I truly tried to come to Israel with few expectations. I admit that I expected my suitcase to come with me and I was disappointed. I planned to spend the first few days in this nice hotel by the beach in Tel Aviv expecting that I’d be tired from the long plane ride and intending to relax in the sun on the sand and in the sea. Somehow (not just because I didn’t get my suitcase) I have spent my time walking around exploring and getting a feel of the city. I didn’t really expect to like Tel Aviv very much and the truth is I like it much more than I could have imagined.
I can’t help but compare a new place to other places I’ve been. Maybe that’s human nature or maybe its just mine. In some ways, the Tel Aviv that I’ve been exploring reminds me of the best of Boulder that I first saw in 1974 before all the money came in and the coffee shops pushed out the small bookstores and then the banks pushed out the bookstores and the rich trust fund people pushed at those who used to work in the small bookstores and coffee shops and everything became about money.
Of course also, Tel Aviv is Jewish and Hebrew speaking and that is nice for me today, but again in the same way Boulder in 1974 was nice for me when it was all full of long haired hippies. I like that I had trouble finding a bank to cash my dollars into shekels. In Boulder now there seems to be at least one bank on every block. Someone once explained to me that the banks where buying up the buildings not because there was that much business but because it was such a good investment and their branches provided advertising to people needing mortgages on the more and more expensive homes.
I’ve only seen a little bit of the city obviously but there are dozens and dozens of small coffee shops and bakeries where people sit on hard chairs outside sipping their espresso.
Today I had one last errand to run and bought a fresh squeezed orange and lemon juice from a vendor. The outdoor Carmel Market is like nothing I’ve seen before with bin of spices and olives as well as fruit and vegetables and breads and baked goods and so much more.
Back home in Oregon, I have a habit of greeting people when I pass them while in a car by flashing the traditional peace signal. ✌️ Maybe it’s an old man throwback to my hippy youth. But I do it to say hello rather than just waving.
I really like that in Israel the generic Hebrew word for hello and good bye is shalom which also means peace. I’ve been saying shalom to everyone that I meet. Maybe its insignificant or maybe I am making something out of nothing in my head.
I’ve only spent 4 days in Tel Aviv and the overwhelming universal feeling seems to be desperation to see the return of the hostages. There are signs hanging everywhere. Bring them home now. I was speaking to a cab driver about her life style and she was telling me how many vacations she takes around the world every year. I asked her where she is going for her next vacation and she said she is not planning another vacation until the hostages come home.
There are of course severe disagreements on the best way to get them home, and on how much and what to give up in a deal to get the surviving hostages home. But absolutely unanimity on the desperation to get them home.
As I walk around town I overhear conversations (those in English that I can understand) about the war strategy. How do wars usually end historically? Either both sides give up or one side wins and the other loses. Is Hamas about to give up if we only fight a little longer?
There is anger (expressed on the graffiti around town) at Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir for what is perceived as a willingness to sacrifice the lives of the remaining hostages for other political goals. The employee at the cemetery started shouting Bibi Bibi over and over at my cab driver when he perceived that she was a supporter of Benni Gantz. Neither my Hebrew nor his English were very good but I know he called her a “Gantznick” and told me not to let her convince me.
But what I don’t hear or see that surprises me is expression of hatred of the Palestinians or demands for revenge against Hamas. We could speculate about why that is. Maybe, they’ve already had all the revenge they need. Maybe they are totally preoccupied with their grieving and desperation to do whatever is in their power to save the remaining hostages.
It’s a good thing. It’s a human thing.
Since college, I have always basically been some fashion of an anarchist. (some who knew me well might say it started even earlier) but not the kind of anarchist who plants bombs and shoots people but the kind who believes that everyone is entitled to live as they want as long as they don’t interfere with the rights of others. I believe that the Palestinians have a right to a national homeland primarily within the boundaries where they now live. That right must be conditioned on an acceptance of the Jewish people’s right to live freely within the boundaries where they now live. I believe that the Jewish people also (like every people) have a right to live freely and safely on their own homeland.
I am thinking about the lovely words at the end of the poem written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber which became the Israeli National Anthem.
Lih-yot am chofshi b’ar-tzeinu
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ
To be a free people in our land,
Eretz Tziyyon v’Yerushalayim
םילשׁוּריו ןיּצ ץרא
the land of Zion and Jerusalem.
I have adjusted my schedule to come back to Tel Aviv for the last weekend of my trip primarily so I can be here and be part of the weekly demonstrations that are held on Saturday evening at Hostage Square.
Maybe on my last day I will go swimming the Mediterranean.