A Tale of Two Cities

I’ve been building up over these last two days because Israel continues to bombard me with sights, sounds and smells which occupy every resource my jet lagged body can spare. In the evenings I find myself unable to sleep, instead I roam with my new friends to pubs and beachside hangouts where the popular topic of conversation remains politics and the condition of the world. I can’t help but be amazed by how charged these people are, they are profoundly aware not only of their own predicament but the dangerous nature of the world at large. Two specific conversations are paraphrased below and so as I promised I am slipping into politics, if only a few times, in this place that truly deserves a little critical analysis.


Each of us, the Israelis, feels guilt in his heart because he knows that he is sitting on occupied lands. Ultimately, we know that in order to regain what we have lost we must return to the Palestinians what we took. Even if it means that we have to return East Jerusalem (but not the Western Wall), we will eventually understand that we are on the wrong side of the argument. I am Jewish and I am happy that I have this piece of land in the world in which I am safe to be a Jew. Unfortunately, if we assume that we can build a barrier around our neighbors then we are simply resolving to build a barrier around ourselves. Don’t get me wrong; the Arabs will never accept us, they will never be happy even if we return what is dearest to us. We must not set our goal to make the Arabs love us. Me must be content to live without shame. We must try to make the best world we can for our children. Each of us here without exception knows someone victimized by our condition, whether it be by bomb, by bullet or by knife. Let us do what we can to show the world that we are not the enemy, that we are civilized that we are human, that we love our children more then we love some abstract agenda. I know our history, I have served in our army and I know the dangers of compromising with our neighbors but what will be the alternative? We cannot approach diplomacy by telling someone what we will give them because this is not compromise. We must for the first time sit down and make a plan of mutual understanding and cooperation. This may take 25 years to accomplish but we can both be assured that without this plan we will spend the next 25 years slowly destroying (as we are already doing) the fiber of our own humanity.

Dan, 34, Modern-Orthodox, Co-creator of art installation (3 Cities Against the Wall)
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No one likes Jews. Where in the world can they make their home? Where in the world will the Jew be anything but the Jew? Look at Europe where we thrived, where we were the doctors, the artists, and the philosophers for hundreds of years living in a quiet but uneasy peace with our “civilized” neighbors. Look at those countries that so readily invited us in to make our homes and raise generations of our families. How quickly they escorted us into the ovens, how quickly they forgot that we had bled on their soil in defense of their great ideals. Where is the Jew safe? We are only safe here. We have made paradise, where for thousands of years the Arabs made a wasteland. I will no longer bow to the decisions, feelings or agendas of our former oppressors. I answer to no one anymore. Europe has proven to me that I matter little outside of its own selfish plans. My children know nothing of anti-Semitism. They will never come home crying as I did with my sister, when they here the word Yid (kyke) thrown for the first time in their faces. They will be proud, they will walk upright and they will be safe. No one can tell us what we should do because no one has walked in the thorn-filled shoes our people have had to endure. Our plight today stems perhaps from our own making; look at this slice of sand that we live on and ask yourself, did we have a choice but to protect ourselves from a sea of sworn enemies. “Give them an inch,” you Americans tell us. When really what they want are all the inches that lead to the sea. I am not religious but in the Bible God told Hagar the mother of Ishmael not to cry as she crossed the desert searching for water for her infant son whom Abraham had banished from their own home. He told her that her son would survive and that a nation would be born of him, to live in perpetual conflict with the house that had betrayed them. This is the burden we will always bare; we will bare it together as one people and in this ONE nation.

Hillel, 67, Secular, Holocaust Survivor from Poland living in Israel since 1957
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You probably thought I was just tanning, drinking and eating here but as you can see I am fitting a little enlightenment into the program. Last night, we walked down to the NAMAL, the harbor of Tel-Aviv. At the water’s edge, 40 beachside cafes and restaurants catered to a sea of families, young couples and soldiers coming together to relish this momentary peace. We walked, chatted with the Israelis, who are always prepared to share a word or lend a hand, and settled into a cabana bar. The Israelis seem enthusiastic, the city seems to be coming alive with more tourists then they’ve seen in recent memory. Another positive sign seems to be the return of major bands to Israel; over the next weeks and months the Black-Eyed Peas, Pink Floyd, Depeche Mode, Sting, Matisyahu and a number of others will be filling the stadiums here. It’s been years since such names have come to Israel and there is a feeling of hope that this could be a sign of renewed life and safety. Several young men and woman (18-20) dressed in the green fatigues of the military sat smoking and having drinks next to our cabana. I couldn’t help noticing the shiny black handguns they wore on their belts. They heard us speak in English and asked us where we were from (also in perfect English). Upon hearing that we were from L.A. one of the girls lit up with enthusiasm and said, “one day, I’m going to go to Hollywood.” First though, she and the others would be returning to their bases and potentially duty at the new fortifications going up above Jerusalem. None of them seemed as enthusiastic about that. That’s how it happened, that’s what I saw.