V-day is an international day to raise awareness and put an end to violence against women. In Jerusalem, a local group of female actresses performed the Vagina Monologues. If you haven't seen them, you should. I've seen them before, but it was great to see them performed again, as they are so cathartic to watch. I laughed, cried, and reinvigorated the angry feminist in me. Also, who wouldn't get a kick out of seeing a religious head-scarf wearing Jewish woman on stage yelling the word "pussy??"
Here is a link to a video that a woman made for V-day on Jerusalem women's perspectives on sex, vaginas, etc. It's great.
My one qualm is that the monologues were only performed in Israel, and in the white Jewish parts of Israel, no less. I'm not sure if there was any effort to try to perform them in the West Bank or the Arab-Israeli towns, but I'm disappointed that it was performed to such a limited audience.
(Young Hebronite woman waving Palestinian flag. Behind her on the left is the Israeli military watch tower that guards the entrance to the now closed off Shuhada street. Behind on the right is one of the old Hebron streets. See more photos of the protest at "My photos")
Yesterday, Saturday 3/28 I went to a protest in the West Bank town of Hebron. This weekend there were many protests all over Israel and the West Bank to honor Palestinian Land Day. March 30, 1967, the Israeli government announced a plan to seize 20,000 dunams, or 5,000 acres of Palestinian land. Six unarmed Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers in the protests against the announcement. This day is to honor their deaths and to fight against the discriminatory land policies of Israel.
Anyway, I went to a protest there this past Saturday. An Arab-Israeli Parliament member was there, and had a face-to-face yelling match with the military commander who was trying to kick us out. Dressed in a suit, he had a crowd of tv cameras, photographers, and protesters behind him, and would not stop until the soldiers resorted to force, tear gas, and sound bombs. It was both depressing to see a parliament member powerless in his own country and utterly inspiring to see him be such a badass.
Hebron is hands-down the most heated town in the West Bank for many reasons. Check it out on Wikipedia for a general background. Ultra-religiosity in both the Jewish settlers and the Muslim population, enormous military presence, and unending harrassment by settlers to the Palestinians all are some reasons why life in Hebron is hard for the Palestinians there. The settlers in general, but especially in Hebron, are generally regarded as unreasonable, racist extremists, even by Israelis. Watch the video below to see what Hebronites have to endure every day while living there. Simple things like going to school are not simple for Arabs in Hebron, they have to fight their way through everything.
Things to notice in the video: The people wearing the tan vests are foreign activists who escort Palestinians and try to act as human shields. The soldiers- they don't do anything to stop these little hate-filled children from throwing stones, and that's because they are ordered not to. They are told by their commanding officers that they can't do anything unless they pose a threat to the soldiers themselves. So instead they yell at them, usually to no avail (notice the policeman in the parking lot yelling at the boy throwing stones), they try to put themselves between the two groups, or they don't do anything. My Israeli friend here said he once tied a settler kid to a tree to make him stop :)
It's the children that upset me the most. They are taught by their parents from day one to hate the Arabs, just because they are Arabs. It's not as if these kids' parents were there, they would have told them to stop. They were probably watching from their house windows, cheering them on. Yes, there is hate from the Arab Hebronites side as well, but it is in no way an equal fight. This is one example where you just can't be objective or neutral- it's just plain wrong.
Check out HEB2- it's an experimental video project that posts candid video footage of Hebronites' lives online.
I don't have much to say, so here is a link to a recent article I wrote for work. The opinions I express in this blog are not the opinions of the Alternative Information Center.
Picture of a t-shirt made for a soldier who graduated from sniper training.
There is a fashion trend among recent IDF training graduates that frankly, scares the crap out of me. It entails making t-shirts for your squad with sadistic slogans on the back of them, such as the one above. It is a picture of a pregnant Palestinian woman with a sniper target pointed at her, with the slogan beneath it, "1 shot 2 kills."Then there are other t-shirts that, for instance, have a picture of a bruised Palestinian woman with a slogan saying "Bet you got raped!" or another that says "Let every Arab mother know that her son's fate is in my hands!"...Oh. My. God.
In an article printed by Haaretz recently, the reporter spoke to an IDF soldier about the shirts: Of the shirt depicting a bull's-eye on a pregnant woman, he said: "There are people who think it's not right, and I think so as well, but it doesn't really mean anything. I mean it's not like someone is gonna go and shoot a pregnant woman." Yes, ensha'allah (God willing in Arabic) these shirts are not a reflection of reality and it's just an incredibly disturbing and wildly un-funny joke.
In a conversation I had with an older Israeli who served in the IDF in his youth, he said, "this is one aspect of Israeli society of which Israelis don't understand how uncivilized we are." He explained, there is no way for soldiers to make sense of the position they are put in, or to be told what exactly is right and what's wrong. It's all just "being in the army." Israel is not a place that encourages talking about feelings, or processing what your government has asked you to do. One of the result of this, apparently, is for these recently trained soldiers to "express themselves" via these slogans.
I'm so offended by this. SO offended! But I'm also on the outside. I have no idea what it feels like to be put in a position in which I have to be a soldier. While refusing to serve in the army is an entirely different issue, and for another time, I'd like to think I'd be super righteous and not partake in crude humor like these shirts, and be a good person, etc. But, I can't underestimate the power of social norms and social pressure, and how incredibly difficult it is to deviate from them.
So in Tel Aviv, it's sort of obvious what spring time entails- people start wearing less clothing, the beaches start to fill up, there are more bikes, barbeques, and dogs, etc. It's like any other modern, western beach town. But in Jerusalem, the less-than-outdoorsy and oh-so-religious city, it's a little more vague. The drivers are too terrifying for people to ride their bikes, religious people don't really change their wardrobe for the summer (or do they? Not sure about that one), and dogs aren't really something they're into. Maybe they barbeque..? Well, one thing I've discovered they do is go hang out at these springs that are all over the city. Even if they do keep all of their clothes on while they swim, it's one of the local ways to get out of this damn-intense city and enjoy a little bit of nature! These springs are so pretty, and on one of the first warm days of the season, we busted out and went to the prettiest one.
Lounging spring-side
The view from the spring- on top of the hill is an Arab village called Wallaje. There are two mosques and you can hear them echoing during the call to prayer. Sublime. Please notice the argeelah (or hooka) on the left. This soldier-boy and his soldier girlfriend brought their very own to the spring. What Jerusalem spring experience would be complete without a travel argeelah?? Only in Israel.
Of course, after a nice, relaxing time, we ended our stint with an argument with our 20-year old hooka-smoking friends about the attacks in Gaza. They think we need to be "strong" and "not back down" to the Arabs. Again...only in Israel.
