Israel, Days 15-16: Kefar Azza, Sha'ar HaNegev, Be'er Sheba, and Unrecognized Bedouin Settlements

Now that I'm back home, and everything is pretty well wrapped up, I'll update everyone on the last few days of our class in Israel. Sunday, we woke up from our stay overnight in Be'er Sheba. We didn't do any touring there as there really isn't a whole lot of history in Be'er Sheba.

So first we headed to a small kibbutz called Kibbutz Kefar Azza. At first this kibbutz would have seemed like any other kibbutz that we had visited, only it had a very different feel. What made it different was that it was located on the border with Gaza. This kibbutz was founded in 1961, 6 years before the war that would bring the Gaza strip under the control of Israel.

The kibbutz had been under relatively peace until the second intifada started in 2004. Rockets, RPGs, and other homemade weapons have bombarded Kefar Azza and it's surrounding area every since. Chen, our guide on the tour of Kefar Azzza, told us that roughly 80% of the children under 18 on the kibbutz suffer from some sort of trauma or stress related to the conditions created by rockets and mortars from Gaza.

It's a strange place to walk around, every home and every building has its own bomb shelter. I got a very eerie feeling. It's got to be such a hard place to live. One minute you could be walking around going about your daily routine, then the code red siren could sound and you would literally have to drop everything your doing and head to the bomb shelter as quickly as you can. I wonder what kind of quality of life you could salvage while living in that kind of environment; I don't think I'd be able to do it.

After Kefar Azza, we went into the regional council area that Kefar Azza is apart of (many kibbutzim have joined together to create a 'regional council' that looks similar to a municipality in the US--many kibbutzim are too small to govern themselves alone so the join forces and pool resources and leadership). We toured the new school--completely fortified to withstand any bomb blast from Gaza. Around the buildings at the school, they've built 28 fortified bus stops, which double as bus stops. In case anyone is outside during a bombing, the shelters are strategically places so that anyone can get from anywhere on the property to a bomb shelter in less than 10 seconds (roughly the amount of time it takes a rocket launched in Gaza to reach Kefar Azza and the surrounding area).

We then headed to Be'er Sheba and the surrounding areas which mainly consist of unrecognized Bedouin settlements--settlements created after the nomadic Bedouins decided to settle in around the Be'er Sheba area. There are a lot of tensions between the Bedouins and Jews, the Bedouins and Palestinians, and the Bedouins and 'assimilated Bedouins'. They are a very proud and very secluded people. Unless you are invited into their home, they don't want you anywhere near them, and when they do invite you in, you're treated like royalty.

The places we visited are known as unrecognized settlements because they were created by nomadic Bedouins who just decided randomly where they were going to settle and expected the Israeli government to pay to have utilities and services sent to them. Just like in the US, you have to pay for land and apply for permits to have services sent to your land, i.e.: roads, water, electricity, sewer, and the like. Because the Bedouins settled such an expansive and distant area, the government decided that unless they move into predetermined areas paid for by the government, they weren't going to provide services. Each man 16 and older was offered a 1/4 acre of land that they could develop (worth roughly $75,000) but many refuse to take they offer because they want to live where they've settled. The main problems now are the unrecognized settlement issues and the coming battle of service provisions. Things are just starting to get heated there, and the battles between Israel and the Bedouins are starting to become intense.

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I enjoyed my time in Israel IMMENSELY. If I had the opportunity to go back, I'd go back in a heartbeat. There is so much rich history and beauty in Israel that I could spend a lifetime exploring there.

Everyday on our trip, I found myself thinking about the incredible complexity of the conflict. Each time we heard from someone on either side of the issue it seemed to get even more complicated. We talked with Bedouins, Christian Palestinians, Muslim Palestinians, Palestinian Israelis (yeah that's a complicated identity for sure!) Jordanians, Religious Jews, Secular Jews, American Jews, and everyone in between. Each time we heard a different story, a different perspective, and a different idea of what was the 'right solution' to the conflict; but one thing we found in common: there isn't one correct solution that will make the issue disappear.

There is no solution to this conflict where everyone comes out a winner, it's not possible. It's zero sum game--whoever gains something, gains it at the loss of the other side. Sure there are swaps and compromises but the essence of a swap or compromise is that you're giving something up in order to reach an agreement.

What I've taken away from this experience is that with radical groups on each side, there will never be a completely peaceful situation because the radicals on both sides won't stop until the other side is gone completely from what the radicals see as their land. It's an unfortunate reality that can only be resolved through education and tolerance which MUST start with the youth on all sides of the issue. Until the children from Gaza and the children from Kefar Azza can see each other as equals there will not be a peaceful ending to this conflict. When the 3rd grader from Sha'ar HaNegev can meet with the third grader from Gaza and not harbor any hatred, we know there is again a possibility for peace.

The sad thing is that it appears that the youth on both sides are only becoming more and more radicalized, and they're moving apart... One thing we heard from almost everyone--Palestinians and Jews--the greatest and likely last chance at peace was lost when Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by a Jewish zealot. Palestinians were going to get almost everything they had in 1967 and the Jews were so excited about peace that they (most of them anyway) were willing to give what it took for peace between two states. But when Yitzhak Rabin was murdered, many believe peace died with him.

Israel, Day 5: Tel Aviv-Jaffa

This has been a great a great day so far. We were allowed to sleep in until 10am today. It was glorious. I feel so rested that after I post this I think I'm going to go out on an adventure in Tel Aviv! :D

The highlight of the day was our discussion at the group meeting this evening. We were talking about the things that we've noticed and have been thinking about since our last group discussion (three days ago) and we got onto the topic of the Palestinian perspective and how we all agree that it has been lost on our trip. We have a WONDERFUL tour guide named Amir. He's an Israeli native who grew up in Jerusalem on a kibbutz. His family helped fight in the war of independence in 1948 and he has been a part of the Labor party ever since he could vote. Although we all love Amir, his perspective is blatantly biased towards the Israeli side of every issue. Although it's great to hear the Israeli's side to every event, we would rather have that side also told with the opposing (or not so opposing) view point from the Palestinians.

There is a nice quality to learning about a topic and you hear about it from more than one (or even two) sides. I feel like we're incredibly heavy on the Israeli side and it makes it extremely difficult to sift through all the information without opposing view points. The other day, we talked with a Palestinian Christian named Ibrihim. He explained to us that many Palestinians don't believe what most of the Arab countries believe, he thinks that there should be a peaceful end to the conflict, and he believes that Israel should be the one and only state that exists on the land.

To many of you, this may seem shocking, "How could a Palestinian want Israel to be the only state that prevails out of the two state conflict that exists today?!" Well it's actually a relatively easy but unrealized answer. Ibrihim is Christian, a very small minority in the Israel and the rest of the Middle East these days. The Christians are all pushing for either an Arab nationalist state or the State of Israel to prevail out of the conflict. Christians know they will be heavily persecuted if Palestine prevails and an Islamic republic is installed, because under an Islamic republic, Islam is the one and only allowable religion. Therefore, if a secular Arab state or a Jewish state is created or kept in power, the Christians will be left largely alone and they will most likely not be affected.

Beautiful view of a mosque which sits roughly 20 feet from the Mediterranean Sea.

The rest of the day today besides discussing the Palestinian side of the conflict was spent touring Tel Aviv and the old city of Jaffa (they are now considered to be the same city). The first site (and only) site we stopped at in Tel Aviv was the site where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a religious Jewish zealot. Rabin was the first Prime Minister of Israel to open talks directly with Yasser Arafat. He was willing to make concessions and deal directly with Arafat to create a solid and lasting peace with the Palestinian people. Shortly after his announcement of planned peace talks at the Tel Aviv government square, Rabin was shot in the back three times by a radical religious Jew who was mad at Rabin for even suggesting negotiating territory away with the Palestinians.

Memorial for Yitzhak Rabin.

After we left the site of Rabin's assassination, we headed to the old city of Jaffa, and toured the currently-being-revitalized port and old city district in Jaffa. There is a beautiful contrast of old and new in Jaffa. Many old buildings that have fallen deep into disrepair are brought back from the brink of devastation and given new life by wealthy real estate moguls who want to revitalize the 'tired city of Jaffa'. We stopped at two places in the old city that really stood out for me. We stopped at the shop of a Yemenite Jew who immigrated from Yemen right before WWII. This man, Ben Zion David makes Yemeni jewelry, mainly out of silver, using generations old tools and techniques that have been handed down through his family since the 1700s. After observing some silversmith-ing at work, we moved on to a very special theater. Its name is Please Touch, its a theater company in which all the actors are blind, deaf, or both. This theater was one of the first things in the dilapidated old port district of Jaffa that is now being beautifully renovated. This theater company has captured region wide appraisal for it's incredible contribution to the community, and the world of artwork--where no disabilities can prevent you from creating your own kind of are.

David Ben Zion, the Yemenite silversmith who showed us his craft by creating a piece of jewelry in 10 minutes. It was incredible!

The theater company's review by the Guardian: "It's a test of theater itself, the way good work can communicate across the boundaries of darkness and silence."

That's all I have for this day. Tomorrow we'll be heading to Haifa, the 'working city' in Israel! Stay tuned!