”Sandy deserts, wild Arabs and wild Jews trying to kill each other…”

A View of Israel

Hello my friends over the world.

A few years ago I met a tourist from Canada. We were riding a bus near the Dead Sea, I was just returning from a hike in the desert. We were passing the sea when the Canadian tourist asked me where the Dead Sea was. Of course I thought she was making a joke, and yet, I just pointed out the window… We started to chat and I found out that she was a Jew from Canada, and the ignorance shocked me.
A Jew from Canada thought that Israel is a desert state, primitive and wild.
Well, this was not the first time I had encountered that type of ignorance.

It seems that this is what people think about this place:

Sandy deserts, wild Arabs and wild Jews trying to kill each other, everybody lives in tents and riding camels, etc…

The true face is much different and very complex:

We are a very modern society, with first world’s problems (according to Cold War terminology: 1^st world = NATO. 2^nd world = Warsaw Pact countries, 3^rd world = the rest):

• A much branched society with many inner conflicts. We have Hebrews and Arabs (I relate to what you call Jews as Hebrews, since Judaism is a religion and I talk about the people), the Arab society is branched into Muslim (Shia and Sunni), Bedouins (in the north and in the south), Christians – many branches, I don’t even know a half of them, and the Druze (Golan and not Golan) and some more. The Israeli-Arab society itself is branched into those who are loyal and pro-Israel and those who are not loyal and anti-Israel.
• The Hebrew society is divided into several branches: religious, non-religious, secular, Hasidic, reformed, orthodox, etc…
• We have many issues of rich and poor conflicts, just as in the entire 1^st world.

We live in cites, in country towns and things like the Kibbutz and the Moshav. There are Arab villages and many other forms, AND YES, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN TENTS AND RIDE CAMELS…

The bottom line is that true is not as it seems by media or any PR.
The political situation is also not at all as it seems on TV.

When you try to know a place, you start with history. The Palestinians are making a use of a post-modernistic way of thinking, and invent a narrative. In order to support their narrative they have invented history that was never true. The Hebrew narrative is based on historical facts (not based on the Bible, since this is not history) and archeology.

So I will not summarize here the history of the place, I have done that in about 14 pages before, but here I just advice you all: IF YOU WANT TO REALLY KNOW A PLACE, STUDY THE HISTORY, LOOK FOR EVIDENCE AND NOT JUST NARRATIVES.

That’s all for now, let’s fight ignorance together.

Uri