grievances

i have been thinking alot about what i wanted to write for this entry. and i don’t know where to begin. israel is much more complicated than i expected. aside from the cultural differences that take some getting used to, there are also policy issues that are making me more uncomfortable.

some cultural differences:
at the grocery store, a person will get in line with groceries. and then send someone else with them to get the remainder of the groceries while the first person holds the spot in line. so you get behind the person with 5 items and think it won’t be that bad, you only have a few things yourself. and then the kids come running up with a FULL CART and push you out of the way. i can’t even say this happened the other day, because it pretty much happens every time i go to the grocery.
similarly, i was waiting in the bank yesterday to speak with someone and when the next customer service person was available and it was my turn, a guy swooped in out of nowhere. i had already stood up. the lady saw me and quickly looked away to help the man. i sat down and waited another 10 minutes.
the weekends here follow shabbat, so the week ends thursday night and you have friday and saturday off. this means that if you want to observe shabbat, you don’t really have time to do anything else. i generally work until about 8pm on thursdays and i’m so exhausted that i definitely don’t want the 1-2 hour bus ride to get to tel aviv or jerusalem then. and if i wanted to get anywhere else in the country, forget about it. i realized that if i want to maintain relationships with people who aren’t observant or if i want to explore my new country, i can’t give up an entire 25 hour period. and frankly, i don’t like the shabbat beginning after a day off anyway. one of the things i liked in the us was the feeling of rush, rush, rush through the work day so i could sigh a big sigh of relief as i lit candles on friday night. and then i still had saturday night and all of sunday to do laundry, do the shopping, spend time with friends. i think fostering relationships with new friends and exploring the beauty of israel is much more important to me than sequestering myself in a world of stringency. part of this is fostered by the strange shabbat prohibitions i find……it’s one thing not to work or cook. those i understand, but the extremes to which “work” is taken is too much for me: no bar soap because it changes form when you wet it, no squeezing of a tea bag, no makeup. i just can’t go in for all that.
as for policy issues….
i think the israeli government and netanyahu often use the excuse of “security reasons” in ways that really overreach. noam chomsky was barred entry from the country this week. he was planning on speaking at a university in the west bank. chomsky is a professor from MIT. he’s about 103 years old. i don’t think he was going to start the next intifada. and barring someone’s entry because they’re critical of the government sounds like something out of iran, not the only democracy in the middle east.
recently with the rise in popularity of jstreet and jcall, the group of europeans who recently signed a petition putting them very closely aligned with jstreet, there has been lots of discussion and debate about the role of diaspora jewry in israeli politics. on facebook there is a group called “jstreet doesn’t represent me”. the line is in response to part of jstreet’s message that they are here to represent the jews who don’t feel comfortable with the more conservative policies of AIPAC. AIPAC has facilitated an “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” policy for a while now, leaving more liberal jews feeling sidelined. while i don’t think AIPAC represents me, i don’t feel the need to plaster that on facebook.
i am really hopeful that this new side of diaspora jewry is coming forth-supporters of israel who want an actual attempt at peace. starting a dialogue in which peace can be achieved without israel giving up everything. working for the benefit of ALL the people living here.
i am feeling a bit guilty about the right of return. i don’t think that we should ever cancel it and i am grateful that i was able to come to this country so easily. however, it is appalling how difficult israel makes it for anyone else who wants to live here. a good friend of mine is christian and works at the anglican school in jerusalem. she wants nothing more than to live here permanently. she has developed strong ties to the country, built relationships with israelis and is a qualified teacher. however, because she is not jewish, she has virtually no hope of ever being a citizen unless she marries an israeli.
last weekend, i was travelling in the north with a friend and we stopped at an overlook above the kinneret. it was absolutely stunning. there was an arab family there, enjoying a picnic. as vincent walked back to the car to get the camera, the patriarch came over to me with two cups of tea. we all sat and talked for the next 45 minutes or so and the family was so nice. of course, they asked what we were doing in israel, vincent with his new zealand accent and my own american accent. for the first time, i felt guilty saying i was an olah chadasha (new immigrant). i didn’t ask about their families…how many cousins are living elsewhere, unable to get citizenship to live here. but i wondered. as they were leaving, one of the women invited me to visit any time. i was excited for the offer and asked for her phone number. i think she was a bit shocked that i didn’t make an excuse to politely refuse. i plan on calling her next week to see when would be a good time.

on a lighter note, my past two weeks were pretty busy.
vincent visited from london for ten days. we spent a weekend in jaffo where i managed to sunburn just the left side of my body. and then a weekend travelling in the north-rafting on the jordan river, visiting har bental-an old syrian outpost that gives an amazing view of northern israel and syria. we tried to visit gamla and nimrod, two amazing ruins, but the parks were closed by the time we got there. driving through the north of israel is incredible-it is stunningly beautiful and it is also a reminder of just how small this country is. you look on a map and expect a drive to take hours and then you realize that your destination is just down the road.
i also took a cooking class here in my little town. the woman who teaches has quite a following. i think i was the only person of about a dozen who lived in hod hasharon, everyone else had come from tel aviv or surrounding suburbs. it was a great class and i got tons of new recipes. i made a delicious sweet potato, basil and bulgar salad last shabbat.
i drove for the first time yesterday. my driving instructor took me to holon (the other side of tel aviv) to register with the dmv to transfer my american license and sign up for a driving test. i have to pay 90 shekels per lesson and then 350 shekels for the test. i only plan on taking two lessons. it seems like a lot of money when i plan on avoiding driving at all costs and have no intention of buying a car here. but if i wait much longer, i’ll have to take the full test including a very intense written exam, so i’d rather pay the money and spare the pain.