Kategori: Israel

”I’ll talk only of one issue – human rights”

Dear Swede,

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 🙂

Yuri

Read this letter in Swedish.

Sveta & Gilad: 45 sekunder

Detta brev ligger mig varmt om hjärtat eftersom det beskriver just det som jag pratade om i radiointervjun: vardagen mitt i kaoset.
Dessutom handlar brevet om de eviga raketattackerna som svensk media ignorerar, ty ”ingen blev ju skadad”. 

Vi är två arbetskamrater som vill dela med oss av våra känslor. Vi bor båda i Israel men i olika städer. Sveta bor i Ashdod (Israels femte största stad) och under den senaste omgången av terrorattacker fick staden ta emot ett dussintal raketer. Gilad bor i Hod HaSharon, en liten stad alldeles i närheten av Tel Aviv. Vi vill berätta för er om vårt vardagsliv, och hur allt har förändrats under attackerna mot våra städer.

Morgon:

Sveta: Även om jag bor i periferin, endast 40 km från Tel Aviv, kan under rusningstid den lilla åkturen bli en två timmar lång mardröm. Jag stiger upp väldigt tidigt om morgnarna och lämnar hemmet klockan 06:00. Att ta sig till centrala Tel Aviv så här dags på morgonen sparar mig en massa tid och det faktum att jag samåker tillsammans med andra gör att jag slipper körstressen. Att hålla miljön ren genom att minsta luftföroreningarna är en väldigt viktig fråga för mig, och ja, samåkning hjälper mig att bidra till detta samt sparar mig pengar samtidigt. Till Tel Aviv åker vi längs motorvägen och utsikten är mestadels urban – höga byggnader och skyskrapor. Jag bor i Ashdod, som är den femte största staden i Israel, och från Ashdod hela vägen till Tel Aviv finns bebyggelse överallt. Känslan av överbefolkning växer sig starkare ju närmare Tel Aviv man kommer. Den enda pausen från denna känsla av trängsel infinner sig när man passerar områdets största park (Ariel Sharon Park) som en gång var en stor soptipp, men nu håller på att bli omgjord till en vacker park med en flod, blommande fält och allt detta är tillgängligt till fots eller på cykel. Jag älskar att se solen stiga upp längs de höga husen, speciellt när solen reflekteras mot de gröna och blå fönstren.

Gilad: Jag bor i Tel Avivs storstadsområde och till motsats från Sveta, föredrar jag att sova mig igenom morgnarna. Även det faktum att jag bor 20 km från vår arbetsplats tillåter mig att sova normalt under nätterna. Jag åker kollektivt till jobbet. För mig är det en mardröm att köra genom den stockade mardrömmen som är Tel Avivs gator morgontid, så jag föredrar att ta tåget. Det tar mig bara 40 minuter från dörr till dörr, och det skulle ta skulle ta dubbelt så lång tid under rusningstid. Jag kliver upp 07:30, gör mig själv i ordning och tar mig till stationen. Under den här tiden på dygnet är det väldigt bekvämt att åka kollektivt och bussar och tåg avgår med bara några få minuters mellanrum. Jag har två stationer i min stad och tågresan till Tel Aviv tar tio minuter. Från tåget brukar jag oftast föredra att promenera till kontoret. Det tar 15 minuter längre tid, men speciellt att gå längs Yarkonfloden (största floden i Tel Aviv) är väldigt trevligt, speciellt parken i närheten, dagar då det har regnat och luften är frisk och avkopplande.

Arbetet:

Vi arbetar båda två på ett high tech-företag i Tel Aviv, vanliga arbetsdagar på nio timmar, fem dagar i veckan. På eftermiddagarna brukar vi gå och äta på någon av restarurangerna i närheten. Ibland sushi eller thai, amerikanska hamburgare och ibland bara något gott från de internationella restaurangerna i området: judisk-tunisiskt, judisk-marockanskt eller judisk-polskt.

Kvällstid:

Sveta: Jag äter middag med min familj. Vi lagar mat tillsammans minst en gång i veckan – olika rätter från olika länders kök (vi köper de speciella ingredienserna och kryddorna från mataffären) – men mitt favoritkök är det japanska, och jag försöker alltid få mina föräldrar att laga just japansk mat.
Jag läser mycket och avrundar minst tre böcker per månad. Resten av tiden tittar jag på tv, oftast dokusåpor (jag gillar verkligen Master Chef), eller putsar mina html-kunskaper genom att skapa coola hemsidor.

Gilad: Jag tycker verkligen om att se film och jag och min fru går på bio minst en gång varannan vecka. Jag besöker gymmet minst tre gånger per vecka och vi besöker kaféer och barer tillsammans med vänner. Resten av min fritid surfar jag på nätet, läser om sådant som intresserar mig eller bara ’chillar’ framför rutan.

Under attack:

Sveta: En kväll när jag tillsammans med vänner besökte vår lokala galleria, hördes plötsliget sirener över hela staden och mobilnätet gick ner på grund av överbelastning. Jag var väldigt rädd. Jag visste inte vad jag skulle göra, människor började springa och jag kände mig bortkommen.
Att inte kunna ringa och se hur det var med mina föräldrar, medan sirener, gråt och barn som skrek ljöd, var en av de mest skrämmande upplevelserna i mitt liv.

Allt hade förändrats, plötsligt kändes det som att mitt liv hade stannat – rädslan att gå ut och att vara på ett ställe där du inte visste var skyddsrummet låg, var väldigt skrämmande. Behovet av att vara med min familj har vuxit, jag känner mig mycket tryggare hemma – där vet jag vad jag ska göra när larmet ljuder (gå tre trappor ner till skyddsrummet).

Omedelbart efter första larmet, ville vi ta oss tillbaka hem, men varken jag eller min vän var i tillstånd att köra. Vi var tvungna att stanna i köpcentret i minst en timme till. Det kändes som en evighet innan vi fick skjuts av våra föräldrar. Rädslan hade tagit över oss, vi skakade och bara grät – jag vet inte ens varför.

När vi väl kom hem fick jag veta att vi var under attack och att det kunde pågå ett bra tag. Under natten sov jag inte alls och faktum är att under denna period sov jag knappt över huvud taget. Det var som att sova med ena ögat öppet och jag hade skor och morgonrock redo bredvid sängen, om larmet plötsligt skulle gå under natten.

Jag vill påpeka att livet så att säga fortgick. Jag var fortfarande tvungen att ta mig till jobbet i Tel Aviv om morgnarna. Under sådana här perioder vänds allt upp och ned, jag sover lite under nätterna och på jobbet är jag trött och orolig. Till exempel krävs det bara ljudet av en motorcykel eller ambulans för att jag ska bli rädd.
På jobbet är jag som att allt är okej. Människor frågar hur jag mår och vanligtvis svarar jag blygt att allt är fint, jag sov bara inte tillräckligt. Det är väldigt svårt att beskriva hur denna stress påverkar och snedvrider hela synen på livet. Behovet av att vara förberedd på vad som helst, att vara mer uppmärksam på ljud och att alltid hålla koll på nyheterna, det är helt enkelt inte naturligt för mig. Under den här tidsperioden slutade jag umgås mina vänner. Jag satt mest hemma och väntade på att larmet skulle gå. Vi tar oss ner till skyddsrummet (vi har 45 sekunder på oss att springa tre trappor ner) och sedan väntar vi på smällen. Vi slog vad med våra grannar om var misslien slog ner, och om den blev nedskjuten av ”Iron Dome”.

Gilad: Mina upplevelser från den här tiden är mer av en åskådares. Det bör uppmärksammas att var sjätte israel direkt drabbades, på samma sätt som Sveta. Åtminstone en miljon israeler, inklusive familj och vänner – det finns ingen israel som inte känner någon som drabbades. Hursomhelst är det en stor skillnad: i Tel Aviv är allting öppet och livet fortgår som vanligt.
Trycket här upplevdes inte lika personligt, men vetskapen av att konflikten kunde sprida sig även till mitt hem fick mig att sitta som fastlimmad framför tv:n, framför en av huvudkanalerna, för att se om någonting hade hänt. Antalet samtal till vänner och familj hade vuxit och när de på nyheterna sa att en missil hade landat sprang jag till telefonen för att se att ingen blivit skadad.

Under tidens lopp måste jag säga att vi utvecklade en typ av svart humor. Vi brukade reta Sveta på grund av hennes sömnlöshet och även då hon hoppade till så fort hon hörde höga ljud. (Om hon drabbas av ett nervöst sammanbrott på grund av mig, är jag redo att stå för sjukhuskostnaderna). Mina kusiner som bor på en kibbutz i närheten av Gaza, kom till Tel Aviv över en helg, för att koppla av. De strosade längs strandpromenaden och njöt av tystnaden och av barnens skratt. De sa att de saknade det hela – för de kan inte gå ut (de har fem sekunder på sig från det att missiler har avfyrats tills dess att de landar på marken) och de måste stanna i skyddsrummet hela tiden.

Read this letter in English.
Fri översättning: Kim Milrell. 

Sveta & Gilad: 45 Seconds

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 though I 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.

Sveta and Gilad

Read this letter in Swedish.

”So many stories about Scandinavian girls falling for Israelis…”

Hi Kim,

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.

Cheers
Tomer

”They tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat”

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. 🙂

”A dude”