Founders

I visited David Ben-Gurion's house, Independence Hall, the original City Hall which has displays about the origin of the city, the Museum of the Diaspora/ a history of the Jewish people - not all on the same day, fortunately! The challenges and energy, bravery and vision of this place is a grand epic. There are so many attributes - the people in this land - that I am hopeful about resolutions to the problems they face.

Contrasts

If Jerusalem is a city of cats, Tel Aviv is a city for dogs and their owners. If Jerusalem is ancient with history that spirals, Tel Aviv is so new that it has photographs of nearly everything since it started (one exception being Canaanite ruins 2500BCE - but they have nothing to do with this city). If in Jerusalem one hears Arabic frequently, in Tel Aviv it is French, German, English etc along with Hebrew. Museums in Jerusalem invariably have religious themes - in
Tel Aviv the message is the building of Israel. Jerusalem is glowing sandstone exteriors; Tel Aviv has 2000+ Bauhaus residential buildings - in 1900 there were 3,000 residents. By 1930 there were 30,000! The Bauhaus/International Style is omnipresent - and provides the backround new construction. Tel Aviv University is a palate for 20th C architectural giants. Old Jerusalem wraps up its activities soon after dark; I've been told you can dance and party in Tel Aviv all night - I've heard the music. Galleries and graffiti, house museums of authors and poets, creativity is close at hand. Both cities are worth visiting, for sure. They give expression to dualities that challenge the people in this land.

A Nearly Perfect Day

Shabbat in Tel Aviv - no buses running, only the sheruts/cabs and streets are quiet. I headed for the Art Museum, found the impressive building, paid my fee and viewed many Impressionist and modern Israeli paintings, sculpures and installations. Tension and life! Accessible and challenging. Just before the museum closed, I bought a piece of cheesecake - and walking back to the hostel, stopped in a park to eat. It was like a fantasy: trees, flowers, blue sky, swifts darting high, pigeons, a pond: couples conversing, riding bikes, boys playing noisily with a ball,a toddler throwing pebbles into the water, a gentleman throwing bread to the carp and turtles, attendant with an elderly person in a wheelchair, a man pushing a stroller, and a couple that greeted me "Shabbat Shalom" and sat next to me on the bench. I think this was a view of the Good Life - like an interactive art installment.
I came back to my room, changed into my swimsuit and headed 2 blocks to the beach. The water was warmish and I could bob and relax - no big waves.
As I walked back into the hostel, the girl at the desk said I had a call from my son - "Hi Mom - let's get Clarissa on the phone and sing Happy Birthday to her!" which is what we did. About as close to a perfect day as I can imagine.

Jaffa/Yafo/Joppa

Another beautiful day - up to 24 C. From Greek mythology (Perseus rescues Andromeda) to Jonah being swallowed by a fish after leaving this port, Jaffa has ancient history. It was the seaport between Alexandria on Africa's northern shore and the East/Orient. It was fought over and conquered by Egypt in 1468 BCE when soldiers hid in clay pots/ gifts to the Princess brought inside the city walls. King David took it around 1000 BCE from the Philistines, and it was the main Judean port until King Herod built Cesarea. The Apostle Peter had a vision here about inclusion of Gentiles/lifting dietary laws. Crusaders made an appearance in the 12th C.; Napoleon arrived around 1800 and was given hospitality by a Jewish family - but for most of modern history, this was an Arab city. Jews left here to start Tel Aviv - but in 1948 many Arabs fled conflict and the ruined area was officially made part of Tel Aviv's municipality. In the late 1960's a restoration was begun and the rundown ruins transformed into today's artist/tourist/residential area along the Mediterranean. I joined a guided tour by a city resident who loves the mixture of people and the redevlopment efforts. She took our group through back alleys and opened our eyes to historic features. I stayed in the port and had a lovely fish dinner; walked down to the regentrification area in Adjamai; visited the Franciscan Church; admired the art in public places and enjoyed this place that so many have coveted. Evidently a multi-millionaire Muslim family from here exports pita bread to Massachusetts. So many cultural connections! I walked back to my hostel along the sea - got my swimsuit and went swimming/wave bobbing - ahhh.

Haifa - II

As I was saying, there is a cave in the church under the altar - Elijah's cave for Christians(...also by tradition a place where the holy family with Jesus hid from King Herod). But my guide book said that Elijah's cave was down the hill, so I started walking on a rough path - and lo and behold, the Jewish site of Elijah's cave! There were several members of the Jewish faith praying, men on one side and women on the other - this is one of the holiest sites in Israel, and it is hard to find. Then I went looking for the "Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum" at the foot of the mountain (having planned to get out of the sun and learn about Israel in its own words) but because I was not with a group and could not speak Hebrew - the young men at the door asked for my passport - which was in Tel Aviv - and I was not able to enter the museum. I was very disappointed, as my guidebook had not suggested a problem like this. I caught a bus, wandered around trying to find the Bahai Gardens - THE tourist destination in Haifa - and finally found them/ 18 beautifully groomed terraces/ I was standing at the bottom and decided not to go into the ground, just peak through the fence. Decided to eat lunch and regroup - went to a restaurant in the German Colony (buildings constructed by Christian German Zionists who came to Palestine in the late 1800's beinging improved methods of transportation and agriculture to the land). Asked at the Tourist Office if the University museam was within walking distance, and the staff person laughed at me - "It will be closed by the time you get there!" and then turned to answer someone else's question. O K A Y Somehow I was missing Haifa's charm. So I decided to try one more thing - take the Carmelit/funicular/metro to the high class district on the mountaintop for the view of the harbor and coastline. It was striking - amd I decided to walk down and down and down, which was interesting for the architecture and obvious Russian Jewish area I was passing through. Closer to the harbor,the housing is very poor - mostly Arab Christians, I think. Tired but satisfied, I took the train and bus back to the hostel. A day in Haifa was enough.

Haifa

Haifa is a newer city - 19th C. many buildings, 20th C. for the port. But like everywhere else, it has an ancient past. I spent the day there, beginning with a train ride up the coast from Tel Aviv - about $7. Then got a taxi to the top of Mt. Carmel - of biblical fame as the place where Elijah hid in a cave from Queen Jezebel - this would be 3,500+ years ago. So those early Christians decided to come here and become hermits (12th C. Crusader era), but the Christian pilgrims wouldn't leave them alone - so they started a monastery for hospitality and became the Order of Carmelites - which had a rugged time when the Turks came into power and destroyed the chapel; which was rebuilt in time to extend hospitality to Napoleon in 1799 - but he lost - so the monastery was destroyed again. The current building dates to
1836. Sorry - it looks like the computer can't figure out if I am typing Engish or Hebrew.

Next stage

I am feeling hopeful now - and sorry that I have missed blogging for a few days - no access to computer. Now I am in Tel Aviv, and my travelling companions these past 10 days have scattered, but not without making plans to work for an end to the military occupation of the West Bank. We spent several days talking with Israelis who we can support.
"Combatants for Peace" is a growing organization of men and women, former members of the Israeli Defense Force and the Palestanian resistance who no longer believe force will bring a solution. They are creative, energetic and committed to doing things a new way. Their stories are poignant.
We met Palestinians who have been evicted from their homes, articulate women from a neighborhood that borders a growing Orthodox Jewish area in East Jerusalem (disputed territory). About 16 families have recently been affected on two streets - they had been up-rooted from their homes in West Jerusalem in 1948 and the Jordanians gave them these houses. They were forcibly moved, their furniture taken out, and that same day settlers moved in. We attended a demonstration in support of their cause, attended by about 200 - I held a sign in Hebrew saying "Stop Israeli policies that are racist." This particular location is organized every Friday, so the police, IDF, displaced persons, and demonstrators know the routine. Young boys come and sell beverages. The crowd is orderly, all ages, lots of international included. I talked to two Israelis that had formerly lived in Ohio! They both believe the house-grab actions taken by their goverment are wrong. I also talked to a diplomat and a Fulbright scholar - quite a mix of people seeking change.
Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions took us on a walking tour of an older Jewish neighborhood, explaining Zionist motives and history. Then we heard a riveting 2 hour overview by an economist about how Israel's policies have intensified every decade since the 6-day war (1967)- and the expense of the occupation both to Israel and the international community - I kid you not, he made it interesting! After supper, an artist/psycho-therapist who helped organize "Women in Black" talked to us about the way the Israeli activists support one another. These women have held weekly vigils since 1993 and also been observers at check points.
The Presbyterian General Assembly will take up these issues in July, and I know this trip has given me valuable insights to share.