Mifgashim

The third night of our trip is spent at an entirely inauthentic Bedouin Camp--someone in my group dubs it "Bedouin Disney World"--where about ten different birthright trips scurry around of one tent to another. A Bedouin gives us a presentation on their culture and its modernization; I ask him about the sentiment of Bedouins towards the current conflict and he tells me that they are the least involved, that they just want there to be peace. He adds, "but we do not feel that we are treated as equal," before moving to the next question. After the presentation we proceed to another tent for a huge feast, do some one-on-ones with fellow group members, and return to the campfire to sing songs. I forego much of the shenanigans and fall asleep in our tent at about 9:00. ___________________________________________________ The next morning, Elad takes us on a hike/tour of Masada (very interesting), and then we proceed to the Dead Sea for a swim. After happily floating around for a while in the especially buoyant water, we are met on the shore by the seven soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force assigned to our trip for the next five days: four young men and three very pretty young women, including one American from Philly who made Aliyah a couple of years ago and chose to serve. Thankfully, our group is not led in any faux boot camp drills. Actually, the soldiers become fast friends with members of our group, and we get far more of a chance to know them and like them on a personal level than I think any of us expected. By the end of their stay with us, some of them are making plans to see members of our group in New York and talking about it as one of the best experiences they've had, as a soldier or otherwise. ___________________________________________________ I spend a good chunk of time befriending the American-born soldier, Aliza, an especially pleasant person who, in between the average life conversations, puts up with my (sometimes incendiary) prodding/commentary regarding the current conflict. Aliza is no doubt a defender of Israel: when I mention a documentary I saw in a Jerusalem movie store called 'The Wall', about the giant structure steadily enclosing the West Bank, she jokes, "it's not a wall, it's a fence", and she is quick to remind me of the big role of other Arab countries in the displacement of Palestinians during the war in 1948. She also believes that military force is not the answer to the conflict--that the support of social infrastructure in Arab communities is a better solution (I can see significant problems with that approach as well...although what approach doesn't have problems)--and notes that Israeli Arabs are treated as second class citizens. ___________________________________________________ We also have an opportunity to ask the soldiers questions as a group one night, and get a variety of perspectives. One soldier says he believes that the strength of Jerusalem is its diversity and that it's not just for the Jews--another soldier shows a strong aversion to this opinion. A couple of the soldiers talk about working with Arabs in restaurants and how they believe they are not bad people and another, a really sharp guy who later breaks down to me the racism within Jewish communities (as if there isn't enough divisiveness out here), laments that he never had a chance to meet Arabs growing up. There is a mix of opinions as to whether or not peace can ever be achieved...some solid 'nos' in the room. ___________________________________________________ Also a part of the mifgashim was a big, gregarious soldier named Israel--who I hope will be okay with me sharing about him. As I'm taking pictures of the spring we hike to right after leaving the Dead Sea, a friend from our group quietly tells me that she had been talking to Israel on the way up, and he shared with her that a close friend of his was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip--he had just found out two hours before joining us. By chance I end up next to him on the way back down and, not really knowing what to say, I strike up casual conversation. He talks about visiting a long-lost cousin in Brazil after his service (their parents don't get along, but he feels family is too important, especially after having lost so much of it in the Holocaust), and he tells me he was a world class judo fighter as a youth, and hopes to teach it one day. He puts on a good face, but I take a couple glances at him when Elad stops us to tells us something along the way down, and as one would expect, you could see that he was completely torn apart. ___________________________________________________ At the Old City in Jerusalem the next day, I again have a chance to talk to Israel, and he tells me a little bit more about himself. He wanted badly to be a combat soldier, but has a shoulder injury from judo that disqualified him. His grandfather was killed in Russia for wanting to come to Israel, and as such he felt it was his duty to fight for the country: "I have to do it." He begins to discuss his friend: "My family and his family are all together, crying...my mother told me to stay on the trip, and mother knows best...when I heard, it was like a kick to the face, with an army boot." Again, I don't know what to say. ___________________________________________________ The more time I spend with Israel, the more I grow to like him (and I was far from the only one...he was very popular). He had an unbelievably obscene sense of humor, but behind it he was about as nice a person as you could meet. He laughs a lot, and makes people laugh a lot, and he clearly just loves being around people. He buys a woolen pancho in a market early in his stay and pretty much wears it nonstop until its end. During a free night in Jerusalem, he takes me and a friend from the trip to a restaurant called "Meat Burger" along with a couple of his friends; me and my friend finish off 250 gram burgers (about half a pound) but he puts us to shame by tearing through a 400 gram lamb burger, commenting on the manliness of the meal the whole time. When we are heading to the airport on the final leg of the trip, Elad gets a call and puts his phone up to the bus microphone. "Hi everyone, its your favorite pancho bear!" Israel wishes us safe travels and tells us one more time how happy he was to have met us all.