Shaloooom!!
Today I woke up early, in spite of a killer sinus headache, and took the 30 minute bus ride to the kindergarten for a day of volunteering. I got there to discover that today is an important Muslim holiday and therefore there is no school. I probably should have known about this holiday on my own but it also would have been nice to have been informed of the school holiday. Bummer. So I took the bus back home and am lying in bed with nothing to do --> perfect blogging opportunity!
Last week I went on two, yes TWO fun-filled field trips!
The first one was for a class I'm taking called (try saying this in one breath) Jewish Israelis and Palestinian Arabs: Identity in Conflict and Dialogue, a Social-Psychological Perspective. The field trip was titled "Side Seeing around Jerusalem" (hardiharhar) and we did just that - saw the different sides of the story of Israeli Independence as it relates to Jerusalem.
Our first stop was to an abandoned town called Lifta. Lifta is situated at the very entrance to Jerusalem, between two important highways. It is wedged into a little valley and people pass it every day without knowing it's there. I sure didn't. Its placement at the entrance to Jerusalem made it a crucial stronghold in the 1948 War and from the Jewish perspective it was very important to capture Lifta. Eventually they did, and the residents of Lifta both fled and were expelled, some to neighboring countries and others to a new neighborhood in Jerusalem, coincidentally exactly where the Hebrew University is located.
Here is a view of Lifta and the abandoned houses
We were walking around old Lifta and learning about the history when we happened upon an interesting sight: A previous resident of Lifta was talking to a group of young lefty-looking Americans while standing on what used to be his family's home. It turned out the Yanks were from San Francisco (surprise surprise) and were representatives from a group called Dialogue Against Militarism and Iraq Veterans Against the War. They were making a movie of this man's story, and we were lucky enough to hear the story of Lifta from a genuine Lifta resident. Because of my experience at the Arava Institute I was pretty familiar with the details of Palestinian Refugees, but many of my classmates were raised with mostly a Zionist narrative and it was powerful to watch as they realized some realities about the founding of their beloved Israel that had remained in the shadows for them. Tough stuff to say the least.
A native Lifta resident on the ruins of his family's home
After this visit we went to see the other side - what's left of a small Jewish village on the outskirts of Jerusalem that has been there since 1860. Similarly, we were spoken to by a man whose grandparents had come to this village in the 1880's or 90's and lived there harmoniously for years with their Arab neighbors. He speaks Hebrew and Arabic because his family worked with and learned from their neighbors, and until the 1948 war they coexisted and even cooperated to live in the harsh circumstances of pre-state Palestine. Fighting broke out here during the war and, as per usual, neighbor turned on neighbor. :(
On the left is the man whose family is from this village,
on the right our fearless guide Chen
Then we went and ate delicious Hummus in Abu Ghosh, one of the only large, thriving Arab villages that remained in this area after the war. Yum.
The gang enjoying their Hummus
We also went to a military cemetery and an amazing look-out point in Har Adar. Here I will interrupt the field trip recounting for what I think is a fun little photo experience: Har Adar is one of the first places I went when I came to Israel the first time two years ago with my friend Dana Bar-El. Here are two pictures of me in the same place, two years apart. Fun, right?
Now
Then
We learned a lot of history on this field trip that I won't bore you with, but it was quite informative and eye-opening in many ways. When we got back we had the first of a two-part lecture on narrative. The first lecture was "The Palestinian Narrative" as told by a Palestinian professor from Ramallah, the second was "The Jewish/Israeli Narrative" as told by a Jewish professor at Hebrew U. In a lot of ways I think the effort to hear THE SINGLE NARRATIVE of each side is futile - there isn't one. And I won't go into the details of what was said by each side, but suffice it to say that each time I hear these opposing narratives I feel less and less hopeful about ever finding a resolution to the reality here. I also find myself more and more confused about how I feel - both sides infuriate and inspire me at the same time. Ugh.
I don't think I can write about this anymore without driving myself crazy, so let us move on to the second field trip. This one was to Har Herzl, or Mount Herzl, also in Jerusalem. This field trip was for my class entitled From Pioneer and Sabra to Contemporary Israeli Identity. This class is really remarkable, and the field trip was also quite neat. We visited Har Herzl to learn about the Civil Religion of Israel. Many of the important leaders of early Zionism are buried there, as are most of the past Prime Ministers and Presidents, including Golda Meir and Rabin. There is also a military cemetery for soldiers who are from Jerusalem and fell during their service. We witnessed an interesting phenomenon - recently the families of these fallen soldiers have petitioned to be allowed to add a personal plaque in addition to the uniform army gravestone. These plaques include writing that ranges from quotes from the Torah to information about how the soldier was a great brother or loved the Phillies. We talked about how this signifies the increasing importance of individualism in Israel, a country that was founded with Socialist ideals, and how some critiques say that these details make it difficult to mourn for every soldier equally. Interesting stuff.
What else? Oh, we had a lovely Shabbat dinner with tons of our close friends from the Kibbutz at my dear friends Katie and Gil's house. Katie and Gil are recently married as many of you will remember and it was really nice to join them at their new Shabbat table and enjoy the meal with close friends.
I must admit I'm getting rather homesick with today being Thanksgiving and all. It is easy for these important-to-me holidays to go by unnoticed in this foreign place. Luckily, Matan and I have been invited to a dear friend of the Hoffman family's house (people who are from the States) to celebrate. While it won't be the same as celebrating with my family (i miss you guys!!!!) it will be nice to have someone's family and the delicious meal to enjoy.
Before I go I will take a minute to be publicly thankful: I am thankful for my family, for the joy that I get from sharing life with them, how proud I am to be a part of them, and for how supportive they have been of my journey over these past years. You guys are seriously out of this world. I am thankful for my dear friends, near and far, and to those of you who are reading this - I am so lucky to have you all around. I am thankful for Matan for both the basic (cooking every night, studying massage and needing to practice) and the profound (helping me become who I am, sharing each day). And lastly I am thankful that I have been privileged with the ability to decide who I want to be and what I want to do in my life. What a blessing.
I wish you all the very best during this, my favorite of Holidays. Remember that this girl who is somewhere around 7,000 miles away is thinking of you all and missing you very much.
Kate
P.S. For my dear mother, who has been begging me to take pictures of school since I got here. Sorry mama, I just took the one, but this is the view from where I study. Pretty nice if I may say so myself.
