By Kavita A Chhibber
I’m back in Atlanta after an amazing trip to Israel. Since the story has to go to various publications (and to preserve its originality) I will refrain from writing a 3000-word blog. What I want to share here (maybe not so briefly!) is my personal perspective and some stories of what turned out to be an eye-opening trip in many ways.
There were 12 of us – Indians from different walks of life, nominated by leaders of the various chapters of the American Jewish committee in different cities, to be part of an educational seminar to introduce us to Israel. I’m not sure what the criteria for selection was, but the people I met in the group were Indians who were very well-educated, well-connected and knowledgeable for the most part about the Israel-Palestine conflict. These were people who could perhaps do their bit through their interactions with the Indian government and members of their communities towards better understanding of the land and its people. As I write this, a news report that Israel and the Palestinians have reached a deal on Gaza border crossings (according to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after all-night negotiations) has just hit the media.
What impressed me the most about the Israelis, and especially the Jewish delegation leader Ellen Israelson, was the fact that at no point did any one try to “brain wash” us or stop us from talking to the Palestine Arab community. Some of them had very scathing comments to make about Israel, and its leaders. Apart from the speakers who we met and who spoke before us (both from the Jewish and the Palestine Arab community) I carried my tape recorder and talked to people on the streets. One of them, a Palestinian Arab vendor selling artificial jewelery had been in prison for participating in the First Intifada. (Intifada refers to a series of violent incidents between Palestinians and Israelis between 1987 and approximately 1993.) He was scathing both in his disappointment with the current leadership both in Palestine and Israel (“They are all liars! No one cares about the people.”) He spoke about his Iraqi wife who had not received a permit to work in Jerusalem because of his own prison record. All throughout the conversation, Ellen was standing next to us listening to him. She left after some time as she was tired, while I stayed on and had a one hour conversation with him in downtown Jerusalem. It was amazing to discover how well-read he was. He actually discussed the Kashmir and Indo-Pak partition with me – certainly something I wouldn’t expect a vendor on the streets of India to do.
The next day it was a free for all when we ended up at a Palestine Arab institute, and both the eminent journalist and the Arab professor present there unleashed a verbal flood of the hurt and anger and the frustration they felt for years. The Indians asked them hard hitting questions. The Israeli tourist guide, another amazing man, got into the argument very passionately giving his viewpoint and Ellen tried to share her viewpoint from the Israeli and Jewish perspective in a calmer way.
In the end I had to step in and put a human face to the political wrangling which mercifully brought the crescendo of voices down by a few octaves. The Arabs however could not answer my question of why the Arab community in the Middle East isn’t helping them, and what happened to the aid given before. Also why while the Jews have overcome their tragic past and become such a powerful nation, the Palestinians haven’t. They did concede that the monetary aid given previously was not invested properly.
As I walked through the Holocaust museum, looking at the burning candles in memory of 1.5 million Jewish children killed in the holocaust, my dark glasses couldn’t hide the tears streaming down my face. I saw beautiful faces, their eyes full of hope, innocence and no understanding of the gruesome fate awaiting them. Stories and pictures of men and women – ordinary and extraordinary people – looking down at me from the walls of the gray cemented interiors of the museum. The torture, the personal hand written letters, posted every where. It was the same hearing stories of children and other innocent victims and the day to day poverty and suffering the average Palestinian faces with no respite forthcoming.
The Jewish state is run by brilliant, generous, and incredibly gifted men and women. These men and women also admit that they are insecure, cynical and suspicious. They look over their shoulders each step of the way, because of their past history. Yet surrounded by a predominantly hostile Middle East, Israel remains the only democracy in that region. And that is why the Palestinian Arab man could speak so freely and insist I take his picture and put his name in the story.
Hearing the perspective of both the Israelis and the Palestinians was an interesting lesson in how there are two sides to every story and also how the same issue can be seen through different filters. It was also interesting to see how little respect the average Palestinian has for the memory of Arafat, or for the current government of Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas. I heard more in praise of the terrorist group Hamas than Arafat or Abbas.
And yes all the Arabs I talked to expressed hatred for America. They hastened to add that it was not the people, but the government they hated for its high handedness, for the way it trained the Taliban, for the way it bullies weaker nations. “Why didn’t America invade North Korea? Because they have nuclear weapons!” And so it went. The vendor on the street said passionately, “There will never be peace in this region. Never. When you talk about the suicide bomber that detonates himself on the streets of Jerusalem do you stop and think why he did what he did? If you take away my freedom, rape my sister, kill my brother and my son, what do you expect? And America is responsible for a lot of this.”
On a personal note, as I mentioned before I was totally mesmerized by the haunting beauty of this land and the love and hospitality of the people I met. Many knew of actor Rahul Khanna though they referred to him as Minister/actor Vinod Khanna’s son. Many had watched “Bollywood Hollywood.” Some Russian Jews asked me about Raj Kapoor and Nargis. One of the members of the delegation, an attorney from California, Rohit Khanna remembered Gotham Chopra with a lot of affection. He said he was running for office and both Gotham and Vikram Chatwal helped out big time with their support of his campaign without knowing him personally, and he cannot forget how down to earth and humble Gotham is. I must agree.
Jerusalem is mind boggling. It is breath takingly beautiful and a very emotional experience for me. Even though I’m not Christian I was allowed to take pictures of the hallowed interiors of the church built over the spot where Christ was laid, the spot where he was nailed to the cross, the place where he stayed strapped to the cross, the stone where he lay after death and the spot where he was buried.
I hope you can see the holy city and come closer to all that is sacred for so many people world wide. The profound beauty is best experienced in person.
We were split into groups of twos and threes and hosted for a Shabbat dinner by Jewish families. It was a wonderful experience. We also met some of the 100,000 Indian Jews in the country and heard their stories. We participated in the prayers prior to the Shabbat dinner and realized that the Jews are as loud and sing forever like us Indians – one bhajan/hymn after another… except theirs are in Hebrew, of course!
The Jews love gossip as much as we do. They laugh as uproariously at themselves as we do, and go beyond the regular call of hospitality. We were beginning to cringe at every meeting because of the huge amount of food put before us hour after hour. As I touched the western wall, my fingers caressing the stones, I offered a silent prayer for peace, prosperity and good health for the people of both nations and my loved ones.
We visited several historic sites, like Masada (King Herod’s royal citadel) which became a site of the most dramatic and symbolic act in Jewish history. Jewish rebels defeated the mighty Romans several times when attacked and finally chose mass suicide rather than be held captive by the Romans.
And of course no trip would be complete without shopping in the markets of the old city. Yeah the Jews and the Arabs haggled with us just as we do in Indian flea markets. The men would look at me and say, “Madaaaam! You from India? You are very beautiful… so I give you special price!” They would then name an exorbitant amount. Lets say this “madaaam” refused to be felled by odes to her Indian charms and ruthlessly haggled the guys down! We made an exception for the poor vendor on the street in downtown Jerusalem. There we paid him more than he asked and bought stuff we didn’t need.
And yes, some of the seemingly prim and proper leaders of the Indian delegation let their hair down and had us all in splits. Whether it was dancing clumsily on the streets of down town Jerusalem with the orthodox Jews at 1 a.m. at night, or in the hotel room one night when one of the most masculine, happily married guys pretended to do a cabaret. He lap danced his way through the room, complaining that he didn’t like dancing with his clothes on. They are all sucking up to me now as I have the risqué pictures on my camera. I think Ellen our delegation leader is likely scarred for life watching the hilarious contortions of an Indian man pretending to be Madonna in a bikini.
We had only 3 hours of sleep every day, and it was hilarious to see several members nodding off during seminars and prayers… sometimes to be caught red handed by the Israelis. Snores resonated through the room, or in a prayer meeting where the Jews turn around in circles as they chant their prayers (sitting at times and standing at others) to see a Sikh member seated in a Buddha pose fast asleep. Meanwhile the Jews twirled singing loudly around him. We tried to convince them that the gentleman was so overwhelmed he was in a meditative trance. Not sure if it worked!
I think another myth that Israel isn’t safe has to be shattered. I saw the security and I think its safer to be in Israel today than any other part of the world. The number of tourists has become so large this year that El Al (the Israeli national airline) is overbooking it flights daily by almost 20 percent. Some of us chose to be bumped off on our return.
We were out by ourselves till 2 a.m. at times, and not once did we feel unsafe in the streets. People were exceptionally kind and helpful.
The education system is mind-boggling with affiliations to Ivy league universities in the US and other countries. They cost a fraction of what one would pay here for tuition. Many non Jewish people including Indians are sending their children to Israel for the masters and post doc education.
I hope all of you visit this beautiful country some day. Perhaps the one key thing I returned with and felt we would do well to learn from the Jews, is the way they look out for each other as a community. That is truly extraordinary.