Settlers' Protest

On the way home from our Hebrew midterm exam tonight the whole main drag was closed off for a big protest. Even though we fought through the crowd valiantly, we could not even go home the regular way since no one was allowed anywhere near the PM's house. We got home through a circuitous route, I grabbed the camera and headed back out to collect some photographic booty for you.

Speeches by big politicians were being made then a band came on. Even though the crowd of over 30000 was peaceful, full of tweens and families, the paddy wagon and many police were ready to go if anything went wrong.

So what was the big deal? Well first I need to give you a little Israel history lesson, if your political knowledge on the Middle East is a bad as mine was when I first came. After WWI, the Brits controlled the whole area. In 1948 Israel was formed and Jerusalem split in half. Jordan got the old city, East Jerusalem and all of the land east. Israel got the west bit. For many years there were bad things going on and there was a big no man's land in J-town just a few hundred meters from where I am sitting now. In '67, there was a war and Israel took all the land east down to the Jordan River.

Many Israelis predict that the land will and should go back to Jordan- as soon as there is security that there won't be more rockets. But others see the land as the properly gained spoils of war, or have entitlement to it for religious reasons. I am not really sure on the whole deal here, I am sure there are many more details and reasons, but needless to say, some Jews have moved in to this "occupied territory" east of "the green line" (the pre'67 border). Some have gone into homes left empty by people fleeing in the war, others have built neighbouring houses and extended existing towns. Others still have built entire towns in the middle of nowhere and others are building and rebuilding shacks in the Judean desert every time they get torn down. And there have been incentives to go. The land is cheap and the government has given subsidies.

The ruling government knows that keeping these people safe and with proper resources is a huge and expensive job and the further building of Jewish settlements pisses off the Arabs. The very strong opposition thinks settlement should occur "naturally." The government has put on a ten month settlement and building freeze ostensibly to bring on peace talks, but really to placate the wishes of Barak Obama. This has really cheezed off the settlers and their supporters. The protest was by and for the settlers.

So just who ARE these settler people? Are they all religious nut jobs? Alas there are some, but most are not.
A lady in my ulpan is a jeans wearing, British expat, Jewish convert, and nurse and has been living near Jericho for years and raised her three children there. I asked her if she was a "settler" and when she replied in the affirmative, I jokingly asked her where her bonnet and covered wagon were.

I thought, and still think, you have to be a bit crazy to live past the green line. You have no security. Who knows what peace deal will be made in 5 years or in 10 years? You may lose your home, community etc. I expressed this opinion to a labmate and learned a shocker. One of my other labmates is looking for a house in the occupied territory. The reason? He is 32, has two children under the age of two, a wife at home, a graduate student stipend and living in a very drafty house which was broken into while they were sleeping last year. Land in the occupied territory is cheap. He can give his family so much more by moving there.

Although I can stand on my little piece of moral high ground, how can I condemn a friend for trying to do what is best for his family? For now, I am going to sleep on it. We all know that the situation is complicated and I am finding it even more difficult to pick a side when I can put faces to the issues.

On Walls and Segregation

You know, Jerusalem wasn't always this racially segregated. It is within memory that the school in the picture- which is kitty corner to our grocery store- was full of Arab Christians, Jews and a few Arab Muslims and Armenians. The Terra Sancta was one of the best schools in the city. It was run by the Franciscans, which is funny because most of the students, including the Christians, weren't Catholics. The racial segregation only really started in earnest after '48 and became extreme with the building of the wall within the last decade.

I thought you would like to know what my friends' responses were to my story of going through the check point coming back from Ramallah. Besides being unsafe these days, it has been forbidden for Israelis to go into Ramallah since the second infatada, so many were curious about the checkpoint.

My officemate is the only Israeli I feel comfortable with not holding back and saying what I really think. We often disagree, in the politest academic manner, but our conversations give me insight into the thinking of the relatively secular right wing. My officemate seems to be stuck on recent historical record and has a complete lack of trust for the Palestinians. It bothers the crap out of him that there is a mosque on top of the holy temple. And when Jordan had control, no Jew could pray at the Western Wall, and yet when the Jews have control, the Muslims get to go pray and yet they still throw rocks and cause a regular stink. It worries him and dismays him when he hears about misinformation and untrue history teaching in the Muslim community. He says the wall is bad and a humanitarian crisis, but if it is saving lives, it is a necessary evil.

We argued for a while- me upholding my idealism. My big coup was when I managed to get him to admit that the mosque on top of the temple isn't so bad; if Mohammed visited in his dream, he could see how it is an important place for Muslims. What really bothers him is that the Islamic community doesn't recognize it as an important site for Jews and give them according freedom to pray and do their thing on the Temple Mount.

All right, so that was one extreme. Many of my labmates are seriously secular left wingers. One of them loathes all religion since he has seen it bring out the worst in people, and hates it with a passion that fundamentalists would envy. There was a lot of tisk-tisking and shaking heads when I described my experience to them. And the general feeling was that the wall had to go as soon as possible- they just needed to find a way without starting complete chaos.

One labmate had an insight on the flippant guard. He said that these guards are often eighteen or nineteen years old, not the highest pick on the army duty assignments (i.e. not the smartest), and are bored out of their minds from sitting at a checkpoint all day. They are given power without the life experience to wield it with the right attitude. He stated that this, of course, didn't justify her behavior. Some labmates suggested that I make a formal complaint with the unstated notion that my foreigner's voice would be louder than an Palestinian one. I didn't, when I considered my visa is up for renewal this week, and that what am I going to do, complain that a guard was a bitch?

Since I come from a peace loving country with lots of space, I have the freedom to be an idealist. There is no question, the wall has to go. It is a moral necessity. It is the responsibility of the Jewish and Muslim leaders to constantly fight to find a way to bring it down, and to not do so is morally repugnant and a disservice to both their peoples.

Ramallah

After a sleepy morning, we three amigos hiked our way through the old city to Damascus Gate and picked up a sherut to the famous city. Once there, amoungst the vibrant madness, we drank tea in a seventh floor cafe, got stared at by men gossiping and smoking shisha from big colourful water pipes, wandered the streets, walked though the colourful but very dirty market and fed Siu his first felafel (7 bucks three felafels and three cokes). Ramallah is a colourful bustling place, but there isn't much there- tourist wise- to see, so a few hours was enough for us.

On the way home we had to go past some of the more interestingly gratified parts of "the wall". I am a little too chicken to take pictures of it near the checkpoint with soldiers around but the graffiti was witty. My favorite was "ctrl alt del". And every once in a while you see soccer balls stuck in the barbed wire on top.

The checkpoint was an eye opener compared to the other ones we had been through. The check point coming back form the Dead Sea was just a quick glance at the passengers in the car. Coming back from Bethlehem, we had to get out of the sherut. The soldier checked everyone's papers carefully and with gravitas, but it was all over in about three minutes. So I was shocked by this checkpoint.

Coming back from Ramallah reminded me of going to an abattoir. We got out of the sherut and followed the crowd though a parking lot to a big low building. Then through a wide set narrow, tall, iron barred passageways. Then to a crowded holding pen where we waited for about 15 minutes with a crowd of 40 or so in front of us. One nice young Palestinian student tried to help us get in the right line but it turns out we were to just crowd in with the Palestinians. The crowd moved forward slowly and haltingly to get pushed though a soldier-controlled turnstile - but only two or three at a time. Then to a metal detector and bag x-rays and to have my visa checked. The soldier at the checkpoint was way too immature for her job and to have such power over people. She treated us and everyone else with a nonchalant bitchyness and without any compassion for how humiliating the whole process was. She was an embarrassment to Israel. I felt great sympathy for the Palestinians. Even on a Saturday afternoon, the process was annoying and slow to just get to a city 30 km away. I can't imagine doing this every day during rush hour. Indeed, one lady from Ramallah in our Hebrew class told the class last week that she gets up at 5 am to make it to her job in J-tow on time at 8:30.

Nobel Peace Prize

Next year I am nominating The Chicken for The Nobel Peace Prize for his Grilled Cheese Making which has thereby repeatedly fed the hungry and brought peace and marital harmony into a part of the Middle East.

Sukkot

This week is Sukkot or Feast of the Tabernacles, which appears to take urban camping to a whole new levels. Everywhere, in every piece of spare yard, outside restaurants, on balconies, hanging off balconies and even on rooftops are these sukka huts.

This week, the observant will be eating all of their meals inside, and the truly hardcore will be sleeping in them with only the street cats to keep them warm. Even for the non-observant, this is a fun holiday especially for kids. Nir tells me his family builds one in his aunt's garage, all the cousins get together and have a pot luck, and someone brings a guitar...sounds like fun to me.

From what I gather, this is an ancient harvest feast that even Moses was already celebrating. I guess it is kinda like the Jewish Thanksgiving with, of course, all sorts of extra symbols, rules and observances. For instance, I keep seeing men walking around with these long plastic bags with green bits of plants in them. Not to sure what that is all about.

Last week, it was a mad house outside all of the hardware stores in town. For sale were all the necessary pieces for the do-it -your-selvers and kits for the lazy. Yossi says his goes up like Lego. All of the huts have these somewhat dodgy looking flat palm frond roofs, and surprise surprise, if it rains, you don't have to sleep in them.

Frankly, I am tempted to say to the whole city "You call this camping? I'll show you camping!" and take them out for a wee canoe with trip mosquitoes, rain, instant mashed potatoes and all.

In other news, there was a rumor in East J-town that the Jews were going to take over the temple mount, corroborated by the bazillion black hats going to the western wall for the holiday. There were some tossed rocks, some arrests and the temple mount closed until things calmed down, which further fed the rumor. And then there are bus loads of happy-clappy evangelical Christian tourists having a Sukkot big hippie style festival by the Dead Sea. Go figure, they are getting together, trying to fulfill a prophesy in the old testament. Bring on the second coming! And of course there are local nut jobs that think they are only here to get Jews to convert. Just another fun day in the Holy Land! I swear, this place is a lot more normal if you don't read the news.

Bethlehem, THE WEST BANK. DUNH DUNH DUNH.....

If you look out from our bedroom window you will see an expansive valley flanked on the other side by hill with a monastery on top. Literally just behind that hill is Bethlehem. Forgoing the 100$ tours run by local companies, we got up early, headed to the Arab sheruts near Damascus gate, paid our six shekels (2$), got cosy with a bunch of Palestinians and some backpackers and made the twenty minute treck to where no Israeli is allowed to go. No kidding. There was a big sign on the way into Bethlehem reminding them it was illegal for Israeli Citizens to enter the city.








We did the necessary visit to the Church of the Nativity, but meh, I think I am getting all churched out. It was a big church. Ancient Floor. Crusader paintings. Lots of lamps. Cave beneath. Nuf Said.














But the city and the market were fabulous. Saturday is the busiest day and it was lively and vibrant. The Markets of Bethlehem seemed markedly more colourful than those of Jerusalem. Perhaps it is because in contrast to the sedate and humble colours encouraged by Judaism, the Muslim and Christian Arab women seem to show their humility by wearing a lot of clothes, but are not limited in their colour pallate.











Since the wall went up a few years ago, the economy in Bethlehem has tanked. Most work is in Jerusalem and getting work permits and going though daily security checks is difficult. Compared to the Arab Market in the old city of Jerusalem, the market in Bethlehem reflects the depressed economy. Although full of people and vibrant, most of the wares were used: piles of used clothes, housewares and used shoes were for sale. I also figured out why the churches and mosques of Jerusalem don't have pigeon problems. Live pigeons were for sale next to rabbits and chickens. Yummy, Pigeon.

Right about now, my mom is freaking out reading this. My daughter went WHERE? But Palestinians are extremely friendly people and other than an annoying pushy "tour guide" near where the sherut dropped us off, everyone politely answered out questions for directions. In a crowded market in a town that is trying to do their very best to keep the foreign tourists coming.... well there wasn't much to worry about as a Canadian. If I were Israeli, or James was a kippa-wearing Jew, I wouldn't have made the trip.




We stopped for a yummy lunch of felafel and shawarma at a place full of Muslims but was owned by Arab Christians (we noted the cross and the Madonna and child above the counter. The felafel dude was very impressed by James' ten words of Arabic and said so in fluent English. Then we hopped back on a sherut. Five minutes later at the wall we got out of the sherut, stood in a line, had our passports and visas scrutinized by a 20 year old with an assault rifle and got back in the sherut.

Palestinians are also very photogenic people I discovered. I took lots of photos from the hip and posted them up on facebook if you are interested.

Fitting the Part

Recently, I got a call out of the blue from my old roommate Captain Kirk. He wanted to see how things were panning out for me in Jerusalem. I told him things were great and we had a little chat. A few days later I got another call from him and we were invited to the neighbours' house for shabbas dinner. These are the same folks hat had invited me in my first few weeks in J-town. James and I happily agreed.

But now James could no longer put off a task that he had been avoiding for months. James had to buy a kippah. At the shook there are a couple of Judaica sellers with their booths full of menorahs, silver cups, double handled mugs, rams' horns, Star of David key chains and a whole table full of kippas.

Of course, being The Chicken, he picked out a kippa with blue on it. (I vetoed any kippa that had a sports team logo knitted into it. As well The Chicken wisely avoided black ones- they are for the hardcore people.)

James' suit pants are black and his dress shirt white, so combined with the kippa, my hubby looked like seriously Kosher Chicken as we headed out for dinner. This made me giggle considering the man practices religion like he irons shirts: only on special occasions and only under wifely duress. If you are wondering what I was wearing it was modest. Long skirt. White T-shirt. Flat shoes. If I was really trying to play Haredi dress-up, I would have had long sleeves, nylons and have covered my hair with a scarf since I am married.

We had a lovely dinner and again, I got to ask lots of questions about the religious communities since the family is what is commonly called "black". This is not a reference to their skin colour but rather the black suits the men wear amongst the more religious communities. We laughed when Taniel told of us a sect of Jews who jump out of vans on red lights and dance around until the light turns green. Likewise, they got a kick of our description of what Happy-Clappy means.

I also learnt that some of my secular friends may have it slightly wrong. They often complain that religious men only study in the Yeshivas (torah school for life), the women start poppin' out kids in their teens, neither work and basically the families suckle off of the government teat. This family tells me the government stipend is only 300 shekels per month (100CAD) and that many "black" families work at least part time, many under the table. In this family, the man studies at the Yeshiva in the morning and works as a computer programmer in the afternoon. The wife teaches women's studies at a women's religious school a few mornings a week and otherwise takes care of her two kids with another on the way. Like me, they didn't understand how the hardest of the Hard-Cores, who really don't work at all, survive on such a pittance. There must be some charity going on or something.

Since cabs are hard to find on Shabbat, we had a long walk home in the cool evening. James de-kipped, I de-skirted and we both crawled into bed. Today woke up and managed to spend the day doing absolutely nothing. I have to say, this shabbat thing is pretty nice.

Vision

Here are some curious aspects about Israel:

1) Non religious funerals and burials have only been legal for about ten years and have only been offered in the last few.
2) A bill was tabled in the Knesset this month to allow secular marriages. It was voted down after the first reading. (This one really bothers me for some reason, and I had a religious wedding myself!)
3) In the last few Saturdays in Jerusalem, there have been nasty protests involving rocks, dirty diapers and water cannons. The issue: whether a parking lot near the old city can be open on Shabbat.

It appears to me that Israel is a deeply divided country especially amongst the Jewish majority within. There is an ongoing debate between moral responsibility, religious values and pragmatism that is polarizing the Jewish citizens into separate camps that seem to not be able to find middle ground. One on the things I have taken for granted is the separation of church and state as being something desirable. But here, the exact role of religion in politics has yet to be decided.

Fundamentally, the vision of what Israel should be is very diverse amongst its people. Should this be a religious Jewish state? Or should this be a western style democracy protecting all of the minorities? Is Israel more morally responsible for the people they occupy, or to keeping its citizens safe? Should government be religious? Secular? By becoming more secular would Israel just be giving in to the pressures of America? Why should Israel aim to be secular when many of the countries around it don't even pretend? And probably most importantly: did God give us this land or the UN?

I brought up these issues of secular marriage and funerals and parting lots because they matter to people. These issues get argued over and over seemingly without resolution because, silly as they seem, they define the vision and direction of the nation.

Especially in Jerusalem, the population is growing more and more black-hat-wearing due to increased birth rates and immigration. The battle between secular and religious populations is becoming more and more heated.

So when you hear about conflict between soldiers who need body guards from the settlers, or Haredi black-hats throwing diapers and rocks at police over a parking lot being open on Shabbat, the issue isn't the parking lot or that specific group of houses in the desert. The conflict results from lack of a overriding vision of what Israel should be. These minor issues, because they represent the bigger picture of religious vs secular and super-zionism vs pragmatism, are not only fought with media friendly violence, but with political economic and even reproductive enthusiasm.

I had this whole second half to this verbose post relating these ideas to Canada, but The Chicken poo-pooed it. He says people can draw their own conclusions. In a way, I agree. At the same time, his poo-pooing is full of poo, because I don't trust people to think like me and we all know I have never been normal. What is the point of a blog if I can't draw conclusions and ask people to read them? My big point was this: Canada looks completely put- together and refined compared to this pot of political craziness, but there are still issues in Canada's past, present and future that will continually shape what "Canada" is. In some ways we are no different than Israelis, just with less diaper throwing.

Happy Canada Day everyone.

Tel Aviv

Since the big smoke is only a 45 minute bus ride away, James and I decided to do a day trip to Tel Aviv on Friday.

We had hoped to get party decorations for Canada Day from the consulate, but that just was a hot and frustrating misadventure. I won't go into details because the rest of the day sounds worked out well.

We gave up on decorations and went to Ben Gurion's house, the first Prime Minister. Dude, did that guy have HAIR. The tufts off the side of his head made him look like he had great white horns. Complete with a slightly paunchy Napoeonic stature, I am trying to remember what cartoon character Gurion reminds me of. He offered the presidency to Einstein when he was in the PM's office, and had Einstein accepted, they would have been The Hair Pair.

We ventured into the market area, which was about half cheap clothes and beach stuff and half fruits, veggies and meat. It was more touristy than the big market in Jerusalem, but touristy in that it is geared to Israeli tourists and beach goers. If I hadn't have been so hot, I might have made a better effort to get a new bathing suit for 7$ out of this big bin surrounded by elbow-armed, bargoon hunting women. Since it was Friday, there was also a big street craft sale on. We walked the several block length and admired all of the posh stuff that is pretty to look at and nice to have, but clutters shelves and eats into the weekend warrior budget.

After J-town, Tel Aviv seemed positively Dyonisian. The hot and humid weather matches the culture: dancing glittered swan street performer ("Not a closet in the world big enough for that guy," exclaimed James), bikini tops, shameless amounts of leg and- gasp!- pork at some of the restaurants. We passed this one restaurant and peeked over the hedges where we saw two women on pedestals in angel costumes swaying and playing fake white violins to strange electronica as middle aged people in polyester lined up for a buffet. I really didn't know what to make of that, but it all seemed very Greek and excessive to me compared to the more religious and restrained Israel I am used to.

Since Shabbat was well on its way, there wasn't much do do in the afternoon but do what most of the locals do on a hot weekend. Go to the beach! I got to go for my first swim in the Mediterranean along with what seemed like half the city. I always forget two things about the sea: to remember to swim with my mouth shut, and how easy and pleasant it is to just float. The beach was super crowded with bathing suit clad folks with perfect tans.
We stood out for our extreme pastiness, but this other dude stood out for his extreme creepiness. Notice in the pic of James here, looking studly. Now look to the right. See the dude to the fully clothed and on his laptop? I caught him aiming his web-cam at passing melons. Ick.

As I was taking my swim, the dude in the life guard hut started yelling stuff out over the PA system and people frantically started running out of the water and flocking to one part of the beach. I had to ask another swimmer for a translation. It wasn't a rip tide or a shark, or even an angry eel. Turns out, two guys started fighting on the beach and the lifeguard was running commentary through the PA system to the great amusement of the crowd. Having seen that wonderful display of professionalism, I don't really trust the lifeguards to save me now.

Two mild sun burns, two ice creams and a bus ride later, James and walked home from the Jerusalem bus station in the setting sun, tired and happy.

Bibi on board!

This morning I nearly went deaf on the walk to work all thanks to my good friend Binyamin Netanyahu.

We were calmly walking down Azza street when we were passed by a sirening cop car. As he whizzed by I grabbed my ears and exclaimed "Ach!". Then came a land cruiser SUV with tinted windows, a blue flashing light and again, ear splitting sirens. Then came a second, third and fourth identical land cruiser, each with sirens that seemed to blare "Get the heck out of the way! Bibi coming though!" Apparently, the PM needs four SUVs to keep the bad folks confused.

I figure the sirens were enough of a deterrent seeing as my hands were busy clutching both ears.

Seeing as Bibi works at the parliament house, The Knesset, which is on the way to the university, I suggested to James that we should try to hitch a ride some time. (The PM is only one dude, I am sure there is space for us in one of those SUVs). James said that trying to hitch a ride in the PMs convoy would only get us a free ride in a hearse. Sadly, he is probably right.

You know you are back in Jerusalem when...

The 7-eleven J-town style.

Back from chillin' with the Village People to hangin' with the Chosen People.

It was a wild two weeks of visiting family and friends back in Ontario so there was lots of laughs and good times, but I must say, it is nice to be back in my own little home. Thinking back, it is amazing how much got crammed in. It was great to be able to give people big hugs an hear their stories and I might have come down with a wee case of Auntie fever playing with baby Vivian.

I got a big laugh when I saw our friends Lawrence and Renske, who are farmers down near my Grandma's old place. Lawrence came in from the fields, took one look at me said "The Israeli" and giggled. Renske tells me he is my biggest blog fan but is lacking the computer savvy to comment on my posts.

Apparently I am his inside source for the situation in the holy land to his church group, so he wants me to tell him more about the political stuff. My experience in Israel has been quite biblical in style, and I don't mean a case of Jerusalem syndrome and thinking I am Jesus or something. All of it is in little stories and parables that I will spend the rest of my life trying to figure out the meaning of. My poor father had to spend hours in the truck with me on the ride home from Grandma's and got an earful of anecdotes without any uniting theme or opinion other than "Janet and/or Israel is messed up." On top of the litany, he got the nasty cold I caught from the passport checker lady in the Tel Aviv airport. Sorry, Dad.

So Lawrence, sorry, you are not going to get answers here, only more confusion. But I am curious about what you have to say, so get working on speeding up your hunt-and-peck typing.

The Crowd we Pushed Through with our Groceries

On our walk to the Grocery store, Ulpan or the market, we walk past the Prime Minister’s house. We walk past traffic barricades, watch tower, countless cameras and half a dozen dudes wearing earpieces and carrying assault rifles. I always make an effort to say Shalom to those guys and have been known to wave and smile at the guy in the tower. We also walk past a tent dedicated to Gilad Shalit. There was a substantial crowd by the tent today with a carnival like excitement, complete with a decorated Volkswagen beetle, motorcycles and the media.

A few years ago, stationed near the border with Gaza, Shalit was kidnapped and scuttled across the border. Ever since then, there has been pressure on the Prime Minister to make a deal to get him back. The pressure has been increasing of late, since the government is about to change to a more conservative one and it is reaching the 1000 day mark since his kidnapping.

The latest rumour is that Israel has offered 1000 prisoners in exchange for this kid who wasn’t even anyone important. Just a regular soldier. Probably not long out of high school doing his army service like all of his friends. Although the pressure to have him released is mounting, there is also pressure from the families of fallen soldiers and victims of rocket fire from Gaza not to release any “killers.”

A Hamas big wig had this to say in January: “Shalit may have been wounded, and he may not have been. The subject no longer interests us. We are not interested in his well-being at all, and we are not giving him any special guard since he is as good as a cat or less.” Hamas is really good at talking smack.

So many things about this bother me. What does it say about how these two cultures value life? and martyrdom? How do they value the lives of each other? And then you have to ask the question, where and how did Israel get 1000 Palestinian prisoners? Who are these people? What are their stories? How did they become prisoners?

Is it a smart move for Israel to trade 1000 prisoners for one soldier? I fear this will only endanger soldiers more by setting a precedent for the value of a kidnapped soldier. Only a few weeks ago another cross-border kidnapping attempt was foiled.

I am so glad I was born in Canada and have lived a life without much violence. Of my ancestors who immigrated, we have been lucky that many of their old world conflicts have for the most part fizzled out. Irish Protestants get along with Irish Catholics. French and English bicker rather than brawl. We don’t ever want Canada to be in a situation like this one. I have decided I have something to say to all Canadian immigrants; please leave your baggage at the door. I know this is especially hard to say to someone that has been shot at or even maybe lost a child in a missile strike. But trust me. It is better in the long run.

I don’t know what will happen to Gilad Shalit. But I can tell you this: he is no longer just another unimportant soldier. This story has reacted iconic status.

Smart guys, really smart.

So CUPE Ontairo- one of the biggest Unions out there, has decided that they are going to boycott Israeli academics. Regardless if you are pro Israel, pro Palestinian, or hanging out in the middle, if you think about it you will realize this is really stupid.

A “boycott…aimed at academic institutions and the institutional connections that exist between universities here and those in Israel” (courtesy of the CUPE website) is a really horrible way to promote peaceful resolution and was poorly thought out. Let’s sever communications with the movers and the thinkers of a country so we can convince them that our ideas are best! We all know that playing passive aggressive never works. My husband is either oblivious to the signals and/or is ignoring them. Countries are the same. Talk about misplaced good intentions.

CUPE Ontario members back boycott of Israeli Universities (CBC Link)

On top of the general stupidity, this is going to make job hunting for me really fun this year. If I get told that “the Union won’t let us hire you because you are Israeli academic”, you will see me in court. As in the Supreme Court, jerks.

A rainy day in J-town

It has been rainy and gross here for two straight days. These pics are from the misty walk to work this morning. One of the Monastery of the Cross (this is the valley where trees grew for the cross) and the other is of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. I can count the number of rainy days since I got here on one hand and it doesn’t rain here at all in the summer, really. The earth is dry, very dry and the country is expecting a big drought this summer. Jerusalem is green only because it irrigates like mad with water from the Sea of Galilee (which is fresh). Even the cactus garden on campus gets irrigation lines. Even though I have had a bit of a chill lately, I have to say the rain is a good thing.

A little note about the election:

The Kadima party, headed up by the blond lady, Tzi-pi, eeked out one more seat than her rival, Bi-Bi (as in Benjamin Netanyahu). Think this is a victory and she gets to be Prime minister? WRONG!

Who gets to be PM is now based on who can form the biggest coalition. So, good ol’ BB may squeeze his way to PM again (reminds me of someone else who lost an election but still tried to scratch his way to the big seat. Oh yea, Dion!). And since BB, is more right wing, he will have an easier time getting the religious parties on his side.

According to one of my labmates, forming a large coalition is achieved by appeasing the smaller parties with funding for their agendas. This often means courting super religious parties with money for synagogues, yeshivas (basically theology school) and the like. The tiny parties have much more clout here than you would expect.

I guess there is a lesson for us Canadians. With the Canuck system of regional representation, smaller but significant voices like the Green Party get no say in the house. Which sucks. With the similar system here, but with proportional representation, it has lead to many smaller parties and as a consequence, the small voices are given a megaphone because of the need for coalitions every time there is an election. This sucks too.