Rebels without a cause
Amazingly inense weekend. I am certainly happy that I decided to go to the north.
First of all, we visited the Bahhai Gardens in Haifa. I was amazed by how this religion so thoroughly mixes eastern tradition with western monotheism. I think that if I were to become a theist again, that this faith would be strongly appealing. Yet, I looked further online and found that the faith is full of fasting and condemns things such as homosexuality in ways that other faiths do. It seems hypocritical that one faith can so emphasize tolerance and then be so close minded about individual’s lifestyles. The faith also talks about punishment at the hand of god while pretending to be truly tolerant and open. I want to know more about the faith but certainly feel that the belief in god is unnecessary in the first place. I think I’m going to stick with my universal secularism J.
Acko is such a fascinating historical place. I was swept away with how everything is full of complex layers of interwoven history. The crusader monuments, Turkish bastions and British bases all stand one onto of the other and hearken back to various periods. This is a city which fully shows the tumultuous history of the region. Most stark to me was the almost complete lack of a Jewish historical presence in the city. Yet, despite this fact, there was a Jewish Tour brochure available, but no Christian or Muslim one.
Indeed, this brochure was even more shocking because it referred to the Jewish terrorists who killed British innocents in the late years of the mandate and were imprisoned here as “freedom fighters”. I honestly laughed out loud when I saw this, because it shows how language is so conveniently utilized for ones disposal. These Jews were certainly as barbaric and horrific in their actions as the modern Palestinian terrorist, yet somehow, they do not receive the same level of condemnation among Jews. This criticism is not in the slightest targeted only against the Jews, as I feel that the Palestinian side is often quick to condemn the violence of the other side but less quick to condemn its own. Yet, historically the one standout element of the conflict was David Ben Gurion’s success in reigning in these splinter terrorist groups and achieving a consolidated security force. This was perhaps the biggest failure of Arafat in the Oslo years, though it is possible that under similar conditions of economic and social occupation that Ben Gurion may have failed as well.
The Israeli-Lebanon border is a travesty in a way. It feels like a place under constant tension. At the moment we visited it seemed quiet and peaceful, and it was in fact hard to imagine that just the summer before there had been a full scale war with troops crossing the border. The Lebanese travesty last summer was a of course a horrific event, but it is more tragic that peace has still not been attained between Israel and its neighbors. It seems in history, that whenever one side has been close to making the concessions needed for peace, the other side has backed of at the last moment. In the 90’s, Israel was the one seemingly more willing to compromise, today we hear about the willingness of Syria to negotiate and to try to achieve some settlement. We hear about covert initiatives on their part. We see the willingness of the Arab League to strongly push for peace. Yet, Israel seems tuck by the inertia caused by its quagmire last summer, and paralyzed by the failure of the Gaza pull out.
The hostel/country we staying in over night as well as the concert we went to strongly harkened back to a more optimistic time in the Israeli discourse. I remember hearing artists such as Aviv Gefen in the 90’s and feeling the incredibly surge or strong peacenick and pro-oslo activism. The feeling of a nearby peace was indelible. This concert felt like a meaningless throwback to a bygone era. This was like Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkle without a political message and out of place. The music was not the music of today, but of yesterday. Of course, the people very much enjoyed this throwback to a more innocent time in the public perception and attitude, but it just seemed so futile. Likewise, the anti-governmental libertarian attitude of the hostel just seemed both appropriate and misplaced. Today anti-government attitudes are prevalent, but the common response is total apathy rather than revolution. This place seemed like one that would fit the 60’s generation of U.S hippies or the 80’s rejectionist movement against the Lebanese war, but surely not today’s Gilded Era of politics. Shimon Peres’s election as president as well as these events makes me briefly feel like I’m in the 90’s again and feel true optimism about the hope for peace. Alas, the hope for a new Middle East or even general peace has died in many Israelis hearts as well as minds.
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