Reflections on Israel

When Americans think of Israel, they often think of the conflicts between the Israelis and Palestinians, but it is so much more than a nation of politics and religious conflict. Firstly, Israel's relationship with its immediate neighbors, Egypt and Jordan, is quite good. Israelis are of course big fans of the United States, and express such sentiment almost as soon as one mentions "I am American." As we made our way through Israel -- even through the West Bank -- we slowly let down our guard and realized what we always realize about the countries we've visited after a short interval...that it is safe to be here and the people are glad to see you visit their country. Semetic people (Jews and Arabs) are as diverse as any. We learned that the opinions of the Jewish and Arab worlds vary dramatically among nations, religious sects, social status, and so on. In Israel, we witnessed the convergence of the Big-3 religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). We witnessed each of them struggle with the differences within and outside each religion, but we also saw how they seemed to peacefully coexist in a fairly confined area.

We were very pleased to arrive in Israel as it was the first time we felt we were in a fully modern country since leaving home. The business community, level of education, technology, infrastructure, industry, and facilities are highly advanced and competitive and exist against the backdrop of one of the oldest civilizations in human history. We found this to be a unique attribute of Israel and what makes it such an enjoyable country to visit. You can see it all here: both old and new.

Old Jerusalem

After one of the most thorough security checks at the border between Jordan and Israel, we then set off from Eilat, the southermost city in Israel, and drove through the Judean desert to reach the Old City by dusk. Most people do not realize the size of the country: its only 6 six hours by road from north to south and 3 hours by road from east to west. Our trip from Eilat to Jerusalem took only 4 hours.

We arrived at Damascus Gate, entrance to Old Jerusalem. With our packs strapped to our backs, we descended down the dark, narrow, enclosed and stone-paved streets of the Muslim Quarter. All of the shops were shut down and few residents were walking the streets this late. We managed to find the entrance to our hostel on the side street, and walked up the cramped, stone staircase to check-in. The hostel room was nothing but a bed and space heater. Adjoining the room was a stand-in shower with toilet separated from the room by only a shower curtain. You could hear everything inside your room...and inside your neighbor's room. We laughed with Kristy and Matt through the walls and fell asleep.

Three days were spent wandering through the streets of Old Jerusalem. We followed the footsteps of Jesus (stations of the cross) to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where he died, and (may) be buried. We walked around the wall of the old city, admiring the Western Wall and Dome of the Rock from afar. The Muslim Quarter is the largest of the four quarters in Jerusalem (the other three being the Christian, Jewish, and Armenian quarters). The Muslim Quarter is lined with colorful shops filled with souvenirs, handicrafts, and friendly shopkeepers who beckon tourists and locals in to see their wares. Without looking at the street map, it's easy to know when you've left the Muslim Quarter...everything gets quiet again.

Winding our way through Old Jerusalem, we visited the Dome of the Rock, which is built on the ruins of the First Temple of the Israelites. The Dome of the Rock is one of the holiest places for Muslims, but today it is not open to non-Muslims. This was the decision by the Muslim religious authorities made just five years ago, and we are not sure of their intentions. We understand that the Israeli government decided that to force them to keep it open was a battle they did not want to fight.

We made our way to the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites for the Jewish people. Here, the remaining walls of the Second Temple stand as a sacred place of worship. Jews and gentiles are free to visit the Western Wall, once they've gotten past the thorough security check. We stood at the Western Wall and watched the men and women pray in separate quarters. We took our place at the Wall and prayed for what we hope most for Israel: peace and tranquility.

Our next stop was Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem's New City. The best museum either of us has visited, Yad Vashem mixes thematic overviews of the war with personal stories that play on monitors sprinkled around the museum. We also visited the Israeli Museum that same day: it rivals the Smithsonian in scope and quality of artifacts. Besides seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls, one exhibit we particularly enjoyed was titled "In the Beginning: Prehistory and the Origins of Myth." A fitting collection for the Holy City. The museum also had a complete recreation of the Cochin, India Synagogue, which we visited while in Cochin and interviewed two of the last surviving Jews in Cochin. Seeing the original synagogue in Cochin and then seeing it recreated in the Israel Museum made us think this is a sign that we've been traveling for a long time.

Masada & the Dead Sea

We joined a tour group for a day and bused down to ascend Masada and float in the Dead Sea. Masada is best known as the place of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans, which broke out in 66 C.E. It was the last rebel stronghold in Judea and in 73 or 74 C.E., Flavius Silva led 8000 Roman soldiers to Masada to lay seige and eventually break through. On the night before the Romans reached the plateau, the entire population of 1000 Jews commited suicide, prefering to die as free people than to live as Roman slaves. Today, the ruins stand in memory of the resistance against the great Roman Empire, and today has become a powerful symbol for young Israeli solders. As we walked around, we felt it was strange to stand on a spot where many people died and see little evidence of it, besides crumbling walls, a few catapult balls, and a long ramp the Romans used to move their battering ram to the top. It struck us how easy it would be to forget what happened here - or what happens anywhere - without cultural memory and one's imagination.

Masada affirmed in us the importance of keeping the stories alive: an ancient parallel to what we saw the previous day at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. After Masada, our bus made its way to the Ein Gedi spa located on the shores of the Dead Sea. We suited up for the swim and lathered our bodies with thick, gray mud. Slowly, we waded into the salty waters and suddenly found ourselves fully buoyant, on our backs and floating past salt formations in the water. The sensation in peculiar but a lot of fun.

Crossing the Border

We do not worry much when crossing country borders by road anymore, but when we set out from Jerusalem through the infamous West Bank for our return to Jordan, we were a little nervous. We passed by Jericho and through the grassy valleys and hills of the West Bank with no trouble. Who knows? If we had stopped along the way, would things have remained peaceful? One thing we have learned in a post-911 world is that anything can happen at any time. We may be luckly - or more accurately, we are fairly comfortable with our statistical probabilities. We can only say that the towns and villages seemed as quiet as the Jewish Quarter in Old Jerusalem.

When we arrived at the border to Jordan, we met a group of travelers who our friends Matt and Kristy read about in the paper that morning. Ten travelers, of various faiths and histories, each with a personal story of suffering, working together: "breaking the ice." An Israeli woman whose mother was killed in a bus bombing in Jerusalem, a firefighter who was present at ground zero on 9/11, an Iranian woman who lost a family member in a violent terrorist attack, and several others with stories equally tragic. The travelers started in Israel and will travel together for 30 days through the desert until they reach Tripoli. They have received a lot of press and met with national leaders from many of the representative's countries. Their message is to show that people from all walks of life can get along. They spoke to our camera (to be posted in the interview section). We hope their message resonates.

Before leaving the Middle East, we were fortunate enough to speak with a Lebanese businesswoman who told us that most Arabs like Americans very much, regardless of their opinions about the American government. She made the point that the Arab world is vastly diverse and that the world's media seems to frequently give a negative impression of Arabs. She said, "it's unfortunate that extremists on all sides seem to ruin it for the rest of us." We couldn't agree more.

In the Middle East portion of this journey, we have learned so much about the Arab and Israeli worlds and feel much more enlightened about the struggles each community faces. The conflicts in Israel and the impending civil war in Iraq, are examples of how the media can often report accurately but the stories distort the views of the vast majority of people and what life is like in their home countries. It's a fear tactic that convinces us all that Americans are hated all over the world and that we should be afraid. We should be afraid of the extremists, not the vast population of peaceful people that wish the same as we do: for tranquility and an open exchange of cultural ideas. Ironically, we received offensive remarks only from Europeans on our travels...but then, they usually give the same attitude to each other. The truth is, people across the world are wise enough to make a clear distinction between people and politics. We felt very welcomed here and already have plans to return some day with our children.

Shalom.