For some reason I can’t get my photos embedded into the specific blogs they belong to, and I’m tired of struggling with it. So here’s the link to all my blog photos, and I’ve also added captions to them all.
www.picasaweb.google.com/lauriebuss
Thursday, November 20, 2008
PHOTOS!!!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Fire, Water, and Wine
Thursday 30-October: Cesaria, Mount Carmel, the Plains of Mediggo, Nazareth, Cana, Tiberias
The first day had us in the Purple Eggs (the nickname for our tour buses) heading north, out of the morning traffic in Tel Aviv. Along the Mediterranean, we stopped in Cesaria, which Herod built in order to make himself rich. He was an amazing leader with great vision and had the Mediterranean port built by putting huge blocks of stone in the sea and building up a natural harbor, with the opening facing north, protecting it from the southern currents. Along with the ideal port for the largest trading ships at the time, all the amenities of a great city were available, including a seaside hippodrome, as horse racing was the most popular sport, and a 3-tiered amphitheater. An aqueduct brought water from a spring 15 miles away with only a 2 inch drop in elevation.
For us pilgrims, its significance lay in that it was the first place that a Roman was converted to Christianity. The apostle Simon Peter was in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, when he was told that 2 men would come looking for him and ask him to go with them to Cesaria. We drove on the bus at least an hour, so that was quite a long walk – two days per the Bible. Cornelius, a Roman centurion, also had a vision while praying that he should send for Simon Peter. Once Peter arrived and began telling them the gospel, they believed before he even finished, and subsequently his entire household was baptized. So here was where Christianity began to infiltrate the Roman Empire, culminating in 306 AD with the ascension of Constantine the Great as the first Christian emperor and declaration of Rome as a Christian city.
Carmel means “God’s vineyard” (“El” is God in Hebrew), and driving inland from the sea, the Purple Eggs climbed Mount Carmel. The scenery was lovely, with low trees sheltering bright green grass and white stones and rocks. It was a gradual climb for about 20 minutes or more, but the other side of the mountain is quite steep and overlooks the Plains of Mediggo. Here occurred one of God’s most incredible demonstrations of power and response to prayer. (This is from 1Kings 18:16-45, so you know that I didn’t make this up!) The prophet Elijah challenged 450 priests of the pagan god Baal, who now counted the Israelites among the congregation, to demonstrate who worshipped the true and powerful god. Was it the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Or Baal? So they climbed Mt. Carmel with their sacrifices and altars and a trail of Israelites following behind. The priests of Baal sacrificed and prayed and wailed and cut themselves and did anything else they could think of in order to get some demonstration of supernatural power. And nothing. All afternoon, and nothing. So finally Elijah had the people construct the altar according to the laws Moses had written and placed the sacrifice on it. Then he instructed them to dig a moat around the altar, fill it with water, and douse the offering and altar three times with water. And then he called on God to show His power. Immediately, fire fell from the sky, devouring the sacrifice and altar and water so that they disappeared in an instant and the ground became dry dust again.
Standing on the rooftop patio of a Catholic monastery at the top of Mount Carmel, I began to think about my prayers. Elijah succeeded several times in demonstrating God’s power to the people, yet in the New Testament of the Bible, James writes that Elijah was a man just like any other. There are enough other scriptures (enough to be longer than my blog!) that tell me that I have the amazing power of God and ability to demonstrate it, so that my head knows it but I don’t really believe it in my heart. Are my prayers really a time of respite from the world to be with God? Not often. The timing needs to be just right, the sofa comfortable, the lighting agreeable, and the air scented with perfume of jasmine flowers outside my window…. So, no, I don’t usually remember how wonderful and resuscitating my prayer time can be. And when I get on my knees at night and say prayers for at least 5 people, do I have the confidence that my prayers will manifest in their lives? Let’s just put it this way – when they do, God has to knock me over the head to make me remember that I prayed for them. My prayer scorecard is biased, thinking of the “negative” or “unanswered” prayers while struggling to remind myself what miracles God has done for me and those I’ve prayed for. And I pray, too, that God will sometimes hide His wonderful answers to my prayer in order to keep my ego from exploding. Well, this is getting too personal and embarrassing, so let’s move on…
…down to the Plains of Megiddo. Tel Megiddo (“tel” in Hebrew meaning hill) was built upon 26 layers of ruins of previous cities from ancient times, so it’s quite the archaeological dream. It was, of course, much easier to build on existing ruins and foundations since the raw material was already there and the land cleared. This site was popular because it was right at the end of the pass through the Carmel mountains and into the Valley of Jezreel. It has become known as the place of Armageddon because it was also known (in Greek, I think) as Har-Magedon, which became Armageddon in English. In the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible and written by John, one of Jesus’ favorite disciples, the final battle between Satan (“The Adversary”, “The Accuser”) and Jesus will occur here. While Mount Carmel, visible from Tel Megiddo, was prophesied to be a place of respite, and in fact has had no battle taking place there, the Plains of Megiddo have witnessed many. Fifteen centuries before Jesus was here, the Egyptians under Pharaoh Thutmose III waged war against the Canaanites. In 609 BC, Egypt again fought Judea here, and even as recently as 1918, the British clashed here with the forces of the Ottoman Empire. Standing on the ruins of city walls and ancient altars of Tel Megiddo, I was reminded of the fact that God, with a word, could just destroy Satan and his forces here and bring us back to Him. And I was reminded again of the fact that He will, in His time.
And finally, our daily bread, cooked in an outdoor brick oven, accompanied by hummus and roasted chicken and lentil soup. We were in Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus. It is now the capital and largest city in the North District of Israel, though the largest population group is Arab. Nazareth was originally in the land given to the Arabs in the UN’s partition plan of 1947, but then fell into Israel’s borders after the 1948 War for Independence. Our tour group got its first taste of the differences between an Arab and a Jewish section of town, and they were immediately evident to us. Itay often referred to the disorganized parking seen in Arab districts, but the stores, dress, and general disarray and dirtiness were also give-aways. I felt like I was back in Morocco. Entering Nazareth began a conversation with Itay about Israeli Arabs, and included mention that they don’t serve in the IDF, which is compulsory for 3 years consecutively and then 2 months per year until the age of 40. While the Jewish Israelis don’t trust the Arabs and don’t necessarily want them in the IDF, and while the Arabs certainly don’t want to serve, this issue deepens the divide between the two groups.
In Jesus’ time, Nazareth was a tiny town, with a population of maybe 400 to 500 people. It was such an unlikely place for the Messiah to come from that Nathaniel, one of Jesus’ future disciples, exclaimed “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) As Pastor Daniel says, it’s like a national revolution starting in a one-gas-station town on Route 66. But Jesus did grow up there, and after starting His ministry, avoided going back. Often our families and closest friends don’t believe we can really become what God wants us to be because they’ve seen us grow (and hopefully grow up!) and have put us in a box of predictability. I think when Jesus said that we would have to reject our fathers and mothers to follow Him, He was referring to this, not a rejection of the commandment to honor your father and mother. So Jesus could not do many miracles in Nazareth because the people had little faith in Him. Capernaum became the center of His ministry, so with full stomachs and nice pictures of the view, the Purple Eggs rolled on out of Nazareth.
On our way to the city of Tiberius on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, we passed through Cana, the town of Jesus’ first miracle. He and Mary, his mom, were at a wedding reception when they witnessed the horrific situation of being out of wine. Mary, I guess with all she’d been through with Jesus over the previous 30 years, told him to do something, and though He protested (“My time has not yet come”), when your mom tells you to do something, you really probably ought to. And she wasn’t taking any of His divine excuses when she told the servants to do whatever Jesus said. So He caved and had them bring 6 jugs of water (my pastor in Cannes, James, recently did a sermon on this and estimated that the 6 jugs equated to about 520 bottles of wine – nice!). When the master of the feast was given a glass, he exclaimed that it was better than any of the wine served earlier. The two churches in Cana, who both claim to be built on the site of the wedding reception, are now the favorites for couples to renew their wedding vows. All day we were wondering what our guides, Itay and Nir, believed, because they both knew both Old and New Testament scriptures and Israeli history in depth, but were Jewish by birth. However, Itay gave us a clue as we drove thru Cana by saying “yes, I heard Jesus made some good wine”.
By sunset we got our first view of the Sea of Galilee and set up camp at the luxurious resort of Gai Beach (“gai” meaning valley in Hebrew) right on the water in the city of Tiberias. It was a secular city at the time of Jesus, and He didn’t visit here, though John the Baptist did. At the fork in the road just north of Tiberias, Jesus continued north along the water’s edge to Capernaum, the center of His ministry.
The first day had us in the Purple Eggs (the nickname for our tour buses) heading north, out of the morning traffic in Tel Aviv. Along the Mediterranean, we stopped in Cesaria, which Herod built in order to make himself rich. He was an amazing leader with great vision and had the Mediterranean port built by putting huge blocks of stone in the sea and building up a natural harbor, with the opening facing north, protecting it from the southern currents. Along with the ideal port for the largest trading ships at the time, all the amenities of a great city were available, including a seaside hippodrome, as horse racing was the most popular sport, and a 3-tiered amphitheater. An aqueduct brought water from a spring 15 miles away with only a 2 inch drop in elevation.
For us pilgrims, its significance lay in that it was the first place that a Roman was converted to Christianity. The apostle Simon Peter was in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, when he was told that 2 men would come looking for him and ask him to go with them to Cesaria. We drove on the bus at least an hour, so that was quite a long walk – two days per the Bible. Cornelius, a Roman centurion, also had a vision while praying that he should send for Simon Peter. Once Peter arrived and began telling them the gospel, they believed before he even finished, and subsequently his entire household was baptized. So here was where Christianity began to infiltrate the Roman Empire, culminating in 306 AD with the ascension of Constantine the Great as the first Christian emperor and declaration of Rome as a Christian city.
Carmel means “God’s vineyard” (“El” is God in Hebrew), and driving inland from the sea, the Purple Eggs climbed Mount Carmel. The scenery was lovely, with low trees sheltering bright green grass and white stones and rocks. It was a gradual climb for about 20 minutes or more, but the other side of the mountain is quite steep and overlooks the Plains of Mediggo. Here occurred one of God’s most incredible demonstrations of power and response to prayer. (This is from 1Kings 18:16-45, so you know that I didn’t make this up!) The prophet Elijah challenged 450 priests of the pagan god Baal, who now counted the Israelites among the congregation, to demonstrate who worshipped the true and powerful god. Was it the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Or Baal? So they climbed Mt. Carmel with their sacrifices and altars and a trail of Israelites following behind. The priests of Baal sacrificed and prayed and wailed and cut themselves and did anything else they could think of in order to get some demonstration of supernatural power. And nothing. All afternoon, and nothing. So finally Elijah had the people construct the altar according to the laws Moses had written and placed the sacrifice on it. Then he instructed them to dig a moat around the altar, fill it with water, and douse the offering and altar three times with water. And then he called on God to show His power. Immediately, fire fell from the sky, devouring the sacrifice and altar and water so that they disappeared in an instant and the ground became dry dust again.
Standing on the rooftop patio of a Catholic monastery at the top of Mount Carmel, I began to think about my prayers. Elijah succeeded several times in demonstrating God’s power to the people, yet in the New Testament of the Bible, James writes that Elijah was a man just like any other. There are enough other scriptures (enough to be longer than my blog!) that tell me that I have the amazing power of God and ability to demonstrate it, so that my head knows it but I don’t really believe it in my heart. Are my prayers really a time of respite from the world to be with God? Not often. The timing needs to be just right, the sofa comfortable, the lighting agreeable, and the air scented with perfume of jasmine flowers outside my window…. So, no, I don’t usually remember how wonderful and resuscitating my prayer time can be. And when I get on my knees at night and say prayers for at least 5 people, do I have the confidence that my prayers will manifest in their lives? Let’s just put it this way – when they do, God has to knock me over the head to make me remember that I prayed for them. My prayer scorecard is biased, thinking of the “negative” or “unanswered” prayers while struggling to remind myself what miracles God has done for me and those I’ve prayed for. And I pray, too, that God will sometimes hide His wonderful answers to my prayer in order to keep my ego from exploding. Well, this is getting too personal and embarrassing, so let’s move on…
…down to the Plains of Megiddo. Tel Megiddo (“tel” in Hebrew meaning hill) was built upon 26 layers of ruins of previous cities from ancient times, so it’s quite the archaeological dream. It was, of course, much easier to build on existing ruins and foundations since the raw material was already there and the land cleared. This site was popular because it was right at the end of the pass through the Carmel mountains and into the Valley of Jezreel. It has become known as the place of Armageddon because it was also known (in Greek, I think) as Har-Magedon, which became Armageddon in English. In the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible and written by John, one of Jesus’ favorite disciples, the final battle between Satan (“The Adversary”, “The Accuser”) and Jesus will occur here. While Mount Carmel, visible from Tel Megiddo, was prophesied to be a place of respite, and in fact has had no battle taking place there, the Plains of Megiddo have witnessed many. Fifteen centuries before Jesus was here, the Egyptians under Pharaoh Thutmose III waged war against the Canaanites. In 609 BC, Egypt again fought Judea here, and even as recently as 1918, the British clashed here with the forces of the Ottoman Empire. Standing on the ruins of city walls and ancient altars of Tel Megiddo, I was reminded of the fact that God, with a word, could just destroy Satan and his forces here and bring us back to Him. And I was reminded again of the fact that He will, in His time.
And finally, our daily bread, cooked in an outdoor brick oven, accompanied by hummus and roasted chicken and lentil soup. We were in Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus. It is now the capital and largest city in the North District of Israel, though the largest population group is Arab. Nazareth was originally in the land given to the Arabs in the UN’s partition plan of 1947, but then fell into Israel’s borders after the 1948 War for Independence. Our tour group got its first taste of the differences between an Arab and a Jewish section of town, and they were immediately evident to us. Itay often referred to the disorganized parking seen in Arab districts, but the stores, dress, and general disarray and dirtiness were also give-aways. I felt like I was back in Morocco. Entering Nazareth began a conversation with Itay about Israeli Arabs, and included mention that they don’t serve in the IDF, which is compulsory for 3 years consecutively and then 2 months per year until the age of 40. While the Jewish Israelis don’t trust the Arabs and don’t necessarily want them in the IDF, and while the Arabs certainly don’t want to serve, this issue deepens the divide between the two groups.
In Jesus’ time, Nazareth was a tiny town, with a population of maybe 400 to 500 people. It was such an unlikely place for the Messiah to come from that Nathaniel, one of Jesus’ future disciples, exclaimed “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) As Pastor Daniel says, it’s like a national revolution starting in a one-gas-station town on Route 66. But Jesus did grow up there, and after starting His ministry, avoided going back. Often our families and closest friends don’t believe we can really become what God wants us to be because they’ve seen us grow (and hopefully grow up!) and have put us in a box of predictability. I think when Jesus said that we would have to reject our fathers and mothers to follow Him, He was referring to this, not a rejection of the commandment to honor your father and mother. So Jesus could not do many miracles in Nazareth because the people had little faith in Him. Capernaum became the center of His ministry, so with full stomachs and nice pictures of the view, the Purple Eggs rolled on out of Nazareth.
On our way to the city of Tiberius on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, we passed through Cana, the town of Jesus’ first miracle. He and Mary, his mom, were at a wedding reception when they witnessed the horrific situation of being out of wine. Mary, I guess with all she’d been through with Jesus over the previous 30 years, told him to do something, and though He protested (“My time has not yet come”), when your mom tells you to do something, you really probably ought to. And she wasn’t taking any of His divine excuses when she told the servants to do whatever Jesus said. So He caved and had them bring 6 jugs of water (my pastor in Cannes, James, recently did a sermon on this and estimated that the 6 jugs equated to about 520 bottles of wine – nice!). When the master of the feast was given a glass, he exclaimed that it was better than any of the wine served earlier. The two churches in Cana, who both claim to be built on the site of the wedding reception, are now the favorites for couples to renew their wedding vows. All day we were wondering what our guides, Itay and Nir, believed, because they both knew both Old and New Testament scriptures and Israeli history in depth, but were Jewish by birth. However, Itay gave us a clue as we drove thru Cana by saying “yes, I heard Jesus made some good wine”.
By sunset we got our first view of the Sea of Galilee and set up camp at the luxurious resort of Gai Beach (“gai” meaning valley in Hebrew) right on the water in the city of Tiberias. It was a secular city at the time of Jesus, and He didn’t visit here, though John the Baptist did. At the fork in the road just north of Tiberias, Jesus continued north along the water’s edge to Capernaum, the center of His ministry.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The 11th Commandment
One of our Jewish guides, Nir, told us the 11th Commandment – support Israel. At first, we used it as our battle cry when let off the buses to a site with a gift shop, but Nir really meant supporting all of Israel, including defending it on the international stage, and not just the economy. Aside from many spiritual insights on this trip (which will be in the next blog entry), I also learned much about the State of Israel and Israeli-Arab relations from our awesome guides, Nir and Itay. I have to admit that when the media mentioned Israel, Palestine, the West Bank, or Gaza, I tuned out. And that is one of Israel’s biggest detriments – how the world perceives them. There is an anti-Israeli bias in the American and European media. The perception of Israel the aggressor is pushed, with images of the poor Palestinian refugees and even made-up stories about Israelis attacking refugee camps and doing horrible things. Israel could use some good marketing to combat the Arab world, since Arab leaders are experts in spin and, with censored domestic media, convincing their people that Israel is the cause of domestic problems. But Israel doesn’t seem focused on correcting the world’s perception. In 2001 when the tourist industry tanked due to the exponential rise of suicide bombings in Jerusalem, Nir wrote the Minister of Tourism and suggested they employ tourist guides to go abroad to educate and promote Israel. He was duly thanked for his letter.
29-October – Wednesday
A long long line to check in greeted me at Nice, eventually hearing that the computers were down. Saying goodbye to my friends, once again, I was headed to meet a group from my California church, Bible Fellowship in Ventura, for 7 days in Israel and 3 in Cairo, Egypt. Finally, with a hand-written ticket to board, I was off to Paris, Charles de Gaulle only about an hour late – though it didn’t bother me since I had a 7-hour overnight layover and was just looking for a place to sleep. Amazingly, even with the armrests on the chairs which are supposed to prevent people like me from sleeping across the bench, I was able to curl up and sleep a bit without too much discomfort. The entire airport shuts down between midnight and 5 am, so I wasn’t surprised when I checked in at El Al airlines for my flight to Tel Aviv that my luggage had not been directed out of “central booking” and wouldn’t be on the plane. The check-in for El Al occupied one end of a remote terminal of the airport, and was patrolled by 4 armed guards who looked about 15 years old. At the counter, the woman began with the usual questions of who packed my bags, then asked me where my luggage was – already checked through. One bad answer compounded on another: I have a return flight out of Israel, but it’s booked on another ticket; I’m going for a church tour; they’re coming from LA and I’m traveling alone; all the tour information is in my checked luggage; my continuing flight info is only on the web (since it is always changing); I have a Moroccan immigration stamp because I was there for 3 weeks; I stayed with friends; American; yes, I met some Moroccans; no, I haven’t remained in touch with them; I bought this flight last Friday; my St. Petersburg to Tel Aviv ticket was used to return me to Nice from St. P because I didn’t have a visa to gain entry into Russia; I didn’t know; I thought I’d researched it; I have one for France because I stayed there longer than the allowable 90 days for a normal tourist visa; no, not one for Russia; my group is from LA; I leave Israel on Nov 9th; to Singapore; to visit a friend; no, then to New Zealand; to visit another friend; I’ll be returning to LA Dec 19th; April 15th to Morocco; from LA; 3 weeks; then Italy; France; then I was in Berlin to visit relatives; an artist; no, (laugh) I’m not famous; yes, professional; yes you can find me on the website with exhibitions and galleries I’ve been in; but before that I was also an aerospace engineer; there was no direct flight from Nice to Tel Aviv; this was the only flight available; last Friday; originally supposed to come from St. Petersburg; the tour details are in my luggage; those are my paintings.
I was surprised by the concern over my Moroccan visit, but was quickly educated the first day of our trip. Israel’s enemies are plentiful – basically all Arab nations – and every neighbor has waged war against Israel at some point. The Arabs have strongly opposed a Jewish state from the start, and it was actually the British, in the British Mandate after World War I, that acknowledged the Jewish sector and began inventing all kinds of dividing schemes to separate the Jews from the Arabs. While Palestine has outright refused to accept any kind of agreement in hopes of preventing a Jewish sector or state, many foreign powers, beginning with the British, have played Arabs against Jews and vice-versa in order to further their own interests in the area. Since Israel’s independence 60 years ago, war has occurred at least once a decade. Israel now spends over 30% of the state’s budget on defense, though it was close to 50% when Israel was young.
My interrogation at El Al’s check-in counter managed to convince them that all my stuff needed to be searched, me included. I was taken to a small side room, took off my sweaters and shoes which, with all my bags, went into a neighboring room behind a curtain with all kinds of interesting x-ray equipment, although I wasn’t really interested. I was cold. While all my stuff was being completely taken out, pocket by pocket, of my bags, I was searched and even had to take my pants down to my ankles. As I was feeling sorry for myself, I thought of my latest reading on the political history of Israel, a book I’d bought in Heathrow a few years ago to try to understand the region. Of course I’d never gotten around to reading it until this trip.
In the late 1880s, Zionism, the movement that the Jews should have a homeland because they have experienced so much racism and persecution and have nowhere to go, gained momentum. However, Modern Zionism, as opposed to the time of the Second Temple period which ended in 70 AD, is secular in nature. Theodor Herzl was the leader, a journalist living in Vienna. At one point the Zionists were considering a part of Africa, not much populated, and the vote was close, but was decided that Jerusalem should be the capital because God had given them this land and their history was there. While returning to the homeland wasn’t the best thing, it was believed that it was the right thing to do. As Jews began their emigration to Jerusalem, the British, who controlled the area under colonial rule, began to limit the number of Jewish immigrants.
The Jews had no where to go – and it wasn’t just the British limits on Jewish immigration to Jerusalem and surrounding areas, but most other nations did not allow the Jews immigration or safety in times of persecution. In the late 1930s, several very rich Jewish families hired a boat, the St. Louis, to escape Europe. Arriving at Havana, the authorities decided to prohibit them from disembarking. America also refused them, and finally Britain allowed their children to stay, but the adults finally went back to Germany and were killed. Over the years, Israel has had waves of immigration as they have faced hardships of various kinds, whether economical hardship or political or religious persecution in other countries. In the early 90s, over a million Jews from the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc came to Israel. They arrived with very little, but supported each other like family. No matter when the immigrants arrived, they have always been well-assimilated, although when Asian and African Jews arrived in the 1960s and 70s, Israel faced issues of non-homogeneity, but these groups eventually made their way into middle-class society. Even now, I was reading in the newspaper that Israel has a Ministry of Assimilation that helps Jewish immigrants to find jobs, reduces or eliminates customs fees, allows for health care, etc. Part of the Zionist movement included providing economic aid to Jewish immigrants to Israel, and international economic help from Jews all over the world was given for the immigrants. This help still exists, though now in the form of many different aid organizations.
So thinking of what I’d read in my book of Israeli political history: their persecution, difficulties in forming and keeping a state, and assimilating immigrants coming from every different culture, I couldn‘t whine nor complain about the precautions El Al was taking.
Continuing to shiver and wait for all my stuff to be returned, I thought that the plane must be close to leaving soon. People were going in and out of the room, and into the back, talking brusquely in Hebrew on walkie-talkies. I felt invisible. One of the women went in and out of the office a few times with my book – the one on Israeli politics – in her hand. Finally, she sat down next to me and asked “Can you tell me about this book?” I laughed, and she asked why. I apologized, but it was all just too overwhelming and there was nothing else to do but laugh. I told her I was upset and tired and apologized. The book, entitled “Why Blame Israel?” could definitely be misconstrued. I insisted it was pro-Israel and then had to defend myself, something like giving a report to the professor in front of the class, but at 6am. I told her how it talked about the Zionist Movement, the British Mandate, the US policy toward Israel during & after the Cold War, the Palestine rejection of any attempt at dividing the countries, etc. Since I bought it in Heathrow and since the British are not really pro-Israel, the title makes more sense. So why did I wait two years to read it? I don’t know – I compulsively buy a lot of books, and this trip was finally the incentive to read it or dump it. Finally my small backpack, including the book, was returned – everything in a new compartment. Then I got my shoes, sweaters, and even my paintings, which they’d threatened to unwrap or put down in the hold, but finally generously gave back to me. My laptop and small carry-on were going in the hold, and I was escorted through passport control to the plane which was already boarded and ready to go.
With the British closing Jerusalem and surrounding areas to Jewish immigrants, plus the unbelievable persecution in Europe, the need for independence became evident. In 1948, Jews waged war against the Arabs, and Israel became a state. However, once gaining independence, to remain a state, Israel needed a strong economy, as well as a strong defense. Severe food rationing was implemented, and there were many things that “weren’t talked about” regarding cultural differences as Jews from all corners of the globe came together to unite. This was how the kibbutz began – kibbutz meaning “a group of people” in Hebrew. There was a spirit of camaraderie, of family, of unity, but those who have lived long enough have witnessed it decline. Probably the turning point for Israel changing from “family” to separate domestic interests was the loss of the Labour Party (the party in power since 1948) in 1977. This was caused by disillusionment of the population to the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Israel had gloriously won the 6-Day War in 1967 with the wipeout of the Egyptian Air Force while the planes sat on the ground ready to strike Israel. Although the Yom Kippur War was actually militarily won by Israel with the help of an infusion of American weapons mid-war, they gave up much of the land they’d won in 1967 in exchange for agreements of permanent peace – Sinai to Egypt and part of the Golan Heights to Syria. (As we drove across the Sinai Peninsula the following week, our Egyptian guide often referred to “getting the Sinai back from Israel in 1973”. I asked him how they got it back and he responded that they’d won.) Anyway, between 1967 and 1973, the Jews felt a surge of pride, confidence, and triumph. They thought they’d decisively won against their neighbors and peace was interminable. Israelis adopted the new fashions and trends and culture of Europe and the States, beginning to feel on par with them. This included the culture of individualism, which also contributed to the decline of the nation’s kibbutz culture. But Israelis’ confidence tumbled in 1973 with the reality that they still had neighbors unwilling to concede peace, and confidence in the ruling government party tumbled as well. Additionally, the new Asian and African Jewish immigrants, being the newest immigrants and at the bottom of the economic ladder, were less supportive of the old regime of founding fathers and mothers, so the Labour party was voted out in 1977. Our guide Nir described the change in Israel from the earlier politicians (the initial strong Zionists and those influenced by the kibbutz culture). North of Cesaria, our first sight-to-see in Israel, is the Crocodile River. Crocodiles were formerly used in pagan worship and were considered sacred. So 3 crocodiles in the Crocodile River were finishing off their breakfast, washing it down with an espresso, when they began talking about what to eat for lunch. One said he’d like one of the blond Swedish volunteers at the kibbutz up river. The second wanted a wild boar, and the third a politician. Why a politician? The others asked? …because he’s fat, rich, and has no back bone.
When the League of Nations formally gave Britain control in 1922, the mandate accepted that the Jews should have some land. Refugees from both sides had to cross over to their respective states as British politicians drew and re-drew the boundaries. While the Jewish refugees from Palestine were assimilated within a generation or less, the Palestinians have not assimilated their people for 4 generations. This is convenient for the Arab governments to play victim as an image to get compassion and support from governments around the world. However, Israel has not experienced antagonism just from Palestine, but also with Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran (and probably a few others). When Moses asked God what would be the price to pay for the land of milk and honey, God replied – well, the neighbors aren’t the best…
It’s interesting to become aware of the “objective” media in Europe and the States usually slanted against Israel as the oppressor and aggressor. Israel has fought 6 wars from the war for independence in 1948 to the war with Lebanon in 2006 The Israelis did make the first strike in many of the wars, but it was against excessive intimidation over time or public announcements and readiness of its enemies to strike against Israel. Aside from Egypt’s President Nasser making threats to go to war on Israel in 1967, the Syrians also intimidated Israel for the 3 years prior. In 1964, they evacuated all of their civilians from the Golan Heights, a mountain range bordering the north east side of the Sea of Galilee. The Syrian army moved in, installing bunkers and setting mines, and began firing upon boats in the Sea as well as small villages, kibbutzim, and farms near the shore. The farmers installed lead or steel barriers on their tractors to protect themselves. This intimidation eventually escalated to a daily thing. The 6-Day War against Egypt broke out with Israel’s decimation of the Egyptian Air Force, which was awaiting orders as Nasser was flexing his muscles and threatening to attack Israel. While Israelis in the north pleaded with their government to also fight Syria to end the deadly, daily attacks from the Golan Heights, they were initially denied. However, with the decisive and quick victory against Egypt, the possibility opened. As IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) turned toward the northeast, a grassroots campaign to mislead the Syrians began. Civilians drove their cars out to the point where a ground strike on the Golan Heights would be obvious because it had the most gradual incline up to the top. Then they turned around and drove back without headlights on and returned with headlights on again. So the Syrians were expecting a large contingent of IDF ready to attack at that location. However, the IDF attacked in 5 different points on the Heights, thereby taking the Syrians by surprise. It was quite easy for the Israelis, and as they camped out the first night, Syrian spin masters worked against themselves as the defending commanders on the Golan Heights heard that Israelis were marching on Damascus. So the Syrians high-tailed out of the Heights and in the morning, there was no one for the Israelis to fight. Both Nir and Itay had been high ranking officers in the IDF, and their sons are now serving, so it was interesting to hear about these wars first-hand.
Due to God causing him to stutter as a result of his disbelief that he could do battle with Pharaoh, Moses told the Israelites their promised land was “Ca-a-anan” , though God had intended it to be peaceful Canada. However, peace treaties were reached in the decades after 1973, and some were even respected. Due to the amicable relationship between King Hussein and Israeli PM Rabin, in 1994 Jordan and Israel became cordial, but as Itay said, they don’t hug each other. (However, the peace has been strained since 1998, partly out of jealousy that Egypt receives US monetary aid for adhering to their peace treaty while Jordan does not). Settling the Yom Kippur War of 1973, peace talks between Egypt’s most loved President Anwar Sadat (from 1971-1981) and Jimmy Carter (“Uncle Jimmy” as the Egyptians call him), led to a treaty. However, distrust remains, evidenced both by my interrogation by El Al about my reasons for being in Morocco (as a part of the Arab world that generally has something against Israel) as well as the communication division between the two “sides” of our tour – 7 days in Israel and 3 in Egypt. It was difficult to get information from the Israelis about what and whom to expect in Egypt with respect to our tour, and vice-versa. They weren’t well-coordinated across the border, even though both sets of tour guides were amazingly coordinated once we were in their respective countries.
While Iraq is no longer a current worry of Israel due to the wars there by the US, Syria and Lebanon, evidenced by the war in 2006, as well as Iran, with their anti-Israel rhetoric, are still quite antagonistic. The US supports Israel because it is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East and is quite promising with an economy and standard of living are as good as Western Europe and the States. But Israeli Jews still have a much different culture, specifically with respect to the value of human life, than the Arab culture, and this is also exploited in wars, identified or not. Our group also observed the obvious contrast of Israel to the Arab world when we went to Egypt. In fact, getting back on the Purple Eggs (as our Israeli buses were nicknamed) after 3 days in Egypt, we all cheered for Itay and Israel – especially the women who could now rely on clean restrooms and not need to tote wipes and soap. Our tour also placed us in Jerusalem 24 hours before the Obama/McCain election, and vendors in both Jerusalem and Cairo shouted “Obama good!” and other similar acclamations. However, Itay and Nir had reservations about him and had hoped for McCain in order to have a continuation of current US policy towards Israel.
As far as the economy goes, Israel does get huge $3B/year handouts from the States. But considering that they have no natural resources, cannot export to their neighbors, frequently experience import sanctions, and are regularly disrupted by war, Israel is strong. (For example, the Yom Kippur War in 1973 cost Israel a year’s GDP.) Nir pointed out the building in Tel Aviv where 50% of the world’s diamonds are processed. Diamond cutting had been one of the Jews’ traditional skills but became more important as their wealth could escape persecution with them; a life’s savings stuffed into a pocket or handbag. Additionally, Itay told us that Israel has not been impacted by the financial crisis hitting England and the States.
El Al is a classy airline. Leaving Paris we had a nice breakfast including olives and feta cheese, and at the baggage claim in Tel Aviv, I was given a toilet bag almost the size of a suitcase to compensate my delayed luggage. Unpacking the leather bag at our Mediterranean beach hotel in Tel Aviv, I was thrilled to find lots of goodies, including a t-shirt (and boxer shorts which looked charming on me), a full-sized tube of toothpaste, as well as lots of other stuff. My friend and trip roommate Julie thought I was hilarious as I unpacked the bag like a Christmas present. I felt a bit better, too, when Julie told me that all the single women with the church group were also taken aside and searched before boarding their El Al flight from LA. When my flight landed into Tel Aviv, many of the passengers applauded, and Julie told me this also occurred on their flight from LA. I haven’t heard people applaud for a flight since I was a little girl – in the 70s sometime when bomb threats were common. I guess for the Jews, they must always be ready to defend and are always grateful when they don’t have to. We had joined them on another successful pilgrimage to their homeland.
Monday, November 10, 2008
From Russia with Love
Upon check-in for St. Petersburg, the registrant threatened to only let me carry one suitcase, or two that were a total of 20kg. Of course my small one was already 19-something, and the larger 23 (paints and Christmas presents are heavy!). However, since he couldn’t find any baggage specification on my ticket, he let me go. Apparently, only one bag is allowed for European flights, and St. Petersburg is now part of Europe – although he did smile and shrug his shoulders when he told me that one…
The flight was great, especially from Paris to St. Petersburg since it was only half-full. We flew over Luxembourg and Hamburg, but I couldn’t tell exactly where they were. The coastline was so different from any other one I’ve flown over. On the approach, I saw old trains and miles of traffic of trucks on two main highways. I’m not describing this very well, but the scenes out my window just made me aware that I was headed into a different world than I’d ever experienced. I panicked a bit, being alone, but I’d done this sort of thing hundreds of times before. So what was my excuse when the passport control officer asked me where my Russian visa was? Um, I don’t know. I didn’t have one, and she asked where I was going. Uh, only to the city center for 6 days to see the sights – see, here’s my hotel name. I was escorted out of line and told to wait outside an office and began praying that this would work out. A woman came out with my passport, said they’d called immigration who said I had to return to Paris, and told me I’d be on the same plane that I had just flown in on. A bit incredulous, overwhelmed, tired, and confused, I wanted to cry but knew that wouldn’t have any effect on a female Russian immigration officer, so I tried to think my way out of this impending disaster. (I mean really! I had an opera ticket that night!) She was already booking me back to Paris, and I said I wanted to go to Nice – otherwise I’d be in Paris with all my luggage for 6 days and then have to make my way up to Amsterdam for my flight to Tel Aviv (which was a flight I wasn’t looking forward to as it landed in Tel Aviv at 2:30 am, 12 hours before my church group arrived). I’d have to figure out another way to get to Tel Aviv from Nice.
My “day” in St. Petersburg was a long one, but I had many things for which to be grateful. First, I was able to immediately get a flight back to Paris and Nice and not have to spend a night on the bench outside the Russian immigration office. Although I felt like an idiot – well, I was an idiot – everyone was very kind to me. The return flight to Paris was also not full, so I cowered to the very back to be alone with my embarrassment, but the flight attendants joked with me and finally made me smile. Upon landing, I was greeted by a French police officer who escorted me off the plane, through a few terminals, to the passport office, and finally through passport control before sending me on my way to Nice. And the flight attendant on that flight who welcomed me aboard was amazed that I spoke French well. All I’d asked was if he could throw my empty Perrier bottle in the trash… (I realize that I should also clarify that I’m not trying to boast about my French, but I’m always amazed when native speakers compliment me because I still honestly feel that I stumble through it – and contrary to popular belief, speaking French after a glass of red wine does not help at all!)
After picking me up at Jackie’s to go to the airport before 5am, I called Gill to see if I could get a ride home at 11pm that night. I was so grateful that she greeted me with a smile and a hug. The big question was (is) what the heck happened? I didn’t know I needed a visa for Russia. I’d had the gall to ask one of my Russian escorts if this had changed this year, since I was quite sure I’d checked for all visas back in March before starting my trip. Maybe because of the rough feelings against Russia after Georgia? No, no (stupid American) – a visa has been required for the past 50 years!
Gill had me stay with her family for the week I was there, since Jackie was off to England. I got to stay in one of their beautiful B&B suites and have their company. James & Paula’s daughter, only 9 months old and adorable, got to know me and made me miss my niece Allie less. Appearing at church after I’d “left” for St. Petersburg, my pastor told me to get the message – I suppose something along the lines of me staying in Cannes. Paula and Gill drove me around to do a few errands, too. Because of the scare of not being able to check 2 suitcases on the way to St. Petersburg, I sent a box home with all the “winter” clothes I’d brought, even though St. Petersburg only had a low of 40F! But I’d bought a winter coat for 2 euro at the flea market and wanted to keep it – yes, for those of you quick at math, it did cost more – much more – to send home than the purchase price, but I suppose it averages out to about a $40 coat, so it was worth it.
Meanwhile, my French bank account had been drained of the grand sum of 250 euro to pay my 10500 euro tax bill, and although Intelsat paid it quickly when I found out the account had been impounded, the French are still slower than the States at getting things done (it takes some of us longer than others to get this). So I still have the account, which will eventually have 250 euro in it again, and I guess sometime in the future, another pilgrimage to France will be in order.
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