Holiday and Tides

Passover holiday ended this week, and it has been very enriching. The only bad was this week, the sunny and abundant heat has been replaced with damp and cold. I didn't do any extreme travelling, mainly just along the coast, to the city and a lot of chilling and hanging out with friends But probably the highlight of the Pesach here was to be able to completely follow it (completely to me). 

In America, I have never been very observant of it outside a not-very-religious-Seder. Here, the Seder I actually choose to participate in was a religious  Seder, complete with Karpas, mar-or, the questions, wine and everything. I almost questioned if I would feel too out of place, but it was a great experience and it confirmed my belief that the Chabad are very welcoming to all denominations and levels of observance. Now I am proud to say I  am familiar with the religious aspect of the Seder.  Here, even if you did not want to observe Pesach you are kind of forced too. The Chametz aisles are closed off and many restaurants are closed. Of course, you have Tif-Tam store if you just wanted to go out of the way to break the rules. 

Also, here there is not only the hard Matza (the only thing largely available in my area in USA), there are many K+  soft and fresh breads available, and you can even find pizza places that are Kosher L'Pesach. In Texas I deal without- and in my case suffer, because I am large bread eater, but here there are options, that while not as tasty at least imitate a normal piece of bread. April 2015 is full of memorial and holidays.

This Thursday I am going to Yad Vashem for Yom Hashoah (Holocaust memorial day). Next week will have Hazikaron (Veteran Day), and Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day). I think the Yom Hashoah will be very moving and possibly depressing, but I hope it ends on a inspiring note. Though the Palestinian Nakba day is on May 15, I will attend some sort of meeting in Jerusalem on the 27th. At my work in addition to my routine, we did have some delegation visits including a visit of American High School students to the Bedouin students in Rahat. My project tour continues in its design stage and time is flying so fast it is no longer so clear when will be the first launch date. I was also selected to be a participant in the Masa Leadership Summit. It was a full room and board week in Jerusalem to connect young people from around the world and provide "leadership seminars". I  alone made friends from Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, France and India, but even more countries were represented. The time here has been invaluable and as my end date comes quicker and quicker time truly fly's.

 The Spring is here and the flowers are blossoming in my apartments community garden.

Hebron

The school days come and go too fast and my day at the non-profit never seems to be long enough and between activities and Arabic and Hebrew, time is a valuable commodity. I have chosen to launch a tour in Rahat as my personal project. It is in the base designing stage, but I am really hoping that it is able to be a success, at least to me. I went on a trip to see Sderot (the capital of rocket-receiving in Israel) and Ayalon institute. I really liked the Ayalon Institute which was  a secret underground bullet factory that the Haganah initiated when the British Mandate was controlling Palestine, as they would not allow people to have weapons and would even execute those that were manufacturing weapon accessories.

I want to talk about my trip to Hebron (Al Khaleel). I will say what I heard and learned for those of you that are not familiar with the issues. I am not too familiar with the state of events there before 1900. I do know  before 1929 there was a fairly thriving Jewish community living in Hebron with the Muslim majority. Hadassah hospital even provided free medical care for the towns members and it was a fairly harmonious union. In 1929 Arab rioters slaughtered some 64 to 67 Jewish men, women and children (largely the Ashkenazi Jews, but also some Sepharidic) The majority that survived did so through the help of Arab neighbors who hid them in their home. Some Hebron Arabs, including Ahmad Rashid al-Hirbawi, president of Hebron chamber of commerce, supported the return of Jews after the massacre.

In 1968 Kiryat Arba ( A Jewish settlement that is internationally viewed as illegal established itself in occupied Hebron). I personally do not see why settlers can not just stay in Kiryat Arba (it is nice and big) instead of going to the center of Hebron and forcing people out of homes so Jewish settlers can live there.

Currnetly, there are 5 illegal settlements in Hebron. But, what angers me and many people is more of the actions of the settlers than the settlements. I will not explain everything, but there is often excessive police force, unjust arrest, home invasions and collective punishments. The settlers I do not think all are bad but many are. I want to go spend more time there, so I can get a better picture of how often there is settler violence. I know they routinely throw stones at the Palestinians homes and when Palestinians are working on there farmland settlers often attack them, and the occupying Israeli forces often do not arrest them, though if a Palestinian throws a stone all hell beaks loose. There is a shameful lack of accountability on the Israel side. With that being said I also do not think all the Israeli forces (occupying approximately 20% of the city) are all bad. There are also many Israeli organizations that do work with the Palestinians to try to prevent settler attacks,  such as helping them shepherd sheep or pick olives, though they often end up arrested or attacked also.

I happened to be there for the Open Shuhada street demonstrations via YAS. Shuhada street is a hot point because after a Jewish settler killed more than 25 Palestinians while they were praying at a mosque the IDF subsequently closed it, forcible evicting many tenants and homeowners. Additionally, though out the old area of Hebron, settlers continue to violently harass local residents, without a doubt to make them want to move to the Palestinian controlled area. In 2007 the IDF ruled it illegally closed and it was opened for 3 days with settlers children throwing stones on passing Palestinians and internationals, with 0 arrest. Since then it remains closed simply, "citing disturbances". 

I sadly feel, here in Israel, there is a complete under-education of the realities of occupying an area. I can also say that everyone I met (the Palestinians) were welcoming me of being Jewish, the only time I felt discriminated against was from the Israeli forces which barred me entry when stated I Jewish so I returned later when the soldiers rotated and learned to just state Atheism to the forces. (*Not all the soldiers were discriminatory) I found it very discriminatory to be asked of religion at a checkpoint.

 Above Left- Net to protect the Arab Residents form Jewish Settlers throwing trash at market. Right-Tombs of Patriarchs in Ibrahimi Mosque. Center- Jewish side at Tombs.

 

 Pathway divided, with the Arab residents getting the tiny, mostly unpaved left side.

I stayed at Salam Guest House
Hebron is Easy to arrive from Be'er Sheva or Jerusalem. For some facts:
http://www.btselem.org/topic/hebron
http://www.cpt.org/category/cptnet-categories/south-hebron-hills
Soldiers testimonies

...To the end of my first month

So much time has passed so quickly. I am more settled into the school now and have a semi-routine. We learn some but for me a big part of my day is spent just having fun with the kids afterward and enjoying our time. I have also been busy helping with  intern tasks in the NGO. ( A New Dawn )

Apart from all my work, Hebrew and Arabic class have been coming along but I am very much glad for these. A surprising number of Israelis have very little English skills at the market and stores, and the kids enjoy to hear me try to talk in Arabic. They like that my Arabic is on the same level as their English, and when we do learn some new words they will also make me to say and write the Arabic.

 I also began to participate in an after school program at the high school located next to Al-Salam. We have only met twice so far, but I hope to be able to connect more with them over the next several months.

Because  I am in a program that is also sponsored in part by Masa, I get to go on trips around Israel pertaining to Jewish identity. For the month of June we went to a farming community in the southern desert along the Egyptian border. The vegetables were huge and delicious. It was very cool to see green fields surrounded by sand, where historically nothing has ever grown, also to see a Zionist vision within non-disputed Israeli territory.

 I was able to participate in a visit with local Bedouin youth, alongside A New Dawn, to the new Sodastream factory in Rahat, It has moved from its' controversial previous location in occupied territory of the west bank to Rahat, Israel.

 After a nice tour with the youth, a lunch and free Sodastream soda,-(Which I can now recommend the machine, very healthy and no longer controversial)- the company arranged for us a nice Tu Bishvat planting activity. It began with the youth and us decorating our pots and we were soon joined in by local workers.

 It was very en-lighting to see so many happy people, from a variety of backgrounds talking and laughing. It was a very nice example of Jews, Arabs, and others in peace-which I have been told was also the case at their previous factory. Along us were religious and secular Jews, Bedouin Arabs, Russians and African migrants and others all together. It was very much a breath of fresh air, especially after the events that recently plagued Rahat.





I also went to see Israeli political parties debate in English in Tel Aviv over issues. It was surprisingly interesting. I wish American candidates would provide be so blunt.

 This week some the adventures of exploring Rahat have begun. I went to the indoor market-> and with such great food options, I was still not able to resist the lull of AFC ^^^. I am looking forward to what February brings.

First Day in Be'er Sheva and on-hands in A New Dawn

The best word I can use to describe Be'er Sheva is in-progress. There is construction and revitalization everywhere, especially because of the growing student population. I live in an area that seems to be mostly students, and new-immigrants from Russia, Africa, and Middle Eastern countries, and some low-income residents.



My first impression of Rahat, is that is is clearly a newer city, with a plethora of food options that I can't wait to try and I look forward to interacting with the very curious (as to who I am) locals.












I was able to participate in the Al-Salam Elementary schools' English camp on its last day. The students are excited, over-energetic and love music, and surprising to me they almost all love to dance-including the boys.

On the first week, I also took part in a visit by representatives from the German Embassy, a Lutheran Group that Works in the West Bank, and University students from an Israeli and American University whom all came to learn about the Bedouin people, current challenges and Rahat. I also will be here for the opening of the new and nearly complete Jewish-Bedouin Center in Rahat, which A New Dawn hopes to use to host a variety of educational and entertaining activities.

I feel in this first week alone, I know more about the Bedouin that many Jewish-Israelis that are born here. I learned about the "semi-forced" relocation plans, the history and the plethora of challenges and lack of resources that the government planned Bedouin relocation cities face, such as unemployment and educational opportunities.

Awesome Bedouin Meal

 I also visited a un-recognized village, that technically

could be demolished and had a great meal and learning session, along with fellow do-gooders.

Arrival To Be'er Sheva

On January 5th, I met with my program coordinator in Jerusalem.

After a short bus ride,

we arrived in Be'er Sheva and I settled into my housing.



I was very surprised, that some type of Mexican Food exist here.

                                                                                  It's not the same as Que Taco.

I had a busy week of introductions ahead, settling in, exploring and learning, so

The University in Be'er Sheva.

I went to Sleep...