Dear friends,
Two transatlantic flights later, I am back in the Middle East. After a short stopover in Turkey, I spent quality time at home, in New York City and in Washington D.C. It was great to be home and see my friends and family, and I wish I could have seen even more of them. Israel has been spectacular thus far, and my excitement for what lies ahead on this adventure grows daily.
I planned to send this first letter shortly after my arrival, but procrastination and a busy schedule got the best of me. I planned to write again at the beginning of February, but had a hard time finding the words to describe the complexity of what is happening here. Perhaps it is better that I waited, however, as there have been so many recent developments in the region. I will try to recount some of my observations below, but I know that all of you are busy.
In this issue:
- Turkey Sandwich
- Jewish Geography
- All Mixed Up
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1. Turkey Sandwich
My semester in Egypt came to an abrupt end as I said goodbye to many of my friends at the Cairo Jazz Club and raced to the airport to catch my 3 a.m. flight to Istanbul. Upon landing, it was hard not to notice the stark contrast from developing Egypt to maturing Turkey. Throughout my two days in Istanbul, it was evident that compared to my former country of residence, Turkey was a class act. It was cleaner, wealthier, and far more efficient.
I met up with my friend Jeremy up arrival (as well as Brian, a friend of his from home), and our entire visit was hosted by our Turkish friend Derya from Brandeis, who studied with Jeremy on a program in London in the fall. While staying with a native Turk may mean that without enough time, one may have to sacrifice typical tourist activities for cultural experiences, it was an extremely worthwhile trade off. Instead of going to world famous restaurants, I ate home cooked meals. Instead of going to a plethora of museums, I heard live Turkish folk music. (Thank you Derya for making all of that happen.) Still, I was able to see some of the city’s most popular sites including Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace and of course, a lavish Turkish bath.
Instead of spending our entire trip in Istanbul, Jeremy, Brian and I took a seven hour bus ride to a region in central Turkey called Cappadocia. The region contains a unique landscape of jagged, volcanic rock. For centuries people took advantage of the soft rocks and in them carved homes, churches and various other structures. In some instances, entire underground cities were created as Christian hideouts from Romans, and later from Muslims. It was a fascinating area, and I hope you will look at my pictures, which will be much more descriptive.
2. Jewish Geography
For those of you who do not understand the term, “Jewish Geography,” it does not refer to the physical layout of Israel and Brooklyn. Rather, it is a game we like to play in which a two people, after asking one another where they are from, proceed to name as many mutual friends as possible, instantly forming a web of connections that grows larger with every participant. I thought playing Jewish Geography in the United States was intense, but in Israel it is overwhelming. This is the big leagues. Nearly every student I meet shares a mutual friend with me somewhere in the United States, and those that do not are likely to have a friend of a friend that knows me. Israelis too seem to all know one another, or they at least share a close connection.
3. All mixed up
I am all mixed up. Sometimes, I feel like I am in the eye of a hurricane. From the Hebrew University campus, which is set atop Mount Scopus in northeast Jerusalem, it is possible to see this city for what it is: 360 degrees of holiness, history and hate. In each direction a separate story is developing, and accompanying each story are more and more hard decisions for the leaders of this country to make. Our campus is peaceful, but political and religious turmoil, though not always visible, surrounds our little mountain on all sides.
My feelings about this place change daily. I am torn between my semesters. Cairo, on the one hand, allowed me to break through the racism towards Arabs that so many right-wing Jews espouse on a daily basis. Some people here see all Arabs as terrorists, and they are not afraid to say so. Arabs are the brunt of their jokes, and the focus of their hate. After last semester, it is especially hard for me to stomach these comments when I understand the extreme hardships Palestinians in the West Bank endure every day. People, including students, emergency workers, and the sick often must wait hours at checkpoints to pass between towns and cities. Some Palestinian mothers are forced to give birth in the dirt. Olive groves are occasionally burned by hateful Israeli settlers. Few are prosecuted. When Palestinians break the law, sometimes they are beaten, or even shot. Yet, tourists who come to Israel without prior knowledge of the situation would never be able to tell that such things are going on behind the wall. The two parts of Israel are like night and day.
As disappointed as I am in Israel for some of its policies in the Palestinian Territories, I know that there are many competing opinions and philosophies that influence the actions of the Israeli government. Egyptians last semester indiscriminately blamed Israel for the ills of the region, but many of their claims were unfounded. Things are not always so cut and dry here, and mistakes of the past by all parties are often the source of the immense complexity of the present situation. These past mistakes (in my opinion) cannot all be undone. Though I wish it were the case, I know that not every settlement will be dismantled, and that money stolen from the Palestinian people by their former leaders will not likely find its way back into the Palestinian treasury. These are only two of the realities which plague the peace process day in and day out.
Hope for a speedy end to this tangled up political mess is dim, but not extinguished. I am both fearful and anxious to see how the new Hamas led government handles its position. It has a historic opportunity to take its people in the right direction. How it uses this opportunity is yet to be determined.
Apart from the depressing politics of this young nation, there are things going on here that are all positive. I must admit that I do not go a day without being impressed by the state and infrastructure it has built over the last century. For example, the wave of the future is the new high-speed train system that will eventually connect all major cities in the country, cutting the trip from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv from one hour to thirty minutes. Israel is also building a series of low-energy, seawater desalination plants along the Mediterranean Coast that will, in 15 years, produce a third of Israel’s domestic water needs. Rumor has it that with this much water, Israel may even be in the position to sell fresh water reserves to neighboring Arab countries.
Classes started this week, and I am very excited for what I will be learning. Despite the long break between e-mails, I have uploaded numerous pictures of Israel for your enjoyment. You can see them by going to my blog, the address of which is at the bottom of this e-mail.
Peace,
Josh
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How to contact me:
e-mail: jeadland@brandeis.edu
AIM: joshlands
Skype: joshlands
Cell Phone: 011-972-52-598-4511
Web site (with pictures): http://joshadland.blogspot.com
