Middle kingdom

(thoughts from a trip to Israel in Jun'04)

Even if it was planned, the outcome could not have been more favorable. Before setting off for Israel, a part of me wanted to use the trip to discover first-hand the issues behind the conflict but without knowing the region, not having "kept-up" with a situation that provides "newsbytes" almost daily (and yet, ironically, has remained stagnant for decades), I was going in there as a confused outsider. Not sure how well my hosts would open up to this very personal and seemingly touchy subject, I resolved to simply make the best of it. No expectations, no disappointments.

But I was in for a surprise. Not only did I get to meet the major players, I got to engage in deep conversations that have led to this brief write-up. What follows is a small attempt at cataloging a series of interview styled discussions. The idea, of course, is to pen the thoughts before memory betrays me, so it is a bit personal – however, since the far-away conflict is so multi-faceted, I hope it will add to your own understanding, regarding which you may be as detached as I had been for some time.

At Frankfurt, security is tight. Even if you are simply taking a connecting flight, going between terminals implies succumbing to body and hand-luggage scan. Not a big deal except, if you're going to Tel Aviv, a mere 100 yards later, there is a second similar scan – this one, of course, staffed by Israelis (and a couple of Germans). You then enter a boarding area that appears to be configured just for flights leaving for Israel. To do that, you have to walk down the stairs, go through a long narrow construction-site style passage (where the walls are lined with beautiful photographs of major sites in Israel), and pass through another metal detector. At each checkpoint the security is courteous, yet thorough in its intent.

Six or seven hours or 350 pages of the amazing DaVinci code later, it is destination Tel Aviv. Before landing, I got a great birds-eye view of this historic land and confirmed that it had right-side driving. Yay! I had taken care to shave the day before well aware of the color of my skin and cognizant of the suspicious age-group I belong to, yet, I was not prepared to be stopped on the tarmac itself by a security agent.

Name? Purpose of visit? Which company? Where is it located? Show the company badge.

At this point, it really helps being prompt, precise, and non-lethargic in your response. After a long flight with less than adequate sleep over the last 24 hours, I was not smooth-sailing through the conversation. However, producing the badge did the trick and I was on my way to the bus that would drive me to the immigration center. Long line. Long lines. Another 40 pages of the book and I was at one of a dozen counters, curiously each staffed by a 20-something female officer.

Invitation letter?

I had neglected to keep a copy of the letter I sent to the Israeli consulate for my Visa, so I didn't have one. I produced a copy of an email conversation with my host there, Menachem Shovel. Few more questions and I am led out by another female officer for further questioning.

Where is your company located? - Jerusalem.

Where in Jerusalem? I falter at providing the company address.

- It is all in my laptop, should I fire it up?

If she was amused, it didn't show.

Wait here.

Few more minutes pass and her superior comes up to me with the passport. You are with Intel? Yes, I said, and show her the badge. You may go. As she handed me the passport, she surprised me by saying enjoy your stay in Israel.

Michael (my manager) had been waiting for me, his flight having landed a couple of hours earlier. I picked up my car from Hertz and soon we were cruising down Route 1, for a 40min cross-country ride to Jerusalem (Israel is one-half the size of Rhode Island).

Apart from the hot and slightly dry conditions, the weather was ok. Checked in at the Golden Tulip, a nice hotel close to the Old City. Michael and I walked a km or so to get to the nearest restaurant area. A very happening place. As soon as we picked a small café for dinner, a security guard stopped us and for the first time in my life I was patted down with a metal detector before entering an eatery. Amazing food and huge servings. In my entire stay, I was unable to completely finish a single meal.

By the third day, David had joined us and after a day of work, we ended up going out with the locals. The restaurant was atop a hill, over looking the Old City. It served only vegetarian food (my hosts apparently having gone the extra mile to conform to my dietary constraints). But the food was great! 600 shackles for six, or about $130. Not bad.

That morning, I was surprised to hear Azaan in my hotel room – at 5am. In India, I'm used to the Muslim call for prayers but I certainly didn't expect it in Israel, a Jewish state. This is where the first lessons began.

I was surprised, for instance, to learn that Israel does not actually have a constitution. Later I looked it up on the web:

"Although Israel does not have a single complete constitutional document, in its forty-five years of statehood the Jewish state has developed an operative constitution of its own, embodied in a set of written texts that reflect the political system on which the state is based, its social content, and an expanding constitutional tradition."

Everyone carries an ID card but it was only recently that the cards stopped stating the religion of the bearer.

There are raging debates on the identity of the state formed to give shelter to Jews. Are we "secular"? What is the degree of the freedom we ought to give the army in countering terrorism? There is even talk of modifying the Israeli flag (which is the Star of David).

In 1948, the year Israel was formed by Britain, encouraged by the neighboring Arab states, most Palestinians left Jerusalem and other places in Israel for refugee camps, expecting to return very quickly. But, unexpectedly, Israel won and the refugees didn't return. Not yet for 56 years.

I could not find out the initial count of refugees that had left Israel, but now they are around 8million, spread out over Jordon, Lebanon, and even parts of Palestinian held territories. Israel will not take them back. The underlying primary concern is the shift in demographics. Already, the Muslim growth rate is supposedly much higher than the Jewish population is Israeli territory. Any fresh incursion of a largely Muslim Palestinian population will over-rule Israel, making Jews a lesser majority, or worse, a minority. I argued that the fear might be irrational and there may be other possible arrangements. I didn't get a satisfactory answer at that time. Later, when we visited the Dead Sea scrolls museum, I learned the story of a prophet to arrive in the future to save Jews from a calamity. History is not done repeating itself. Having their own nation-state is the best way to ward off or delay future atrocities on Jews.

Next day, we had a late lunch at an Arab village, close to Jerusalem. I noted that the Arabs spoke Hebrew and they have to. It is well-known, Hebrew was a nearly dead language till Israel came into existence and everyone was forced to speak a common tongue. I was reminded of our grad school administrator, Kia, who made the conscious decision of converting to Judaism and moving to Israel. First thing she did was learn Hebrew. It's one way to get accepted. Of course, being 6'6" African American woman, she would stand out anywhere. Later I would call her to learn that she was now married and for the past two seasons was even part of Israel's women's basket-ball league, top-scoring in most games.

But I digress. Post lunch, we moved to a vista-point that gave us a panoramic view of the Old City, as well as a newly erected barrier, designed to keep "suicide bombers" at bay. Sharon's technique, though controversial, has admittedly been quite successful. Since March this year, there has not been any bombing inside Israeli territory. Till about 120 years ago, there was no one living outside the Old City, so all the development seen in the picture is relatively new.

We soon land up inside the Old City, driving past Mt. Zion. The walls of the Old City were built by the Turkish Empire. It is said that the architect responsible for erecting the walls was executed because he failed to enclose Mt. Zion inside the city.

A lot of orthodox Jews live in one quarter of the Old City. In another area, Armenians reside, having moved in after the genocide in their country. The third part of the city is called the Muslim quarters. Jews do not venture out there. Walking through the city is like walking back in time. There is stuff there that's literally 1000 years old. Roman arches being the most visible sign of an ancient civilization.

The Wailing Wall surrounds the mound where the first two Jewish temples were built and destroyed. Now, a giant mosque stands tall over the ruins of the past. This is a great source of animosity between followers of both faiths. Recently, tunnels were discovered underneath the Mosque, some of them leading to the very center where the head stone of the first Jewish temple lies. There was a race between both parties to get to the stone first. The Jews for obvious religious reasons and the Muslims to apparently vanquish any evidence of a non-Islamic past underneath the mosque. Brutal and deadly riots ensued after which the whole area was cordoned off and no one is allowed near the site of the first Jewish temple. With this background, the Wailing Wall takes on a completely different meaning. Donning a Yamaka (skull-cap), you enter the area for men but soon feel completely overwhelmed by the historic significance of the place. I didn't venture to demean its sanctity by trying to capture the site in a picture.

The next day was a Friday and it is a holiday in Israel. I went to work early but left in the afternoon to go real sight-seeing on my own. First stop was the Dead Sea but I missed an exit, so boldly continued up north to Ramallah. I soon came to a checkpoint with Israeli and a Palestine flag hovering side by side. I asked the female soldier if it was safe to continue.

"Since you are not Jewish, you will probably be ok. They don't like us. Just be safe and don't be too visible".

Thanks.

It was like I was entering a different world. In many places the roads are shabby, with large boulders lining the center and potholes gracing the path. Friday is an Islamic holiday too, so there was nary a crowd hanging out. I parked my car in an isolated street overlooking the city. Down below, a funeral procession was passing through. The lead car was draped in a flag and flowers. There were about 8 or 10 cars behind it, incessantly honking. I stopped by a gas station and talked to a couple of teens about India, Palestine, Israel. One of them, Yusuf, spoke only Arabic with little knowledge of English. India was identified with Amitabh Bacchan (a fact that would be corroborated later by another Arabic kid, Mohammed, at Ein Gedi, a popular beach of Dead sea). Mention of Israel was dismissed with a shrug and a smile.

By sunset, I got to Ein Gedi. Took some pictures, floated on the water for a bit, took a long shower on the beach and an hour later was on my way back to my hotel for a few hours of sleep.

Except for one thing. Bethlehem was dotted right next to Jerusalem on the map. Why not?

Walking around the Church of Nativity, a Palestinian guard got my attention. He came over, asked me if I was from India. "Amitabh Bacchan" yet again. I nodded. Soon we started talking. For about an hour, he gave me a great perspective on life as a Palestinian. He invited me to his house the next day but I was flying out in a few hours. Here is his story:

Ahmed has a family with two kids. With a monthly income of $300, he found it very hard to make ends meet but is happy that he at least has a job. Before becoming a guard at this place, the site of Christianity's oldest church, he was a tour guide. In the mid 90s, he pretty much stole from savings meant for his kids to take a course for 18months to be a tour guide. Things were going well. In 2000, when the Pope visited, Bethlehem used to have 5000 visitors a day. After the most recent intifada started (2001), things changed.

Now it is down to a trickle. He took up a job as a guard but can work only 3 days a week. Someone else time shares his job, so two can be employed with half the wages.

But Ahmed is lucky. In Bethlehem itself, there are 14000 refugees. Living in squalid conditions, they have no hope, no future – not without an economy or the prospect of peace. 10-12 family members stay in 1-2 room apartments. Water, sanitation are problems. They feel constricted.

What is the solution? Do you see things changing in your lifetime?

Only the stronger party can affect a change. They are the ones with the big guns.

But they say that it is up to the Palestinians to stop the violence.

. The Palestinians belong here. We have been here for 2000 years. Now there are new rulers and we cannot stay on our land. The plight of the refugees is hard to imagine. Generations of them have not seen their home.

If you do not mind my asking, what faith did the Palestines follow before mostly adopting Islam?

We were Christians. Before that we were Jews. Before that nomadic.

How is it that you have a home and this job?

My family did not leave during the war. We stayed, so we didn't lose our home. We were lucky my father made the right choice. (Ahmed must have been about 40-45 years old).

Do you see the Israelis as not having a claim over this land?

They can say they were here 2000 years ago but they left. Palestinians left 50 years ago during the war. Are they allowed to return? No. Look at their conditions now. What is the concept of Israel – the 'promised land'? The Romans were here. Sumerians. Up until early last century, the Turks were here. Can they come back and claim this land as their own, displacing those who have been living here since the beginning?

Who are the Palestines?

During the '48 war, there were 80% Christians, and 20% Muslims in Bethlehem. Most fled during the war.

But we generally find only Muslims fighting this war for Palestine. Where are the Christians?

They left for South America. Venezuela, Brazil, etc. Even now, you will find pockets in these countries where there are only Christian Palestine. They have pretty much given up on returning. It is really only the Muslim population that is fighting this war now.

As we talked, I learned that after the Oslo accord, the Palestine areas were demarcated into 3 zones: Zone A was to be in complete Palestine control – no Israeli soldiers. These are Ramallah and Bethlehem, for example. Zone B is where Palestine can have a police station but Israeli soldiers can come and go. Zone C is exclusively under Israeli control.

Ahmed lives in Zone C. Each day, he goes through 2checkpoints to get from Zone C to Zone A where he works.

It was 1am now, and I decided to head back to Jerusalem. I had to go to Tel Aviv to catch my 5:30am flight. On the way back, I was asked to pull-over by Israeli cops. One of them walked over and asked for my ID. I explained that I was in Bethlehem and off-handed, mentioned about talking to a Palestine guard. For the next 15 mins, while my car was running, one of the cops explained to me the Israeli point-of-view. But first, he had some questions for me:

How did you find them? Do you agree with their story?

They are living as refugees. They want to return home. They are facing barricades each day. They are constrained.

We have no choice. We have to protect our people. Anyway, only some of them are bad. But they are hiding. Then they come and blow up our buses and children. They do all this because they believe in rewards after death. Rewards of Paradise.

When they stop their violence, we can live in peace. Ask anyone here, who does not want peace? We all do. But for that, we need to work together. I hope they learn.

He said a lot more and quite earnestly too. I believed him. There are real problems facing this ancient land. Past bears heavily on any solution but violence is not a way out, of that much I am certain.

I decided to skip sleep for the night. Went back to Mt. Zion where a film festival was going on. Sat through a bit of a critically acclaimed animated movie with a full-house audience at 2am. Then left for a drive-by tour of Tel Aviv before arriving at the Airport.

Intel has a special deal with Israeli airport security to make life easy for us. Still, a few questions:

How long were you here?

Did you go sightseeing? Where? With whom? Only with Israelis? Yes.

Did you go anywhere outside of Israeli territory?

"No", I answered, choosing to keep my forays to Ramallah and Bethlehem to myself.

She let me go. "Have a good flight and come back again".

Will do. Most gladly.