So I went out with some people last night to celebrate the end of the trip. I took out my passport and carried it with me. I had no money, so I took some from the ATM for the trip home. It is strange here that it seems like you must be literally 25 to get into most places to dance, its sort of strange.
Anyway, I went back to the hostel, collapsed from exhaustion, and woke up at 7am to say goodbye to my friends. I noticed some police in the hostel, and I was confused. I went in my room to get something from my bag, and I noticed that it was missing. Then it hit me, someone had stolen my bag!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to the police to report it, and I filed a police report. Some other people had their things stolen as well. Apparently someone came in while we were sleeping and literally grabbde what he could in his hands and walked out the door, to the obliviousness of the reception. They got a lot of stuff. I only lost my camera, Ipod, retainer, some souvenirs (including the crosses I got in Bethlehem and Jerusalem) and some other things. The guy next to me lost 2000 Euro so I could not complain.
What made me mad more than anything was that if the asshole had taken a second to look at the contents of my bag, he would have seen that it was not worth the trouble trying to steal it. What is he going to do with a bunch of chargers, a camera that is half broken, a retainer, and an ipod that is about to die from lack of battery? He is retarded, that is my only solace. So now that I have lost almost everything except my clothes and randomly but thankfully my passport, I will go back to the US with much less than I started with.
It has made me realize that stuff doesnt matter that much. Sure I feel a bit naked, but the only thing I really really cared about were all my pictures that are of no use to him.
Another comment. How the heck did I make it through the entire Middle East for 6 weeks, only to lose everything to a thief on the last day. I traveled for weeks in Palestine, where GDP is 1,000 dollars a person, and only a couple of days in Israel, where income is like 20,000 dollars a person, and here is where I get my stuff stolen from me.
To be completely honest, I dont think I really want to come back to Israel. I have met nice people and seen great things, but most of the stuff that I enjoyed here was the land and ancient artifacts, both of which have nothing to do with the Israelis. I got my stuff stolen here, I get interrogated like I'm a criminal, I will probably get strip searched, the Israeli guy who was supposed to meet me never showed up, and everywhere I go there is at least one or two extremely rude people that make life unpleasant. My international friends agreed that the vibe they got here is one very unfriendly to tourists. They are ok with you if you're here for birthright or something like that, but if you just try and see the land, you're not treated well. This said, people are people everywhere, and we have also met very nice people. However, given a choice where to spend several months of my life, I would choose Palestine over Israel in a heartbeat because of the generosity of the Arab people towards guests. They literally will sleep on the floor so you can have the bed. I met a random family the other day, and they asked me to have dinner with them. This kind of random kindness is something sorely lacking in modern Western society.
I will let you know how my experience is getting home with what I have left. At least he didnt steal my phone which stops me from having to make one of those bothersome Facebook groups travis needs your numbers.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Akko
After Haifa we made it to the ancient city of Akko (Acre). It is my favorite place so far that I have visited. It is small enough to see everything but large enough to be interesting. It used to be the most important port in the Middle East. It started with the Phoenecians, then the Persians, then the Romans, then the Arabic people, then the Crusaders, then the Mongols, then back to the Arabs, then the Ottomans, then the Arabs, and now it is in the state of Israel. It actually once was the capital of the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. There is a city on top of a city. The old city has lots of secret passageways, tunnels, and hidden chambers. It is a veritable fortress on the mediterranean. It even repelled Napoleon. The city has a romantic quality, and I saw fish for sale there that I would never dream of seeing even in the US. We were stuck there for two days because every transportation shuts down on Shabbat, but I was ok with that.
Dead Sea and Masada
So the internationals got together and rented a van and driver for the day. We went to Masada, which is the place where around 1000 Jewish fighters held off 10,000 Romans for months and then committed suicide to avoid being slaves. The place was a little erie. We all found it a tad amusing that Israel has adapted this site into a temple of Zionism, with slogans everywhere saying Masada will not be taken again! The announcer for the movie was a bit corny as well; he said "which would you choose, death or slavery?" We got to see one of the oldest synagogues in the world, as well as the ancient palaces of King Herod. It was interesting that the Israelis played down how bad of a guy he was. At least in the Bible he is portrayed as a very evil man, and they portrayed him in a somewhat positive light.
After that we went to see the dead sea. I floated standing up! I also floated in every way I could turn, and some guy was reading the enwspaper near me. It was great, except for the part about rubbing salt in the wounds, I found cuts I never knew I had. After this journey, we headed back to our hostel in Jerusalem to get ready to go.
After that we went to see the dead sea. I floated standing up! I also floated in every way I could turn, and some guy was reading the enwspaper near me. It was great, except for the part about rubbing salt in the wounds, I found cuts I never knew I had. After this journey, we headed back to our hostel in Jerusalem to get ready to go.
One of the saddest things I have seen yet
So on the 5th I went to see the families I had heard about on the news that the US was battling to keep in their homes. The US had been furious about Israel evicting people out of the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood so I decided to go and check it out for myself. What I saw I will never forget.
So the short version of the story is that some Jewish organization showed up recently claiming the title to the land in a completely Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Their paperwork is supposedly from the Ottoman era in the 1800s, but there is no way to verify the authenticity of the documents. On the land in question live scores of families. The family I met had a lot of members.
The family has lived in the home they were evicted from for more than 50 years. When the 1948 war started, they fled the violence as refugees. They went to the only place they could settle since they had lost their homes in historic Palestine at the point of a gun; they went to Jordanian lands. They got a contract from the Jordanian government and the UN giving them title to a house that would be built for them if they would repay the food assistance given to them for a period of three years. They did this, and so the house was given over to them. They lived in the house peacefully for decades, and then the 1967 war came, and what had been Jordanian land became occupied by Israel. Then this settler organization whose stated goals are to essentially ethnically cleanse East Jerusalem of Arabs and replace them with immigrant Jews comes along and tries to claim the land. They get good legal help, and the Palestinian families, who are refugees and cannot afford much, are forced to find representation on their own. The process was lengthy, but at the end of the day, the courts decided to throw these refugees out on the streets. They showed up with hundreds of policemen and broke the arm of the son of the owner of the house, and they caused other injuries as well. They took the family and then forced other families out who did not have their names on the eviction warrant, so they took 3 houses in all. The settler organization then transferred ownership to some Zionist extremists who have no problem living in a house where generations of people have lived.
The man who heads the household asked me how can immigrants from Europe come and take the house he has lived in for 50 years without paying him for it? I did not have an answer for him. On top of this, the Israeli government spokesperson said that his family should have made alterate living arrangements. I wanted to vomit; they expect refugees thrown out of their homes to just get up and find a nice new house?
From my judgment, it looks like the israeli court system just allowed legal theft. The only way you ca n do something like this to a person and his family is if you believe he is not human, which I think many Israelis think this of Palestinians.
So the short version of the story is that some Jewish organization showed up recently claiming the title to the land in a completely Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Their paperwork is supposedly from the Ottoman era in the 1800s, but there is no way to verify the authenticity of the documents. On the land in question live scores of families. The family I met had a lot of members.
The family has lived in the home they were evicted from for more than 50 years. When the 1948 war started, they fled the violence as refugees. They went to the only place they could settle since they had lost their homes in historic Palestine at the point of a gun; they went to Jordanian lands. They got a contract from the Jordanian government and the UN giving them title to a house that would be built for them if they would repay the food assistance given to them for a period of three years. They did this, and so the house was given over to them. They lived in the house peacefully for decades, and then the 1967 war came, and what had been Jordanian land became occupied by Israel. Then this settler organization whose stated goals are to essentially ethnically cleanse East Jerusalem of Arabs and replace them with immigrant Jews comes along and tries to claim the land. They get good legal help, and the Palestinian families, who are refugees and cannot afford much, are forced to find representation on their own. The process was lengthy, but at the end of the day, the courts decided to throw these refugees out on the streets. They showed up with hundreds of policemen and broke the arm of the son of the owner of the house, and they caused other injuries as well. They took the family and then forced other families out who did not have their names on the eviction warrant, so they took 3 houses in all. The settler organization then transferred ownership to some Zionist extremists who have no problem living in a house where generations of people have lived.
The man who heads the household asked me how can immigrants from Europe come and take the house he has lived in for 50 years without paying him for it? I did not have an answer for him. On top of this, the Israeli government spokesperson said that his family should have made alterate living arrangements. I wanted to vomit; they expect refugees thrown out of their homes to just get up and find a nice new house?
From my judgment, it looks like the israeli court system just allowed legal theft. The only way you ca n do something like this to a person and his family is if you believe he is not human, which I think many Israelis think this of Palestinians.
One of the saddest things I have seen yet
So on the 5th I went to see the families I had heard about on the news that the US was battling to keep in their homes. The US had been furious about Israel evicting people out of the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood so I decided to go and check it out for myself. What I saw I will never forget.
So the short version of the story is that some Jewish organization showed up recently claiming the title to the land in a completely Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Their paperwork is supposedly from the Ottoman era in the 1800s, but there is no way to verify the authenticity of the documents. On the land in question live scores of families. The family I met had a lot of members.
The family has lived in the home they were evicted from for more than 50 years. When the 1948 war started, they fled the violence as refugees. They went to the only place they could settle since they had lost their homes in historic Palestine at the point of a gun; they went to Jordanian lands. They got a contract from the Jordanian government and the UN giving them title to a house that would be built for them if they would repay the food assistance given to them for a period of three years. They did this, and so the house was given over to them. They lived in the house peacefully for decades, and then the 1967 war came, and what had been Jordanian land became occupied by Israel. Then this settler organization whose stated goals are to essentially ethnically cleanse East Jerusalem of Arabs and replace them with immigrant Jews comes along and tries to claim the land. They get good legal help, and the Palestinian families, who are refugees and cannot afford much, are forced to find representation on their own. The process was lengthy, but at the end of the day, the courts decided to throw these refugees out on the streets. They showed up with hundreds of policemen and broke the arm of the son of the owner of the house, and they caused other injuries as well. They took the family and then forced other families out who did not have their names on the eviction warrant, so they took 3 houses in all. The settler organization then transferred ownership to some Zionist extremists who have no problem living in a house where generations of people have lived.
The man who heads the household asked me how can immigrants from Europe come and take the house he has lived in for 50 years without paying him for it? I did not have an answer for him. On top of this, the Israeli government spokesperson said that his family should have made alterate living arrangements. I wanted to vomit; they expect refugees thrown out of their homes to just get up and find a nice new house?
From my judgment, it looks like the israeli court system just allowed legal theft. The only way you ca n do something like this to a person and his family is if you believe he is not human, which I think many Israelis think this of Palestinians.
So the short version of the story is that some Jewish organization showed up recently claiming the title to the land in a completely Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Their paperwork is supposedly from the Ottoman era in the 1800s, but there is no way to verify the authenticity of the documents. On the land in question live scores of families. The family I met had a lot of members.
The family has lived in the home they were evicted from for more than 50 years. When the 1948 war started, they fled the violence as refugees. They went to the only place they could settle since they had lost their homes in historic Palestine at the point of a gun; they went to Jordanian lands. They got a contract from the Jordanian government and the UN giving them title to a house that would be built for them if they would repay the food assistance given to them for a period of three years. They did this, and so the house was given over to them. They lived in the house peacefully for decades, and then the 1967 war came, and what had been Jordanian land became occupied by Israel. Then this settler organization whose stated goals are to essentially ethnically cleanse East Jerusalem of Arabs and replace them with immigrant Jews comes along and tries to claim the land. They get good legal help, and the Palestinian families, who are refugees and cannot afford much, are forced to find representation on their own. The process was lengthy, but at the end of the day, the courts decided to throw these refugees out on the streets. They showed up with hundreds of policemen and broke the arm of the son of the owner of the house, and they caused other injuries as well. They took the family and then forced other families out who did not have their names on the eviction warrant, so they took 3 houses in all. The settler organization then transferred ownership to some Zionist extremists who have no problem living in a house where generations of people have lived.
The man who heads the household asked me how can immigrants from Europe come and take the house he has lived in for 50 years without paying him for it? I did not have an answer for him. On top of this, the Israeli government spokesperson said that his family should have made alterate living arrangements. I wanted to vomit; they expect refugees thrown out of their homes to just get up and find a nice new house?
From my judgment, it looks like the israeli court system just allowed legal theft. The only way you ca n do something like this to a person and his family is if you believe he is not human, which I think many Israelis think this of Palestinians.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Camp Ended
I loved the international work camp, it was unbelievable. 'm traveling around now with some of theinternationals from europe, and we're currently in jerusalem. Yesterday we visited the dead sea and floated while standing up. Guys were sittingin the water reading the newspaper. People took mud baths too. We also went to n ancient jewish fortress, masada. This is the place where 1000 jews committed mass suicide when they were about to be taken as slaves by the romans, and its sort of a national symbol for israel. They definitely played it up, and the movie they showed was pretty corny, but the experience was very interesting. It felt like the ruins have had their original stories adapted to be a temple of Zionism. The oldest synagogue in the world some say is located on this site hundreds of meters above the dead sea, and its a fortress on top of the mountain. Herod built palaces here.
We went hometo eat some falafel, and chill in the new city of jerusalem.
Today we are going to see the people who have lived in their homes for 50 years who were just evicted by israelso that their homes can be given away to jewish settlers. Eastern Jerusalem is Arab and Western Jerusalem is mostly Jewish Israeli, but Israel wants to try and change the ethnic composition of the astern sie of the city so that it can have all of jerusalem. the israeli actions are against the expressed wishes of the us, the eu, the uk, and more, but they are continuing with them anyway. They are literally throwing refugees out on the streets who were removed from their original houses after 1948 to make room for more jewish immigrants. The policy is very unfair. Here they make use of an old ottoman law that says the land belongs to the state if you let it lay fallow for three years. Sometimes they limit entry to land for only the original title holder, who sis old and cannot work, or the curfews and restrictions they put in place on palestinian movement are so extreme that they cannot work the land, so then israel takes it away and gives it to settlers who illegally live in the west bank. When settlers outright steal land and dont do it under any pretext, they begin a lengthy legal battle. Sometimes it takes years to evict settlers from their homes that are built on land they do not own. Once the settlers are finally kicked out, the land has laid fallow and the state can seize it. So the Palestinians really get screwed at every angle.
I'm off to Nazareth, the city of Joseph and Jesus. Next I'm off to Haifa.
We went hometo eat some falafel, and chill in the new city of jerusalem.
Today we are going to see the people who have lived in their homes for 50 years who were just evicted by israelso that their homes can be given away to jewish settlers. Eastern Jerusalem is Arab and Western Jerusalem is mostly Jewish Israeli, but Israel wants to try and change the ethnic composition of the astern sie of the city so that it can have all of jerusalem. the israeli actions are against the expressed wishes of the us, the eu, the uk, and more, but they are continuing with them anyway. They are literally throwing refugees out on the streets who were removed from their original houses after 1948 to make room for more jewish immigrants. The policy is very unfair. Here they make use of an old ottoman law that says the land belongs to the state if you let it lay fallow for three years. Sometimes they limit entry to land for only the original title holder, who sis old and cannot work, or the curfews and restrictions they put in place on palestinian movement are so extreme that they cannot work the land, so then israel takes it away and gives it to settlers who illegally live in the west bank. When settlers outright steal land and dont do it under any pretext, they begin a lengthy legal battle. Sometimes it takes years to evict settlers from their homes that are built on land they do not own. Once the settlers are finally kicked out, the land has laid fallow and the state can seize it. So the Palestinians really get screwed at every angle.
I'm off to Nazareth, the city of Joseph and Jesus. Next I'm off to Haifa.
Monday, August 3, 2009
The Peaceful Protest
So some of the Europeans in our group went to a peaceful protest against the 30 foot high wall that has turned palestinian villages into ghettos. They went even though their governments suggest not to, and we found oiut why they dont suggest going.
My British friend from Oxford who is an extremely intelligent guy went to observe the wasy the protest occurred and how israel reacted. they arrived at the site, and without provocation, israel sent in a big truck and started to spray protestors with something they call shit water, which is like getting hit by a skunk but worse maybe. After that, two of the many protestors threw some rocks over the fence. After that, the soldiers threw tear gas. my friends had never been gassed before and they started running and the israelis threw more and more. Then they sent riot police in and started hrowing sound bombs that sound like explosions. Sometimes they use rubber bullets, which can kill, but not today thankfully
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