By
Eva Feld
“When Israel has prostitutes
and thieves, we’ll be a state like any other.” What Israel’s first prime
Minister, David Ben Gurion, meant by such shocking statement, circa seven
decades ago, was the need of the Jewish people to own a piece of land that each
and every one of them could call home regardless of background, profession,
economic status, or color of the skin.
Little did Ben Gurion suspect that
three generations after the foundation of the modern state of Israel, and once
reached the “normalization” that he was seeking for his people, he would have
to face a new breed of Jews more related to their age than to their
nationality, religion, or language.
The Israeli young adults are as
millennials as any other of their equals around the world. When off-duty from
the military service, the young Sabras are plugged into the internet to connect
with their contemporaries all over the globe. They share the same dreams and
values and are willing to spend all their earnings if they are given the
slightest chance to travel around the world. Their fingers are trained to text
at astonishing speed. Dozens of young soldiers can be seen in large groups,
with a machine gun hanging around their neck, visiting their country as
tourists, most of them also carry a cell phone to stay in touch with their
loved ones, and the virtual reality that holds them together as a generation.
On a Sabbath, hundreds of
millennials hang out drinking beer and flirting on the wonderful beaches of Tel
Aviv. They easily mingle with tourists from everywhere (with fluent English).
Besides Ivrit (Hebrew) and English, many speak their ancestor’s language as
well. Along the coastline, that reminds the ones in Copacabana (Brazil), it is
common to hear a Peruvian flute, Portuguese samba, Puerto Rican salsa, and loud
voices in Dutch, German, Rumanian or French.
Beautiful girls in tiny bathing
suits parade nonchalantly on the shiny sand by the Mediterranean Sea, while
well-built males work out in outdoor gyms. They then gather at numerous
restaurants where fresh fish, taboule, babaganoush, falafel, and
hummus are served by other young adults. A festive atmosphere reigns all
over.
The sacred meaning of the Sabbath
that begins with the first star on Friday evening is well kept in the
collective consciousness, but the millennials were born in an era of freedom.
they serve their country and their God by proudly speaking Hebrew, a language
conquered for them by their grandparents, by defending their nation when called
for duty, and by working and studying hard in a very competitive society. They
comply with their constitutional rights and obligations, but at the same time,
they exercise their citizenship with the right to disagree with the status
quo, with liberty and self-determination. As do Christian millennials in
their own churches, they go to the temple only on special occasions, and pray
individually. They also check job opportunities and interesting challenges
abroad, as do all millennials everywhere.
David Ben Gurion has accomplished postmortem
his goal. Today Israel is a state like any other, except for the perennial
menace of its borders. Ben Gurion also foresaw such struggle: “Everybody sees a
difficulty in the question of Arabs and Jews. But everybody sees that there is
no solution to this question.” So, life under perpetual threat has also
acquired a glaze of normality, after all, Gaza is far from the Tel Aviv
beaches.
Alternative
realities and controversies
Israel faces core disagreements,
incongruities, and political storms. Nationalism vs universalism,
conservativism vs liberalism, laicity vs religious purity, militarism vs
civisms, are only a few of the issues that divide the population. There are
also social matters and ethnic differences, not only between Jews, Christians
and Muslims, but also internal affairs amidst each of these communities:
Sephardim (Jews who come from Spain, Portugal and Africa) vs Ashkenazim (mostly
European Jews); Copts vs Catholics vs Orthodox. About 20 per cent of the
population is Arab, mostly Palestinians, but also from other nationalities,
each one with their own mind-sets.
All signs on the roads of Israel are
written in Hebrew, in Arabic and English. In some places, Cyrillic is already
added for according to some unofficial figures, Russian speaking people ascend
to 20 percent of the population.
Without pluralism, eclecticism, and
tolerance, the modern state of Israel could not exist. Sometimes it is hard to
understand the contradictions between what one sees on the streets of Jerusalem
and some almost factious statements from certain politicians. Hundreds of
people gather at the Western Wall to pray and place their petitions among the
old stones. Nobody asks them about their nationality or faith. It suffices not
to carry arms or any menacing device to approach the wall.
Of course, according to the Jewish
tradition, men and women pray separately. So, I found myself surrounded by a
dozen Ecuadorian Indians, a whole class of school girls brought to visit the
holy place, a bunch of American tourist wearing lots of make-up and big hats,
and a great number of Asians. All of us crowded, shoulder to shoulder, seeking
to attain a peaceful moment for meditation and prayer, while more crowds were
waiting for their turn behind us.
When I was about to leave, a tremor
overtook my body and mind at the sight of a Hindu ageless woman dressed in an
orange and yellow sari. Her forehead and both her hands were glued to the wall.
She was singing and praying and crying in Sanskrit. For me, her mantras, her
tears, her devotion represented for an instant the magnitude and universality
of spiritual power regardless of race, faith or origin.
The
lively Dead Sea
The booming modern state of Israel,
offers alongside its millenary sites both historic, religious and cultural,
some unique experiences such as the Dead Sea and the deserted land that
surrounds it. Many kilometers of heat and clay, a vast uninhabited land, and
yet, even this arid and desolated spot on the earth has deep meaning to the
Jews. Amidst the nothingness, ancient people built a fortress called Masada.
With some research and a lot of imagination, it is possible to reconstruct the
hardships and deprivations suffered by its inhabitants and their endurance
based on hard work and faith.
In the vestiges of Masada lie the
fortitude and resolution of the Jews to survive. The blue sky and Dead Sea are
the only recess to the eyes in this desertic scenery. Not so to the heat, for
both, sky and water are incandescent.
Everybody is aware of the high
density of the Dead Sea. The picture of tourists floating effortlessly on their
backs is as common as the ones of tourists holding the inclined Tower of Pisa
in Italy. Actually, floating in the Dead Sea involves an inversed effort to go
back to a vertical position. The sea feels like a lively mass of water with a
determination to keep you floating forever. It so strongly pushes you up to the
surface, that people seem as though they were drowning when trying to land on
their feet.
Along with the touristic
exploitation of The Dead Sea, it is of course a source of salt and potash (an
important component of fertilizers). It is impossible not to admire the
development of such an arid area: modern and fully equipped hotels and Spas by
the sea, a cable car, with capacity for 80 people per trip, to visit Masada, a
restaurant and a museum. The latter built to blend in with the mountain. There
are drinking fountains everywhere as proof of a highly technological and
effective desalinization procedure.
Finale
David Ben Gurion served his ideal
since 1931 (seventeen years before Israel was declared a nation). Until his
death in 1973 at the age of 87, he occupied the most important roles: from
Prime Minister (1948/1953), Minister of Defense (1955/1963) to an influential
member of the Parliament, his was the voice of wisdom and action. During those
fifty-two years of political exposure, Ben Gurion said a great number of
memorable phrases.
As small as Israel might be in
territory, it is impossible in a week to assess all the cultural, historic,
economical, political or touristic aspects, as impossible it is to make justice
to the man who is considered the founding father, David Ben Gurion.
Like for the resolution of an
equation, I chose the words, places and figures that demonstrate what I
saw, heard, and lived. I hope to have achieved my goal. Quod erat
demostrandum.
May 2018
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