Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Jerusalem of Democracy, Mankind, Lands

Jerusalem of Democracy, Mankind, Lands
The third day of our visit in Jerusalem was democracy day. We visited the "Kneset" building. We experienced all the security examination, and the "Knesset" guide was with us. The wall tapestry made by Mark Shagal was beautiful; all the history of the Jewish nation was on this tapestry. After visiting the Knesset plenum hall we met two Knesset members: an Arab Knesset member Zhahalka and a Jewish one Malkior who was a minister too. The questions of the participants were about co existent, daily life and the answers were according their political point of view.
We lunched at the rose garden near the Knesset building and then we entered the Supreme Court building. The view points in the supreme court yard are such, that from one side you can see the government building and from the other side you can see the knesset building, this view point is the Israeli democracy essence.
The tour in the Supreme Court building was very interesting. We received explanation about its wonderful planning, like the natural sunny light that lights the building. We met a Bedouin judge who was born in Tel Sheva near Beer Sheva . he told us his fascinating life story with a great sense of humor.
Early in the evening we met Idan and Basem. Idan is a Israeli play writer and Basem is an Arab who is lives in east Jerusalem and was in the Israeli prison. He lost his daughter in a Israeli army operation. They belong to organization that supports dialog and not revenge. They told use their stories, the touching story of Basem touched sensitive Idan and he wrote a play about Basem's story. It was a very special evening.
Early in the night we visited David Tower. We climbed to the highest view point on the roof of the castle. The panoramic view of Jerusalem at this night was very exciting. Then we went to the Kottel tunnels. It was like going in time machine back in history. We stood in a point in the tunnel that is the nearest place to the holiest place in the Jewish temple, we saw remains of big fires from the past there, we walked on a street that remained from the second temple time. We finished our visit very late 3 a.m. We reached again the Kottel yard, there, life goes on without any pause.
The next day was Adam Adama Day - men and land in Jerusalem. We walked from the school we slept at, to Ein Karem village. It was a very hot day. Afterward we traveled to the proconsul palace in east Jerusalem and we entered again to a tunnel the ancient citizens of Jerusalem passed water to Jerusalem. We reached to the proconsul palace promenade, where divided into groups there in groups we sum our visit in Jerusalem. In the horizon we saw the wall that separates Jerusalem from the west bank.
In the evening we returned to Ein Karem to receive the Shabbat and then we went to Israeli Arab girls' choir that came to us from the Galilee, afterward there was a dancing party that went on into the night.
So we neared to the last part of our journey: home hospitality in Shaar Hanegev, Lakiya and Segev Shalom.
Questions:
A. The Israeli Democracy situated in beautiful thoughtful desiged building so why is the Israeli democracy so ugly?
B. Is Jerusalem more beautiful during the day or during the night? What is outstanding in Jerusalem during the day and what is outstanding during the night?
C. Do we, in Jitli project have any roll in changing Jerusalem to be the city of peace?
D. We met so many points of co-existent in Jerusalem;would it influence us in short term? In long term?




enjoy

Itzik

Sunday, November 2, 2008

A Letter form Shaar Hanegev Participants to the Group

The Letter
In the past two weeks we have dealt primarily with your role as citizens in Israel and the problems dealing with your communities and culture. We talked about discrimination, rights and ownership of land. We have spent a lot of time and effort learning about and understanding your dilemmas and issues. As individuals and as a group we have made sure to react to situations with respect, consideration and a positive temperament. Each of us has taken the time to think about what we say before we say it in order to not offend others.

Yesterday we were all listening to the lecture about the situation in the Middle East and more specifically in Israel. As a group we have come to a conclusion that the lecture was pro-Israeli in the parts that dealt with the Gazza strip and the areas around Gazza. Although the lecture was an hour, there was only about five minutes about the situation in Gazza and with in that five minutes there was a short video clip about the reality of Sderot and the surrounding Kibbutzim. This situation is OUR reality.

Although we have created wonderful friendships with all of you, it has hurt us to see that we have spent a lot of time understanding you and your stories while you have not take any time to listen to us. Many of you have rushed to state that the situation in Gazza is a justification for the reality that WE live in; this is a reality of a life threatening situation for the past eight years. We are aware of the situation of the people living in Gazza and we feel for them. A few of us live close enough to Gazza that we see the situation with our own eyes every day, whereas you only hear about it through the news and occasionally relatives. The situation in Gazza is hard and unbarable, but it does not give you the right to overlook our situation.

We are a community that lives in constant fear; going to school every morning is risking your life. Some of the class rooms at school have been converted into bomb shelters, although most of them have not; when the alarm is sounded we have 15 seconds to run for shelter. That is 15 seconds to run for you life. Jimmy Kadoshim, the father of our close friend was killed several weeks ago by a missile while working in his garden. In the following weeks three more people have been killed including a college student at our school. Oz's brothers have moved to sleep in the shelter because they are too scared to sleep in their rooms. Maayan was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress disorder (PTS) after a missile fell six meters from her. The apartment of Mai's boyfriend was destroyed by a missile. Each and every one of us has already been in a situation where a few meters made a difference between life and death.

The basic right of every human being is to live in safety, not the right to own land or have equality. You all enjoy the right to live in safety, meanwhile we do not. We feel for you when you tell us about discrimination and mistreatment of you as citizens of our country. Did you ever take a moment to think about those people you hear about in Sderot as victims? Because those people are us and you rush to disregard us. The fact that you do not take the time to understand us and our situation as people that are threatened and living in constant fear; it seems as if there is a personal offence to each and every one of us. None of us are afraid that our houses are going to be destroyed, but we are each afraid of going to school each morning. For some of us, even our home isn't safe. The fear we posses is real. The fear we feel when we walk to school or go out to play soccer is real. None of you have experienced that type of daily fear, we have been living with this fear for eight years now. The people of Gaza have these similar daily fears as we do. You with all of our difficulties in this country live here in safety, we on the other hand do not.

We feel as if none of you have considered our situation from your personal point of view as someone who lives in safety. You all reacted as if you relate to the citizens of Gazza. We don't relate to anyone; this is our life and our reality.
You haven't shown a slightest bit of respect and empathy to our situation at hand. To ignore and dismiss the danger we live in only because Gazza is more dangerous is an offensive and insulting act. This act is not JITLI. We came here to respect and be respected in return. Until now we feel as if we have put forth the respect needed and have not been given back the respect we deserve. Instead we have received undermining coments and disrespect.

Each and everyone of us and all of us as a group were insulted. This is something we feel very strongly about and do not want to let this simply pass. I hope you take into consideration everything we said and we can move on to become a stronger JITLI family that respects each and everyone of us.

How to create more sympathy empathy kindness and love in such intense trip???

Itzik koren