After our lecture this morning, we have the rest of the day to ourselves—a small gift given us, as I think our advisor recognizes that we’re getting fatigued (or maybe he’s just getting embarrassed by our behavior as an audience?). Today I’ll be in the old part of Jaffa, a small city that is now part of greater Tel Aviv. It’s historic, and, most importantly (for my purposes) has a small artists’ village. I guess I’m craving getting away from the political and being immersed in what I’ll call a higher pursuit—art. Thank God for artists. And the artists here are great. Paintings, sketches, fashion, architecture… The colors and designs make you want to go swimming, learn to sing, befriend strangers. Afterwards I’ll go back into Tel Aviv proper and meet up with some colleagues at the beach. We have dinner reservations to sit outdoors, overlooking the Mediterranean.
Last night we heard six members from a larger orchestra sponsored by Bar-Ilan University (our sponsoring university here in Tel Aviv). They play the traditional music of many of the countries from which Jews have immigrated, including Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Armenia, and other countries. As we listened to a love song from Iran played on the traditional instruments of the region, I found myself wishing I could grab my husband’s hand and share the moment with him. The connection here is what I was thinking about—art transcending the mundane. They seemed to love their music and communicated that love through their care for their instruments and the way they played together.
That was two paragraphs without mentioning conflict. I tried to avoid it, but it’s almost inescapable. I keep wondering how Israel continues to grow as a country, how its people can be such inspired artists… I guess like people everywhere, they learn to manage and even thrive, despite the circumstances. One or our speakers said that Israelis are so good at living the present moment because they don’t know if they’ll see the next day.
We began yesterday’s lectures with a speaker on conflict in the region and the particular Arab Israeli conflict. The more I hear and read, the more I picture an impossible octopus. The head would be the geography of the Middle East, and the tentacles are ever-increasing, with new ones sprouting as each new tension arises. I spent the first part of the morning reading in the social sciences library at Bar-Ilan, examining the academic journals I could find related to Palestinian and Jewish issues (political and social, particularly). I found a broad spectrum of publications from both perspectives and was further confused by what I read. Again, the octopus. One writer portrayed the anti-Semitism still found throughout the world and its effects on policy. Another showed cultural reasons for anti-Semitism in the Middle East. Others showed the way Palestinians suffer at the hands of Jews (historically and in the present). I made some notes and will attach what I read below. Warning: This wasn’t scientific, and my citations aren’t perfect, but, if you’re interested, read through to the end.
If I can go back to our first speaker, he couched his argument in terms of the lack of development in this region. He compared the number of books translated in Arabic to those translated to Greek. The Greeks, a smaller country than the entire Arabic speaking world, had more books translated last year. I take this to mean that the Arabic-speaking people don’t read much? We also heard about the relegation of women in the Middle East and that a society can’t thrive without equality between the sexes. Extend this further, and you find Israel among a sea of countries that don’t share the same values? It’s problematic, for sure.
Well, I’m finding this post is meandering quite a bit. I’m also afraid that some of my reflections are getting redundant, and for now I’ll exercise the free will to make it on time to our lecture and then head out to Jaffa.
Shalom.
***
“Hatred of the Jews as a Psychological Phenomenon in Palestinian Society,” Daphne Burdman, Jewish Political Studies Review, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Fall 2006, Vol. 18, Nos. 3 & 4, p. 51-64.
A well-documented article which argues that because Arab societies have different means of childrearing, including unpredictability toward children, abusiveness, traumatic events (including circumcision during years when children are aware of the procedure) in addition to a collective identity, Arabs tend to project their internal conflict and hatred toward Jews as scapegoats. This often happens in the case of a leader, like Saddam Hussein (who, according to the author, had an abusive childhood), and then the people can identify with that leader who refuses to accept blame and casts himself and his nation as the victim. Through education, Islamic education, and other means, the cycle is perpetuated. In the West, the author explains, the individual who grows up in an abusive environment will perform individual acts of criminality, not collective ones.
“Malaysia: Anti-Semitism without Jews,” Moshe Yegar, Jewish Political Studies Review, Fall 2006, Vol. 18, Nos. 3 & 4, p. 81-98.
I didn’t read the entire article. Outstanding points… Islamic countries bind themselves together, even without a history of relations with Israeli or Jewish populations in anti-Semitic ways, including refusal to trade or negotiate as well as expanding propaganda.
“Palestine Voices: The 1948 War and Its Aftermath,” part of a 36,000 word “life history,” as recorded in the oral history of Um Jabr Wishah, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. XXXV, #4, Summer 2006, p. 54-62, University of California Press for the Institute for Palestine Studies.
This account shows the Jews forcing Arabs from the land during the 1948 War. She describes the sympathy she received from the Egyptian Army and how the Jews were bombing villages so that no one was left in them. She had to live in a tent for at least two years, where she lost two of her boys to illness and almost lost her third son because their tent collapsed on him. She described how a Jewish soldier wanted to know the sex of her baby, which she lied about and said was a girl. She said the Jewish soldier said he would have sliced its throat had it been a boy.
Journal of Palestine Studies, same issue: A literature review, photos from 100s of sources (only about 15) showing the “situation on the ground,” including Palestinians with toddlers crying at checkpoints, Palestinian prisoners in raids in their underwear being marched into custody, teachers protesting suspension of foreign donor aid and in support of Hamas, crying Palestinians evicted from East Jerusalem homes by Jewish settlers, Fatah gunmen demostrating in Ramallah in support of PA Pres Mahmud Abbas
“From the Hebrew Press” section of the Journal of Palestine Studies, same issue: Eli Ashkenazi and Jack Khoury, “Poll: 68% of Jews Would Refuse to live in Same Building as an Arab,” Ha’Aretz, 22 March 2006.
34% agreed that “Arab culture is inferior to Jewish culture,” 57% disagreed.
Poll released by Center for the Struggle Against Racism
Inclination toward segregation rises as the income level of the poll respondent drops and also as the level of religious observance rises.
Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture—
Seemingly balanced points of view of Jews and Arabs—Vol 14, No 1 2007 discusses Jerusalem as a divided city, 40 years after 1967 war
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August 3rd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
at first glance – it affirms propaganda applies on both sides. there seems to be as much of a generalization about ‘Arab’ culture as there is about ‘Jewish’ culture which is a dangerous place for all to live. As you have probably discovered, there is amazing diversity in Israel and among Jews as there is among ‘Arab’ culture and Arabs. Ask an Arab if they can define what being Arab means and then ask a Jewish person if they can define culturally what being Jewish means. It is truly complex. The ‘Arab’ world is made up of more than militant and perceived terrorist Muslims as you have seen first-hand. It’s possible that the Jewish community has more of a well conceived cultural identity than Arabs due to enough resource to afford a nation to live at Maslow’s self-actualization tier on the hierarchy as well as a stable government that takes care of its people. Here are some fundamental questions: how often do you hear of Arab nations cooperating and helping each other out? When were the boundaries of Arab nations defined and by whom? What of the ‘Arab League’? I believe these are foundational questions that suggest how well prepared cultures are to answer these questions. This might be a reference to basic human psychology as a baseline, but sometimes people have to understand what living in their own shoes means before being able to empathize with others. With all of the turmoil and unrest and survivalist situations, people end up tending to the day to day and moment to moment, without a chance to be thoughtful and plan for the future or care about their neighbor. Sometimes it breeds anger and resentment. Fundamentalism is something that exists across cultures and religions and something that needs to be balanced to find its natural order. I will have a second glance as these ideas may become more distilled – not like a fine wine but maybe like a decent arak at least.
August 4th, 2007 at 10:14 am
I appreciate your comment about understanding living in your own culture first. I spend a lot of time wondering what I would feel like if the lens were focused on my culture and I had to “defend” it (whatever it is) to a group of people from a distinct place. Furthermore, how would I define my own culture? Hot dogs and jazz? Baseball and Hollywood? Freedom fighting and Puritanical? I say those last few things tongue-in-cheek, so I hope you get the idea.
You are right about the complexities of people. I can’t agree enough that Arabs aren’t terrorists. Some of my students said the number one thing they wanted to communicate in the US is that they are NOT terrorists. Sad, when there’s so much positive they can communicate instead (though I don’t blame them–they take a lot of heat for being Arabs in the US).
Hopefully we can create a world where we do have time to consider our neighbors and share a good wine, or at least a stiff arak, with each other. Thanks for the comments.