and his great grandmother came half a year later. The graves are labeled differently- the grave of his great grandfather said "one of the first founders of the kibbutz" and his great grandmother's just referred to the group of Halutzim (pioneers). We then showed us the grave of his father. It was amazing seeing three generations in the same place, which, I must say, is placed where you can see the most spectacular view of the valley where the Jordan used to run, which is now green, lush, and fertile. We continued biking through the kibbutz to the cow barn. He tried to give us a taste of fresh milk but the spout wasn't working. It's ok though, I got to see the cows being mechanically milked. They manually attach metal suckers to the udders and when the cows are done they follow a path along the barn by themselves because they know there is food awaiting them at the end.
Outside of the barn, we picked these delicious berries called "etz tutim" (tree strawberries) which look a bit like blackberries/raspberries but don't taste quite the same. We continued on, seeing the different houses of the kibbutz, passing through one of them where new houses are being built for people who want to live on the kibbutz but not become members. Apparently it's a new way for kibbutzim to make money because they can't make enough themselves. Times are definitely changing for kibbutzim.
We went back to Ruvik's house and relaxed until 7 and then walked over to the dining hall to have Shabbat dinner. We sat at a table with Ruvik's sister, her husband, her daughter and son-in law, their baby, and Ruvik's mother. Four generations at the same table! WOW. We enjoyed a good meal, chatting, after which we returned back to his house, relaxed a bit more, and then went to a local bar/restaurant on the Jordan, close to where we had been that afternoon to grab some drinks and talk. That was pretty much the rest of the night. We returned back to the kibbutz and I stayed up until 12:30 to register for classes (5:30 pm EST) and then hit the hay.
Today, Emily and I woked up at 11:30 and about fifteen minutes later we were on the road to the Golan Heights. Ruvik took us, with Amit at the wheel, through the Golan to the Golan heights where we got to see some of the most spectacular views of the Kinneret, Israel and Syria. Accompanying everything we passed and every lookout point we stopped at was an explanation of the history of the area and how it connected to the fight for the land. We passed by a valley in Syria where Ruvik pointed out one of the seven bridges that Hagana and the other groups who fought for the independence of Israel blew up so that no one could come in or out of Israel during the war of independence. They never repaired it. It's an interesting feeling driving on a winding road right next to the border of a country like Syria. There isn't a neon-colored line separating the two countries, no big tanks or men with guns, just a barbed wire fence with a bit of no-man's land in between. On the other side of the road were hills that are still covered in land mines.
It was getting late in the afternoon and we were getting hungry so Ruvik took us to his favorite falafel place in Masadeh, about an hour from where we were. The place was swamped with people but the food was delicious! Falafel, Lebaneh (soft goat cheese), pita, hummus, tehina, fulla beans, salad, and pickles. Mmmmmm Israeli food. Our next stop was a place I had been on birthright, which was an army base in the Golan heights from which you could see a large part of Syria. Ruvik and Amit pointed out the place where 12 Israeli tanks had defeated over 400 Syrian tanks during the Yom Kippur war. It was so important to defeat them where they had, because if they had failed, the Syrians had a direct route right down to the Galil with nothing to stop them. Amit pointed out one of the nearby Hills called Avital, which is the base for a lot of Israeli intelligence, but no one knows what goes on there. We continued on our little trip, Emily and I fell asleep in the car for a bit, and were woken up when we came to our last stop- the Northern part of the Jordan. After we got out and walked around a bit, we headed back to the Kibbutz and stopped at Glidat, the chocolaterie, named for the woman who started making chocolate on the Kibbutz. She learned in Belgium and brought it back to Israel. Emily and I got ice cream and I bought a sampling of chocolates to bring back to share with my friends here. I haven't tried any but I'm sure they're going to be delicious.
Over all it was a fantastic trip. Relaxing. Informational. I got to see a lot of what I'd seen before but from a new perspective. I would not mind coming to live on the kibbutz for a couple months, working, biking around, hiking, and just being with Ruvik and his family. It was nice meeting them and realizing who he is and where he comes from. It made me think of him differently.
That's all for now. My next update will be going back about a month now to Ultimate Peace. Mom, I know you're waiting for it. I promise, it's coming! (along with my Greece update)
Yesterday, Emfish, Amit (an Israeli counselor from camp who lives in Jerusalem) and I drove up to the North near the Kinneret to visit Ruvik, the head of the aquatics program at camp. He had been bugging us to come visit him the whole semester and we finally made time to do it, and I'm really happy I did because I think it's been one of the best experiences I've had since I've been here. Of course it's always enjoyable to visit places in and around Israel, to go hiking, to see the cities and experience the nightlife, but it's another experience entirely to be with people who know the history of the area and who have lived there their whole lives. When we got up to the north at around 1 in the afternoon, we met Ruvik on the Kibbutz and followed him as he dropped off his eldest granddaughter to his son's house on a nearby Moshav. Moshavim and Kibbutzim used to be very different villages, but it has become harder to distinguish between the two aas kibbutzim have shifted from totally socialist/communal areas to more independent ones when it comes to the people who live on them.
After meeting his son Ofir, Ruvik took us to a place on the Jordan River where you can rent canoes. Of course, he knew the owner and along the way ran into a lot of other community members he knew. We took two canoes, Emily and Ruvik in one, Amit and I in the other, and had a very nice, relaxing time, canoeing up and down a part of the Jordan. All along the banks you could see garbage left behind by the people who had celebrated Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day) there along with campsites, people fishing, and just lounging around. As we turned around and headed back to the banks of the river, we were welcomed by the beautiful sounds of a band. It was a mixture of jazz, folk, rock, and almost rap, with one guy singing and playing the flute, another singer, a woman who sang and played tuba and trombone, a guitarist, drummer and bassist. We sat, listening the music, while enjoying a cup of tea that was steeping on a nearby fire. There were kids running around all over the place, one who was naked especially caught my attention. He was definitely enjoying himself running around without a care in the world, hopping from rock to rock. It seemed like a great communal place to come enjoy the banks of the river, go for a swim, use the swinging rope to jump into the water, listen to music and just chat.
After we left, Ruvik drove us to the place where he teaches sailing on the Kinneret. He is a PE teacher for the local, private school that all the Kibbutzim in the area send their kids to. He has been teaching there for over thirty years. The grounds of the school itself are gorgeous. There are flowers all over the place and as you walk along the paths, you pass one-level buildings that serve as classrooms. There's a bomb-shelter, but, as he explained to us, when he was in school there, there was only a bunker that they used to jump into every time there was an air raid. It's so amazing that he went to the school and now teaches there. When we returned to the kibbutz, we met his wife, after which we took a bunch of communal bikes and rode around the Kibbutz. I'm forgetting something- an explanation of the Kibbutz we were staying on. Kibbutz Degania Bet is one of the oldest Kibbutzim in Israel. It is right next to Kibbutz Degania Aleph which is the oldest, I believe. Degania Bet turns 90 next year, Aleph 100. Ruvik's great grandfather was one of the first people to build the kibbutz. His grandparenet, parents, and he were all born on the kibbutz. Thus, the best place to observe the generations of the kibbutz, to get a feel of who lived there, was to visit the cemetary. He brought us to the graves of his great grandmother and grandfather to show us the difference between the two graves because his great grandfather was one of the first founders and his great grandmother came half a year later. The graves are labeled differently- the grave of his great grandfather said "one of the first founders of the kibbutz" and his great grandmother's just referred to the group of Halutzim (pioneers). We then showed us the grave of his father. It was amazing seeing three generations in the same place, which, I must say, is placed where you can see the most spectacular view of the valley where the Jordan used to run, which is now green, lush, and fertile. We continued biking through the kibbutz to the cow barn. He tried to give us a taste of fresh milk but the spout wasn't working. It's ok though, I got to see the cows being mechanically milked. They manually attach metal suckers to the udders and when the cows are done they follow a path along the barn by themselves because they know there is food awaiting them at the end.
Outside of the barn, we picked these delicious berries called "etz tutim" (tree strawberries) which look a bit like blackberries/raspberries but don't taste quite the same. We continued on, seeing the different houses of the kibbutz, passing through one of them where new houses are being built for people who want to live on the kibbutz but not become members. Apparently it's a new way for kibbutzim to make money because they can't make enough themselves. Times are definitely changing for kibbutzim.
We went back to Ruvik's house and relaxed until 7 and then walked over to the dining hall to have Shabbat dinner. We sat at a table with Ruvik's sister, her husband, her daughter and son-in law, their baby, and Ruvik's mother. Four generations at the same table! WOW. We enjoyed a good meal, chatting, after which we returned back to his house, relaxed a bit more, and then went to a local bar/restaurant on the Jordan, close to where we had been that afternoon to grab some drinks and talk. That was pretty much the rest of the night. We returned back to the kibbutz and I stayed up until 12:30 to register for classes (5:30 pm EST) and then hit the hay.
Today, Emily and I woked up at 11:30 and about fifteen minutes later we were on the road to the Golan Heights. Ruvik took us, with Amit at the wheel, through the Golan to the Golan heights where we got to see some of the most spectacular views of the Kinneret, Israel and Syria. Accompanying everything we passed and every lookout point we stopped at was an explanation of the history of the area and how it connected to the fight for the land. We passed by a valley in Syria where Ruvik pointed out one of the seven bridges that Hagana and the other groups who fought for the independence of Israel blew up so that no one could come in or out of Israel during the war of independence. They never repaired it. It's an interesting feeling driving on a winding road right next to the border of a country like Syria. There isn't a neon-colored line separating the two countries, no big tanks or men with guns, just a barbed wire fence with a bit of no-man's land in between. On the other side of the road were hills that are still covered in land mines.
It was getting late in the afternoon and we were getting hungry so Ruvik took us to his favorite falafel place in Masadeh, about an hour from where we were. The place was swamped with people but the food was delicious! Falafel, Lebaneh (soft goat cheese), pita, hummus, tehina, fulla beans, salad, and pickles. Mmmmmm Israeli food. Our next stop was a place I had been on birthright, which was an army base in the Golan heights from which you could see a large part of Syria. Ruvik and Amit pointed out the place where 12 Israeli tanks had defeated over 400 Syrian tanks during the Yom Kippur war. It was so important to defeat them where they had, because if they had failed, the Syrians had a direct route right down to the Galil with nothing to stop them. Amit pointed out one of the nearby Hills called Avital, which is the base for a lot of Israeli intelligence, but no one knows what goes on there. We continued on our little trip, Emily and I fell asleep in the car for a bit, and were woken up when we came to our last stop- the Northern part of the Jordan. After we got out and walked around a bit, we headed back to the Kibbutz and stopped at Glidat, the chocolaterie, named for the woman who started making chocolate on the Kibbutz. She learned in Belgium and brought it back to Israel. Emily and I got ice cream and I bought a sampling of chocolates to bring back to share with my friends here. I haven't tried any but I'm sure they're going to be delicious.
Over all it was a fantastic trip. Relaxing. Informational. I got to see a lot of what I'd seen before but from a new perspective. I would not mind coming to live on the kibbutz for a couple months, working, biking around, hiking, and just being with Ruvik and his family. It was nice meeting them and realizing who he is and where he comes from. It made me think of him differently.
That's all for now. My next update will be going back about a month now to Ultimate Peace. Mom, I know you're waiting for it. I promise, it's coming! (along with my Greece update)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)