Undecided...

Taking Back America

2006-06-15T19:24:00.000-05:00

John Kerry received several standing ovations for his admission of being "misled" during his speech at the Take Back America conference. He was speaking in reference to his vote of support for the war in Iraq. America, prepare yourself for JFK for president, round 2. God save the Democratic Party.

Hills to Pay the Bills

2006-06-15T19:20:00.000-05:00

Hillary Rodham Clinton, delivering a speech at the Take Back America conference here in Washington. This was the biggest progressive conference of the year. The former first lady delivered a standard speech by all accounts, receiving a few boos for refusing to demand a withdrawal date for the troops.

Gotta love furry creatures...

2006-06-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

That is a prairee dog at the National Zoo. Ain't it cute? Watch out, they're ferocious. Sorta.

Sunset in the District

2006-06-15T19:16:00.000-05:00

Shot of the National Cathedral from Kilbourn street in Mount Pleasant, DC. Just a few blocks from my house.

Dusting it Off

2006-06-15T19:08:00.000-05:00

Nick Johnson preparing for an at-bat... shortly after this picture was taken Nicky swatted a dinger. Whoopee!

It's Good to be a Fan

2006-06-15T19:03:00.000-05:00

Especially if your name is Stu Jazface. Yep, that's him.

It'll always be Pac Bell to me...

2006-06-15T19:00:00.000-05:00

I don't care what they call it, SBC, AT&T, or freakin Operator Park, it'll always be Pac Bell Park, by the bay.

Heilman warming up his arm, the view from Toshi's seats.

Vlad

2006-06-15T18:58:00.000-05:00

He struck out and was pissed. Swinging for the fences will get you a K every now and then...

Lights of the Summer

2006-06-15T18:30:00.000-05:00

Summer is here... and that means many things. It means heat and sun, swimming and barbeques, it means long nights and early mornings, but it also means baseball. The lights are on at RFK and elsewhere as the national pastime is played out. Go Giants!

Back in the Bay

2006-04-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

It feels a bit strange to be here, I will admit, but it is nice to be home. San Francisco, it seems, will always be the place I keep coming back to. Shots of the 'sco, the bay glistening, the ships coming in, it's all part of the greatness.

Yay for bay.

Dog of my Heart

2006-04-14T22:23:00.000-05:00

Chanu. Looking like a champ. She's old and weak these days, partially deaf and blind. She prefers to flop around the house from sleeping corner to sleeping corner it seems. However, she's still pretty damn beautiful if you ask me. And every once in a while she parks herself right in the middle of a spectacular view, with the wind blowing on top of bernal hill. Downtown salutes you, dog.

Greatest Hits

2006-04-14T22:15:00.000-05:00

And thus it began...

As I am trying to organize my thoughts and photographs from the past four months, I am stupified as to where to begin. In a way, it helps me to test it out with my click-button desktop publishing technique. Somehow, if I put it up here then it must be good.

Well, I think I like it anyways.

The Faces I Have Grown to Love...

2006-04-14T21:49:00.000-05:00

There were some faces made, caught, slipped, found, shot and played over the course of my journies which will remain indelible in my mind... here is a smattering of a few of my favorites.
Toshi, looking gravely twisted beneath the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca. No, he's not normally cross-eyed.
Elizabeth, showing off that darling baby face outside the Cathedral of Seville, late night. Catching flies.
My mom. Looking cute as can be. Pretty good for 56!

Barce

2006-03-29T20:45:00.000-05:00

Lona

2006-03-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

Madrid

2006-03-29T20:40:00.000-05:00

Friends, Old & New

2006-03-26T06:47:00.000-05:00

My friends, it has been an absolute delight sharing this journey with you. Seville will forever be imbedded in my mind as one of the greatest cities on earth. My memories of this place have been forged as much through the people I have met as it has the things that I have seen and done. I am touched by you all.

Sammies, in light of our mothers, I can only say that (fortunately) we cannot determine our own circumstances. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me, it is always a gift to feel so deeply. I know your mother is very proud of you, you have strong, beautiful souls. Jah bless.

Alexis, you have a beautiful smile, you are a cunning little pixie. I look forward to adventures in Boulder, DC or SF. Elizabeth, the force is strong, thanks for helping me celebrate my birthday in such style.

Toshi, my brother. There are no words to convey the depth of my gratitude. There are few people in one's life on whom we can always depend. I have counted my blessings everyday we travelled together, I am lucky to have such a friend.

Okay, enough tears for now... tears of joy. (JT, I saved you a spot next to Mugu, you'd never believe the things I can do with photoshop! :)

Of Cathedrals and Colonies...

2006-03-24T06:51:00.000-05:00

The cathedral of Sevilla is probably the most spectacular cathedral I have ever seen. It is absolutely immense, with something like 20 individual sanctuaries or sanchristies, something like that.

Interestingly, the cathedral boasts the sepulchre of Cristobal Colon, better known to the English world as Christopher Columbus. However, apparently there are at least a couple of other churches that also claim to house his remains in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Such matters are trivial though really because all there is to see is the tomb itself.

The sculpted guardsmen who adorn the tomb are of particular note. The man on the front left holds a spear with a cross at the top and a crescent moon at the base, symbolizing the "successful" Spanish reconquest of Muslim Spain in 1492. A victory for Christianity over the Muslims. The spear is lodged into a pomegranate at its base, symbolizing Granada, the heart of Muslim Spain. Granada (pomegranate in English) was sacked in 1492, the same year Columbus set sail for India. Dumby.

Yellow

2006-03-23T06:29:00.000-05:00

Saying goodbye to Morocco is nice. We had a wonderful stay and saw some unforgettable things, but it was time to go.

We were exposed to a whole different way of life, a different world with different views, customs and standards. Whether bickering in the streets with the ceaseless barrage of Moroccans aiming to take advantage of our Americana, or sifting through sands of the Sahara we leave with fresh memories of good times.

I should say, we saw a tremendous amount of human suffering via poverty while in Morocco. It is evidenced in the appallingly poor physical health of the people, and the sub-standard living conditions that many of them inhabit. But the people and the land are beautiful. The simple beauty of Morocco is breathtaking. Simple, uncomplicated, natural beauty. In the cities you notice the squalor as you sift through the filth, but when we get out to the countryside we see that the country remains largely untouched...

Las Palmas

2006-03-23T06:17:00.000-05:00

The Moroccan sky in Meknes, just minutes before it opened up and dropped hail half the size of golf balls...

Taking trains around Morocco has been a relative luxury, they run efficiently and timely, affording us tables to play chess and time to meet fellow travellers.

But the Moroccan sky never fails to impress and the sights, sounds and smells kept us constantly engaged.

Saharan Sunrise

2006-03-20T12:27:00.000-05:00

At first, I was like, "it's 5.30 in the morning; I'm not getting up!" And then I thought to myself, "how often does one get the chance to watch the sunrise from on top of a 300 hundred foot sand dune in the middle of the Saharan desert?"

So, I got out of bed.

The Dunes

2006-03-20T12:20:00.000-05:00

The dunes of the African Sahara are probably among the most breathtaking of sights I have ever seen...

Endless mounds of sand roll off into the horizon, like something out of a cinematic fantasy. I saw these rolling hills and all I could think of was skiing... so, I rented a snowboard and took off down the mountains only to find that the viscousity of sand is just a little bit higher than snow. A nice idea, but not a good one.

Pancake Balls

2006-03-20T12:14:00.000-05:00

Riding camels in the Saharan desert is fun... if you are accustomed to cruel and unusual punishment.

As you can plainly tell from the look on Toshi's face, this particular journey was less than enjoyable. In fact, this picture was taken just moments before a frightful incident pitting the wrath of Toshi against the poor helpless camels was unleashed... read on below, but beware it is not for the faint of heart!

Dead Camel

2006-03-19T13:40:00.000-05:00

And here is the aftermath of Toshi's rage... a poor helpless camel laid to waste.

Really though, I think Toshi and I have been left scarred for life when it comes to camel riding. It's safe to say that we will probably never ride camels again.

As far as Moroccan camels go however, it is probably a welcome respite. The treatment of animals in this country is nothing short of deplorable. In all honesty, the reason this camel died is because they are roped together from their mouths to the ass of the camel in front of them, with a rope that is about four feet long. Toshi's camel was roped to the ass of mine, it fell climbing up the sand dunes, and had its neck snapped by the force my camel exerted in pulling it by its mouth... not a pretty sight.

We boycotted camels from there on out, walking the Saharan sand dunes was not a problem. In the summer though, it is probably a different story.

Cherubs

2006-03-15T16:58:00.000-05:00

Little angels. There really are no better subjects than children. They just stood there posing for me...

Inner Peace

2006-03-15T16:48:00.000-05:00

Morocco is filled with museums and ancient houses that just spring up on you. One second you're walking down the street not expecting anything out of the ordinary, and the next you are being whisked into a building that looks rather drab from the outside. And then all of a sudden the next moment you are inside of a palace-like construction of antiquity. Immaculate and grandiose, natural light pours in through the ceiling, exposing expertly constructed vast interior spaces capable of housing more than anything else, peace and quiet.

Exceedingly Male

2006-03-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is the third largest mosque in the world, the other two being the mosques in Mecca and Medina. Hassan II is capable of housing 25 thousand warshippers at a time... 20 thousand men, and 5 thousand women, go figure. Wouldn't want all those girls interfering with your ability to communicate with Allah.

Actually though, as far as I can tell, this really seems to be the preference in the chauvanistic Arab Muslim world. The gender ratio is eternally skewed in favor of there constantly being about 4 times as many men in any given place at a time. Women are mostly relegated to kitchens, offices, hotels, or anywhere else there is something to be cleaned, or something else to be taken care of...

I don't care what they tell you, you look at these womens faces, they are not having fun. Their lives are not rich in culture, they are not free to study, they can not travel freely, they are opressed. And I'm not advocated cultural imperialism here, just making a simple observation.

Abdul Jabr's House

2006-03-15T16:20:00.000-05:00

A shot from the rooftop of our friend Abdul Jabr's house. He took us in as his customers, but we left as friends. Abdul Jabr's house is a family heirloom that has been passed down from generation to generation. The house itself looks to be hundreds of years old from the interior, filled with tiled mosaic designs, beautifully restored arches, and tall ceilings. You would never know it was there either, right in the middle of the filthy, winding, noisy old city.

As you can see Fes is ancient and haphazardly developed, it has a certain mysterious and exotic feel to it that is truly other-worldly. Always an adventure, never a dull moment, and actually surprisingly beautiful in a saturated humanitarian way.

All Smiles

2006-03-15T16:07:00.000-05:00

Boys and men alike flock to us with an unceasing stream of petitions. Buy this, give me that, come see this, where are you from, it never stops. It has reached the point of irritation.

Fes though, was not without its charm. As this picture clearly illustrates, the children are nevertheless cute, their smiling faces far easier to interact with than their upwards held palms.

Finding Peace

2006-03-12T16:32:00.000-05:00

Tracking through the streets of Fes's old city today, we were accompanied by a small guide who affectionately introduced himself to us as Muhammad "cous cous," a funny little monicker. Muhammad was a kind boy, and a good guide although he made sure to lure us into every tourist trap possible.

Fes's old city is another world. The only things I have to compare it with are the old cities in Jerusalem and Hebron, which by comparison feel a million times cleaner.

We took in the sunset today from atop an ancient old city wall, a ruin overlooking other ruins. Castlelike outpost loomed behind us on the not so distant hills. Smoke billowed omonously in black streams from several locations throughout the city. We communicated sparingly with teenage Moroccan boys atop the wall as the sun went down over Fes tonight.

The only solace from the maddening assault on our senses today was found when we ducked into an ornate mosque, pretending to be part of a French tour group. The noise subsided, as did the smells. It was startling, instantly we had been transported as if by magic to the cleanest, most serene place we saw all day. When you take into account the living conditions of the people who inhabit the Arab world it becomes almost bluntly obvious how it is that Islam retains such an overpowering grip on the collective conscious of this part of the world. The only education these people get is Islam, it is more or less the only dependibly functional institution they know. No wonder they want to associate it with their politics...

Fur Days

2006-03-12T16:23:00.000-05:00

This is the aftermath of having a tannery in your neighborhood, endless hairballs, really pleasant. The squallor of this area of Fes's old city was downright disgusting, not unlike some of the dank alleyways we walked in order to get here.

Tanning animal skin is a messy business, as evidenced by "furmania" above.

Smellovision

2006-03-12T16:04:00.000-05:00

Taking in all that Morocco has to offer is an overwhelming task. From the constant bombardment from the locals to oblige them with your charity to the filth of the old city, things feel a lot different here.

This shot was taken from above the local sheep skin tannery in the old city. The stench was overpowering.

Into Africa...

2006-03-12T07:49:00.000-05:00

And into the great beyond. Culture shock, perhaps the greatest I have ever had.

We have entered into Morocco, currently stationed in Fes, a city in the North-Eastern portion of the country. This country smells, tastes, sounds and looks different. I guess that means it feels different, too.

We spent more or less 48 hours travelling from Granada to Fes, by bus, bus, boat, bus, and more stinky, crowded, crappy bus. This shot is obviously from the boat portion of our journey, we sailed from Malaga in southern Spain to Melilla which is Spanish Morocco. It took 8 hours to make that portion of our trek, although it is probably only a few hundred kilometers. But we are finally at something of a destination.

Spent this morning trying to get our laundry cleaned unsuccesfully. Tomorrow is another day...

Meandering...

2006-03-12T07:42:00.000-05:00

Canyonside walkways traverse the Alpujarran landscape. Hiking throught the streams and valleys we seldom came across a wayword travellor, however we did make friends with an American kid from Portland Oregon, named Will.

Lots of walking, lots of eating, reading, talking, and chess... I think I am turning the tide on Toshi.

Tractor Towns?

2006-03-12T07:23:00.000-05:00

Could not figure out a good title for this entry so, tractor towns will have to do... I also cannot find the apostrophe on a Moroccan keyboard, hence the lateness of this post, and my less abbreviated English. I want to make my writing as accessible as possible to my legions of dedicated readers, bless you all.

This is shot from one of our hikes through the mountains of the Alpujarras in Southern Spain. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the white-washed town of Campaleira, nestled into the side of the mountain. Two days of beautiful, scenic hiking, exploring the many towns that dot this scenic landscape. Ham like you would not believe, everything pig. Often three different kinds of pig; pig fat, cured pig, pig sausage, you name it. The hotel we stayed at was selling legs of cured pig for 7.50 a kilo!

Not very sensitive to the Jewish or Muslim diet, but delicious nonetheless. I am now officially a bonified pork enthusiast. Unbelievable mountain meals, I think the food might have been even better than the scenery.

Wallada

2006-03-07T17:42:00.000-05:00

Another view of spectacular Granada. This one comes from atop an ancient wall at the fringes of the mountain borders. Green and illustrious, spectacular, breathtaking.

Tonight we are up in the mountains that you can see in the far distance. In a little town called Bubion, on of the many "Alpujarras" as they are called. Las Alpujarras are a cluster of small mountain villages, perfect for hiking and paragliding! Tomorrow hopefully, we shall endeavor.

Granada, Come on Pretty Mama

2006-03-07T16:50:00.000-05:00

The breathtaking view of Granada's mountains and Alhambra can be taken in from the nearby Albaycin, atop a local hillside.

Granada is a manageable and beautiful little city, filled with quaint old neighborhoods and a grand Cathedral. The mountains though, are truly what set it apart from the rest. The Alhambra, pictured here, was a Moorish palace built supposedly as heaven on earth. Not bad real estate, I'd say.

Mo' Fun

2006-03-04T16:03:00.000-05:00

Life is certainly more fun with a mohawk. Just ask the Spanish. The mullet/mohawk is all the rage here, so Toshi and I ventured to make our stay authentic. The best part is, as your hair grows out, you get a mullet! Can't wait.

Working on a mustache too, you might not be able to tell from the photo, but it's saucy. Flavor saver to boot.

Punk rock baby.

Whoa!

2006-03-03T06:08:00.000-05:00

As an afterthought, it occured to me that I should provide a partial view of the complex so that one might be able to gain a sense of the majesty of this place. Behold the work of Francisco Calatrava, architectural mastermind.

La Barba

2006-03-03T05:48:00.000-05:00

Yes... that's Toshi with a beard.

There are some stunning architectural wonders here in Valencia, not the least of which is the framework of the structure one can see behind my lovely furry subject. This construction is part of a larger complex that is made up of the opera house and Valencia's museum of natural sciences. The architect is the renowned Francisco Calatrava who, among other things, designed the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM). My grandfather I know, will be delighted by this factoid.

Calatrava's buildings seem to conjure the ocean, and are consistently reminiscent of sea vessels. The Valencia opera house reminds me more of a cruise ship, whereas the MAM is more akin to a light and airy sailing ship. Beautiful work, immediately recognizable. His work seems to interact seamlessly with the natural environment around it, most notably affecting the air and the water. Truly magnificent.

Valencia!

2006-03-03T05:28:00.000-05:00

Valencia has arrived. This sunny coastal city hosted us in magnificent fashion yesterday, sunny skies and a temperature of nearly 75 degrees! Absolutely beautiful. We rented bicycles and pedaled our way down to the beach.

Along the way, we encountered this skate park. I couldn't help but to be reminded of Tony Hawk's skateboard videogames. These guys weren't great, but they weren't bad, either.

Saying Goodbye

2006-03-01T16:58:00.000-05:00

As the games turn from current events to recent memories, we are left with the lingering passion passed on to us by all those participating in the games. It may not have been the most historic, nor the more efficient, but it was my first, and I loved it. So many highs and lows, so many peoples life work coming together to put on one of the greatest events on earth.

I went to the official Sports Illustrated party in Torino on one of the last nights, it was held at the official "Budweiser Club." Go figure. I met Chad Hedrick, Apollo Ohno, Shani Davis, Toby Dawson, and shared drinks with the hallowed Rick Reilly. Amazing.

Sad to see the games end, but such high notes. Can't wait for Spain.

Winners

2006-03-01T16:47:00.000-05:00

If your last name is Ohno, life is good. After winning gold in the 500m short track and a host of other medals, your marketability and national reporte are at an all time high. Capitalize baby, relive the successes. It's all smiles when you win.

...and Losers

2006-03-01T16:36:00.000-05:00

In the end it's all just games, and as the 16-day events slips quickly out of our conscious and into the history books, we are left only with our memories. Images, stories and records, or lack thereof. Especially if you're Bode Miller, American loser supreme of these games. All the hype, one can only imagine the sour taste left in this guy's mouth as all the cameras fade to black. Failed ad campaigns, perhaps forever branded a loser. Some people's 15 minutes are shorter than other's I suppose...

Torino Skyline

2006-02-24T06:56:00.000-05:00

Here is another shot of the Mole with a little bit of scale, as per the request of my mummie. As you can see from this shot, the building is absolutely massive, and dominates the Torino skyline.

Mole Antonionella

2006-02-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

This is a particularly nice picture of the Mole Antonionella, Torino's landmark of the 20th Winter Olympic Games. The building was originally constructed as a synagogue, but was later claimed as a theater, due to the fact that it was far to expensive to up-keep. It is now a theater museum, and the lines were way too long today to get in, but I got this nice picture instead.

Reactions

2006-02-23T13:19:00.000-05:00

The emotions of the games are what makes the performance special. It's that moment when the scoreboard flashes the winning score, the fastest time and the first place marker. All the hard work, all the tireless efforts, the practice, the work-outs have finally paid off. As fans we can bask in their glory with them.

But after the dust settles and we've all gone home, the win is not our own. No matter how bad we want it, for our country, for our hometowns, for ourselves, the victory is the athlete's, and the athlete's alone.

The women's 3000m speed skating relay final was last night. Korea, China, Canada, and Italy competed against each other and finished in that order. The Italian team was beside itself at the finish, waving their fingers in the air in a pronounced show of dissaproval at the way the race had gone down. After careful review by the judges the Chinese team was disqualified for impeding another skater during the race, and Italy was bumped in the bronze medal position. The crowd went wild, the Italian ladies team instantly burst into tears and an Italian fan ran down from the stands and hurled the flag into the waiting hands of the final Italian skater. Tears poured from the eyes of the Italians for joy and from the eyes of the Chinese for sorrow, and the Koreans hugged them both.

It was a controversial decision on the part of the judges, but it was a beautiful sight to behold, and a beautiful moment to take in.

Mountain Morning Snowfall

2006-02-20T17:31:00.000-05:00

The beauty of a fresh snowfall never ceases to inspire. This morning the Italian alps were covered in a heavy dusting of the white stuff.

As tree branches sagged under the weight of the soggy fluff, Al and I endured the sun while shooting the ladies Super G final. Not much to write home about, as I mentioned to Al, I would have been pissed had I payed 140 Euros to sit in the stands and watch little skiers cross a finish line.

Needless to say, the snow was by far the greatest sight of the day.

Portrait of an Athlete

2006-02-20T17:15:00.000-05:00

Katalin Kristo, 22, sole representative of Romania for women's short track speed skating. Katalin sat with us last night as we observed the speed skating, although she had not fared successfully the night before, she looked forward to further pursuing her athletic career.

Athletes at the olympic games are kids under the microscope. They are proded, tested, and occasionally even injected with illegal substances, as in the case we are seeing with the Austrians tonight. Life lessons are gleaned on the playing fields, mistakes made, bruises earned. But more than anything else the games are about the spirit of human perseverance. It's all about heart.

Gold in Orange

2006-02-19T17:42:00.000-05:00

The Dutchies were out in major numbers tonight to support their women's speed skating team. True to form, and to the appeasement of the thousands of boisterous Dutch fans singing beer tunes, Timmer won...

It's good to win...

2006-02-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

Just ask Toby Dawson, this was his celebration after finishing his run a couple of nights ago...

I haven't been able to shoot the past couple of days, but tomorrow we are doing short track speed skating, and I expect to shoot that.

Flipping the Bit

2006-02-17T16:56:00.000-05:00

I was at the womens boarder cross today. I watched Lindsey Jacobellis fall about 50 meters from the finish line and lose the gold medal. She was showing off and decided to tweak a grab on the second to last jump, and she will regret if for the rest of her life. Man, it was like watching a train wreck. Life lessons learned today.

Bumps & Jumps

2006-02-16T09:55:00.000-05:00

Men's moguls. The word mogul is apparently derived from the Austrian 'mugel,' meaning small hill.

Last night we saw some rediculous maneuvers including an off-axis 1080 from the Canadian Alex Bilodeau currently ranked number two on the world cup circuit. That's 3 full revolutions in the air at an off-axis degree, meaning upside-down and sideways. He landed it cleanly, absolutely amazing. I was standing with his family during the competition, they were understandably disappointed when the judges failed to award him a high score given the degree of difficulty...

So much pressure on these athletes, this Canadian bailed mid-jump on a 720, thus I caught him in this dynamic pose. Nice moves.

Skating By...

2006-02-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

Women's 500m speed skating. No world records tonight, but plenty of speed nonetheless. A gold for the Russian skater Svetlana Zhurova, she left it all on the ice tonight.

This picture, however, depicts one of the Japanese skaters. There is though, a Chinese skater by the name of Manli Wang, a rather unfortunate name to say the least. I had the good fortune of meeting a friendly fellow photographer who was so kind as to lend me her 200mm zoom lens, although I barely could work it with my camera, I made this shot.

And while I'm shooting olympic athletes, Dick Cheney is busy shooting people in the face. Could there be a more appropriate occurence to symbolize the ineptness, disregard and corruption of the current administration. Regardless, I know people will interpret this event in what ever manner best suits their political perspective, but I think the efforts to cover it up and irresponsibility that surround this are indicative of what we are dealing with.

Mens moguls tomorrow. Whoopee!

Inverted Teter

2006-02-14T03:55:00.000-05:00

Hannah Teter, goes inverted and wins gold for the United States. The US currently leads all countries in gold medals, all taken in snowboarding and speedskating. US dominance in snowboarding is widely revered across nationalities here at the games.

Al Tielemans, the photographer I am assisting, was given a lecture yesterday by one of the snowboard magazine photographers. It appears Sports Illustrated is not up to snuff in terms of shooting boarders. There is a technique to shooting these guys, they want proper form (with grabs) and the lip of the halpipe in view (to show amplitude). Hey man, snowboarding isn't just a sport okay? "It's a lifestyle," and I quote here.

Incidentally, speaking of "Amplitude," it looks at this point as though Al got the SI cover this week. It's a shot of Shaun White sailing high through the sky between some mountains and some trees. Very nice shot. Al has had about 45 covers, so it's not an unbelievable occurence, but definitely a cause for celebration. He was one of two SI photographers covering the biggest story in American sports this week, and I was there baby.

Get Amped.

Chillin at the Pipe

2006-02-13T04:51:00.000-05:00

"Dude, I'm so stoked!" and other American colloquialisms fill the air around here. American wunderkind, Shaun White (age 19), took the gold for the Americans yesterday. There was a little bit of suspense when he had a poor first run during the qualification stage, but by the finals he had already taken gold before he took his last run.

I was standing right in front of his overwhelmed, sobbing parents as he won the gold, it was a heart-warming sight. An honor to be the best in any category, Shaun White is pretty much regarded as the future of snowboarding, the Lebron James of halfpipe, if you will.

As you can see from this photo, the amount of air between these riders and the top of the pipe is absolutely stupefying. Aside from the verticality, the flips, spins and grabs they combine, make the aerial dance that much more exciting.

Sestriere

2006-02-13T04:25:00.000-05:00

This is the view from our hotel balcony in Sestriere. On the left side of the mountain is where the downhill took place yesterday. No medals for Bode, oh well, I'm not surprised. Walking around town yesterday, you could really sense that the Olympics have arrived.

No medals yet for the Italians, they are a bit sore from anticipation, it weighs heavily on the citizens of this nation. They really want to look good in the eyes of the world, and I think also as a European nation, they possess a strong desire to show up in front of France and Germany who typically do very well. Well, at least the cappuccino is good.

Fronting It

2006-02-12T05:49:00.000-05:00

Sara Kjellin, Swedish Olympian in the ladies moguls event, completes the first frontflip ever in Olympic competition for ladies moguls. A very difficult maneuver, it requires the athlete to throw all weight over the skis, a nifty little tuck right after being catapulted into the air at a somewhat backward angle.

Kjellin placed 4th overall, but was the only athlete present to attempt the frontflip.

Let The Games Begin!

2006-02-12T03:44:00.000-05:00

A view from behind the Olympic Moguls venue in Sauze D'Oulx, don't ask me how to pronounce that. I witnessed the ladies moguls event from the base of the course, in the pit with the rest of the media. Awesome.

Inverted aerials, introduced into international competition in 2004, have proliferated. Flips, 720s, crosses, grabs, they did it all. I am currently writing from the media center at the base of the snowboard halfpipe where we're covering the men's snowboard halfpipe final. Shaun White, 19, is the favorite to take gold, and most likely he will run away with the medal. He starts 8th today, in about 10 minutes...

The atmosphere here is electric, the spirit of friendly international competition abounds. Seeing the Canadian (Heil) win the gold last night, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Family, friends, fellow patriots, all are invited to bask in the glory of success. And on the other end, the bitter taste of failure. I observed as Hannah Kearney (USA) broke down in front of her trainer, and said she couldn't continue skiing anymore, after finishing 22nd after qualifying. Being here in person, you really get a sense of how fleeting the competition is. You get a qualifying run (30 seconds) and then the top 20 go to the finals for one more 30 second run, and that's it. Go big or go home. Lay it all on the line, you've worked all your life towards this, and all you're gonna get is about a minute at most. Pressure doesn't even begin to describe...

Venice Moon

2006-02-08T05:26:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Venice... bella Venezia.

Wandering the streets of this ancient and beautiful city. Intricate artisanry from the architecture to the Carnevale masks, I am awed by the attention to detail. I am also curious how people afford to live in this town. In fact, for the most part I don't think they can. I was talking to one resident, Elisabetta lives with her parents in a suburb, but her grandparents live in the actual city of Venice. Her grandfather can't walk up and down the stairs anymore (he's 82), and there is no way to drive a car into the city, so you can imagine his contact with his family and the outside world is severely limited.

Venice truly is unique. I watched the Super Bowl from a bar in Venice, they tried to kick us out early. We resisted. I bumped into Jonathan Pasternack though, a cousin of mine, crazy. I guess though, of all places to bump into an American in Venice, the only bar broadcasting the Super Bowl is a pretty good place. Go figure.

Grid-Iron Green

2006-02-05T17:33:00.000-05:00

A quick shot from a garden staircase in Roma. It is quite a beautiful city, ancient and modern at the same time.

I have been following the developments in response to the cartoon of Muhammed quite closely in the past few days. The scene outside the Danish embassy in Beirut was quite a shocking sight. It occurs to me that these violent reactionary outbursts only serve to credit the assertion the cartoon is making of a militant and subversive Islamist culture. There appears to be such a great divide between our cultures when it comes to diplomacy. It makes me wonder why people would prefer fighting to just sitting down and having a friendly chat.

Watching this whole nuclear showdown unfold between Iran and the UN also, what a mess. Believe me, I don't want to see Iran with nuclear warheads, but from their perspective why should they listen to the US when we continue to develop our nuclear arsenal? Bush and his bunker-busters, the US although in the process of decreasing the size of our arsenal in coordination with Russia, we are in the process of upgrading and maintaining our nuclear warheads, so as to make them more effective. Bush scrapped the IBM treaty, it's no wonder Iran pays the UN no heed.

Alito to the Supreme Court... an interesting tidbit I picked up recently that I hadn't realized until now, there is now a Catholic majority on the Supreme Court. Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, Alito and Roberts. Trouble for Roe although you never know with these tricky justices. Maybe at the very least they'll get rid of the death penalty too.

Boehner as speaker of the house of representatives, don't know much about this guy yet, but from what I gather he's about as knee-deep in lobbyist money as "Teflon Tom." Tim Kaine addressed the nation as the Democratic representative to rebut the President's State of the Union address. Go Tim. I can personally attest to the fact that he's a good man, with good character, and a kind heart. Everyone keeps talking about how he's emblematic of the solution to the Democrats woes, I'm not sure I agree, but still nice to know I worked to get that guy elected. A Catholic too.

I'm in Venice now, a beautiful, if surreal city. Too expensive though. Travelling to Turin the day after tomorrow for the Olympics. Gotta run now... Super Bowl is about to kick-off. Go Steelers!

Swastika

2006-02-03T08:23:00.000-05:00

Roma is not the cleanest of cities. Even the nicest of neighborhoods, such as Monteverde where I encountered the piece you see before you, the ancient buildings and walls are riddled by graffiti. This is just one piece I encountered prominently displaying the swastika and other such fascist ideology. To be sure, there is plenty of other political graffiti espousing rivaling perspectives, but there is plenty of this as well. It is a testament more than anything else, of what is tolerated. Perhaps the vast majority of Italians write these political ideologues off as fringe extremists, but whatever they are doing is not quelling the intolerance. It’s a joke to Italians, the silly fascists, they don’t know what they say. No one takes them seriously, my friend Malva tells me.

Well, I take it very seriously. I acknowledge the fact that I am overly sensitive, given the fact I have just returned from Israel. And although I am reacting to the Swastika as a Jew, I am afraid more of what this fascist line of thought means for the Africans and Muslims who inhabit Italy. The homeless people of this city are almost unfailingly Gypsy; they are marginalized and disregarded as you would a stray dog.

I visited the old Jewish ghetto of Roma yesterday. I saw the great synagogue, and I spoke at great lengths with one of the kind docents of the museum there. I asked her about the flight of Jews from Roma, whether the Jewish community still thrives. She remarked with a wry smile, “we’re still here aren’t we?”

Yes. We are still here, as are the Palestinians in Israel, as are the blacks in America. These are true Romans, who can draw Roman family lines back 500 years in history. I don’t want to dismiss the swastika, I don’t want to be desensitized by it, and I do not want to write off the “silly Italian fascists.” In a city where there is an entire district (now populated by Italian movie stars and other celebrities) still called the “ghetto,” but which is losing relevance as a historically significant example of human rights violations…

It’s cool to be different. It always has been, it always will be. It is tolerated in Italy that one of the ways in which youth display their uniqueness, is by joining the Fascist movement. Again, a nation is defined not just by what it does, it is defined by what it tolerates.

Forza Roma!

2006-02-03T07:45:00.000-05:00

This is a shot from the soccer match I attended the other night. The competition pitted Roma against the revered Juventus squad from the north of Italy, I believe they are actually from Turino, an appropriate event given my itinerary. We paid €25 each for tickets so that we could sit with Roma fans, all the “curva sud” (southern curve of the stadium) tickets were taken. “Curva sud” is where true Roman fans sit.

The other option for cheap seats were to sit with the Lazio fans, Lazio is the other Roman soccer team. Apart from the fact that we wanted to sit and cheer with the Roma fans, Malva alerted me to the fact that we should not sit with the Lazio fans because they are hooligans and fascist supporters. In fact, one of the developing news stories here in Italy relates to the fact that Roma fans (not Lazio fans) unfurled Nazi banners at recent soccer match at the Estadio Olimpico. Fascism in Italy is alive and thriving. Healthy enough that it was tolerated to the point that the match was not stopped to remove the banners, for fear of inciting violence from unruly and belligerent fans.

The display was a provocative gesture aimed at the Livorno squad, popularly regarded as a bunch of leftists for their open displays of the hammer and sickle, and established communist inclinations. “Futbol” here is much more than just a means of popular entertainment it seems, it is a forum for political organizing. In fact “Forza Roma!,” the slogan of the Roman football team, was borrowed by the campaign of increasingly discomforting Silvio Berslusconi (Italian Prime Minister, who by the way pledges not to have sex until the general election on April 9). Berlusconi’s slogan was “Forza Italia,” and incidentally (not coincidentally) he carries heavy support amongst the fascists for promising increased unemployment welfare benefits. Appropriate.

Given the context of my travels, this only deepens my concerns with regard to the severity and profundity of the racism that stills thrives in modern society. Don’t ignore it. Congress just voted today to extend the Patriot Act. This is just one way in which the United States keeps up the tradition of racial profiling, and violates our civil liberties. It’s a slippery slope.

Visit Palestine

2006-02-03T06:36:00.000-05:00

Departing Israel/Palestine has been such sweet sorrow. I am so profoundly altered by all the things I saw and experienced. I am moved by the generosity and hospitality of all my hosts, I am inspired by the ways in which they have encouraged and enabled me to pursue social justice and the truth. This is a place, a conflict, a struggle, a state of mind I will return to again and again.

I am excited to move on to the next phase of my journey, I have much ahead of me, the Olympics should be thrilling. However, I am caught up in what I just came from. I watched yesterday from an internet cafe in Roma, live news feeds of Israeli soldiers corralling and battling with settlers illegally squatting (I believe it was outside of Hebron). I am struck by how emotionally fragile my Israeli experience has left me. Watching these terrible confrontations between soldiers, who are just kids younger than myself, angry for having to be there in the first place dealing with crazed racist settlers. And settlers who have been invigorated by a false sense of security provided them by the government. Footage of Israeli forces on horseback trampling hordes of fanatical occupiers, just a frightening sight.

The problem is the more I process it, the more unjust it seems. Palestinians incurring similar forms of resistance would assuredly meet the wrath of live ammunition. Bloodshed in such circumstances is a guarantee.

Of course the settlers are not trying to kill Israeli soldiers, but they pelt them with the same stones that the Palestinians do, seriously injuring the soldiers. We make light of the situation by minimizing it to a case of Palestinians have rocks and Israeli soldiers have guns. These are not small stones, they are dropped or thrown with great force behind them. Just imagine what it would be like to be a scared 19 year-old boy surrounded by mobs of lunatics literally stoning you. You've got an automatic machine gun, and your life to protect, what do you do?

These are serious displays of violence and should be dealt with sternly. That the Israeli government tolerates such acts of internal unrest without legally prosecuting each and every one of the perpetrators further undermines the legitimacy of Israeli rule. This is in addition to the ways in which the Israeli authorities undermine themselves by dealing with the same acts of resistance on a sliding scale of racially prejudicial enforcement.

So Israel, Palestine, whatever exclusion or amalgamation of the two you want to call it, remains an enigma to me. And I now feel more deeply connected to the place than ever before, I think at least this much is good. Forget the labels, people want to know where I stand, I stand for peace (true peace, mind you), equality, and reconciliation. It's just that simple. I will not rest until I see an improvement in the quality of life for both Jews and Muslims, and a cessation of violence between the factions in the holy land.

So visit Palestine. Come to the holy land, and cross the lines. Pass beyond the walls both figurative and tangible. Come to understand that Arabs don’t hate you, and that it is not dangerous to be an American in the West Bank. And at the same time understand how dangerous Israelis and Palestinians have made life for themselves and each other. Understand that if we continue on the current course we are taking in Iraq that we will create a similar circumstance for ourselves. It will only continue to become more dangerous in America, our actions in Iraq are not making us safer. George Bush and his cronies are lying through their teeth. They don’t even believe the lies they tell.

Ask yourself whether you are committed establishing international American hegemony, or whether you would rather just be a citizen of the world. And then visit Palestine.

What We're Up Against

2006-01-30T15:31:00.000-05:00

This is the face of the religious right in Israel. The ultra-orthodox. Men who live out their days praying to God in the name of Israel. Studying Torah so as to protect the covenant. Religious zealotry at its best. God gave Israel to the Jews, and it therefore shall it remain under the protectorate of the Jews alone.

They are a burden to the economy because they are not obliged to get a job, the government subsidizes their lifestyle so they can supposedly protect the faith, and as the major force behind bigotry and dogmatic reasoning they effectively shift the entire range of the conversation to the right. It is amazing the way people can find a way to make religion, a force when used benevolently is merely a conductor for spirituality, into a means of writing off responsibility. At its best, shouldn't religion be a tool used to teach people love and harmony? A lesson in commonality, that at the end of the day we are all just human beings so we might as well get along. Judgment shall be left to some sort of unfathomable higher power, faith means understanding that it is not our job to determine who is right and who is wrong, our only job is to create peace and brotherhood in this life. Forgiveness and redemption... holy moly.

Fanaticism is a tricky beast. To a fanatic, the world revolves around fate and the will of God. Jews and Muslims on both sides of this conflict are guilty of this sin. Somehow, they have dissociated themselves from all responsibility. If it is the will of Allah, then it shall be...

The book is the driving force, they have read it so many times, it begins to speak. Interpreting from the Holy Scriptures becomes a game of inventing the connections needed to prove any conviction. Rather than using the ancient writings of wise men past to learn how to heal the world, the motivation has become a desperate effort to justify a course of narrow-mindedness.

It becomes particularly upsetting when you realize that the most combative and uncompromising people with regards to the conflict are unfailingly devout. When I hear Americans praise Arik Sharon for his unilateral course of action, I wonder whether they make any connections between Hamas' recent victory on behalf of religious fundamentalism. The wall, territorial expansion, and aggressive military tactics effectively destroyed whatever semblance of authority Fatah retained. Yes, Fatah is extremely corrupt, as are all governments in war-torn developing nations. Ehud Olmert today announced that Israel will be withholding somewhere around $45M dollars in monthly tax revenues it has collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, until it hears that Hamas has acknowledged Israel's right to exist.

Granted, it makes no sense that Israel support a government which refuses to recognize its sovereignty, but there is absolutely no reciprocal acknowledgement on behalf of the Jewish state. Never mind the fact that no one is bothering to ask why Israel is collecting taxes from people they refuse to accept as citizens. Hamas has its hands tied, Israel says grovel.

In the opening scenes of a war film depicting ancient war, directed by Ridley Scott, two soldiers stand in preparation for battle.
Quintus: People should know when they're conquered.
Maximus: Would you, Quintus? Would I?
This scene depicts a Roman war, the ultimate example held of empire building in Western popular culture. This is symbolic of the line of thought dominating the mind of a conqueror. And we beg to ask it of the Palestinian people. When will they just give up? Count your losses and call it a day.

I spent my 7th and 8th grade years at Brandeis Hillel, a Jewish day school in San Francisco. I will never forget the day our Judaic studies teacher, a conservative rabbi, threw one of my classmates out for suggesting that the 1967 war was used as an excuse for aggressive territorial assertions on Israel’s behalf. As he sent Tory out of the classroom that day, he bellowed furiously at the boy that Israel military, had never engaged itself aggressively. This memory is embedded in my mind due to the conviction of a man whom I still hold in high respect. As I begin to unravel my education, and decipher the things I learned under the circumstances of being highly impressionable, it’s easy to see how we become indoctrinated. What also comes to mind, sitting in political science classes during the onset of the most recent Iraq war, and hearing my professors explain that this war is not in fact a preemptive war. It’s actually a response to the imminent threat of Iraq’s nuclear weapons program.

I went to the Israeli Holocaust museum here in Jerusalem a couple of weeks ago, Yad Vashem. One of the many breathtaking exhibitions displays a quote I will paraphrase because I don’t remember who said it, but the general gist of it I will never forget; “A nation is not just what it does, but what it tolerates.” This quote, of course is in reference to Germany and the rise of the Third Reich.

Yad Vashem sits atop one of the tallest most scenic hilltops in all of Jerusalem. It is a highly coveted piece of real estate. It is also the site of one of the bloodiest massacres from the 1948 Israeli war of Independence. The massacre which took place in the Palestinian village that used to be there served as a major trauma to the Palestinian people, driving the flight from their historic villages in seek of refuge and safe haven.

Oh, but don’t forget, they all left on their own volition. Finders keepers, right? They should know when they are conquered.

On Social Justice...

2006-01-28T13:32:00.000-05:00

It becomes difficult to reconcile sometimes the things you now know, with what you thought you used to know. It leaves the mind to wander over the “what ifs?” and the “how comes?” The ordinary means for finding the point of equilibrium between your responsibility and the gravity of accepting your privilege is complicated by a new understanding of truth. Now that you have harnessed these perspectives, what is forthcoming?

Israel has experienced a relative calm lately. In the past years the onslaught of the second intifada has dissipated. Busses are not blowing up in Jerusalem as of late. The cafes are a safe haven of wireless internet. DVD machines hawk the latest American titles, computerized digital stations print photos, young people on the street corners canvass flyers for political parties.

Tal, 26, is an organizer for the far left Meretz party. He sports a full head of long sandy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail along with a weak mustache. He has glasses and speaks with a slight lisp as disseminates green flyers. His hands are cloaked in oversized woolen gloves, black and white flecks lint at the seams. He wears a thin faded white sweatshirt with the logo of the Meretz party stenciled in green as he shifts alternately to keep warm in the cold air of the mild Jerusalem winter.

Tal says Meretz has accepted the inevitability of a shared Jerusalem with the Palestinian Authority. Accordingly, Meretz is willing to entertain the idea of a bi-national capital. It is the prerogative of the Israeli people to accept a peace that is palatable to both peoples, but to many Israelis this is an unimaginable compromise. Within the context of the current state of the crisis, it is difficult to understand how things got so bad. To an outsider it almost seems as though there is no reason why Palestinians and Israelis should not share Jerusalem. Palestinians and Jews interact and function cooperatively in marketplaces and residential areas relatively peacefully. Speaking with the electorate there is a fervent call for a peace that will allow the Palestinians there own autonomous state, but it is not so simple.

History is a herd of elephants thundering through the old city. It provides the context for every issue, but depending on who you ask, the description of the elephants that inhabit and torment this ancient land is widely varied. Implied in the two state solution is recognition by the Palestinian Authority of the state of Israel. This is a drastic departure from their long held stance of refusal. Just as Hamas and the resistance hailed it as a victory against the occupation when Israel withdrew from Gaza, so too will Israel hold the occupation as a victory if it means recognition for Israel on behalf of the Palestinian people, no matter how begrudgingly.

Can you blame Israel? If it’s one thing the Arab world has succeeded in doing throughout the conflict, it is making the Jewish nation feel small and vulnerable. All you have to do is open the Jerusalem Post and find advertisements by the likes of the American Jewish Committee notifying Israelis that the Iranian government will do everything it can to get its hands on a nuclear warhead.

“And Tehran has a plan to make this genocidal vision a reality—with
an intensive program, violating international treaty obligations, that could
place nuclear warheads on missiles aimed at Israel, and potentially at countries
from Europe to Asia to Africa.”

Israelis are an anxious bunch, they have learned to avoid crowded places and fear nefarious acts of random, seemingly unprovoked, violence. If virtual imprisonment and occupation is what it takes to get a meager existential validation, then from an Israeli standpoint, perhaps it has served its purpose. Unfortunately, the Palestinian people are the prisoners serving the term for the sins of their Arab brothers.

It is the plight of the Palestinian people to pick a fight with a civilization that has just returned miraculously from the brink of extinction. Israelis live in the shadow of the Holocaust, they have descended from it, and the trauma has metastasized to all aspects of policy. The AJC advertisement aforementioned was entitled "Never again?" The allusion here is not so subtle, but indicative of Israel’s self-perceived position within the global context. Unfortunately, the fear of the next Holocaust manifesting itself as nuclear war in holy land is not entirely irrational.

Palestinians themselves will tell you they bare the brunt of Europe’s atrocities. Whether it’s the Holocaust, or Sykes-Picot (ca. 1916), everyone here has a slightly different understanding of what the larger European context means to the Jewish nation. What remains so exceptional about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the degree to which a seemingly small nation has subjugated a group of people who exist within a much larger Arab context.

From a historical perspective this is seemingly an obscure circumstance which greatly strains the paradigm of racism as it has come to be known within large academic circles. Racism as it is defined by such, is generally described as an ethnic prejudice with the addition of a skewed power dynamic which enables one party to manipulate and exert his power over another. So depending on how you look at it, whether the struggle is ‘Israel vs. Palestine’ or the collective ‘Arab World vs. Israel,’ there are much larger forces at play here. If you look at it strictly from a racial perspective however, as Israelis often do when expressing their fear of their Arab neighbors, don’t expect to unearth any larger truths about the people themselves, but it may help to explain the role of the United States.

If you are going to group the Palestinian people within the larger Arab block, then certainly you must also include Israel within the larger European/North American block. So whose conflict is it now? The more we step back, the more the conflict seems to validate Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations. We’re democratic, they’re not. Another way of putting that though—democracy serves the interests of Western nations, populated mostly by white people. This is perhaps a useful tool for examining just the type of democracy Israel provides to the Middle East.

Social justice is a very broad term, making it difficult to pin down its applications. However, it is a fascinating articulation and as such, much of the world’s greatest work is carried out in its name.

My work here has pushed me to examine my role as a white person in this world more than ever, but the key applications are in the United States. Allowing Americans to understand the enabling role we play in driving the force of racism here, is perhaps the most profound of my discoveries. I think many American Jews especially, are at a loss when it comes to this notion. Without the cushion of America, Israel would not be the prize show dog it is, clearly the power dynamic would look entirely different. Extracting America’s role from conflicts such as this is neither realistic, nor is it ethical, but causing Americans to realize the heavy sword we lend to oppression all over the world is...

Captured

2006-01-26T16:35:00.000-05:00

20 km outside of SAUDI - This is the view from the ground in Jordan, I took this picture a few days ago while traversing the desert. Stark and beautiful, like nothing I have ever seen before.

Peering from behind the golden fur dashboard, I am waving away the sunlight like wayward see-weed. The chiseled brown mountains raise striated peaks from the earth pocketed and creased by brown rhythms of color.

From inside the 1978 Toyota Landcruiser, a worn maroon velour interior bumps and dances before my eyes as we jostle across the sandy terrain. My guide dons a coiled headdress, beneath which drapes a red and white checkered Kufiyah. The red sand scatters across the horizon as far as the eye can see, scrubby brush peeks out like spiny reptiles poking their heads into the sunlight.

The faded plastic chromed clutch forms the shape of a cobra's head as we shift off into the desert. The gurgling sounds of Arab voices fill my ears echoing the mysterious nature of this forbidden land. Amber colored prayer beads oscillate from the rear-view mirror continuously colliding with the pine-tree shaped car freshener, I can't see any pine trees. I don't think there are any within 500 miles of this place. Epitomizations of the clash between the ancient and the modern, globalization comes home.

What was once only foot paths for obstinate camels is now traversed by the rustic tires of my SUV. The bubbling vocal hydrolics of camels has been replaced by gasping engines, those smelly foul, surly creatures, spewing their festering saliva. I am tracing the topography of a world receding, crumbling, decaying into the red sea of sand. Scraping our tires with their jagged inflections, my dusty nostrils carry the scent of past pulverized crustaceans.

"Ahalan Wasahalan," they tell me - "nice to meet you." This is capturing the desert.

And then they did...

2006-01-26T14:28:00.000-05:00

I observed today from the streets of Bethlehem as supporters of Hamas caravanned through the city in a proud showing of support for what looks to be the newly elected majority of the Palestinian Authority. As I stood today in Hamas headquarters interviewing a local party official, who introduced himself to me as Ali Ali, I was struck by the degree to which a party once considered strictly militant has taken the whole democracy bit to heart. As Ali told me, "the American people must know that Hamas are a democratic people, we want the support of the American people - stand with us, and stand with democracy."

This is a drastically different tune from that sung by the militant Hamas the world has known. The political elixir has been distilled, but as to who is drinking it, thus far remains to be decided. Ali certainly cut a convincing monologue this afternoon during our conversation, he seemed to believe that Hamas was ready to lead Palestinians towards a more palatable peace. President Bush this morning reiterated that the United States refuses to negotiate with any political establishment that refuses to recognize the legitimacy of US ally Israel. I wonder what his buddies the Saudis would have to say about that one if he pressed them on it. The reality remains that if Hamas hopes to have any kind of a political tenure, they are going to have to develop some kind of relationship with the Israeli government, all bets are off. One thing is for certain, politically speaking the months ahead will be rocky.

Isam is my host brother. I stayed in his family home for two nights, and returned to Bethlehem today to see him. It is his likeness which graces today's photograph. That is his inked left index finger, proof of voting in the parliamentary elections. He stands outside the Hamas headquarters in Dheissha refugee camp, the only home he has known for the 23 years since he was born.

Dheissha was a camp created by the UN after the 1967 war. What began as a tented encampment has taken root on the hillsides of Bethlehem however, in the past thirty years Dheissha has become a permanent figment. The streets of Dheissha are littered with trash, there is no municipal authority capable of administering waste disposal. Even if there was, the streets are not big enough to allow the passage of garbage trucks. Not big enough to afford passage for the Israeli tanks that rumbled through these streets just a few years ago, crushing cars and scrubbing homes, leaving in their wake potholes, craters and convex walls falling in on themselves. Isam tells me of month long curfews where residents were forbidden from leaving their homes for any period of time, not even for food. He tells me that faced with the prospect of being shot for leaving his home, he and his neighbors found ways to elude the occupiers so that they did not starve. I have heard from him stories of Israeli military barging into the same home where I slept, at 2am sending German Shepherds in to terrorize sleeping children, and holding an entire family outside for hours of interrogation. Only to return to a house, furniture destroyed, a humble home turned upside-down by frustrated soldiers searching for non-existent terrorists. I have seen the pictures in his wallet of the children passed from lack of access to medical treatment, his friends.

Isam voted for Hamas yesterday. His own brother Husam, an accountant by trade, is angry with him for it. But Isam votes for Hamas not because he thinks they are capable of delivering the peace he has waited for all his life. He votes for Hamas because he wants change. He says that in 40 years Fatah has suffered nothing but losses for the Palestinian people. The Palestinians are tired of corrupt rulership and are ready for a new government, fresh ideas and accountability. Accountability is the single greatest asset Hamas has to offer the Palestinian Authority, by virtue of a major competing interest rivaling the previously dominant Fatah, perhaps this will be a government more capable of checking itself.

Husam has a different take. Husam describes, "It’s like a man who falls from a roof and lands on his feet, at first he stands, but soon he will collapse and die. When Israel kills someone, what will Hamas do?" This is an insightful inquiry. Hamas has long been the target of Israeli military strikes which have routinely taken out Hamas pundits. If Hamas responds with force, Israel will crack down tighter than ever before, and hail it as evidence of the dogmatic terrorist origins that riddle the electorate. Rami Bandak, a Christian Palestinian tour guide, claimed this to be exactly what Israel wants. This will certainly be something Israel will use to further delegitimize the Palestinian cause for self-rule.

As the Palestinian cause for a homeland hangs in the balance, the world gawks at the inconsolable Palestinians. Don’t they know better? If you speak to the Palestinian people though, there is no sense that anything will ever get better. They do not vote based on the naïve hope that things will miraculously change. The only change they know, is no matter how bad things seem, they have seen worse, and there is almost an underlying expectation that things are likely to get worse.

At the entrance to Dheissha refugee camp there is a metal gate that stands isolated, it connects to nothing anymore. Once upon a time though, not so long ago, this armored gate represented the controlled passageway between Dheissha and Bethlehem. It was the extreme limit of the communal prison that is Dheissha. It serves now only as a reminder of what the Palestinian people are up against.

Can you remember a time when internally displaced peoples were held as prisoners in artificially created ghettos? Neighborhoods developed in urban environments, families packed into sub-standard living conditions without heat, communities where the residents were forbidden from leaving? Can you remember asking how the whole world stood idly by and watched? Didn’t you wonder why no one wanted them?

I can, I do, I did, and I will not forget. We are all human. Try to understand.

Holes in the Wall

2006-01-25T16:24:00.000-05:00

I went down to Gaza yesterday in a futile attempt to witness Palestinian elections taking place from within the confines of a highly volatile political zone. Needless to say, I was deterred in my attempts. However, my efforts were not totally wasted.

As I was leaving the Erez checkpoint, I had the brief opportunity to speak with an Israeli soldier about his impressions of what was going on within this forbidden territory. I asked him whether he thought Gaza was a dangerous place. Without hesitation he retorted to me that Israel was a far more dangerous place to be.

This is an impression that I already held, but it was validating to hear this coming from the mouth of a soldier. The threat of random, seemingly unprovoked militant aggression, is far more scary to the human mind than austentatiously pronounced displays of military force. Nothing to be said for the despicable living conditions of a people trapped in a 40 km strip of land sandwiched between a 30-foot wall and the sea.

It got me thinking about the circumstances under which I have come to understand the occupation. It is only because of the aggressive tactics of the Israeli military, boldly condemned in this blog, that I am able to experience the things I have seen with relative peace of mind. I ride Israeli buses everyday unafraid of being blown up. I criticize the wall and other preventative measures that have kept virtually all suicide bombers out of Israel for the past 2 years. It left me to wonder whether I would be against the wall if it meant an end to the occupation and a clearing of all West Bank settlements, and the recognition of a Palestinian state...

Here I have no definitive answers, just more questions.

Election Daze

2006-01-25T16:10:00.000-05:00

Today is Palestinian Election Day. That is, Palestinians not citizens of Israel, who are in fact not citizens of any nation, and who are prohibited from traveling outside the Palestinian territories vote today. For Palestinians living in East Jerusalem this presents a rather complex dichotomy. They retain permanent resident status in Israel as inhabitants of what has become an annexed East Jerusalem. They are separated from the West Bank by the wall, communities dissected never to be reacquainted. They are allowed to vote in Jerusalem’s municipal elections, but prohibited from the federal polls. And so they vote in the Palestinian national elections, as non-citizens living under the jurisdiction of Israeli rule.

Palestinian East Jerusalemites endure a severely contested existence. Floating checkpoints around the city detain them on their way to work everyday as soldiers corral them in order to check their papers. Ostensibly this is to prohibit illegal migrant workers from benefiting from the Israeli economy. In reality, it is a security measure aimed at crippling the Palestinian economy, just another way to subdue the Palestinian people.

Yesterday I made the acquaintance of a young shop owner named Saleh Mobied, who I came to know during the course of purchasing an item for my parents. Saleh’s shop occupies one of the many storefronts on David street behind the walls of the old city in East Jerusalem. It exists on the fringes of the Muslim quarter, further encroached upon with each passing day by the ever expanding Jewish quarter. The building itself is owned by the Greek Orthodox church, but is being sold to Israelis for an unknown price. This sale will force Saleh and his business to move, or else close up shop.

Initially this seems like an unexceptional occurrence in the world of commercial proprietorship. Understanding the context of such transitions however, sheds a more complicated scheme. Palestinians not citizens of Israel have been prohibited from further developing East Jerusalem. This is not to say Palestinians don’t, but legally speaking the Israeli government maintains they have the right to terminate any “illegal” development projects. The issue of house demolitions frequently enters the debate over Israeli military actions against militant Palestinians, but what few of us realize in the United States is that the vast majority of house demolitions in Jerusalem are actually carried out by the municipal government. It is difficult to discern the rhyme or reason behind which houses they choose to demolish, and which they leave standing, but the demolished houses referred to here belong to Palestinian families without any militant connections. Perhaps they did something to aggravate the Israeli bureaucracy or drew too much attention to themselves. Perhaps they did nothing at all. Regardless, to destroy a family home and leave in its wake a pile of rubble is a disgusting offense to the people, to the children, to the neighborhood, and to society at large.

Even if Saleh and his fellow business owners who occupy this incredibly valuable commercial property, desired to put together a partnership to purchase the building and save their business, they are unable. The Israeli authorities have uncontested, non-competitive bidding rights to the building because they have in effect put a freeze on all Palestinian development. Democratic institutions at work.

As Palestinians stepped to the polls today, casting their ballots for democracy for the first time in 10 years, they entered the booths with a tremendous chip on their shoulders. They have no recourse. There is no entrenched political establishment that recognizes the determined right of the Palestinian people to self-govern. Whether you like their tactics or not, whether you see the PA as an autocratic “thugocracy” or not, these people have the right to express themselves, and elect whomever they see fit. Hamas is an Islamist party with a militant background which refuses to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state. If they were to gain total control of the Palestinian Authority (which they won’t), Palestinian aspiration toward democracy would essentially cease to exist. However, an Israeli government which refuses to accept the legitimate outcome of a democratic election and does not take active steps to foster an autonomous Palestinian state without the occupation of settlers, is a fake democracy as well.

The atmosphere outside the main polling location in East Jerusalem was not one of jubilation. It was not a festival of democracy, it was not a parade of Arab faces thankful for the democratic occupiers that had allowed them the privilege of casting their votes. The frustration was palpable, speaking with a young Palestinian man today, Mahmoud Abu Sheineh expressed that there is a sense that no matter who wins, his people’s predicament will worsen. And he was ashamed to admit he is a holder of an Israeli passport, this is the voice of an Israeli citizen. Tension permeated the air as young men clad in Fatah regalia clamored for the end of the occupation. Boisterous chanting, jumping, agitated cheers and the waving of the Palestinian flag demarcated the day democracy came to East Jerusalem. Eat your heart out Dick Cheney, there were no smiling faces thankful for the day America liberated them from despotism.

The photo above is tragically indicative of the plight of the Palestinian people. Amidst the revelers who although agitated, remained peaceful throughout the day, appeared a man clad in army fatigues, draped in Fatah rags, his infant son similarly adorned on his shoulders hoisting a toy machine gun. Immediately, as miraculously as the pair had appeared, swarms of photojournalists surrounded the two as 50 cameras snapped thousands of images to be wired digitally all over the world instantaneously. This was the closest thing to an armed militant seen today in East Jerusalem. But this is the image that will be peppered throughout the media tomorrow, as if to prove the stubborn bullishness of the Palestinian people who give their children guns and teach them to be violent. There are all kinds of atrocities going on all over Palestine every day that get no international coverage, Arabs with guns get press. What a double standard – we glamorize exactly what we condemn.

In the midst of all the hubbub a Palestinian woman approached the man to berate him for fostering such negative publicity. She was eventually shrugged off and the charade continued, but before she left she managed to put a pencil in the boy’s other hand.

The will of the people is overwhelmingly in support of diplomacy. You don’t have to look hard, you just have to realize that Israeli peace means the continuing development of a territorially expansionist wall, and a settlement movement that de-legitimizes the right of the Palestinian people to self-rule. Turn the TV off, throw away your newspaper. Talk to the Palestinians in your community, ask after their families. Stop looking for the guns. If you want to look at young aggressive boys with guns, just walk down the streets of Jerusalem any day of the week, and take a long hard look at the Israeli army, it’s filled with them.

Drawing on Jordan

2006-01-25T15:37:00.000-05:00

This is the gregarious if moderately articulate Bedouin man who graciously escorted us through the Wadi Rum desert in Southern Jordan. To say the least, it was one of the most visually spectacular sights I have ever seen. The landscape is nothing short of breathtaking. Dramatic, arid, ancient, accumulations of sand and mountain punctuate a land magically removed from the normalcy of Westernization.

We watched endearingly from the backseat of a 1970s era Toyota Landcruiser, clad in yak pelt (yeah whatever, I know it wasn't really yak) as he instructed his son in the lay of the land so that he might learn to navigate the stark terrain. It was a beautiful day.

Perhaps most startling to me, as we traversed the length of Jordan's western coast, was how going into this journey the thought of going to Jordan was never something I had given much thought to. Somewhere in my mind was the imbedded notion that Jordan is some kind of terrorist hotbed, hostile to Americans and other outsiders not familiar to Arab customs or Muslim people. My family has been perpetually warning me to stay safe as I travel to these remote and unfrequented territories, and I don't blame them. When my roommate Jim spent a semester in Jordan a year ago I thought he was crazy, why Jordan? I think I had been functioning from an assumption that Arabs are hostile to us Americans and our customs. While there is some truth to this, I must report that Jordanians are among the most friendly, hospitable people I have ever met. I was routinely greeted with smiles when I told them I was American, and this is a country rife with Iraqi refugees, they share a border (see world map).

One thing they did know how to communicate however, no matter how bad the English, was their dislike for our moronic president. So maybe there is hope for us after all. The people are good, I'm telling you, it's our arrogant government that gives us a bad rap. George Bush is a jerk. It's not too late, let's dump him. 2006 baby, Democrats are taking back the house!

Unwanted

2006-01-19T03:42:00.000-05:00

This is Daoud "Abu" Badr from the Northern Galilee town of Al-Ghabsiya. He lives now as an Israeli citizen. He is provided full health care as are all Israeli citizens, and is entitled to vote in federal elections. He lives in a modest home in a small village just about one kilometer from the former town of Al-Ghabsiya.

In 1948, when Israel declared independence, Abu Badr was forced from his home and relocated to a makeshift encampment in the area of the village he now lives in. In 1951, the Israeli supreme court ruled that he and his neighbors from Al-Ghabsia should have the right as naturalized citizens to return to their homes. Despite the fact that their families had been split up and sent to refugee camps in the West Bank, Lebanon and Jordan, Abu Badr wantly badly to return to some semblance of his former life.

The Israeli military has prohibited him from returning to his home for 55 years now. We visited the site of his childhood home. The land is now covered in rows of trees, thanks to the Jewish National Fund, which are planted over demolished Palestinian villages in order to erase any trace of their former existance. There is also a mosque that stands in this former town... it is the only building the military did not destroy. But it is fenced off by multiple layers of barbed wire. This ancient sanctuary, which decays further with each passing day has been cordoned off because a few years ago Abu Badr and his neighbors were attempting to reclaim the mosque. They were restoring it and returning there to pray on Fridays, reclaiming some small piece of what was lost.

What was once Abu Badr's home is now just a few stones, you can barely make out the outline of the foundation amidst the thriving grasses and trees. He has not seen his sister since 1973, the day they coordinated to meet at the Lebanese border and exchange kisses through a barbed wire fence. He hasn't seen any of his family in the West Bank either, they speak via telephone, but neither can he go there, nor they come here. When he attempts to find answers to his questions from the government, he is sent chasing bureaucrats who never give him any answer or any solution.

The lands that once belonged to the town of Al-Ghabsiya now belong to two sprawling Kibbutzim that have actively capitalized on the water-rich springs of the area. We went and visited the source of the water, a treatment facility of sorts. It stands amidst piles and piles of ancient rubble in all directions. An entire community destroyed and forgotten.

Abu Badr's health is noticibly good compared with some of the others I had met in the refugee camps and other regions of the West Bank. His home is far nicer, his food far healthier. He lives a comfortable life. It is a far cry from the sufferings of a West Bank refugee. And still, he is separated from his family, he is prohibited from traveling, his family home and land has been confiscated illegally even by the standards of the Israeli supreme court. He is a second-class citizen in the sense that the Israeli government provides subtle (and not so subtle) incentives for he and his neighbors to leave. There is one poignant message to this: "you are not wanted here."

Swallowed the Spider to Catch the Fly...

2006-01-19T02:52:00.000-05:00

This exposure just turned out so well I had to include this photo... this one goes out to all the headies, grafitti art thriving in the midst of such sadness. I guess it's good inspiration.

Between the Lines

2006-01-17T04:30:00.000-05:00

The situation here is very dire, and highly volatile. It’s not difficult to understand why Israelis feel so threatened, but it doesn’t justify their territorial ambitions and human rights violations. They have subjugated an entire nation and are deceitfully making life unpleasant for Palestinians in hopes that they will leave. It is so shamefully aggressive, it makes my heart heavy to know that my people are capable of such acts.

At the same time however, I think I have learned many important lessons about the system of oppression. I think before I had wondered in disbelief, I had separated myself from bigotry and racism, how could any group of people allow themselves to be duped into not knowing about the atrocities that their country was actively committing? How could the German people not have known? We are all creatures of context, we commit evil acts but with very few exceptions, we ourselves are not evil. There are the few who control the movements and means of violence, and the rest are just kids who have little to no choice in what they do. They have been allowed to function only within a narrowly defined parameter, and for them the world is an incredibly hostile and threatening place. They are in constant fear for their lives. And it is a fear that follows a people well until the violence has passed. As one of my friends from my group wrote, there is this mentality: “We are all alone, and they are trying to kill us.”

The only thing to fear is fear itself. If people would arm themselves with loaves of bread and books rather than guns and bombs our world would be an entirely different place. I am more a believer in non-violence than ever before. Unfortunately, there is now an almost 60 year-old culture of violence here, and the Palestinians are the ones serving an inhumane, disproportionate, abusive and cruel punishment for Arab aggressions. It’s not right, but what has now spiraled horribly out of control, has been defined by escalated tensions and violence on both sides. We as outsiders are responsible not only for countering the draconian military rule of the Israeli occupation, we must encourage non-violence on both sides of the struggle.

We must also begin to examine what the United States is doing in Iraq. It is much the same. We have incited violence. We are acting with impunity. Our young boys are over there, scared out of their minds, not really knowing what they are fighting for, and you better believe they shoot everything that flinches. Our country is responsible for the subjugation of that entire nation, which has left public infrastructure in shambles, destroyed hospitals, schools, natural beauty, ancient architecture, and the lives of children who will grow up to hate us because we stole their childhoods. We imprison and murder their brothers, fathers, sisters, and daughters, we torture and humiliate them, and in the United States George Bush tells us we are bringing freedom to the Iraqi people. With the current US strategy for Iraq, when the US leaves, whether that’s in 2 years or 10, that country will descend into a bloody and cruel civil war. Unless we miraculously stop bombing, and start building schools and homes, and libraries, and water treatment facilities, we will leave behind a trail of oppression. Mark my words.

"Democracy" and "freedom" are words our government, academic institutions and media throw around as if they were clearly defined variables in some sore of mathematical equation for effective nation building. Ask yourself these questions: Democracy for whom? Freedom for whom? Because if we are only serving a particular sector of the national constituency, or a part of the world population, and providing a disservice to the rest... well, then what good is it?

Heb-lines

2006-01-16T11:13:00.000-05:00

Seeing as Hebron has been all over the headlines in the past few days, I thought I might share with you that I was there to witness just what the papers are reporting on. This is the Hebron I saw. It is a city devastated by road closures, and the shutting down of commercial centers in order to protect the settlers. In fact it is an invasion. The Israeli military has systematically enabled Jews to colonize and retain the old city of Hebron because it is the burial grounds of Abraham and Sarah. Main arteries of the city are cut off and walled in. Palestinians are prohibited from traveling freely throughout the city, it is segregated and devastated.

Some of the streets of the old city are caged in from above in order to protect the Palestinians walking below from having rocks and trash thrown on their heads, as settlers have inhabitted the ancient former homes of the Palestinian old city. I hope that whatever news source you are reading is clarifying to you that the settlers are racist and aggressive. They live their lives in fear of their neighbors. In my day in Hebron, I had the pleasure of witnessing the aftermath of adolescent settler girls who had assaulted international peace workers with paint bombs, spit, rocks and vitriol. Settler women routinely march down into the Palestinian territories en masse, destroying commercial goods, creating trouble, and spreading hate. They are protected by a dictatorial military presence. Young boys with guns who are forced to protect these racist colonizers, even though they themselves hate them and what they do. But their job is to protect the Jews, and so they lash out towards the Arabs because it is their only outlet.

Hebron is a dangerous place right now. But it's not dangerous because of the Palestinians, it is dangerous because of the settlers. They live in a state of terrified paranoia. The picture above was taken on the main commercial drag in the center of Hebron. It is one of the only remaining areas that can sustain commercial activity, due to the fact that it is a main artery. The boys you see were selling produce and keeping warm. Settlers have issued a call to arms and are importing other settlers from all over the country in order to violently protest the fact that the army is ordering them to evacuate the farmers markets that they have been illegally inhabiting for months. The Palestinians who have been displaced from their commercial center have no recourse but to wait idly by as a reluctant military establishment removes the hostile presence. They have committed no violent acts towards the settlers, they know exactly what would happen if they did...

Try to imagine what would happen if the Palestinians attempted to organize violent protests the way the settlers do. Do you remember Jenin? I do... the power dynamic is perverse.

Occupation=Racism

2006-01-16T08:43:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Palestine. Land of the forgotten. Before I left for this journey everyone asked me why I was traveling to the Occupied Territories. What did I expect to see? I wanted to see the face of violence. I wanted to see the war. I wanted to know the truth. That is what I said.

Do I now know the truth? I'm not sure. I did see the war though, and I now know what violence truly looks like. I thought Israelis were unhappy. I know that Israel suffers too. Believe me, I know. Suicide bombers are inexcusable. They are undeniably the single worst tactic/most harmful act that Palestinian militants have undertaken. They make penance for these unspeakable acts everyday in the form of sanctions, human rights violations, imprisonment, and "ghettoization."

This is what you see from the inside of one of the various checkpoints that dot the expansionist extremities of Israel's new borders, that is, the Israel side of the wall. I took photographs of the other side of this checkpoint, people trying to get out, but I was detained at gunpoint by Israeli military and forced to delete my photographs. As for people trying to get into the West Bank, as you can see from this photo, it's not very busy. Israelis are not particularly interested in seeing the suffering of the Palestinian people it seems, maybe it's because they are forced into witnessing and committing these unspeakable acts as soldiers? And I thought I was against the draft before...

As for the Palestinians themselves, they are prohibited from traveling to and from the West Bank with out some sort of permit. As of 2008, there will not be a single Palestinian refugee (ie a Palestinian without Israeli citizenship) with a permit to work in the state of Israel. Palestinians are being actively forced into smaller and smaller living spaces. Their economy has been decimated. The unemployment rate hovers somewhere around 70%. They are subject to Israeli military occupation, Israeli military police, and Israeli police jurisdiction. They are prohibited from building outside of "Area A," which are dense urban centers falling under direct control of the Palestinian Authority. Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Hebron, they are becoming more and more crowded as Palestinians flee the countryside to escape the aggression of racist settlers. Hebron is a case where the settlers are occupying even parts of Area A, hence all the headlines recently. I have seen the violence with my own eyes. It's no coincidence that it's women and young girls you see being pulled away by the military. They are sent out to spit on and otherwise assault Palestinians, because they know that if a Palestinian were to touch a hair on one of their heads, they would be faced with punishment with impunity. Home demolitions, imprisonment, search and seizure, torture, close of business, you name it. The Supreme Court of Israel is unable to reign in the military, the checks and balances are non-functional when it comes to the jurisdiction of the Occupied Territories.

Someone left an anonymous comment on my blog criticizing me for suggesting that I might be able to understand the motivation behind suicide bombings. I stand by my words. It doesn't make it right. There is no right here. There are no justifications for the attrocities that each side has committed against humanity. I do not feel responsible for the sins of the Arab nations, I do not attempt to claim that they have created utopian nations. However, I do feel responsible for the sins of the Jewish nation, and I know that what Israel is doing right now in the West Bank are the worst of human rights violations I have ever witnessed. If you don't believe me, come and see for yourself.

No 2 Alito

2006-01-11T14:37:00.000-05:00

This is a little something I put together for a campaign Jessy is working on. Samuel Alito is wrong on all the issues. Republicans want to ruin our country. What else is new...

Look very closely at this picture and you might see some signs, of why this picture pertains to this issue. (You might have to enlarge it.)

Faces of Oppression

2006-01-11T14:27:00.000-05:00

These are the faces of the children who inhabit the Dheisha refugee camp. I am staying with a family that lives here. It is probably not what you would expect. The housing, although primitive, is permanent. Big boxy buildings that scale the hills of ancient Bethlehem, I sit now just a stones throw from the Church of the Nativity, birthplace of Jesus. These children are faced with a life without opportunity. Schools barely function, social services are non-existant, doctors are located in Israel, if you get sick you must travel through a check point in order to seek medical attention, and many die in the process of trying to cross the border, because they are held up for hours at interrogation stations. They are not allowed to travel, there are no jobs, entire families live under one common roof. I am staying with a family in a one room flat with a mother, her four grown sons, her grandson, and her sons wife. And the hospitality is amazing, you would not believe how excited these people are to have us here. The want us to publicize their stories. These are a people forgotten, abused, and ignored. Injustice, plain and simple. There is not so much as a level playing field with grass for these children, they are uncoordinated because the only thing they ever learn how to throw is stones. I have been told today by more than one, that they have nothing to live for. They bleed so that Israel can live a peaceful existence, one in which they can ignore the suffering of these people.

Art of War

2006-01-11T14:08:00.000-05:00

International artists travel from abroad to paint these walls. I can hardly imagine a more appropriate canvas. This piece in particular must have been done by a skilled graffiti artist, it is reminiscent of some of the artwork I have seen before in the states, beauty in the heart of the beast.

Prisoners

2006-01-11T14:04:00.000-05:00

This is the wall that prohibits Palestinians from visiting Israel. Palestinians are at this point more or less forbidden from the holy land. If you are not an Israeli citizen, or over the age of 35 with children, you simply cannot enter Israel. They are held as prisoners in a land impoverished, undeveloped and unbelievably crowded. Forbidden to travel, without a land, without hope. And we wonder why the blow themselves up...

Oh Israel, Hear Me Cry

2006-01-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

I laid eyes on the wall today for the first time. And I wept. It is probably the most frightening sight I have ever seen. A modern day attrocity. I cannot even begin to describe how painful it is. This is a step back not a step forward.

George Loves Israel

2006-01-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

Too weird... I know. George loves Israel, Israel loves George. This guy introduced himself to me as George Bush's brother, I think he's more like his twin. At first I didn't get it, then he took off his sunglasses and my jaw hit the floor. Someone call the White House. Really though, Israelis do love George Bush. They saw Iraq and Saddam Hussein as a common enemy, and many support America's aggressive tactics there.

On a totally separate note...

Imri returns to the United States on January 10, he holds a dual citizenship, and he intends to return for good. In fact, he contends he won’t come back to Israel until he absolutely has to. His plan is to get back with his high school heavy metal band in Boston. I have been keeping up a daily log since I have been here, and in one of my entries I wrote, “I fear Imri has placed a few too many eggs in the heavy metal basket.” After I wrote it down, it began to take on a life of its own. A concept emerged in my mind of this heavily armored sanctuary intended to incubate life. It was supposed to be a space where the divine could be kept safe. But the only problem is the basket is made of metal, and the eggs keep breaking. They made it out of impermeable and durable elements in order to shield the goods on the inside from the adverse forces that occasionally hurled themselves in from the outside. Now the basket keeps the eggs safe from exterior forces, but it has injured their integrity. The eggs are riddled with tiny little fractures that leave them fragile, the life they incubate feels they have been done a disservice, they feel different. What was intended only to protect them, to make them stronger, has left them feeling ostracized.

This is the heavy metal basket. This is the Israel I have come to know. It is a land I love, a land created out of lofty idealism, and culture that in many ways clings truth, justice, fairness and a persistence punctuated by thanking God for each new day. But Israel is also a land comprised of immigrants, and like any immigrant nation, Israel grapples clumsily with its pluralistic identity. It is a struggle, where human presence is held paramount, an existence anchored in the here and now.

Getting to know you...

2006-01-07T16:50:00.000-05:00

Aviv Netter, local activist. We spoke with Aviv at length today about his opinion of Israeli politics. He told us about his work for the Meretz party, a party comprised mostly of students. Meretz is far left, farther even than Amir Peretz's Labour. Aviv also spoke to us about what it's like to be gay in Israel. He says he feels as though Israelis are a bit closer to Europe in terms of their attitudes towards gay people, as opposed to the United States which appeared a bit more homophobic. But he pointed out that even so, Israeli politicians are so consumed with conflict and security that social issues such as gay rights play little to no role in election politics. It appears no one is really courting the gay vote. Aviv is the chairman of an organization called Ge'ut which translates roughly as "Pride."

Although Aviv feels he has pride associated with his homosexuality, when it comes to his status as an Israeli citizen, he is much less passionate. He told us he has very little pride for himself as an Israeli. He said that it wasn't until he travelled outside the country that he actually felt inspired to seek out his Jewish identity. He told us also that he is considering raising his children in a different country. It is absolutely gut-wrenching to hear some of these young people speak about their feeling of despair. Despair for a country mired in violence. It may just be the current point in the conflict, but there is a sense amongst young people right now that they will not see a solution in their lifetimes. Limited in their pursuits, and embittered for it.

Seen it all before...

2006-01-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

Ariel Sharon is a living behemoth here in Israel. Hate him or love him, he is the embodiment of the two primary governing institutions here in Israel - the army and the legislature. Discerning which priority comes first to Mr Sharon seems a subjective question, it doesn't help that everyone in this country has served in the military. If you ask a Palestinian, he is a war criminal, and many young Israelis will tell you the same. He has many names and metaphysical references associated to his likeness; the bulldozer is to many young Israelis the only man capable of ensuring security. Israelis young and old are caught in between two very different security prerogatives. On the one hand they must reconcile their intimate experience of terrorist attacks, and still plead the case of restraint. There is certainly a profound, deeply religious understanding that due to the power dynamic, they must act benevolently. And on the other, there is an identity associated with being victimized that instinctively tells every bone in the body to lash back and be righteously furious, and smite your enemy for his transgressions because you can. This too, has biblical reference.

As the Prime Minister lies in a coma besieged by the frailty of his ancient body, at least for the moment, it seems as though the endless questioning of his leadership has taken a break. Almost everyone I have spoken to, whether they like him or not, the first thing they express is concern for the man's health, and that they wish him a speedy recovery. To an observer it appears visceral. It is fraternal compassion, kin of Israel. Sharon, in his moment of weakness has descended from the pedestal of government and has become nothing more than a man in need. This is a concept that to many Israelis is familiar. No matter where an attack transpires in Israel, it is close to home. Israel is a tiny nation, and everything is close. Ariel Sharon has been stripped of his status as international ideologue, he is just a local politician now. And as such he represents a small community. Just as Israelis know his successor will be another son of Israel bound by the same constraints and circumstances as he.

It is precisely this familiarity though, that incubates a political spectrum highly varied in its extremes. The American political field is so vast, we come to know our candidates through the filter of Republican or Democrat. Our parties are so entrenched and so uncontested, the majority of us have learned to vote based on party lines rather than candidates. Presidential elections are not a battle fought to win over the support of the nation, rather it is a competition to sway that middle ten percent of America which doesn't always vote along party lines. There has perhaps never been a system at such a pivotal moment, that has ever look quite so opposite.

Ariel Sharon just founded a new party before bowing out. What will come of this party is largely unforeseen, but the crown is certainly passing. By virtue of the fact that Kadima grew out of Likud, the remaining Likud party has had to resort to new leadership (albeit former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu), and Labour a new man in Amir Peretz. All of a sudden we are dealing with what is effectively three new parties. Many Israelis remain cautiously optimistic, while at the same time petrified of the prospect of their opposition seizing power. Granted, political uncertainty is a way of life in Israel, but never has this seemed more true. However, by the same token, to a people who are so used to sudden, drastic and irrevocable change, there is a sense of fluency. No matter how foreign, Israelis have seen it all before.

This country constantly walks a thin line between existence and obliteration, or at least in the minds of those who live here, there is a balance that hangs precariously. They believe in the nation, which is not to say that they support the aggressive real politik reality of the Israeli military, but there is this sense that the people are good. For a people whose future seems so undetermined, whose mere existence is so routinely questioned, it is truly remarkable, the resolve of the people is steadfast.

Catching it all...

2006-01-05T12:33:00.000-05:00

Trying to make sense of all the noise is not the simplest of tasks. There is a lot going on at the same time. Today is a prime example. It is truly strange and slightly remarkable to be in Israel at such a pivotal moment in the electorate. All of a sudden the leader of the pack, the incumbent Prime Minister falls victim to what appears to be an unrecoverable stroke. The streets of Tel Aviv today seemed to be overwhelmed by a sense of the unknown. Shop-owners glued to the news channels, I really wish I understood what they were saying. All in all though, people seem to be relatively unconcerned about the entire affair. I’m bubbling over with all these questions about what the future is going to look like, how the road map is going to be altered. People I’ve spoken with thus far are not too concerned though, they are mostly concerned with the health of Mr Sharon, and seem to be of the opinion that we will see what happens when the time comes.

More later...

Political Stilts

2006-01-04T13:30:00.000-05:00

I came to Israel with the intention of finding my people. I wasn't sure exactly what that meant to me, and I'm still not sure, but whether that means Jewish people, political people, social justice people, artists, or just young people, these are all aspects of this person I am learning by being here. Yes, some deeper part of me longed to be a member of a community where everyone walking the streets shares a common ancestry, perhaps not genetically, but somehow it was still something I expected to be physically palpable - even self-validating. My purpose is self-indulgent in this way, I look to glean some larger lessons about myself by being here.

But it is more than just this. I think there are certain shared realities, especially as our world continues to become this contiguous planisphere of virtual knowledge, which have come to define a new generation. Access to information is exponentially distancing people at opposite ends of the factors responsible for dividing the developed world. More than ever before, we commonly share global happenings. This is the progeny of the internet and digital cable, where on-demand is quickly becoming a way of life.

Is it just access though? There are millions of Americans, particularly young Americans, who do everything they can to inundate themselves with popular culture as a means of shutting out the stuff with substance. It really is a broader symptom of my generation, this desire to anesthetize ourselves with the material techno-gadgetry, pop palettes and designer fashions of our global marketplace. The nature of the "news" is changing. With the advent of 24-hour channels particularly devoted to specific kinds of information (CNN and Fox News, ESPN, E!, MTV...), what was once the "news," is really just bad news - mainly reports of catastrophic failures and disasters. Occasionally there is a public interest story, but by and large it is just plain tragedy. I can understand why my grandfather tells me that the world is going to hell - although, he has caught on to the food network.

I wanted to be in a place where there was less of a buffer between myself and the harsh realities of the world at large. What better place than Israel? A country many consider to be itself the buffer, a thorny Middle Eastern quagmire poking its way into hostile territories.

Coming to Israel, I was under the impression that young Israelis are civically engaged. Young people here vote in higher numbers, I figured this to be indicative of a population more in tune with its political environment. But what I have come to find is an Israeli political experience defined by the harsh realities of wartime survival instinct. An existence that constantly in flux, and perhaps more bizarrely, an existence that prodded, distorted and questioned by watching their lives play out through the eyes of outsiders looking in. International media sources, primarily American, broadcast here 24 hours a day. It is a profoundly dislocated association to self, this is what I am coming to understand about being a young Jewish Israeli. Young people here are so attuned to how they are perceived by the rest of the world, they have almost no room to just be. And it is what I am coming to understand. Young Israelis, I think given the choice, would almost all tell you that they would love to be totally apolitical. Political aspiration is an American luxury, here politics are just a burden.

Ascending... Aaliyah

2006-01-03T16:47:00.000-05:00

Well, let's see, much has transpired here in the past few days... I spent New Years Eve at a house party in Herzliya, a wealthy suburb of Tel Aviv. It was a very interesting house, kind of like a futuristic adobe igloo in the middle of Israel. The party was filled with people in their early twenties replete with a full bar, video projection screen and DJ. It was a riotous party, lots of dancing, lots of fun.

The New Year here is referred to as "Sylvester." It took me a few days to get around to investigating this strange reference. It seems this is a common term for New Years Eve in the Middle East. But who is this Sylvester I wanted to know? Well in a land filled with Jews it takes a while to find out that Sylvester was actually an ancient pope. Which of course just leads to the next set of questions: why do they honor a pope on this day, and in Israel of all places? It turns out that Pope Sylvester I died on December 31st 335, and so to the Roman calendar this becomes a significant reference. Which then leads one to realize, but of course, the New Year that we celebrate on January 1st is merely the Roman New Year, and although Israelis do function on the Christian calendar, it is a Christian calendar nonetheless. Rosh Hashanah of course, would be the celebration of the Jewish New Year. And so, as you can imagine, holiday season in Israel is nothing like the States. Holiday season in Israel falls in September and October, apparently the Jewish calendar year and the Christian calendar are not in synch, go figure. I was speaking to a man on the street the other day, and I wished him a happy holiday, to which he responded by scolding me, "Holiday? What is this New Year? This is not our new year, it is Christian new year, not holiday." Sylvester, not new year.

I encountered two young American girls on the street the other day. They were each about 21 years old. They had both moved to Israel permanently, they had made Aaliyah. One was serving in the military and the other was going to school, although she was going back to the States to finish up her undergraduate degree. It is truly a bizarre concept to me that someone from the United States would consider giving up their life as they know it, in order to fight in the Israeli army. It is no small sacrifice, I assure you. In addition to the decrease in the standard of living (mainly the luxuries we become accustomed to as Americans), the entire mindset of this nation requires a total reassessment of priorities. These girls were asking me whether I had considered making Aaliyah, and I almost surprised myself by how emphatically I opposed the idea. I think at least part of it has to do with the fact that I see myself as being a lot more capable of influencing Israeli politics and the world at large from the United States...

So I asked these girls, were they happy with their decision to move, was Israel everything they had expected? I think they were inclined to answer me in half truths, but they insisted emphatically that their existence in Israel was a whole heck of a lot better that the United States. Given, they hailed from Florida and Northern Virginia, but their zealous responses smacked of overcompensation of the fact that they hadn't yet fully convinced themselves, much less me. Their sticking point was based around the tenet that Israel is not an easy place to live. It is a struggle. A struggle to make ends meet everyday, a struggle to survive, a struggle to learn a new language, with new customs and people. For these young ladies, it was almost like fulfilling a biblical prophesy, they were enamored with the concept of hardship and sacrifice. But keep in mind, American Jews receive compensation for moving to Israel, a stipend if you will. I'd be pissed if I were Israeli.

Economically, Israel is in the doldrums. The tourist industry is just now beginning to find its feet again. Amir Peretz, the new head of the Labour Party, rests his political laurels entirely upon his economic principles, which are very much socialist. The Labour Party here is a true labor party. Their concerns are economic, and not much else. Security, the environment, social justice, are not the concerns of this leadership. Ariel Sharon looks like he will run away with the upcoming election. Even young people who do not agree with his hard-line tactics and his military history agree that he is the best man for the job. It will be fascinating to see how it all unfolds, there is much about this election that remains unpredictable, especially with the advent of the new Kadima Party.

2006

2006-01-01T16:49:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Here's to the fruits of a happy and healthy future...

Corrections into the New Year

2005-12-31T13:22:00.000-05:00

Well first off... I have to correct my last post. Non-Jews are exempted from military service, which is to say their country does not call them to serve. This is indeed a profound difference from my previous understanding, which was that non-Jews were prohibited. Nevertheless, I can only imagine that this rule would seriously undermine a citizen's sense of partnership with the nation of Israel. In fact, I believe for many Israelis, service is held as the highest of responsibilities, and the ultimate symbol of membership.

I spent the past 24 hours in Omer, which is a suburban community next to Be'er Shevah, I went down to attend a party in Imri's honor at his father's house. He bought 25 bottles of vodka in preparation for the party (he expected 150 people to show up, of which only 30 actually came), only 3 bottles were consumed by the end of the night. Clearly he's not an organizer.

I took a bus to get to Omer, which I caught at Tel Aviv central bus station. In order to keep terrorists off the busses, there is an elaborate security procedure (not unlike what we go through at American airports) used to screen bags and people for dangerous items. The only problem is, at a busy bus station in Tel Aviv there is a huge bottleneck that accumulates at the checkpoint. In the process of waiting to be screened, I was stuck in the middle of a mass of surly Jews pushing their way to the front of the line. And the whole time, all I could think about was the fact that all a terrorist would have to do is plant himself in the middle of all these people (packed in like sardines) and would easily be able to take out thirty to forty men, women and children. Major oversight.

Israel is a civilization living at the edge of Middle-Eastern extremities, sometimes I am overwhelmed by the sensation of being in the midst of lemmings plodding tribally off to sea. The landscape here is so bleak, miles and miles of terra-formed desert, undulating tracks of green agriculture punctuated by man-made sand dunes, remnants of some unfinished construction project. To the Israelites this little strip of land seems to hold endless potential, and so they sweat, bleed and toil towards a dream that to many an outsider is a bit outlandish, literally. I appreciate the spiritual significance and theoretical symbolism that a greater Zion provides the Jewish people – a heartland. It is a space to celebrate and cherish a crippled history, scarred by years of suffering, discrimination and attempted genocide. But sometimes this history is just too much to bear, I am distraught by the thought that Israel is a projection of the past. It is a metaphorical land that in many ways is the physical embodiment of all these things at once – a story of benevolent perseverance, and incredible, unbearable suffering.

Dangerously Undiluted

2005-12-29T13:57:00.000-05:00

A glimpse of the Chanukkah festivities at Disengoff Center today in Tel Aviv. Children gathered as entertainers captivated by way of magic shows and clowns on stilts.

I spoke today with a young boy named Matan. He is a 17 year-old activist organizing a petition to improve the public transportation here in Tel Aviv. He wants to encourage the development of an underground rail network for the city, an infrastructure I believed to be unfeasible due to the potential havoc a terrorist attack might cause in a subterranean environment. Matan seemed to believe differently, but I'm not convinced he knows. He complained instead of the cumbersome bureaucratic impediments put up by the government, a popular Israeli discontent.

Matan claims to belong to a group of anarchist environmentalists – an interesting development in a nation already beleaguered by vigilantes eager to influence politics through radical action. Environmentalism is a relatively new phenomenon here in Israel. Apparently the older generations are not motivated at all by issues of environmental degradation. I think the prevailing sentiment among the veteran Zionists is that Israel's natural resources are here to be exploited by any means that will further the economic and structural advancement of the state. Young people, however, recognizing that they are to inherit the environmental disasters that have already altered the Israeli landscape permanently, sense the imposing reality that environmental issues play. Water, primarily access to it, is a hotly contested chip in the game of Middle Eastern roulette.

Israeli elections are slated for March, but with Palestinian elections bearing down in January all the chips are on the table. What is in store this round remains unpredictable, but it looks as though Sharon's new party stands to gain major ground. The "bulldozer" as he is commonly referred to, claims this will be his final toss of the hat. It looks now, that he aims his legacy towards smashing Israel's ties with the settler movement once and for all. As the rest of the world lets out a collective sigh of relief, many are left to wonder whether the Israel that Sharon leaves behind will be able to address the disenfranchised minority within Israel. Namely non-Jewish Israelis, who are held second class by way of military exemption, among other slights. In a country where the military has such profound implications on the political, this appears a serious offense. Especially when you consider the fact that many jobs in Israel carry military service as a prerequisite to employment. In a nation where anyone can serve in the legislature, but not everyone serves in the military, the institution brandishing the sword remains undiluted. Dangerously so.

Worlds Apart

2005-12-28T18:08:00.000-05:00

Like strangers they stand at opposite ends of the same spectrum. How can a people who inhabit so much of the same space maintain such a disconnected existence?

We spoke today with some organizers within the gay community here in Tel Aviv. We were surprised to hear that even in the gay community, political polling numbers reflect almost exactly the same distribution as the rest of the country. Upon original consideration this would seem to make sense in a nation where there is no separation between god and country. Israel, although on some fronts very tolerant of homosexuality (cases of transexuals in the military, and immigration rights for gay partners), also maintains a majorly devout constituency who stand diametrically opposed to the very premise of homosexuality. The disenfranchisement of the gay community in Israel would thereby perhaps lead one to create a separate political identity not served by elected officials. But our friend Sha'ul told us otherwise.

He says, "It is a struggle to survive in Israel, when you survive, you deal with the most important issue which you have in your life... which is security. You see it all over, if you live in Jerusalem, the chances that you are around an area that a suicide bomber explodes over there, and the chances that you see a finger sticking in the wall, or those kind of horrible sights, are very, very high. The chances that you know someone who died..."

Even for the gay community, issues of security remain paramount. This is the sad reality for Israel, a security crisis all the time. Yesterday, and probably tonight as well Israel bombs Gaza and Lebanon. What a horrible thing for Israel to be doing on the eve of elections in the Palestinian Authority. What better way to galvanize voters into voting Hamas (the only political party capable of providing social programs to Palestinian citizens), and what better way to undermine the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas (the only Palestinian voice of moderation)? The violence is so deeply ingrained here, it is frightening. People who live potentially just a mile apart, separated only by an imaginary line (although now it has become also a fence), live in vastly different worlds. This is in some ways a more blatant offense, a severely flamboyant form of social violence. The eyes and imaginations and expectations are darkened by the false promises and acute awareness of all the things they cannot have, and in what they can have there remains vast deficiencies.

You have to understand one thing though. To hear people talk about the nature of the conflict, it is never a matter of blame. The people I have conversed with want peace so badly it pains them to speak of it. They don't describe things to me in this way as good or bad, it just is. Neither yesterday nor tomorrow is important, just today. This is what is happening now. Sometimes on the other side of the world it is easy to forget that there is a whole generation of children who have been exposed to, and therefore want nothing else more than to just live normally and have the same opportunities as the rest of the developed world. And Palestinian children deserve the same, but they have not been exposed in the same way that Israelis have, they maintain an existence that is pathologically removed.

Bella

2005-12-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to say about this one, it sorta speaks for itself I think... downtown Tel Aviv, twilight, beautiful. It was a lovely sunset, what else can I say?

Looking Green

2005-12-27T13:43:00.000-05:00

I encountered this fellow today downtown at an outdoor craftmarket in Tel Aviv. He was performing Kermit songs with a back-up band, which consisted of a guitarist and an electric kazoo player. I have some wonderful photographs of the mesmerized children, but I chose to post this picture because I love the facial expression of this performer. There are a lot of entrepreneurial folks in Tel Aviv, the economy of Israel has suffered terribly since the second intifada, street performers and artists deftly ply their crafts wherever there is space.

I also spoke at length today with a friend I have made at our local coffee shop, her name is Gili (think G. Lee). I was explaining to her the nature of our political endeavors, and the political work that I did in the States prior to coming here. I told her that we were researching some of the motivating factors for young Israelis that keep them engaged in the electorate. Seeing as young Israelis participate at such a higher level than young Americans, the idea is that it would be great if we could tap into some of the more visceral issues for Israelis and bring that steam back with us to engage young Americans.

Gili in turn related to me a very interesting perspective. At first she disagreed that young Israelis were more engaged. The voting record plainly disproves her assertion here, which I pointed out to her. Upon further conversation however, Gili related that as far as she could tell, Americans have the wonderful luxury of not having to consume themselves with the political beast. From her standpoint, politics should be an optional activity. Gili longs to live in an environment where she doesn't have to involve herself with politics. So this got me thinking, it really is maybe a broader symptom of my generation then, this desire to anesthatize ourselves with the material techno-gadgetry and designer fashions of our global marketplace. Or maybe it's just a double-edged sword, you can't have it both ways. I have spent my days of late, trying to figure out why young people in America are disinclined towards politics, and here on the other side of the world they think not caring is great. I'm trying to come up with ways to engage, and they're over here trying to disengage. The grass is always greener...

The Daily Grind

2005-12-26T16:51:00.001-05:00

Evening in Tel Aviv, city dwellers crawl back to their rabbitholes at the end of the work day. I had a lunch meeting today with Ilan, a friend of my parents, whom they met in New York at a conference a few weeks ago. While dining, Ilan interrupted our conversation several times to field phone calls. He acknowledged to me that in America this would be considered anti-social behavior, but he explained to me that in Israel, it is rude to ignore your phone calls. In Israel you are required to pick up your phone and explain to the person on the other end that you are busy and you would like to call them back. Ilan claims that if you don't do this, you run the risk of offending your Israeli friends.

Do Jews have higher expectations than other people? Friends, parents, students, children, there seems to be so much pressure for Jewish people to fulfill this unspoken threshold of relationship. Ilan had a different spin. He says that the Israeli existence is anchored in the here and now. According to Ilan the entire mindset of the nation has been affected by the paranoia of not knowing what tomorrow may bring. Israelis are less concerned with making sure they have their college fund set up and much more preoccupied with the daily obligations of community. It is an existence that has many benefits. There is definitely a greater appreciation of human presence here. Young people and old alike, watch the days pass from the numerous coffee shops that dot the streets of Tel Aviv. On Shabbat everything is closed, it is a day of rest. Imagine all the restaurants and movie theaters and shops being closed on Saturday night and Sunday in the United States. Never. In the US, our days off are when we go out and do things. We fill our free time with activities that take our minds off of our daily lives. Not so here. Shabbat is a time to settle and be contemplative, to share and bond with friends and family, because you never know what tomorrow might bring.

Chappy Chanukkah!

2005-12-25T13:42:00.000-05:00

Christmas in Tel Aviv is not unlike any other day. Jessy had to remind me it was Christmas today before I realized it. It is for me, very refreshing to be away from all the consumer bombardment and holiday hubub. And best of all, I don't have to listen to jingle bells, ANYWHERE!

I spent a large portion of my day in the ER. It seems there was something wrong with something I ate... maybe someone just wanted to make me feel more in the family. I was attended by an American resident doctor who had grown up in Rockville, MD and had made aaliyah with her Israeli husband. It was comforting to have an American doctor, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit (yet again evidence of America minor). However, every time I encounter an American Jew who has made aaliyah I can't help but to wonder "why?" It's a strange paradox. People come here because they want to live in an entirely Jewish environment, but to be a Jew in Israel is a lot like being a Italian Catholic living in Rome. In some ways being Jewish in Israel is a lot less religious than being Jewish in the United States. Well... happy holidays, here's wishing everyone a Christmas day a bit more lovely than my own.

Ebb and Flow

2005-12-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

Young soldiers preparing to be discharged from the Army, travel to the sea, ostensively to make their peace. They entered the military without choice, their ancestors like mine, fled oppressive conditions in Europe. The only difference is, my forefathers came to the United States, theirs chose Israel.

As they distance themselves from their service many new questions arise for them. They are forced to confront their own actions as they begin to relate more fully as a citizen of the world, and not just as a citizen of Israel. Guilt and ambivalence, complicated answers to even more complicated questions, they are related to as though they should know the solution, after all they committed the crime didn't they?

In the end we are all people, and I believe it has less to do with who we are and more to do with the circumstances of our condition. Change is possible, people can radically transform their behaviors, it remains a question of incentive. We are creatures of context, and just as we should not overlook the surroundings for Palestinians growing up under deprived impoverished conditions, Jewish Israelis feel as though they can not overlook their own isolation and the reality that they have had to fight for everything they have ever had.

Perspectives

2005-12-24T14:35:00.000-05:00

High expectations... Israel was a land created out of lofty idealism, and in many ways still clings to these truths. Israel is also a land comprised of immigrants, however, and much like the United States, there have developed many cultural divides. Beyond the most obvious conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, there are also ethnic divides amongst the Jews themselves. Much like in the United States, Russian Jews are the target of much ire and resentment from the rest of the European Jewish population. Similarly, Arab Jews from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia (as well as other parts of the Middle East) are the target of discrimination as well. Young Arab Jews, with their different dress and social customs (such as slicked back hair, tighter clothing, and a penchant for cruising five deep in a hatchback) are commonly referred to as "Arsim." It is a bit unclear to me how this translates, but it is evidently a derrogatory term. Like any other immigrant nation, Israel grapples clumsily with its pluralistic identity.

Shabbat in Tel Aviv

2005-12-23T13:26:00.000-05:00

For Shabbat tonight we went downstairs to celebrate with our new friends at the Mersand Cafe. Tel Aviv is not a religious city but at our local coffee shop they have a special welcoming of the Sabbath every Friday night, tonight we enjoyed some live music featuring a guitar player and a female singer. The music was good, not great, but interestingly most of her songs were in English. One was even about California, imagine that!

We went to a Judaica shop today looking to buy a cheap Chanukkiyah, as Chanukkah does start the day after tomorrow, and encountered a friendly shop owner named Ruben. Ruben expressed to us that Israeli's typically view George Bush favorably because not only has been a huge ally to Israel, he has been less pushy towards the Israeli government with regards to the peace process. He felt that Clinton had been very aggressive in formulating peace in the Middle East. It got me thinking about about all the famous photos you see of Rabin and Clinton and X foreign minister, Clinton is always the centerpiece of every one of those photos... Clinton really wanted Middle Eastern peace to be his living legacy. I wonder what Bush wants?

A Picture for your Kitchen

2005-12-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

Strawberries like you wouldn't believe! Man, the food here is just incredible. It's funny too because I had this memory of Israel as having terrible food, but it's not true at all! It was just that the last time I was here, I was trapped on a tourist bus with other kids, and we were force fed schnitzel every night for dinner (a sorry excuse for fried chicken)... it sucked. This photo comes from the market in Tel Aviv, a constant source of interest, I think you can find everything here.

Freedom!

2005-12-22T14:47:00.000-05:00

Imri, the day he was released from the military. I joined him as he went straight to a tattoo and piercing parlor. His ears were already pierced in the lobes, so he bought some new rings. But he also got a fresh piercing at the top of his left ear. This was for Imri a symbolic act more than anything, a resumption of civilian life.