Israel & Palestinian Territories February 17-March 7 2016
MY TRIP
The South
Jerusalem
Palestinian Territory
North & West
At the intersection of Asia, Europe and Africa – geographically, culturally and even botanically – Israel and the Palestinian Territories have been a meeting place of cultures, empires and religions since the dawn of history. Cradle of Judaism and Christianity, and sacred to Muslims and Baha’is, the Holy Land offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the richness and variety of their religious traditions, as well as to discover the beliefs, rituals and architecture of other faiths. Distances are short, so in a few days, you can relax on a Mediterranean beach, float in the Dead Sea, raft down the Jordan River, and scuba in the Red Sea. Hikers can discover spring-fed streams towards the Jordan, oases in the arid bluffs above the Dead Sea, and explore the multicoloured sandstone formations of Makhtesh Ramon.
Capitals. Jerusalem (I), Ramallah (PT)
Country Codes. 972 (I), 972 or 970 (PT)
Languages. Hebrew and Arabic (I), Arabic (PT)
Official Names. State of Israel, Palestinian National Authority
Populations. Israel 7.8 million, West Bank 2.7 million, Gaza 1.7 million
Money. Currency Israeli new shekel (NIS or ILS). In January 2016: 1US$=3.91 NIS, 1NIS-.265US$
ATMS. Widespread throughout Israel, but are less common in the Palestinian Territories so take cash along with you. Visa, MasterCard and, increasingly, American Express and Diners cards are accepted almost everywhere. Most, but not all, ATMs do Visa and MasterCard cash advances.
Cash. The official currency in Israel, and the most widely used currency in the Palestinian Territories, is the new Israeli shekel (NIS or ILS), which is divided into 100 agorot. Coins come in denominations of 10 and 50 agorot (marked ½ shekel) and one, two and five NIS; notes come in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200NIS.
Travellers Cheques. Can be changed at most banks, but charges can be as high as 20NIS per cheque; instead, use a no-commission exchange bureau or the post office.
Wire Transfers. Post offices offer Western Union international money-transfer services.
Visas
In general, Western visitors to Israel and the Palestinian Territories are issued free tourist (B-2) visas. You need a passport that’s valid for at least six months from the date of entry. (For specifics on who qualifies, visit www.mfa.gov.il and click on ‘About the Ministry’ and then ‘Consular Service’.)
Most visas issued at an entry point are valid for 90 days. But travellers, eg those entering by land from Egypt or Jordan, may be given just 30 days or even two weeks – it’s up to the discretion of the border control official.
Kibbutz volunteers must secure a volunteer’s visa.
You’ll probably be subjected to extra questioning if you have certain stamps in your passport (eg from Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan or Sudan), though after a long wait, you’ll probably be allowed in. You may be asked to provide evidence of sufficient funds for your intended length of stay.
If there is any indication that you are coming to participate in pro-Palestinian protests or are seeking illegal employment, you may find yourself on the next flight home.
A visa-on-arrival is not possible when crossing by land from Eilat to Aqaba. A 15-day VOA is available only when coming by plane or ferry to Aqaba and is free. So you must have arranged the visa previously (in your home country or an Israeli Embassy). It is possible to go on an Israeli one-day tour to Petra where the visa (90JD), entry to Petra (50JD), transportation to Petra (cumbersome to go direct from Aqaba), food and guide are included. But this only gives you 3 1/2 hours in Petra, insufficient to see the Monastery, no less all the great hiking and is very expensive at a total cost of US$330.
There are many implications of having an Israeli stamp in your passport and basically is not allowed in most Islamic countries (except Egypt and Jordan).
Extensions. To extend a tourist (B-2) visa, you can either apply to extend your visa (170NIS) or do a ‘visa run’ to Egypt (Sinai) or Jordan. This might get you an additional three months – or just one. Ask other travellers for the latest low-down.
Visas are extended by the Population Immigration and Border Authority (www.piba.gov.il, in Hebrew; generally 8 am-noon Sun-Tue & Thu), part of the Ministry of the Interior which has offices in most cities and large towns. Join the queue by 8 am or you could be waiting all day. Bring a passport-sized photo and evidence of sufficient funds for the extended stay.
Travellers who overstay by just a few days report no hassles or fines.
When to Go
Feb–Apr Hillsides and valleys are carpeted with wildflowers; the ideal season for hiking.
Jul–Aug Warm and dry in Jerusalem, humid in Tel Aviv, and inferno at the Dead Sea and Eilat.
Sep–Oct Jewish holidays generate a spike in domestic tourism – and room prices.
Connections. For onward travel to Egypt, the only crossing currently open to travellers is at Taba, on the Red Sea 7km south of Eilat. If you’re heading to Jordan, you have three options: Allenby/King Hussein Bridge, just east of Jericho; the Jordan River/Sheikh Hussein crossing, 30km south of the Sea of Galilee; or the Yitzhak Rabin/Wadi Araba crossing, 4km northeast of Eilat/Aqaba. Travel to the Gaza Strip may be possible from Egypt.
MY TIPS ON TRAVEL
1. Shabbat. Everything stops on Saturday, the holy day of the Jewish week – actually for almost 48 hours from early Friday afternoon to late Sunday morning. All public transport including buses doesn’t run and restaurants and businesses are closed. So travel has to be planned to deal with Shabbat. It officially starts at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday, but businesses start closing at 2 pm and don’t open till Sunday morning.
The Torah states that the Sabbath is to be a day of rest but the present Orthodox Jews have carried that edict to the extreme. They don’t switch on electricity, drive, use a phone or computer or cook or use elevators. Food is precooked, hot plates are programmed to turn on at certain times and food is reheated. Salads can be made and refrigerators used. Lights are programmed to come on and turn off but the switch can’t be used. Elevators are programmed to open and stop at every floor so no buttons need to be pushed.
Travelling on Sunday morning is a zoo. The bus stations look like an army camp with 90% of the people, young army men and women most carrying M-16s on their shoulders. They go home for the weekend and return to their bases Sunday morning.
2. Accommodation. Hostels are common: the best source is hostels-israel.com. Hostels International also has several hostels (iyha.com) but they tend to be atypical hostels with youth groups, fewer dorm rooms and a worse atmosphere.
3. Food and taxis are very expensive. Taxi set rates are apparently cheaper than using meters which seems strange. I wanted to go to Tel Be’er Sheva, a Unesco site 5kms outside of Be’er Sheva but the one-way fare was 80S (US$20) and 130S return. This is simply not practical pricing. Renting a car might be cheaper if you want to see many sites.
4. Green Pass. A great way to see all the sites in the country, you buy a pass that gives 6 or all the sites. Because it has a 2-week limit, buy only the 6-site pass.
5. If planning on going to Jordan, buy a Jordan Pass (www.jordanpass.jo) before you go. It is a great saving even if you only use it for the 40JD visa and the Petra cost as you also get free access to over 40 other sites in Jordan.
6. Reading. To get the Palestinian perspective on Israel, read The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine and Extreme Rambling: Walking Israel’s Barrier For Fun by Mark Thomas, a British comedian. Be warned, these books will destroy all myths you may have had about Israel. To get the Israeli perspective, talk to any Israeli. Few Israelis have read, or even know about these books (I have come to believe that they are banned in the country), are largely ignorant of their own history, deny that any of this is true, don’t want to know, and could care less about the Palestinians just as long as they are kept behind the fence.
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES in ISRAEL. 1. Baha’i Holy Places, Haifa* 2. Biblical Tels at Migiddo, Hazar and Beer Sheba, 3. Incense Route – Desert Cities of the Negev 4. Masada* 5. Old City of Acre* 6. The White City of Tel-Aviv* 7. The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls*.
Biblical Tels – Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba. Tels (prehistoric settlement mounds), are characteristic of the flatter lands of the eastern Mediterranean, particularly Lebanon, Syria, Israel and eastern Turkey. The three tels are a testimony to a civilization that has disappeared – that of the Canadian cities of the Bronze Age and the biblical cities of the Iron Age – manifests in their expressions of creativity: town planning, fortifications, palaces, and water collection technologies.
Of more than 200 tels in Israel, Megiddo, Hazor and Beer Sheba are representative of those that contain substantial remains of cities with biblical connections. The three tels also present some of the best examples in the Levant of elaborate Iron Age, underground water-collecting systems, created to serve dense urban communities, centralized authority, prosperous agricultural activity and the control of important trade routes. The three tels extend across the State of Israel; Tel Hazor in the north, near the Sea of Galilee; Tel Megiddo 50 kilometres to the southwest; and Tel Beer Sheba near the Negev Desert in the south.
The early Bronze Age temple compound at Megiddo is unparalleled for its number of temples, the continuity of cult activity and the record of ritual activity. At Hazor, the ramparts are the best from southern Turkey to the north Negev. The late Bronze Age palace is the most elaborate in Israel and one of the best in the Levant. For the Iron Age remains, the elaborate town plan of Beer Sheba and the orthogonal plan of Megiddo has few parallels in the Levant.
WHS North:
Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee
Old City of Acre
Sites of Human Evolution at Mount Carmel: The Nahal Me’arot / Wadi el-Mughara Caves
The Necropolis of Bet She’arim – A Landmark of Jewish Renewal. Consisting of a series of catacombs, the necropolis developed from the 2nd century AD as the primary Jewish burial place outside Jerusalem following the failure of the second Jewish revolt against Roman rule. Located SE of Haifa, these catacombs are a treasury of artworks and inscriptions in Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew and Palmyrene. Bet Shearim bears unique testimony to ancient Judaism under the leadership of Rabbi Judah the Patriarch, who is credited with Jewish renewal after 135 AD.
Tentative WHS North:
Arbel (30/06/2000)
Arbel. An ancient settlement in the eastern Lower Galilee: 1. early Torah scholars during the Second Temple 2. unique fortified caves where Hasmonean loyalists fighting the Galilean Zealots hid 3. Nittai of Arbela synagogues 2nd century 4. steep cliffs plunging down toward the Sea of Galilee, overlooking Migdal, the birthplace of Mary. It is also a natural reserve.
Nebe Shueb Located near Karnei Hittim, south of Tiberias, is the tomb of Jethro, father-in-law of Moses. Place of annual pilgrimage and public festival at Je by Druse, who consider the site holiest in Israel. Jethro was the hidden prophet of his generation who instructed Moshe, the revealed prophet. Also the Mount of Beatitude.
Horns of Hittim. The site of the 1187 major battle between the Arabs and Crusaders marking the beginning of the end of the Crusader Kingdom in Palestine. The Crusaders’ defeat marked the destruction of almost all Crusader power in Palestine. Shortly afterwards, the entire Crusader Kingdom fell to Saladin.
Bet She’an (30/06/2000) is a city in at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley. The battle between the Israelites and Philistines on Mount Gilboa, the bodies of King Saul and three of his sons were hung on the walls of Beit She’an. In Roman times, Beit She’an was the leading city of the Decapolis. In modern times,
Caesarea (30/06/2000)
Degania & Nahalal (30/06/2000) Nahalal is a moshav (area 8.5 sq.kms, pop 845). It is best known for its general layout: slightly oval round, similar to a spoke wheel with its public buildings at the “hub” and individual plots of agricultural land radiating from it like spokes with symmetrically placed roads creating eight equal sectors, an inner ring of residential buildings, and an outer ring road.
Early Synagogues in the Galilee (30/06/2000). Synagogues dated to before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem include: the Migdal Synagogue, the synagogue of Capernaum, the Herodium synagogue, the synagogue of Qumran, and the small synagogue at the top of Masada.
Modi’in synagogue (2nd century BCE). Between Modi’in and Latrun is the oldest synagogue within modern Israel. It includes three rooms and a nearby mikve.Qiryat
Nabratein/Naburiya synagogue. Naburiya was a Jewish village in the Galilee
Synagogues rebuilt on ancient sites. Destroyed and the present buildings are reconstructions.
Horvat Minnim (Khirbat al-Minya or Ayn Minyat 30/06/2000) is an Umayyad-built palace in the eastern Galilee 200 meters west of the northern end of Lake Tiberias. It was erected as a qasr complex, with a palace, mosque, and bath built by a single patron. The site is the only Umayyad ruin in Israeli territory with remains above the ground and features one of the earliest mosques in Palestine.
Sea of Galilee & its Ancient Sites (30/06/2000)
The Crusader Fortresses (30/06/2000)
The Galilee Journeys of Jesus & the Apostles (30/06/2000)
The Great Rift Valley – migratory routes – The Hula (15/04/2004)
Triple-arch Gate at Dan & Sources of the Jordan (30/06/2000)
TRAILS IN ISRAEL
1. Israel National Trail. 920 km long it begins at Israel’s northern border to traverse forests, mountain ranges, urban areas and deserts before ending at the country’s southernmost point on the Red Sea at Eilat.
2. Jesus Trail. A 60km trail from Nazareth to Capernaum in the Galilee region. The trail highlights sites from the life of Jesus, as well as diverse communities and landscapes. Usually done in 4 days, it appeals to Christian pilgrims or anybody interested in nature and history.
3. Golan Trail. A 120km trail stretches along the beautiful Golan Heights, from the ski resort on Mount Hermon to Taufiq Spring by the Sea of Galilee. Taking 7-10 days, it passes streams, volcanic hills and local communities.
4. Sea of Galilee Circle. A 60km trail surrounding the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), it can be walked or biked with nice beaches and some pilgrimage sights.
NATURAL SITES. 1. Red Canyon Eilat 2. Dead Sea* 3. Makhtosh Ramon Crater* 4. Negev Desert*
MY OBSERVATIONS ON ISRAEL
1. Level of English. I expected that everyone in Israel would speak English. But the level of English is little better than in China except in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Shopping in a grocery store is worse than in China. Everything is in Hebrew and Hebrew script (which is more difficult to decipher than Chinese characters). Store names, bus announcements and bus tickets are all in Hebrew with no English at all (in China everything is repeated in English on trains and planes and tickets are bilingual). Highway signs are in Hebrew, Arabic and English.
2. Friendliness. The first question Israelis ask is “Do you like Israel?” Israelis think they are the friendliest people on Earth, but they are delusional. Maybe if you are a Jew or speak Hebrew, but generally they are impatient, short and on the rude side. Of course, this is a generalization, but compared to virtually all the 16 countries I have now visited on my quest to see the Silk Road from Xian China to the Middle East, they are not friendly.
Since deciding to include Israel in this winter’s trip, the desire has always been to do some long walks. First the 920km National Trail of Israel (far too energetic and difficult to figure out the logistics of water and food caches) and then, more recently, the 65km Jesus Trail between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee.
But, I am doubting if I will even do that. For many reasons, I want to get Israel over with and go somewhere else. It is now over 6 months on the road, and 16 countries later, and I am tired. Israel has lots of history and things to see, but I simply don’t like Israelis, at least the Jewish ones. I have already ranted about this, but I don’t think I have ever traveled in any country where the locals keep themselves so distant – respond to questions usually with “I don’t know”, are dismissive and condescending, brusque to the point of rude, and show absolutely no interest in you. What they are doing to the Palestinians can only be described as amoral and evil.
More on Friendliness of Israelis. There are many people who live and work in the hostel – one each from Brazil, Mexico, and Russia and two from the US. And they (except the friendly Russian who talks and relates to everyone) are the least friendly people I have ever encountered in any hostel. I know the Brazilian and Mexican are Jews, but at this point don’t know about the other three. It is 4 am as I write this (I have weird sleeping habits and never sleep more than 6 hours per night; I was tired and went to bed at 10 so am always up at this hour, my favourite time of the day) and Alex, the Russian guy just walked in with a Russian Orthodox monk after attending the daily midnight mass at the Russian Orthodox Church (300 attend midnight mass every night, most Russian, Romanian and Serbian). Alex (who is friendly) is Russian Orthodox. The two Americans are Jews.
At the wonderful Jerusalem market on Friday, it was unbelievably busy. There were many restaurants and not nearly enough tables. I was with two young Germans and we shared our “booth” with two groups of Israelis. There were only seats for 4 comfortably, but we squeezed in 6 and 7 people in the two groups. Initially, we joined two already sitting, they left and later 4 joined us. We thanked the two we joined for sharing the space, but the four who later joined us did not one word was exchanged with the 6 Israelis we sat with – never any curiosity about where we were from and not even the ubiquitous “Do you like Israel?” These are easily the least friendly people on earth I have encountered. I asked Alex, the Russian, who he thought were unfriendly people – he said Egyptians, then Ukrainians and Russians.
I had previously mentioned the two Israelis I spent the day with at WadiRum in Jordan. I had a good day with them and I gave them my email address asking them to write me, send pictures and give me theirs. But they haven’t. This is almost the first time this has ever happened – everyone else writes.
When travelling you form opinions about other nationalities. Russians are the world’s least favourite, closely followed by Israelis, especially in groups, then French, Chinese…… My favourite travellers I meet on the road are easily younger Germans, then Israelis travelling alone or as a couple – they are mature, worldly and generally accepting of an older man. Young British would be my least favourite, then Israelis in groups, Russians. Easily the travellers I am most curious about are Japanese – always single, and avoid all social interaction, I have never been able to entice one to spend more than 5 minutes with me despite many requests to share taxis, go somewhere on the same public transport, visit some site.
3. Palestinians. And issues of controversial politics go nowhere. None have read the “Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” and dis it immediately “That isn’t true. That is one opinion and you need to look for the other side”. Israel has more propaganda than most places and history books have been wiped clean. I was purposely trying to be controversial without offending them. But they actually seem to think that they are doing the Palestinians a favour by allowing them to coexist in their country.
I continued to talk to Israelis about their country and finally met some very open-minded tour guides who were a joy to talk to. Nobody has even heard of “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” but they actually believed that the atrocity had occurred. Most Israelis are ignorant of their history and very defensive about their existence in a sea of animosity. Israel is all they have and everyone hates them. They had travelled after leaving the army but 99% of young Israelis return to Israel. They all want peace and an end to the Palestinian conflict but see nothing happening for generations. They talked about their grandparents who started the country, their parents who built the country and how their generation had been given everything by indulgent parents and were basically spoiled and entitled. The kids they guide are rude, disrespectful and only here to raise hell in their one road trip of the year.
After 5 days in Jerusalem, I left for the north, to Nazareth. This is the first time I have been on a bus where the driver was armed. Instead of heading north, the bus went west to almost the outskirts of Tel Aviv, and I realized we were skirting the West Bank and the Palestinian Territory. The countryside is remarkably green and fertile looking – large green fields, pine trees, vineyards, olive trees – in a rolling lovely landscape. The highway is 6-lane divided. At one point the barrier wall appears, 4m concrete slabs topped with barbed wire and an electric fence. It has lights on 24/7 and cameras everywhere. But no sooner did it disappear to snake east through a town. It probably also is cutting another chunk out of Palestine.
I realize it is spring, but the country here is surprisingly green. The road rarely loses sight of a town and the stony hillsides are covered in very attractive houses and apartment buildings.
I found the book Extreme Rambling – Walking Israel’s Barrier. For Fun. in the hostel and am about halfway through as I write this. It is about a British comedian who walked the fence separating Palestine from Israel. It is a very disturbing book. Since the wall has been built, the Palestinian’s ability to sustain their economy has been destroyed. It cuts through previous markets and football pitches. Factories that are built on Palestinian land are often heavy polluters and not desired on the Israel side. The wall deviates from the Green Line, the formal boundary frequently, always taking Palestinian territory. It extends as “fingers” deep into Palestinian land to surround illegal Jewish settlements. Israelis love living in settlements. The main reason is economic as their houses are 1/4 to 1/3 the price of housing elsewhere. They get the land and all infrastructure (electricity, roads, sewage, garbage disposal) for free, pay nothing for the expensive fence that separates them from their Palestinian neighbours and receive supplements from the government regularly. The air is pure and they make a good living.
Since the fence has gone up, there have been no suicide bombers. Palestinians who work in Israel get up at 3 am to queue at the fence that opens at 7 am to try to get to work at 8 am. It takes them 1-2 hours to get through “security”. Obviously, the Israelis profile people who pass through – as stated previously, when we went to Bethlehem, we weren’t even given a sideways glance and didn’t have to show passports.
There is an aquifer that passes through the West Bank. The fence deviates where possible to go over the aquifer. Besides losing their land, they have also lost their water. And if there is one thing that is scarce here, it is water.
The intent of all this seems obvious. Life for the Palestinians is made as difficult as possible. If it is too hard, maybe they will leave, as many have, especially the Christian Palestinians who find it much easier to emigrate elsewhere.
The few Israelis who might talk express unbelievably bigoted thoughts about Palestinians. “They didn’t live here before but are Jordanians, Syrians and Lebanese who came when there was free land”, “They want 100% of the land – how can you negotiate with people who want that?”, “They hate us and want to destroy us.” I wonder why? They are prisoners in their own land. They put up with a huge amount of abuse at the hands of the Israelis. They have few means of making a good livelihood. And the Israelis constantly complain about having to give them money, basically welfare. But they are denied the ability to make a living. And then the Israelis will say “The Palestinians left on their own accord.”
The Bible says that this is the promised land and meant for Jews. There will never be peace until they have it all. And they constantly wonder why the rest of the world dislikes them and is losing patience over new settlements.
4. Shabbat As NOTHING is open, you must prepare for Shabbat by 2 pm Friday. I went to the large market with 2 young Germans and had never experienced anything like it in the world – packed, vibrant, everybody shopping, eating, drinking beer, a mass of people. The selection of fresh vegetables, bread and pastry was superb at great prices. The many restaurants were full.
The big occasion on Friday dusk is to go to the Western Wall for the beginning of Shabbat. In 1600, a group of Jews decided to celebrate the start of Shabbat by singing psalms and dancing. This has grown and is most celebrated here. At sundown, a group of soldiers entered the area, danced in a circle and sang whipped into a minor frenzy by one older man. Soon other groups started – each was dressed a little differently and were apparently slightly different sects. There was a lot of prayer with the largest concentration at the far north end of the wall, closest to the holiest sites. Many of the ultra-orthodox men wore a huge cake-shaped fur hat. On the other side of the fence, the women also sang and danced but all in one big group.
I then went to the Shabbat meal at the Abraham Hostel down the street from Jerusalem Hostel. This meal celebrates the beginning of Shabbat. Jerusalem Hostel also had a Shabbat meal but I had no desire to eat it there. I was asked by the guys who prepared it if I was going to attend their Shabbat meal. I said no and then (in my usual outspoken manner) volunteered why “Because you are not friendly”. I had hoped that the people at Abraham Hostel would be friendlier, but they weren’t either. They were pleasant and nice, but not friendly. I spent Shabbat relaxing and reading – there was nothing else to do.
Sunday mornings in bus depots are a zoo. All the young Israelis go home on Thursday or Friday for Shabbat, then return to their bases on Sunday. The Be’er Shiva bus station was packed, about 90% were in the army. Most had M-16s slung over their shoulder. They ride the buses for free. One needs to be careful about obtaining bus reservations if you want to travel on these days. It was easy to go to Masada as no one lives there.
In 1948, Ben Gurion wanted the ultra-orthodox to participate in the political process and made two concessions: that they would not have to serve in the military and the ultra-orthodox would have control over religious sites. Since then the Western Wall has been segregated into men’s and women’s sections.
Shabbat. The Torah says that the Sabbath is a day of rest. That is all, not do not use any appliance or push any button or turn on any switch. But the rabbis and orthodox have taken one giant leap further. It truly is a day where you do nothing. The light rail line started operating again at 7:30 pm but almost all stores remained closed even though Shabbat ended at sundown. I walked down to the market hoping to get something to eat. Everything was closed at 6:30 pm but a few of the restaurants were opening at 8:30.
SUMMARY OF ISRAEL
Except for a few things, I didn’t really enjoy this country, mostly because of the people. Simply put, Israeli Jews are not friendly people, especially if you are a non-Hebrew-speaking gentile. They are brusque to the point of rude, not interested in anything about you, condescending and dismissive – and I think they could care less. Palestinians are the opposite. This is not quite what one would expect.
Their attitude to and the way they have treated Palestinians is immoral and evil – the goal is “more land, fewer Arabs”. They have illegally stolen half of all Palestinian land – with the routing of the border (or apartheid) fence and putting settlements on Palestinian land, then building more fences around those settlements. They are illegal occupiers of land that is not theirs. They constantly commit war crimes. International laws do not condone anything they do.
All the 18-year-old soldiers with their M-16s are not there for security, as one would believe. They are scared, trigger-happy teenagers there only to enforce the occupation. Two weeks ago, the Israeli parliament passed a law allowing (and thus encouraging) all Israelis to carry a gun ‘for protection’. It sounds like a piece of America has been imported here.
They have done and continue to do everything humanly possible to destroy any chance Palestinians have to produce a sustainable economy. Palestinians are basically prisoners behind a fence in their own country. And Israeli Jews decry how they have been treated throughout history. The fence has brought suicide bombing to zero, but I don’t believe the fence is the real reason (there are many ways to get around it). Palestinians see nonviolence as the only way to achieve their goals. They have no desire to leave their homeland and surprisingly, are optimistic about the future.
Most Israeli Jews have constructed their own version of history to justify their actions – through propaganda and erasure of history from their books. Most Israelis do not know their true history and don’t want to know it. “They deny that Palestinians were here for centuries and millennia. They repetitively say that the Palestinians want 100% of the country when that is the Israeli Jew’s only goal. The Palestinians did nothing with the land.” If they did not have the American empire and military-industrial complex behind them and all the power that gives them, they could not have achieved what they have done.
I feel sad that I have left the country as an Israeli anti-Semite.
But as the centre of three great religions – Islam, Christianity and Judaism (and a fourth – Baha’i), it is a must-see country. Jerusalem is an incredible destination, even if all the religious sites (including Bethlehem, Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee) have a sense of non-reality, especially for a good atheist like me.
It is very expensive, especially the food and taxis. It is also very unilingual with only English spoken widely in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Apart from history, there is not much to see – the Red Sea, Negev Desert, Sea of Galilee and Golan Heights – are all very average natural destinations.
I immensely enjoyed my two short days in the Palestinian Territories. I had several chances to talk to Palestinians about their situation. I personally endured a three-hour “adventure” trying to cross the fence back into Israel – this elderly, fair-haired, blue-eyed, obviously a Western tourist, a man wanting a ride for 100 metres – showed his Canadian passport to all the Israelis passing me at 2kms/hour. It is not pretty. The many interactions with the World Council of Churches’ observers in Tel Aviv was another look at the abuse of the Palestinians.
I believe the only recourse for the rest of the world is heavy sanctions that hurt them where Israeli Jews would feel it the most, their pocketbook. But that would require a 180° about-face from America, the great imperialist and enabler. I have great empathy for Israelis. I understand that Israel is the “only place they have left in the world”, but they are blindly defensive about it, and understandably will do everything in their power to maintain it and ensure its success.
I have arrived at many of these thoughts through reading and because of my quest to understand the cultural context. I purposely try to be controversial to get to the bottom of things. I ask questions they don’t like to hear. At the end of my three weeks, I couldn’t wait to leave.