Working in the Village

Today was a big work day in the village. Every few months, on Friday, everyone stays here and helps clean and finish building the village. Boaz was in charge of the group fixing up and making new gardens. I was helping finish the paths to the lower caravans. That meant lugging wheelbarrows full of dirt or pebbles from one end of the village to the other and then finding giant rocks and carrying them to the caravans to use as the edges of the new gardens. Needless to say, I am very tired right now. Thank God it's Shabbat tonight and I can relax.

I know I have been lacking in Shoko pictures recently, so here a some of him relaxing in his favorite spots.

MAPMES does Hevron

Last Friday, I went with MAPMES (my masters program) on a tour of Hebron, guided by Breaking the Silence. Breaking the Silence is a left-wing organization of former soldiers who gather testimonies from ex-soldiers/reservists in order to expose IDF activities they see as immoral and bring about change in policy. The soldiers who led our group served in Hevron for three years and showed us the area where they were stationed. In that time, they say roughly 13,000 Palestinians moved out of their homes due to the intolerable economic conditions purposefully created by the IDF. Not the sort of thing that fills my Zionist-heart up with pride.

We drove through a number of checkpoints in order to get to the city. Here's the famous "Apartheid Wall" everyone hears so much about. Looks a lot like a fence to me. The fact that this is 97% of the barrier doesn't seem matter to CNN or BBC since the 3% that is a wall (because of the amount of shooting in those areas) makes for much better TV.

This is a Palestinian factory that makes most of the cement for Israeli communities in the West Bank (i.e. settlements).

I wonder if the man in the red vehicle below got the freeze order.

The beautiful, rolling Judean hillsides on the way to Hevron.

The first place we stopped at once we got to the city was Kahane Park. It's named after "Rabbi" Meir Kahane, who's racist Kach party was banned from the Knesset because it was, well, racist. When I asked the guide why the government funds a park named after a man banned from the government, he didn't have an answer.

Appropriately, in Kahane park is the grave of Baruch Goldstein, who on 25 February 1994, went into the Tomb of the Patriarchs and shot dead 29 praying Palestinians and wounded over a hundred others. The inscription on his grave and on the Kahane's plaque read:

"He was a lover of Israel, Great in the Torah, a Hero in Action and a Martyr."

Goldstein's grave continues with a biblical quote, "He was of clean hands and a pure heart."

Isn't it great when terrorists are praised in such beautiful language? Ugh. Why can't the crazies stay out of my religion?

Here's a view of the city.

And here's a view of the "ghost town" that we walked through. The main shuk used to be right here; now it's completely empty and Palestinians aren't allowed to drive in this area and can only walk in certain places.

This is an illegal outpost that has been built and destroyed nearly 40 times. Go law-enforcement!

Here's our guide telling us about something. Right before this, the other guide gave a pamphlet to a soldier on duty that explained to him the things he was and wasn't legally obligated to do. He seemed grateful.

On the right is a destroyed Palestinian house.

Here are some settlers riding horses.

Palestinians walking to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. A few minutes later, a settler drove by and called us anti-Semites. Good times.

Here I am in front of Ma'arat HaMachpelah/Tomb of the Patriarchs. Due to a longwinded settler, we didn't get to go inside. So what if it's one of the holiest places in the world, why should we take an extra 5 minutes?

This is a wall our guide put up that closed off the "only" meat market in Hevron. He said they had a party when they closed it since they all hated guarding it, until one of them pointed out, as they ate dinner, that no one else in the city would be having meat. It is sad a regrettable, but I can't help but think that in a city of well over 100,000 people, there must have been another market, that's just bad business to have only one. Maybe that's what happens when you don't let Jews in the rest of your city.

These four murals, show the history of the city of Hevron (as shown by the settlers). It isn't exactly inaccurate, but there are a few interesting points to them. There aren't any Arabs pictures in them.

Here is the founding of the city in biblical-times.

Here is the city in pre-modern times, with Sephardi Jews settling in after the Expulsion.

This shows the destruction of the community during the Arab riots of 1929. The settler we spoke to later on showed us the memorial to the fallen in the Hevron Museum. I think it is very interesting how when victimhood is so deeply ingrained in one's psyche that it prevents them from recognizing the suffering and victimization of others. This was clearly shown when he flat-out said no Palestinians had been evicted (they have been) and refused to countenance any similarities between the 1929 riot murders and those who were murdered by Goldstein.

Here is Hevron after it's Liberation during the Six-Day War. You'll notice the Israeli flag has been colored in Orange in honor of the anti-Disengagement movements. It was cut off in my photo, but on the bottom right-hand corner, the Messiah is riding in on a donkey.

Here are some Palestinians about to go through a checkpoint.

Some interesting graffiti. It's a copy of a popular bumper sticker reading "I *heart* *Jewish Star/Israel*" but here the Jewish start has been painted over with a Palestinian Flag.

A view of the rest of the city through a hole in the wall. I remember them saying there was 75% unemployment, though I find it hard to believe that a city with over 100,000 people, that looks so bustling, could have so many tens of thousands out a work.

Here is our other guide arguing with the police. Later on the cops stopped us from going into a Palestinian area to meet with a family. Though, now I'm wondering if there really was a family at all, or if they just brought us there so we would see them fight with the police.

All in all, it was a very interesting trip and I'm glad I went. But it such a charged area that I feel like everyone we spoke to (Breaking the Silence, the settlers...) gave us a skewed view of things.

Independence Day !!! יום העצמאות

Yom HaAtzmaut in Israel is so much fun. I took the bus to Be'er Sheva and then had to talk halfway across the city to Yoni's because the center was closed off for the big party. Yoni and I got ready, grabbed some beers and then headed to where the party was. But when we got there, security wouldn't let us in with the beer. So we called Andrea, Yishai and Loren and had them come meet us at the gate and drink them.

The party was packed with people from all over Be'er Sheva. I saw a bunch of Arab families there also. Whether they came because they want to celebrate or just because it's a party doesn't really matter to me; seems like it's a step in the right direction.

Shiri Maimon (below) sang and so did an Israeli rapper (though no one I asked had any idea who he was).

Ian was there without his bandana, looking like Frodo Baggins.

Anwar came too.

The fireworks were actually really good. It was a little weird though when they shot some over the crowd and they crashed into the building on the other side. Since that building is an IDF memorial, I'm assuming they were aiming over it and not at it. But still...

After the concert we got some champagne and drank it on the way to Munchilla.

Rare footage of Andrea drinking.

They turned our favorite chill bar into a dance club covered in Israeli flags. Exhibit A: Shalev shows his Zionist Pride.

The next day, we went over to Ohad's for some good ol' Israeli BBQ. Here's Yishai and Yalee preparing.

Here's a typical building in Be'er Sheva on Yom HaAtzmaut. Covered in flags! Can't wait for next year.

Memorial Day יום הזיכרון

Tonight Yom HaZikaron, Memorial Day, begins in Israel. I went to the ceremony at the local memorial in Dimona where the entire city had gathered. I walked there with Orr and Mor and we got there a minute before the siren rang. It is a very interesting and, I think, fitting custom. If you're at a memorial, it helps mark the beginning and sets a very somber tone; but if you're not a memorial and if you're making an effort not to commemorate the day, you are forced to because the siren can't be ignored.

The ceremony began with with prayers read by the Chief Rabbi of Dimona and another important local rabbi (who happened to be an American oleh). As the Chief Rabbi read the prayer for Gilad Shalit, his voice began to falter and he had trouble maintaining his composure.

High School girls read poems the pain of loss and the cruelty of time on those who survive the fallen, interspersed with some somber songs. Then they read out the names of everyone from Dimona who died in service or in terrorist attacks since 1948. It took a long time, but everyone stayed where they were and there was complete silence as we all listened. After all the names were read, we stood for HaTikvah.

When we finished HaTikvah and everyone dispersed, some of us walked over to a smaller ceremony for a soldier from Dimona who was recently killed. At the beginning, Noam Shalit, Gilad's father, spoke. It is amazing he still has the ability and strength to go on speaking at events like this after nearly four years. Mourning on memorial day is hard enough, but to be kept in limbo, as the Shalit family has, must be intolerable. To get up in front of everyone and say "גלעד עדיין חי" "Gilad is still alive," is nothing short of amazing.

On our way back home, Stav asked me what I thought about Israeli Memorial Day and how it compared to the American Memorial Day. I told her how it is a shame that in America, unless you were in the army or know someone personally who died, Memorial Day is just a day off from work. It's a day of shopping for sales and going to BBQs. It has lost almost all meaning and it is only in Israel that I ever felt the day truly respected.

Thursday

Today I did more math tutoring. I was supposed to help with English, but when I got to the school, there was no class and apparently no one thought they needed to call me and let me know. So instead I helped out with on of the math classes. It was even worse that usual. They were all over the place and I don't really like it when I yell more than I teach. It seems so sisyphean because I can't see any of these kids passing their Bagrut at the end of High School. But I guess there's nothing else I can do except keep on teaching.

When I got back I finished my presentation for Palestinian Society class about an article examining the 1911 Haram ash-Sharif Incident. It is a wonderful incident of Palestinian overreaction and gullibility, complete with accusations of desecration and rumors of a massacre. Fun stuff. Now I can enjoy Yom HaAtzmaut without that hanging over my head.

Boaz found a nice chair on the street, so we went a brought it back. When we got here, Mor stopped by with some shakshuka. It was delicious. Then we ran outside to find some camels just passing through the front of the village. I couldn't see their bedouin, but I'm sure they weren't far away. Shoko stood guard and made sure the camels didn't come too close.

Now I'm off to Be'er Sheva for Anwar and Colby's birthday parties. Woo!