Shabbat and the Secular State

I came to Israel to meet the people and see the land, believing that both were essential to understanding the Middle East better.  Having spent time now in Tel Aviv and Eliat, I would argue that visiting is the only way to understand Israelis, and that it is well worth it if you are interested in international relations, are Jewish, or like the Medditeranean.

I flew into Tel Aviv and survived the airport experience in which I was twice questioned--really questioned--where are you staying, with whom, how do you know them, and so on.  Israel openly engages in racial profiling and I suspect I looked Arab enough to get some special treatment.  In Israel, however, I can pass for Israeli--there are generally two groups--Ashkanzi (white European) and Saphardic (middle eastern, darker skinned) Jews.  I spelled both wrong, by the way.  The people are very beautiful and enjoy showing their bodies off on the beaches, which are beautiful and about all you do besides eating when you are in Tel Aviv.

The people are really nice, but why a Jewish state?

My childhood friend Sarah Dabby,  who I have known since kindergarten, is in Tel Aviv for the summer and has a great apartment two minutes from the sand.  She graciously invited me to stay with her and we had three wonderful, long days of white sand fine enough to get everywhere, lifeguarding commentary (they yell in Hebrew on microphones all the time--don't bother trying to nap), huge sunsets, and Harry Potter.  (It had to be done before someone ruined the ending.)  Food is very good and very fresh--lots of salads and tahina and falafel.  Especially good is Israeli frozen yogurt--fill a cup with your choice of frozen fruit (dates or passion fruit or quince are all fair game) and chocolate or nuts,and it gets made into a not-too-sweet custom flavor.  Israel's not too cheap, sadly, but it's not as expensive as Europe and you can live on falafel for little.

Sarah took me to Shabaat dinner the first night--we were invited by a family she knew from San Diego--and it was wonderful--an open home, three generations,  a group of twenty, each with their own signature dish--rice and chicken and lentils and meat and water with spearmint-and we were up late talking, in Hebrew and English and Spanish.  Hospitality is very good in Israel--the people are very nice and very generous, and it feels like a safe place.  (My Dad's friends Oz and Yuval were similarly generous when they heard I was coming to Israel.)

My feelings of Israel have indeed changed--but not, I think, in a way my friends might have hoped.  Friendly as everyone is, I inevitably felt like an outsider, and not because of culture, but because of religion.  Israel is a Jewish state, and not being Jewish created a sort of barrier that American Jews (like those on birthright) avoid.  This brings me to a larger point.  Upon its founding, I do not think Israel should have been established as a Jewish state.  Instead, I think that it should have been established as a refugee state.

Jews needed a place to escape ongoing percecution, and Israel has helped solve this.  But because the state was founded on the basis of religion Jews have priviledges non-Jews don't have--citizenship is easier to gain, birthright, and so on.  At the same time, other peoples are being persecuted--and while Israel accepts many refugees, they don't get the same privileges they would if they were Jewish.  Why should a Russian Jew escaping the pograms be faster accepted than a Hutu family escaping genocide?  I believe Israel should have been established as a secular reugee state--for Jews and non-Jews alike.  Too late now, but still an important question, that I think is at the crux of the issue: should Israel be a secular state.  Interesting is that Israel lacks a written consitution.

One more note on Israeli perspective that I found trublesome--generally (and certainly not everyone--they say it's a country of six million with twelve million opinons on every issue) Israelis have little interest in visiting Arab areas.  In part, I understand this as a product of having rockets being fired at you from every direction and some countries who do not recognize your right to exist or the holocaust.  That said, almost every Israei I spoke with recommended staying in Eliat (southern Israel) over Acaba (ten minutes away, in Jordan)--and the way it was said gave me the impression there was little desire to understand or experience Arab culture firsthand.  This will make cultural reconciliation and understanding--essential to peace--difficult to achieve.

Of course, suicide bombings do the same thing (I saw sites in tel aviv where the intafada had wrecked havoc.)  Anyhow, after a brief time in Eliat (gorgeous snorkling--huge fish in colors so bright they looked fake, as if pumped full of highighter ink) I came to Cairo, and I am now enroute to Jordan, before going to Northern Israel an Jerusalem.  I'll let you know how my views change as I go...