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: 1st world = NATO. 2nd world = Warsaw Pact countries, 3rd 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 1st 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.
I’m very glad to have the opportunity to address you directly – no media, no second hand news, no broken phone. I’d like to tell you a bit about my amazing country – Israel – and it’s people and it’s neighbors. I’m sure you’ve read/heard/seen all kinds of things in your media about us and the conflict here, and if they were your only source of information I can pretty safely assume you dislike us. I’d like to give you some things to think about, things that I hope when thought through thoroughly will bring you to the conclusion that we are not the bad the guys, on the contrary, we are the beacon of light in this crude and brutal piece of the world. I’m hoping that you will relate to what I have to say simply because I truly believe that our nations share the same values.
I’ll talk only of one issue – human rights. Not Jewish rights. Not Palestinian rights. Not Muslim male rights. But human rights. Be it a woman, a gay, a Christian, a black Jew or a Hindu gay woman.
You’ve probably heard from your media that Israel oppresses Palestinian human rights, and that the Palestinians suffer greatly under the Israeli rule. Well, first of all, the first and foremost abusers of Palestinian human rights are the rulers in Gaza themselves. As I write this letter to you, the whole female population of Gaza is being treated as commodity. Honor killing occur on a regular basis, and women, of course, don’t get to choose their partner. All aligned with the Sharia law – the law of Islam.
How can one claim that his human rights are being stepped upon, while abusing – raping, murdering, mutilating – their own daughters, sisters and mothers? Do you think such a person would be frank and truthful about his deeds? Or about anything for that matter? People who believe that gays should be executed, simply because who they are – can these people even pretend to be judges of what human rights and freedoms are?
Dearest Swede, I’d love to take you on a tour to my wonderful and freedom-loving land. Show you what we have achieved here, and more importantly, introduce you to the people who made it happen. People who value their personal and collective freedom. People who realize, that in order to be accepted and be treated as an equal you have to treat others the same way. People who understand that in order to enjoy freedom, you absolutely must not tread on others’ freedoms. I’d like to spice up my monologue with fun facts which will strengthen my case:
*) The only country in the middle east where Arab citizens enjoy full political freedom (to vote AND get elected) is Israel, which makes sense because we’re the only democracy around here. And if you’re wondering about the ”get elected” part, then yes, there are Arab members in the Israeli parliament! *) Israel is open to ALL religions, we respect every person, of every faith. Mainly because we respect the person first, and the outcome of that is our respect for what he believes in, be it Islam, Christianity or Buddhism. As long as that person respects those around him, he is most welcome. To back that, we have churches, mosques and synagogues aplenty – no restriction on where they can be built, or who and when one can pray in them. Just a quick reminder – Saudis don’t let non-Muslims visit Mecca (be it Christians or, G-d forbid, Jews). *) Women in Israel are equal to men. We have women military pilots, women executives in the highest positions, and of course we have women in politics (Arab women too!). We even had a woman as a Prime Minister, i.e. the most influential person in the state. *) Gays in Israel are equal. Be it in the military, in public offices or in private sector – people integrate based on personal traits. All are judged based on their qualities, and all are equal in the face of the law (there are even anti-discrimination laws regarding this issue)
Now, friend in values, just think about it for a moment. Who is more likely to violate human rights, and ignore common human ethics? A nation who respects and cherishes human freedoms in all it does and everywhere it turns – children’s, women’s, gays’ and religious minority’s rights are sacred – or an entity who mistreats it’s own people in every aspect of it’s doing? Can the Palestinians really preach Israel (and the West in whole) of human rights, while murdering their daughters, using their children as human shields and oppressing sexual and religious minorities?
I really hope that even if I couldn’t change your mind I could at least make you think of the issue from another perspective, and developed a desire to research it further on your own. Peace, and see you next year in Jerusalem 🙂
We are two co-workers who want to share our feelings with you, we both live in Israel but in two different cities. Sveta lives in Ashdod (the 5th largest city in Israel) and during the last round of terror, the city suffered from dozens of rockets. Gilad lives in Hod HaSharon, a small city right next to Tel Aviv. We want to tell you about our normal everyday way of life, and how everything has changed during the attacks on our cities.
Morning time:
Sveta: Even thoughI live in the periphery, only 40 km drive from Tel Aviv, during the rush hour this little drive could become a 2 hour nightmare. I wake up very early in the morning and leave the house at 06:00. Getting to the center of Tel Aviv at this time in the morning saves me a lot of time and the fact that I’m doing it with other people (carpooling program) relieves me from the stress of driving. Keeping the environment clean by reducing the air pollution is a very important subject to me, and yes, the carpooling program helps me to feel that I’m contributing to this matter and saves me money at the same time. The ride to Tel Aviv is on the freeway, and the scenery along the way is mostly an urban landscape – tall buildings and towers. I live in Ashdod which is the 5th biggest city in Israel, from Ashdod to Tel Aviv there is uniform settlement continuity and the sense of overcrowding is growing as you get closer to Tel Aviv. The only relaxation from all of that city crowdedness is when we pass by the biggest park in the area (Ariel Sharon Park) which was once the largest landfill, but now it is being transformed into one of the most beautiful parks with a river, flourishing fields and all is accessible either by foot or by bike. I love to watch the morning sunrise on tall buildings, especially when the sun is reflecting from the green and blue glass. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to work after dropping off the rest of the people I’m going with.
Gilad: I live in Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and as opposed to Sveta, I prefer to sleep through the morning hours. Also the fact that I live 20 km from our work place, allows me to maintain a standard course of sleeping through the night. I use the public transport system to get to work. For me, driving to the jammed Tel Aviv is a morning nightmare, so I prefer to use the train. It takes me only 40 minutes to get from my house to the office, which would take twice the time during the rush hour. I wake up not before 07:30, organize myself and leave for the train station. During this time of the day, the public transport is very comfortable to use and there are buses and trains every few minutes. I have two train stations in my city, and the ride to Tel Aviv lasts only 10 minutes. From the train I usually prefer to walk by foot to work. It takes me 15 minutes extra, but walking on the banks of the Yarkon River (largest river in Tel Aviv) is very pleasant, especially the park nearby after rainy days when the air is so fresh and relaxing.
Work:
We are both working in a high-tech company in Tel Aviv, a usual working day of 9 hours, 5 days a week. In the afternoon we usually go out to eat at one of the restaurants in the area. Sometimes Sushi or Thai, American style hamburgers, and sometimes just comfort food at one of the ethnic restaurants in the area: Jewish-Tunisian, Jewish-Moroccan or Jewish-Polish.
Evening:
Sveta: I eat dinner with my family, we cook together special meals from different cuisines at least once a week (we buy special ingredients/spices at the supermarket) – but my favorite is the Japanese cuisine, and I always try to pull my parents into cooking from this cuisine. I read lots of books, and finish at least three books every month. In the rest of the time I watch tv, usually reality shows (I really like Master Chef), or polish my web developer skills by developing cool websites.
Gilad: I really like movies, and I go out with my wife to the cinema at least once in two weeks to watch new movies. I go to the gym at least three times a week and in the rest of the time we go out to coffee shops or bars and meet with friends. In the rest of my free time I surf the net, read about stuff that interest me or just chill out in front of the screen.
Under attack:
Sveta: One evening I was hanging out with friends at the local mall. Suddenly sirens sounded throughout the city and the cellphone network went down because of the overload. I was very scared. I didn’t know what to do, people started to run and I felt lost. The inability to call and see what’s going on with my parents, when sirens, cries and screams of children are mixed together in the mall, was one of the most frightening things that I had ever experienced.
All life had changed, suddenly I felt my life had stopped – the fear of going outside the house and to be in a place where you don’t know where the shelter is located, is very daunting. The need to be with my family has grown, I feel much safer at home – there I know how to behave during the alarm (go down three floors to the shelter).
Immediately after the first siren, we wanted to hurry back home, but neither I nor my friend was in a state to drive. We had to stay at the mall for another hour at least. It seemed that it was an eternity before we could get one of the parents to take us. Fear had just overtaken us, our hands were shaking and I just cried – I do not even know why.
Once we got home, I found that we were under attack and it could last much longer. During that night I did not sleep at all and in fact during the whole time that we were under attack I hardly slept at all. It was like sleeping with one eye open and I had shoes and robe by the bed ready for any sudden siren during the night.
I want to clarify that life was, so to speak, moving on; I still had to go to work and get to Tel Aviv in the morning. These are the times when everything is turned upside down, I get little sleep during the night and then at work I feel tired and nervous. For example, it is enough for a motorcycle or an ambulance to pass by our building to startle me. At work everything seems ok. People ask how am I doing, and usually I shyly answer that everything is fine, I just didn’t get enough sleep. It is really difficult to explain how the stress affects and distorts the whole perception of life. The need to be prepared for any event, to be more sensitive to sounds than usual and to be always connected to the news like with infusion, isn’t normal to me. During this time I stopped going out with friends, I’d mostly wait for alarms at home. We go down to the shelter (we have 45 seconds to run three floors down) and then wait for the booms. We gambled with our neighbors on where the missile had fell, whether or not it was fired at by the “Iron Dome”.
Gilad: My experience during that period is more of a look from the outside, it should be noted that one in every six Israelis were under attack in the same area as Sveta. At least one million people, including family and friends. There is not a single Israeli that doesn’t know at least someone who was under attack during that time. However there are abysmal differences: in Tel Aviv there was no shelling, everything was open and life continued like nothing was going on. The pressure here was less noticeable in personal, but knowing that the conflict might also expand to my house glued me to the news and tv. Even when going to meet with friends, the first thing that we did was to turn on the tv to one of the main channels to see if anything had happened. The number of calls to family and friends had grown and when in the news they said that a missile hit in a populated place I rushed to the phone to check that no one got hurt.
Along the way, I must say that we developed a black humor. We used to annoy Sveta and tease her about her lack of sleep and the fact that she jumps every time something loud passes by. (If she will suffer a nervous breakdown because of me, I’m willing to pay the medical bills).My cousins, who live in a Kibbutz near Gaza, came one weekend to Tel Aviv to relax. They walked around the promenade and enjoyed the quiet and the laughter of children. They said they miss this situation – because they can’t go out (for them it’s five seconds from the moment the missile is launched to the time it hits the ground) and they must remain in the secure room at any given time.
My name is Tomer and I am an Israeli.
I am neither a peace activist nor a religious settler.
I am just like you, a tax payer.
Being the fact that I love Sweden and I have read your article that was published in Ynet, I just wanted to share some more light on the relationship between Swedes and Israelis and how Israelis are foreseen in Sweden.
I used to have a friend whom I met via couch surfing, she is Swedish and she was, at that time living in Biet-Lehem.
When she was coming to visit me in Tel Aviv, almost no conversation went without me being accused of being the occupier and the root of all evil. Of course it was related to the Palestinians.
And this is not only her – this is every single tourist that I meet in Israel or abroad.
Having this been said – when they come (everyone – especially women) to Israel, they love it here! They enjoy hanging out, going to bars, clubs, travelling across the country, eating delicious food and what not!
Don’t even get me started on the “love” part.
So many stories about Scandinavian girls falling for Israelis…
I am saying this from experience, being a host for a number of such people.
All of these people have one thing In common – they love Israel when they are here!
They love Israelis for what we represent and on the other hand it is so comfortable for them to criticize us about out “actions” because they know that we won’t react with drastic measures, why? Because we understand right from wrong!
I want to see those people say something nice about their Israeli friends when they encounter an Arab in or outside of the Middle East.
I think these people are fake.
I know the situation in Sweden. I have many Swedish friends, real friends, who tell me that there are certain streets that you don’t want to visit. That you are afraid to say what’s on your mind about certain people, in a fear that you’ll get beaten up or whatever and that you always see the Israelis as the bad people although in your heart you love us and stand behind us.
I don’t know if it falls on deaf ears or not but if there’s something that I can do to help the brand of “Israel” and “Israelis” to flourish in your beautiful country, let me know.
The obsession with Israel is something I’ve really struggled… I honestly don’t get it why people obsess over us this much when there are places who need the world’s attention much more than those ”Palestinians”. For example, the Tibetan people… China has been occupying their lands for a long long time… and no one (well, except maybe Richard Gere) is doing anything. But maybe that’s because it’s China doing the occupation.
Besides, I’m not sure how the conflict between us and the Arabs is portrayed in the Swedish media, but I guess since people don’t know the history and origins of this conflict, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the ”visual”.
I guess that if you ask me how I view things, well, we have this saying about Jewish holidays: ”They tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat”. I guess that sums up the Jewish ”experience”.
I guess the best way to describe the way I feel when I see what is written about Israel is first frustration, then anger, and sometimes even amusement (at the ignorance of people). I think that most of the time those of us who support our country (even though we don’t agree with everything it does), feel just alone.
Take the recent ”round” of violence that was in Gaza a couple of weeks ago. Luckily for us there were no fatalities on Israel’s side, and the Arabs had around 20 dead, the overwhelming majority of them were people who actively fired rockets. How was it portrayed? That Israel attacked and ”Palestinians” were killed. No mention of the fact that these were surgical strikes against people aiming at cities, towns and specifically civilians. No mention that Israel takes the most care (out of any country in the world, including all European countries) to avoid hitting civilians.
But I guess that in order to change the minds of people, they first have to be educated about history. I guess you could put a poll up on your blog with a question asking something like this:
”When did Jews come to what is known today as Israel?” and give the following options to answer:
1. Jews have always lived there
2. The middle-ages
3. The 18 hundreds
4. After the second world war.
I guess that based on how many people answer either 3 and 4 you’ll know how much ignorance there is. The correct answer is 1. 🙂
