Some Israel Impressions – Harry & Carter

We loved Israel; the positive energy, range of cultures and religions, beautiful nature ranging from arid desert to mountain snow and the grinding tense reality of its existence. Highlights included visiting with our friend Noam, a lifelong Israeli who happens to be an atheist with a Zen/carpe dieme outlook and chatting over drinks with Mowis, our Christian innkeeper who was warm and welcoming but had a more fatalistic outlook.

Below are some of our impressions.

* Entering Israel via the southern border from Jordan…A big transition in just a couple of hours from waking in a Bedouin tent in Jordan’s Wadi Rum desert to arriving in Eilat, the ‘Atlantic City’ resort town of Israel. Surrounded by bikinis instead of burqas and swimming in the beautiful Red Sea protected by machine gun-toting patrol boats just beyond the lifeguard buoys while looking out at Jordan and Egypt. Contrasting the Israel shorelines uniquely filled with windsurfers, jet skis, party boats and kite boarders to the desolate Jordanian shores. The day we leave, two missiles fired from Gaza aimed at Eilat, land in an unoccupied area of the city.

* Taking the bus through the desert north of Eilat and on to the Jerusalem outskirts…where the bus is boarded by two soldiers in bullet proof vests holding machine guns who walk the length of the vehicle looking into the eyes of each passenger before jumping off.

* Hearing sirens for a full two minutes in a newer part of Jerusalem to mark the start of Veterans’ Day and watching everyone stand still, cars and buses stop while their drivers stand outside their vehicles in remembrance of soldiers who died. Very moving. The next day in the Old City during the two minute siren marking the end of the holiday half the crowd continue walking and driving- Arab residents who chose not to recognize the event.

* Seeing jubilant Independence Day celebrations filling the streets with revelers wrapped in the Israeli flag, spraying each other with foam and singing patriotic songs until 2am.

* Learning about rational gun laws (mental health exams, yearly mandatory training classes, annual limit on the number of bullets available for purchase per person) while simultaneously reading about the embarrassment in the U.S. Congress that voted to maintain our nonsensical, self-sabotaging rules.

* Being starved on Saturday afternoon and realizing it’s the Sabbath and nothing is open…

* Walking through the ancient alleys of the coastal city of Akko and seeing a plaque on a wall thanking the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation of Baltimore for supporting the construction of a child care center.

* Seeing orthodox Jews with their distinct dress throughout Jerusalem..but rarely in liberal Tel Aviv with its 24 hour party reputation and where we also found ourselves sitting on “Gay Beach” with overt public displays of affection.

* Feeling the energy in Mahane Yehuda Market (think an ancient Lexington Market) with roasting nuts, baking pita, squeezing juices. Seeing people pop olives or a handful of nuts right into their mouths from piles of product. Watching people push in front of any sort of queue. Eating excessively sweet chocolate rugelach off huge trays hot from the oven.

* Standing on Mt. Bental in the Golan Heights amid the ruins of Syrian fortifications and looking into the distance at Damascus and seeing black smoke rising…while two Israeli fighter jets fly loops overhead parallel to the border setting off sonic booms. Watching Arab Israeli teens on a field trip there jamming music on their iPhones and posing for cameras ignoring their teachers’ history lesson while a separate group of elderly Israelis pick up trash at the site while listening to their guide.

* Spending days walking through the marvel that is the old city of Jerusalem while reading ‘O Jerusalem!’ which describes in detail the war of independence, neighborhood by neighborhood. Imagining weapons caches entering the city piece by piece under women and children’s clothing. Exiting the Damascus gate one day and walking into a Palestinian protest monitored by Israeli police and feeling the tension in the air.

* Driving alongside the massive grey concrete walls separating Jerusalem from the West Bank. Controversial walls debated heavily by Israelis in that they established a boundary and ended economic hopes for many Palestinians who worked in Jerusalem, but also were 100% effective in stopping suicide bombers.

* Walking through Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and coming across memorials where bombs had gone off during the intifadas.

* Seeing young male and female soldiers going home on the weekend to visit their families either in or out of uniform, but always carrying their machine guns. Mandatory service is from age 18 and runs for 3 years for men, 2 for women.

* Traveling to a Druze village in the northern tip of the country under the shadow and snow of Mt. Hebron and standing at the border fence with Syria at ‘Shouting Hill’ where relatives used to communicate back and forth across the border with via megaphones before cellphones and Skype. That night watching the movie ‘The Syrian Bride’ on YouTube, an accessible movie that highlights the issues in this town.

* Learning of the fierce internal debate the country has over orthodox who are exempt from military service and who are paid a stipend to study Torah only (no history, literature, comparative religions, etc.) full time. This scenario was established when there were only a few hundred people applying. Those numbers have ballooned to a significant number. (We heard it was up to 10% of the population.) The participants argue that it is their prayers that keep bombs from falling on Israel. This argument is not well received by taxpayers who are pushing to end the program or, at least, enforce some other civic duty instead of military service.

* Seeing the complicated nature of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where Christ may have died, been anointed and buried) and its numerous denominations sharing space including Ethiopians who live on the roof and cannot leave (even for 10 minutes) or else lose their claim.

* Walking alone for 20 minutes in the pitch black, 100 feet underground sloshing in knee-deep water through a shoulder-width, low roofed, ancient stone water tunnel hoping the $10 Home Depot headlamp does not give out.

* Floating, literally, ON the Dead Sea. It is actually hard to stand up as the water pulls your legs to the surface.

* Standing on the edge of the Sea of Galilee surrounded by tacky, 1970’s construction, dirty water and restricted shore access and having trouble picturing what it must have looked like ‘back then’.

* Standing on a hilltop in Haifa looking down on the beautiful, immaculate Baha’i temple and out at the ocean. ..and learning that night that the Israel Defense Force had shot down a Hezbollah drone offshore in the same area, the same day.

– Harry & Carter

I felt very comfortable in Israel throughout the entire trip and thought often of the many Jewish friends I have had growing up in the United States and various religious ceremonies I have attended in their temples.

I wish I had visited Israel as a teenager. Then, the last thirty years of reading about the country’s role in Middle East events in the New York Times would have had a more personal impact and I would have been able to compare notes with my Jewish friends returning from their trips to Israel.

-Harry

I’m embarrassed to admit it but ever since my dad tried to explain to me the conflict over Israel when I was 13, I sort of put it into my mental pile of unexplainable things- like computer code, car repair, understanding why Japanese tourists take so many pictures, electricity. Right before arrival, I felt downright euphoric to finally see what all the hubbub and my lifetime’s worth of front page articles was all about. From our travels, it was the first time I felt like we were home and didn’t have to say we were from Canada… We felt very safe on the streets as there is little crime. We drove home from a friend’s house after midnight and saw a mom walking her sleepless child through a park and many regular folks enjoying the outside. We thought we’d be 10 days and stayed over 3 weeks. Next time we’ll go into the West Bank, Bethlehem, Ramallah. One last thing, the food, no one told me about the extraordinary food based on vegetables, olives, nuts, dried fruits and exquisite baked goods.

-Carter