Tour of Hebron with Breaking the Silence

This past Monday, Myself along with my fellow Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv participants and friends went on a guided tour through Breaking the Silence in Hebron. For those that do not know what Hebron is, it is a city located in the southern part of the West Bank, or Occupied Palestinian Territory, really which ever you want to call it. It is an important city in the Monotheistic religions due to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. In Hebron, it is said that Abraham had bought a cave for the burial place of Sarah. Later the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, with the exception of Rachel, were to be buried there. It was also the capital of King David's Kingdom before he moved it to Jerusalem. Today politically speaking, the city is a microcosm of the conflict. Hebron is interesting in that it is also a settlement, as well as a Palestinian city with most of its Jewish settlers living in Kiryat Arba, and Area H2. Area H2 is the designated Israeli controlled area of the city under the Oslo Accords, while the rest of Hebron is in Area H1 and Palestinian Authority control. With that said, there is more to the history which I will get to later on Hebron.

We were guided through the city on a tour with a group called Breaking the Silence. Breaking the Silence is a peace organization which takes personal accounts of Israeli soldiers of their time spent serving in Hebron and the rest of the West Bank. Besides collecting personal testimonies, they give tours of Hebron to Israelis, and foreigners.

With some background information on Hebron and Breaking the Silence, the real information is coming now. We learned that Hebron for much of its history had a Jewish community. It had waves of Jewish life including Sephardi Jews coming and settling after the Spanish Inquisition. This Jewish community however declined and ceased to exist in fact after a massive riot perpetrated by the Arab population of the city. It is claimed that it was incited by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the time Haj Amin Al Husseini. The riot was a massacre. The lives of 67 Jews were taken during the riot. There would be zero Jewish presence in the city besides one person until 1968. This Jewish presence would not have been possible if it were not for the IDF's incredible victory in the Six Day War in 1967. A group of Religious Zionist Israelis were allowed to spend the Pesach(Passover) in 1968. They did not leave after Pesach, and created a settlement in Hebron around Beit Hadassah, which used to be a hospital up until the 1929 massacre. Most of the Israeli settlers living in Hebron live in the main settlement of Kiryat Arba, which is on the outskirts of the city and has a population of around 7,000. For the Israeli Settlers, they are governed under civilian administration. the Palestinians however are under Military occupation in H2 and Palestinian Authority rule in H1. This means that there are two different sets of laws for the residents of the city. Tension between the settlers and the Palestinians would begin with settler violence in 1994 when Dr. Baruch Goldstein went into the Muslim section of the Tomb of the Patriarchs are began shooting. He would kill 29 before being murdered by onlookers. This would begin a period in time of inter communal violence, not to mention the Second Intifada. Now, much of the market is closed. the main commercial street of Hebron Shuhada St. is closed Palestinian traffic. The city now is experiencing over 70%  unemployment. It is a empty town filled with people. It is surreal. It is like a completely different world. To know that the city market is closed due to violence perpetrated by Settlers on Arabs, and Arabs on Settlers is horrible to know. Its terrible to know fellow Jews can perpetrate such atrocities is even more disgusting. Later on in the day we met with a Palestinian peace activist by the name of Issa. It was a very emotionally charged visit. I could tell by his tone of voice how he yearned for freedom. For a country of his own. For the reopening of the market. For Hebron to be a place he is proud of. We also went to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. It was different from any other religious  Jewish site I have been to. I wished to see the tombs, but apparently they are located in the Muslim section which is closed to non Muslims.  It did not seem to evoke the same feelings as the Kotel does. It seemed quiet and quite odd. We also met with a representative of the Jewish community in Hebron. We learned about the history of Jewish Hebron and what the situation is like for them.

When the day ended, I was glad I had the opportunity to have been in Hebron. For me, seeing the city market empty was heartbreaking. To know that because of violence this place is empty. It kills me. This is why there needs to be dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. Hebron is the reason for Palestinians and Israelis to return to the negotiation table. During my time in Hebron, my friends and I saw Palestinian men and children come up to us and grab what ever they could, tried to sell us trinkets, and even bluntly said give me money. It is horrible to see this children and men doing such things. This however is the situation. It makes me hope for a brighter future, for both Israelis and Palestinians and the hope that they can live side by side be it in their own states.

Volunteering at Lasova

As part of my volunteering with Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv, I would go every Sunday and Wednesday to volunteer at Lasova. Lasova is a soup kitchen located near the Central Bus Station in South Tel Aviv. When the doors open at 10:30 in the morning till they close at 2:00 in the afternoon, people come in and eat for a shekel. We ask them for at least a shekel. While volunteering at Lasova, I saw the same people come in almost every time I volunteered. It was as if there was an attendance list. You will find homeless people, drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, the elderly, and those Israelis that cannot afford to live and buy food for themselves. Just by volunteering at Lasova, I saw a microcosm of the issues society faces as a whole here in Israel and all over the world. The rising costs of living, alcoholism, prostitution, homelessness, and drug addiction for example. It made me thankful for being where I am. For having a roof over my head and bed. It also got me thinking about what the Israeli government is doing for these people. I questioned whether keeping these people fed is the solution or continuing the situation these people are in. Is there affordable housing for the homeless? Is there free drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers? Instead of giving them fish, we should be teaching them how to get the fish. In this situation however it does not deal with fish. Its a good metaphor for the situation many of these Israelis are in.

Including volunteers, there Israelis that were doing their community service for committing crimes. There was one man who kept on saying "Fuck You". I think he did not really know what he was saying. Other volunteers were very nice and friendly. I could talk politics to sports with them. To summarize the people that I met while volunteering at Lasova I can use a certain line of the song Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town, "I've been to college, I have been to school, I have met the people you read about in books,". I met some crazy characters while volunteering at Lasova. Many Russian immigrants come in and think that just because of my skin color I should speak Russian. Which is far from true. In general, Lasova was a very raw experience. There was zero sugar coating. It was the real thing. Even though I will not return to volunteer there next session, I am glad I volunteered there. It was a great experience and I will never forgot it.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today if you did not know is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. All over the world, people are taking the time out of their days and lives to remember those that were murdered in the Holocaust or Shoah. I see things a little differently however. Many of the survivors of the Holocaust are passing away, and so does the history. For instance, today I read that 1 of 4 survivors is living in poverty. HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN? There are many people who believe the Holocaust never happened. There are also people who want to see the "Final Solution" actually take place. Antisemitism in general is still very prevalent in today's Europe. Just look at Anti-Semitic political parties growing in Hungary and  in Greece. To see Anti-Semitic acts of violence in France, which  culminated in the Toulouse massacre of Jewish school children and their Rabbi. Now today Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, defended the actions of Mussolini at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony. This is shocking to me to hear a head of state say such a thing. Wait, Ahmadinejad denies the whole Holocaust so I take that statement back. I find it just rude and insensitive.

What infuriates me more is that some people take the time on Holocaust remembrance days to probe the Israeli Palestinian Conflict  .A few years ago, I was on my university campus and heard someone say "I hate how the Jews always say never again." This quite frankly pissed me off so much that went to the person and told them how completely insensitive and ignorant her comment was. I responded by telling her, " Do you know what if feels like to be senselessly murdered? Do you know what it means to singled out just because you were born into a certain group? Do you know what it feels like to survive and know that the rest of your family perished?" To this the person decided to tell me that genocide happened again, the Palestinians have been persecuted. People in Sudan, Rwanda, and Cambodia have experienced genocide. I could not believe this person related the Holocaust to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For me at least, the conflict should never be mentioned in the same sentence as the Holocaust. There is no systematic concentration camps found in the West Bank, Gaza, and other Arab nations where Palestinian refugees reside. Do you see Palestinians  being thrown into gas chambers awaiting their inevitable death? Do you see an Israeli Eugenics program trying to explain why Israelis and Jews are scientifically more suit to living than Palestinians? Is there an Israeli Josef Mengele doing experiments on Palestinians to see how they react? The answer is simply no. Yes I agree with the fact that the Palestinians should have the right to self-determination. I agree that atrocities have occurred to the Palestinians. The only thing that hurts me is that people compare the two events. They are separate and should be kept separate. This is my rant. I am sorry, but this is my opinion. We should take time in our day today to remember the lives that perished for no other reason but for being Jewish. We should remember Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek, Belzec, and Chelmno. We should remember those that fought for their freedom to life in the ghettos of Warsaw. We should remember those that risked their lives, just so that did the right thing and saved a life. No one can go back in history, history is sealed. The future however, is not sealed. We still have the power to stand up and say "Never Again". I hope all of you who read this say "Never Again", but not just for the Jewish people, but for society and humanity in general. With that I say to genocide, "Never Again".

Mealtime: Malawach Pizza

For those that do not know, Malawach is a Yemenite flatbread that is sort of like puff pastry and is pan fried until both sides are golden brown and delicious. Usually it is served with a fresh grated tomato sauce and a hard boiled egg. I had the idea of making a pizza out of the Malawach. I made the fresh grated tomato sauce and made that the pizza sauce. I fried the first side of the Malawach until golden. As I flipped the Malawach, I added the sauce on top and the cheese. I covered the Malawach until the bottom was golden brown and the cheese was melted. I then let the Malawach cool for about 2 to 4 minutes so cutting would be easier. It is a unique and different way of eating Malawach. Give this recipe a try, you might like it. Enjoy!

Street Art in South Tel Aviv: part 3

I am still finding new graffiti everywhere here in Tel Aviv. Like I have said before, graffiti here in Tel Aviv is everywhere. You will everything from the elaborate to the simple tag of someone's name. You will find simple stenciled graffiti and also political messages written in mostly Hebrew but also in English. Here is some more Street Art for your visual pleasure.