I recently had the pleasure of hosting the friend of my family for a few hours in Tel Aviv. From the little time I spent with him, I got the impression that Jim's a good guy, a real guy, trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. He's a History teacher, and American, and currently lives in Germany. He's of Jewish decent, but never identified as being Jewish "during my adult life," as he put it. His goal of coming to Israel? For the experience, to see the country itself, beyond all the hype he reads in the media, outside of the classroom.
Our visit was pleasant enough. The day after his arrival, I headed out to meet him last Saturday afternoon, we did a few hour walking tour around South Tel Aviv. I was allowed to bear my soul, go on a rant about Israel, its place in the world, and the world's attitude of it.
After our short visit, he continued on his week journey in Israel, his first time here. To meet up with people he was referred to apparently by friends of his. After completing his journey I sent him a message saying it was great to meet with him, and hope he had a good trip. He replied by stating he has to contemplate the "intense and discomforting discussions that I had there."
Of course that peaked my curiosity, and I sent him a message back stating that I'd be interested in hearing about his discomforting discussions. What I got back was, albeit the initial impressions of a man thrown into Israel on a whirlwind tour speaking to who I can only assume were mostly zealots his friends wanted him to speak with for perhaps precisely that reason, what I got back was a damning analysis defining Israelis as nothing short of "xenophobic, jingoistic, racist, sexist, militarist, right-wing, paranoid, dogmatists who, as such, are horrendous interlocutors."
I look back at our discussions and wonder if that's the impression I gave him, and for me it's hard to see that it is. But then again, my definition of "right wing" has significantly changed after living in Israel. I still look at myself for all practical purposes as having many left wing beliefs, at least regading society in general. A fact that many people I know laugh at. But the reasoning I give in a previous piece I wrote titled "Israel hasn’t Abandoned the Left, the Left has Abandoned Israel.
In his message to me he states that "It seems that the country has been all but taken over by religious extremists. Religious fundamentalism of all varieties is disgusting." Though I have to wonder just how much of the country he reviewed and how many different people he talked with before coming to that conclusion, or if it was simply the conclusions he made after talking to a handful of people in Jerusalem. And in spite of what many people think, Jerusalem is certainly not all of Israel.
In any case, I'm not here to criticize Jim, he came here and made his observations based on his knowledge, education and experience. Based upon the people he spoke with (me included), and the things he experienced, and of course framed in the context of what he's learned about Israel up until now.
What his letter has showed me though, is that indeed Israel is an entity that while defining itself as Jewish, and having so many Jewish characteristics to it, has developed, as a part of circumstance, to become something that many people in the world, including many Jews, just can't reconcile with. On the one hand, we all know of the Judaism we see in the movies, our synagogues, those self debasing, struggling with Jewish guilt, educated, socially active Jewish, the picture of Jewish that American Jews have of themselves, geeky, scrawny, often weak. And for decades for many Jews, this very same Israel has been such an inspiration. For as opposed to the Jews of Europe who were brought to the slaughter like sheep, as opposed to the unattractive Jewish stereotype, Israel is a country with beautiful people that carry guns and aren't afraid to stand up for themselves.
Though today, as we can see with Jim, there is a new breed of Jewish youth, that while openly admit that they don't identify with Judaism still find an association with Judaism, even though they haven't gone to synagogue for years, if ever. For many of them, coming to Israel shatters all the sterotypes they've been brought up to believe about Jews. And for them, the media's ongoing vilification of Israel can then be backed up with a short visit to Israel talking to the right people. Though besides myself, I can't be certain who Jim spoke with.
But with only a week in Israel, I really wonder just how much he spoke with the average Israeli. If he traveled to Hadera or Netanya, and spoke with the shop keepers or people on the streets. If he visited Sderot and spoke with the kids that still wet their beds at age 12 because of living a lifetime under missle attack. If he paid a visit to the Kibbutzim andn Moshavim and spoke with the leaders of the Kibbutz movement and got their opinion. If he spoke with Jews who were forced to flee any of two dozen Arab and Muslim countries.
What I do know is that a very bright and intelligent gentleman walked away from Israel declaring that all the sterotypes he's learned about Israelis, I have to assume primarily through the media, are correct. And that is not only sad, it is concerning.
I personally realize that living in Israel for 13 years has created in myself a subjectivity regarding the Arab Israeli conflict and the status of Israel that is hard to step outside of. But at the same time, I have to wonder if the impressions obtained by Jim during his short trip are really reflective of Israel. Then again, I ask myself if it really matters. For his impressions are his impressions, which will be shared with others. And regardless of whether or not the input he recieved was balanced, or if he takes into consideration Israel's circumstances and its history, his impressions, knowingly or not, go out to contribute to the what has fast become the anti-Israeli gospel in which Israelis are all the worst things a human being can be.
Its made me realize that the reality of Israel, its circumstances, its actions, the attitude of its people, and even fact of its existence which, in an "enlightened" Western world can itself be considered an abomination (a religious state?), so many people cannot reconcile these circumstances with the concept of Judaism as held by so many, whether Jewish or not.
And it results in many people that are Jewish, identify themselves as Jewish, don't identify themselves as Jewish but still associate themselves to some degree with Judaism like Jim, distancing themselves from Judaism as the result of Israel. While with others who are not Jewish, continue on to project these sterotypes of Israel and Israelis onto Judaism as a whole. Whether this is the result of images of Israel portrayed in the international media, the ongoing deligitmization of Israel by such people as Jimmy Carter or George Soros, or by personal experiences of these people's visits such as Jims to Israel, regardless of the content, it doesn't really matter.
And I say to myself, he didn't get a good thorough view of Israel, he doesn't take into account the history of both Israel, and those that make up its population (even though he says he does), he doesn't take into account the circumstances of Israel's existence, and the ongoing wars waged against Israel, he doesn't take into account the societies which surround Israel, I understand that really none of that matters. All that matters is his opinion, with whatever he decides to take into account, and his feelings about the situation. And I realize, regardless of the reasons, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the logic, we've lost the war of hearts and minds.
For if this is the impression of Israel Jim walked away with, then chances are others who may not be trying to be so objective, will take an even more militant stance. And it becomes clear why the Palestinians have become the cause celebre for those lost Europeans that have abandoned religion and who struggle to find meaning to their own lives.
And us in Israel? I guess it'll just justify our already overloaded persecution complex. I just hope that Jim will think hard about his visit, and himself be able to see beyond the few meetings he had. Be able to see Israel, not just as a state of its people and their attitudes, but in the context of the neighborhood in which they exist, and through the prism of history and the events that its people have lived.
For no matter what anybody says, you may want to try to separate them. But in the end, if you don't examine events and places in light of the circumstances in which they exist and the experiences which they have had, you're just not seeing the whole picture.
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