January 2009
59 posts
Final Summary: "Too Great A Burden To Bear"
I landed in Israel thinking about the words of Rodney King. “Why can’t we all just get along?” King asked after being brutally beaten by four members of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1991. In a modern world characterized by great advancements in knowledge and understanding in so many areas, why are Israelis and Palestinians still engaged in a bitter battle over a sliver of land no larger...
Final Summary: The Holocaust Of Today
“I support Israel—period. I identify with Israel—period. I never attack, never criticize Israel.” - Elie Wiesel
Aside from learning about the realities on the ground in a way that was impossible from far away, one of my biggest hopes for our trip was to figure out how otherwise rational people could blindly support the actions of a state without unconditonally.
Two Taglit experiences helped me...
Martin Luther King Jr. Day And Our Final Summaries
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s a great day for all of us (not just because my middle name is “Martin” in his honor). Here’s to hoping that his dream will someday come true.
It’s fitting that today is today because tonight, after days of build up, we will publish our final summaries about our trip to Israel. They will mention MLK Jr. and touch on themes that would doubtlessly be important...
Link: Israel Declares Unilateral Ceasefire →
Statement from the Israeli branch of Physicians...
“
As medical professionals responsible for the health and safety of all people, Jews and Arabs, we cannot remain silent in the face of the horrors occurring before our eyes: On Friday, 16th of January, we will set out together, members, volunteers, and supporters of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, to accompany a convoy of food and medical supplies for the residents of the Gaza Strip.
...
My "Favorite" Part of Israel
Since I’ve gotten this question 100 times since returning to Northwestern, I thought I’d answer it here in a public forum:
Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust museum.
It was there, during an extremely emotional day that left me near tears at several times, that I finally began to understand the importance that the state of Israel to Jews, who just a few years before the state’s establishment saw...
Post-Birthright Analysis: Sexism
By Alex Finkel For Living the Dream
Now that I’m back in the U.S. and I tell people I went to Israel over winter break, I always get the same question: “So, are you like more Jewish now?” or something like that.
I mean, that was one of the reasons I decided to go to Israel in the first place- to feel more connected to this religion I had halfheartedly observed the past 19 or so years of my...
Israel And Facebook Statuses
After Israel’s invasion of Gaza, someone decided to create a Facebook application which tracks Hamas rockets being fired into Israel. The idea is, anybody in favor of the invasion can go to a link and get this rocket tracker installed as their status until they disable it.
Naturally, someone else created an application in response which tracks Palestinian casualties.
I have friends who have...
WatchFull Daily Show segment on Israel’s invasion of Gaza
The Daily Show On Gaza
Jon Stewart: Come on, can’t someone phrase this in a way that will really bring it home?
Video of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Let me just phrase it for you something that will bring it home. If you’re in your apartment and some emotionally disturbed person is banging on the door, screaming, “I’m going to come through this door and kill you.” Do you want us to respond with one police officer, which is proportional, or all the resources at our command?
Jon Stewart: I guess it depends if I forced that guy to live in my hallway. And made him go through checkpoints everytime he has to take a shit. But then again, by removing him by force—as long as you really believe there will be no more crazy people in New York—OK.
Post-Birthright Analysis: Should You Go?
It’s a free trip to Israel. Yes, you should go.
Expect to hear some Zionist rhetoric about Israel’s ever-lasting right to live on the land (as long as you’re an independent thinker, you’ll be able to make your own conclusions). Expect to be dead tired afterwards. But most of all, expect 10 jam-packed days of touring, meeting people, trying new things, experiencing a different culture...
Trip Thoughts
While unpacking and getting ready for a new semester of classes, I’ve been reflecting on the past three weeks. I think our trip was incredible for several reasons.
First, that we were able to see so much in such a short time. After a jam-packed birthright trip, we jumped right into our own travels and made the most of our time - not staying in any one place for too long.
Equally amazing was...
Still Reflecting
In just three short weeks in Israel, we did so much.
We met with people of varying beliefs and authoritative positions on all sides of the Arab/Israeli conflict. We met with members of non-partisan groups working for peace. We observed the everyday interactions between the groups. We saw a war begin and escalate before our eyes.
We dodged missiles and clashed with the Israeli military and now,...
"You're Alive!?"
“BRIAN ROSENTHAL. You’re alive!”
“Thank God you’re not dead.”
“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re alive.”
NU students, and maybe Americans in general, appear to think that all of a Israel is a very scary, warzone of a country. It’s not true, of course.
But I wonder why that is?
Link: As Troops Enter, We Fear The Worst →
The perspective of an innocent Gazan…
Back on American Soil
After some interesting security questions in the Tel Aviv airport (“you don’t speak any Hebrew? but your last name is Rosenthal.” “why do you have backpacks? most Birthright people carry suitcases.”) and 20 hours of transportation, I’ve arrived safely back in Evanston, IL.
And it’s noon here, so today is going to be a 32-hour day.
Oh, and David’s wandering somewhere around New York City.
The End
This is our final post from Israel.
It’s not, however the last post about our trip. In fact, the fun is just about to get started.
Over the next weeks, we’ll be posting a slew of concluding posts, including our final summary: what we learned about the conflict, its causes and how to solve it.
We also hope to pen a few more “Post-Birthright Analysis” posts, for all of you nice Jewish boys and...
Day 21: Tel Aviv
We spent our final day in Israel in the great city of Tel Aviv.
We had morning coffee with a refugee from Eritrea, then lunch with our old friend Simon (we also walked with Simon to the old city of Jaffa), and shopped for some gifts to bring home. We concluded the day with dinner at Ellen’s house, before finishing some packing and getting ready to head to the airport.
"Something In Their [Muslim] Culture"?
While walking back to Ellen’s apartment, we ran into one of her friends, a French woman who is also volunteering to help refugees. We quickly got on the subject of politics (a topic that comes up in conversation much sooner and more frequently in Israel, we’ve noticed).
The woman began talking about her perspective on Israel’s recent invasion of Gaza.
“I see your side,” she said. ”But how can...
On Israeli "Liberation"
Background: Reading at a sign giving "the abridged history of Jaffa," we all noticed a statement saying that Israeli soldiers had "liberated the city" in 1948.
Us: Liberated the city from what?
Simon: From the local people living here
Everybody's Right
We spent the afternoon shopping and walking around the old city of Jaffa with our old friend Simon (also seen posting many comments on this blog).
During our lunch, he told us a joke:
Three men were having a disagreement, so they went to see a rabbi.
The first guy went to the rabbi and told his side of the disagreement. The rabbi said, “You’re right.”
The second guy went to the rabbi and told...
“No difference for me.”
– Asmerom in response to what he thinks about Barack Obama
New Issue: Refugees In Israel
We spent the morning meeting with Asmerom, a 24-year-old Eritrean man who has been in Israel for 13 months. Like thousands of others who fled from a war in Eritrea and landed in Israel, he’s seeking status as an official “refugee.” The Israeli government refuses to give him, or essentially any of the others, this label. Now, he has no where else to turn.
We spent a couple hours chatting in a...
“This idea of not talking to Hamas. I don’t get it. You need to make peace with...”
– Ellen (Ahmed said something very similiar last night)
Ellen: Peace Demonstrations Gaining Momentum
In our conversation tonight, Ellen offered a little bit of good news about the situation following Israel’s assault on Gaza.
She told us that the number of people at the first organized Tel Aviv peace demonstration was roughly equal to the amount of people at the third or fourth such demonstration during the Lebanon War in summer of 2006.
“People are catching on quicker,” she said.
Day 20: The Home Stretch
We took a morning bus to Tel Aviv, the final Israeli city we will be visiting (it’s also the largest).
We spent the afternoon walking through the city and relaxing (reading, frisbee throwing, etc) on an amazing Midterranean beach - where we watched the sunset. We’re staying with a friend of a friend, Ellen, who is active in peace organizations and demonstrations.
Tomorrow, we have a jam-packed...
The Myth Of The "Stressed Israeli"?
We met a wonderful Spanish woman on the bus to Tel Aviv this morning, and soon started talking with her the experience of being a tourist in Israel.
One of her more interesting statements concerned how some Israelis have been rude to her during her stay. We all speculated that this might be explained by how hard life here is.
“It’s a tense place, the constant conflict has made life very...
Link: US Blocks UN Gaza Ceasefire →
Day 19: The Other Jerusalem
We spent today in the Eastern part of Jerusalem, home to the city’s Muslim population.
After a late start, we had a meeting with a staff member at the Israel Committee Against Home Demolitions. Then, we toured the Muslim Quarter of the Old City (an area packed with Israeli soldiers). The walk brought us all the wall to the Western Wall, where we stopped by for our third visit in the past 10...
“We can live together. I’ve interacted with many of my husband’s colleagues at...”
– Ahmed’s wife
"Sometimes, I Wish I Didn't Have Kids"
During our visit, Ahmed’s wife also gave us some great insights. Speaking with her 7-year-old son laying in her lap, she spoke about the horror of being a Palestinian mom.
“This past week, I’ve been glued to the TV watching what’s happening in Gaza,” she said. “It’s hard. I’ve wanted to cry. But I don’t want my children to see me cry. I’ve tried to send them out of the room, but they keep running...
Arabic Culture
As we’ve learned about the Arab/Israeli conflict during the past several days, we’ve also learned a little bit about Arabic culture.
We like it a lot; it’s very friendly.
Here’s a brief lesson about the culture based on what we’ve seen:
1. Everybody is nice.
2. Families are large and live close to each other (it’s not uncommon for a house to be passed down for generations).
3. “Visits”...
Ahmed: Wall is "Nonsense"
Sitting at his dinner table 200 meters away from the West Bank separation wall, our host Ahmed gave his opinion about the wall.
Calling it “nonsense,” he said that the barrier doesn’t keep any determined person out. He cited a large number of West Bankers who travel illegally to Jerusalem every morning to find work.
“If somebody wants to get in, the wall won’t stop them,” he said. “They’ll go...
ICAHD Visit
This afternoon, we met with Jimmy Johnson of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD). Highlights:
20,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished
There are four reasons for the demolitions: targeted assassinations, punishment for violence, military strategy, lack of building permit (many obstacles)
The system forces many Palestinians to choose between a safe home in the West...
WatchPost-Birthright Analysis: SHRUBBERY!?
The best video clip of the trip.
You may recognize this man, by the way.
Link: Israel Launches Ground Assault →
The Irony Of The Bah'ai Temple
Walking around the breathtakingly beautiful Bah’ai gardens this morning (pictures coming), I stumbled upon a tour group and paused to listen to the guide.
“The Bah’ais have a simple ideology,” the guide was telling the group. “They think the whole world should be one country. No passports, nothing. And they think that everybody should speak the same language.”
It wasn’t until later that it hit...
Breaking News: We Will Not Visit The West Bank
Amid increasing protesting, we have decided not to visit the West Bank tomorrow, meaning we will not set foot on Palestinian territory during this trip, although we still hope to make it to Abu Dis.
It was an extremely difficult decision for us to make. As you know, we came to Israel to see ALL sides of the Arab/Israeli conflict, and the lack of this visit will doubtlessly reduce our...
Day 18: Back To Jerusalem
Easy day today. Activities included going to the Bah’ai gardens and shrine and walking through the city’s Arabic quarter. Then it was off to the bus station.
For the second Saturday night, we’re back with our former piano teacher in Jerusalem. We didn’t expect to be here, but we’re happy we are (it’s very comfortable).
Link: Israel Assault Continues For 7th Day →
Day 17: Haifa
After days of dodging missiles and confronting Israeli soldiers, we settled down in Haifa for a relaxing Friday.
We rode a train to the city and then caught a bus to an inexpensive hotel. As we set out for an afternoon walk around the city, we thought everything was going our way.
We returned to the hotel two hours later to find our laptop computer stolen. We’ve spent the evening being...
Breaking News: Laptop Stolen
That’s right; someone broke into our locked Haifa hotel room this afternoon and stole the laptop computer we have been using to blog the trip.
The hotel owner said it’s the first time anything has been stolen from inside the hotel in its 77 years of operation.
Don’t be alarmed. This setback will not end or even slow Living the Dream. We’ll be posting from Internet cafes and friends’ computers...
West Bank: To Visit, Or Not To Visit
Some of you know that we have long considered a visit to the West Bank as integral to a proper understanding of the conflict taking place here in Israel/Palestine. We have several contacts there who expressed their willingness to meet with us to discuss the situation.
That was all before Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Now, we’re not sure if it’s a wise idea to go. We certainly don’t want to endanger...
Day 16: The Life Of A Palestinian Citizen of...
Today was probably the most powerful day of trip so far.
We started the day with a visit to Jatt High School, where we met with the Assistant Principal. Next, it was off to see the wall, where we had a run-in with the Israeli military (see below).
After a brief midday break, we met with friends of Abed’s family who spent a year living in West Lafayette (our hometown). Then it was time for a late...
Post-Birthright Analysis: The Arab-Israeli...
(Editor’s Note: In the coming days, we will feature several different “Post-Birthright Analysis” posts about different aspects of the trip. Some will be from guest writers).
During the past couple days in Jatt we’ve met many Arab Israelis, almost all of whom have asked us the same question: What brings you here?
We explain that we came on a Birthright trip (known here by it’s Hebrew name—...
