Security Fence, the West Bank, and a Divided Jerusalem

Shalom Lekulam,

This past Thursday, we had a seminar day on the topics of the security fence (also known as the Security wall, the Security barrier, and the Apartheid Wall), the West Bank, and Jerusalem (also refered to as East Jerusalem, occupied territory).

The day started off with a preface on what happened during the War of Independence (1948 War) and the concept of the 'Green Line.' For those who don't know - the GL is called that because when the Jordanian and Israeli officials were drawing the armistice line, one of them took out a green pen and used that to draw the lines. It is NOT a border and when it was drawn, the map was on a 1x20,000 scale map. What this means is that everything from the ridiculous map scale, the width of the pen, to the hurried negotiations, all caused problems on the ground.

To get a feel for this, we took a short walking tour into the neighborhood of Abu Tor. Abu Tor was a spot in which both Jews and Arabs lived in peace. During the 1948 war, the GL ended up going directly through the neighorhood. Josh (our guide) explained how outrageous the situation was. Jordan and IL both agreed that their respective territories on the GL could not be changed/added to. Therefore, if anyone wanted to build something or change something on their property, the other side would file a complaint with the UN and go up in arms over it. Now, the neighborhood continues to be a mixed area with both Jews and Arabs and it is actually quite a beautiful spot.

After this, we hopped on a (bullet-proof) bus and took a drive over to a restaurant called 'Mount Everest', which is close to Bethlehem. As Bethlehem is 'Area A' (which means it is COMPLETELY under the jurisdiction of the PA and nobody with Israeli citizenship is allowed inside), we had to be at a safe place within Israeli jurisdiction. Here, we met with a man by the name of Sami Awad. Sami is a Palestinian Christian who started an organization called 'Holy Land Trust.' (http://www.holylandtrust.org) HLT who'se aim is to create a new Palestinian strategy - that of non-violence. The org. does this in 2 ways: by incouraging Palestinian civil disobedience and training Palestinians on the concepts of non-violence through leadership programs, seminars, etc.

It's actually a really great thing which he is doing, and much needed (in my opinion). Interestingly, Sami had 20 Hamas officials go through his non-violence course (though they still returned to Hamas afterwards). While he very clearly used the words 'occupation' and 'wall', he openly stated that he does not think that the Palestinians have strong leadership and he is not sure of the PA's motives behind the recent shift towards non-violence. I asked Sami if him being a Christian (rather than a Muslim) makes a difference in his success. He said that since the Palestinian Christian population is slightly over 1%, this kind of movement clearly has to come from the Muslims. However, something is better than nothing and it's going to be a long and painful process. In any case, it was an interesting meeting though not overwhelmingly hopefuly (unfortunately).

Following this, we went to a lookout point (called the 'Tayellet') where you can see all of Jerusalem. Here we did a little activity: We split up into 4 groups, and each group was given a different proposal for splitting Jerusalem: the Benny Elon plan, 2000 Camp David proposal, Abu Mazen + Beilin plan, and the Geneva proposal. After reading the different proposals, each group was given a laminated map of Jerusalem and had to draw the suggested borders according to the respective plan (ironically- we were given green pens). It's simple enough - just draw a line between the (predominantly) Jewish neighborhoods and the (predominantly) Arab neighborhoods. Each will have his own space and that way, everyone will stop squabilling over what belongs to who. Right?....... WRONG! What do you do about the Old City? Some of the plans call for a partition of the Old City, with the Armenian + Jewish quarter belonging to Israel and Arab + Christian quarter belonging to the Arabs. But if you've been to the old city, and walked through the labrynth of alleyways - it's completely ludicrious! And the temple mount? Does the Western Wall fall under Arab jurisdiction? Would Jews be able to pray there without having stones thrown on them from atop? What about the Mount of Olives? That would technically be under Arab control due to its location, but when the Arabs previously had control over the mount, they defaced the graves and used the stones to pave the streets!
What I'm trying to get at here, is that it's very easy to sit in a room with a map, and start draw borders. But when you live in this city, and feel the small distances, the spilling of one neighborhood into another, and add to the mix the landmarks and holy sites - the clear and obvious answer is that partition is out of the question. Firstly, security would be absolutely untenable. There's just no way that anyone would be safe. But even if you put that aside, you can't talk partition until you, yourself, walk from the Moshava Germanit to Abu Tor. Or from the City of David to the Western Wall. I am absolutely convinced that it would NEVER work. Don't believe me? Then come live here and see for yourself.

The last part of the day was a meeting with (one of the heads - I can't remember his title right now) of the Civil Administration (CA) of the West Bank. This was incredibly interesting because we finally got to hear a lot of information which you never find in the press, and unfortunately (and for no good reason), the CA hasn't yet developed an effective system of putting out vital information to the public in regards to its activities. In fact, most people don't even know that the CA exists or what they do. Basically, they work as a mediator/leason between the Palestinians/PA and the IL government. I'm not going to go into detail about what the CA does. Instead, I'm just going to give you some interesting facts that I learned after that meeting. I took notes during the presentation, so these things/figures are directly from the horses mouth.

Did you know that...

*Israel's biggest trade partner is the West Bank.

*Palestinian exports have more than quadrupled.

*Palestinians get more than $2 BILLION in aid every year from the US. Notice I didn't say 'earmarked' - but literally receive. The money doesn't pass through Israel - it goes directly to the P.A.
This is the most amount per capita of aid provided to a group out of anyone else in the world.

*The WB GDP growth rate is 7% per year! Inflation is down by 15% Just to put that in perspective, IL's growth rate in 2009 was about 0.5%. The US was -2.4% in 2009.

*Israel has removed more than 50% of the checkpoints in the West Bank. Only 14 checkpoints remain in the WB. These checkpoints do not stop every car. A car is only stopped if the IL army has specific and relevant information which can affect security.

*More water is available in the WB than in the capitals of Jordan and Syria combined. 90% of WB Palestinians are connected to the H20 grid.

*The World Bank recently completed a huge $10 million dollar solid waste management center in the WB. This center will be good for 20 years. The World Bank has announced that of all of its environmental projects around the world, the WB has been the most successful.

*Lastly, there has been a bit of an uproar about the recent 'deportation law' which IL has amended. People have been freaking out thinking that IL is now going to deport any and every Palestinian they can get their hands on, as a way of depopulating the WB. I a couple of articles about this and couldn't understand for the life of me what the hell was going on. I knew that there was no way IL was actually going to be carrying out mass deportations or anything close to that, as the papers were saying. Here is the truth guys - from the head of the CA:
IL has had a law which allowed it to deport people who entered the WB illegally (such as from Jordan). This process used to be completely under the jurisdiction of the army and under their discretion. The new amendment to the law now states that anyone who faces possible deportation is granted the full israel judicial process - with a judge and a hearing. This actually makes it harder to deport someone, rather than easier, as they can plead their case and the army can no longer make the decision on its own. Now here's the kicker ---- guess how many people the IL army deported in the past year, before the amendment to the law ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

ONE!!!!!! ONE PERSON!!!!!!!!!! 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty incredible right!??! The problem with all of this - is that the CA (and the IL government in general) - aern't putting this information out there. Not for the press or the public - which is INCREDIBLY stupid of them. They should have a bi-weekly, or even monthly, update on all of the stuff that's going on over there. The projects, the dismantling of checkpoints/roadblocks, the strengthening of PA security forces, the economic statistics - etc!! It's unbelievable that this isn't already in place. But, as much as i hate to say it, that's the IL government for you - one step behind the game (especially when it comes to disseminating info and PR).


Now, judging from the tiny amount of info I gave you, sounds like things are on the up and up in the WB. And the truth is - they are. But don't think that I'm some naive Zionist, under the illusion that the WB is the next Dubai or something. Obviously, there are still problems, the PA isn't perfect, and neither is the CA or IL government. But it's not an apartheid situation, it's not a rotting hell-hole, and I can promise you - that the IL soldiers and civilians working for the CA have no interest in inentionally making the Palestinian's lives as miserable as possible. But like everything else in this country, things are just INCREDIBLY complicated..... incredibly.

Yom Hashoah

So last night marked the beginning of Yom HaShoah = Holocaust rememberance day. As IGF'ers, we were lucky enough to get tickets to the national ceremony which takes places every year at Yad Vashem (the national holocaust museum). First the president gave a speech, then the prime minister. Both speeches were good and both talked about the Iranian threat and Ahmadinejad's incitement to genocide. Then some songs were performed and a poem/letter was read. The most touching part of the ceremony was the lighting of the 6 torches in memory of the 6 million Jews who were murdered. Each torch was lit by a survivor and before they lit the torch, a 2 minute video was played, telling their individual stories. it was incredibly moving and touching.



Today they had the siren. This happens every year, where a sirens go off across the entire country at the same time. EVERYBODY and EVERYTHING comes to a complete stop. Cars, people, offices, buses - EVERYTHING. People stop what they are doing and stand in silence. I was at work during the siren and went out on the balcony with my camera just so that I could see what it really looked like. The only word that I can think of to describe this experience - is haunting. it's absolutely haunting. it's like someone just pressed the pause button. all you can hear is this loud and painful siren - ringing in your head, your heart, and all around you. it feels like its never going to end and while you're standing there, you just feel this pit in your stomach. i'm thinking - 6 million people. the gas chambers. the shootings. the mass graves. how lucky i am to be alive. how amazing it is that there is a Jewish state to protect Jews from such a thing ever happening again.


And all of a sudden, the siren stops, people get back in their cars, pedestrians continue on their way, and everybody sits back at their desks to continue with their work. It's TOTALLY surreal!! I stood there for a bit and to be honest - i was kind of pissed. that's it? 6 million people, 1.5 million children were slaughtered - and that's all you're going to give them? just 1 lousy minute of standing still? how can you just continue with the day so non-challantly? and you need a siren to remind you? don't those 6 million deserve better?!?!


(here is a link to a youtube video just to give you a feel for what it looks like. if you can - watch most of the video. it's really astonishing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_7RRBH1jgs)

I told my dad this and he said that that's only one way to look at it - and he's absolutely right. I have to remind myself that we HAVE to continue with our lives, otherwise those people died for nothing. Yes, it was a HUGE price to pay, but now there IS a Jewish state which will never allow anything like that to happen again. Many died, but enough lived, rebuilt their families and continue telling their stories. it's all so hard to understand really. in some ways, that simple siren was more effective then any speech or picture. In any case - both days were a really incredible experience and I'm really glad I got to be part of it in Israel.

*whew*

On a lighter note - mom left last night. (I guess that isn't really good news either, but at least it's a change of subject hehe). We had a really great time together. Went to the Dead Sea (twice!), visited family, spent a bit of time in Tel Aviv, and got to enjoy each others company. (Mom's probably going to think i'm just trying to be nice in the blog, but really - it was a treat and I know i'm incredibly lucky to have had that opportunity). Not to mention the fact that I got TOTALLY spoiled with groceries!!! yummm. I don't really have too many pictures but i'll see if mom can maybe send me a couple. we have some great ones from the dead sea where we're both all covered in mud. heehee. it was really cute teaching her how to 'swim' there. ;-)

Anymoo - that's i'll i've got for now. Thursday should be an interested day: east jerusalem and the security fence! I'm sure i'll have plenty to write about and pictures to post.

Till next time <3




*~* Never Forget *~* Never Again *~*

My First Wedding (EVER) and the Jerusalem 10k

Shalom Lekulam!

Look at me getting back into the bloggosphere! ;-) I promise this isn't going to be a novel of a post like the last one was. Just wanted to mention to fun little events that happened last week.

The first (if you haven't already gathered from the title of this entry), is that I went to a wedding....for the first time in my life! My Hebrew teacher invited me to her wedding (which was incredibly nice of her, considering that i've only known her for 2 months at most). My friends Shaul and Shaike (who introduced me to Meirav) took me to the wedding. I got to dress up, and I even managed to find sleeves which matched perfectly with my dress! (Sleeves because I needed to be kosher).

It was sooo beautiful and a lot of fun. A traditional Jewish wedding is so different from the american weddings you see in the movies. No bridesmaids/groomsmen, no walking down the isle. There were a couple hundred people there...which is SMALL by Israeli standards! The newlyweds don't eat at a table overlooking the entire hall of guests. Instead, they come out for the dancing and then go from table to table, greeting all the guests, getting blessings, and thanking everybody! (It's actually a lot of work!) Meirav looked absolutely stunning in the dress and all in all it was a great time!





Two days later - I ran the Jerusalem 10k! (There was also a half-marathon, but I am nowhere near being able to run that much. Maybe in my next life.) Though it drizzled a bit in the mornining, it turned out to be a beautiful day. I knew 3 other people running the half-marathon, and I got to see everyone, cheer them on, and get amped up for my own run. This run was a bit different from Tel Aviv for a number of reasons. Firstly - it's all hills here! SWhile there are plenty of flat roads in T.A. - Jerusalem has maybe...1...at best! ahha. Secondly, the route itself wasn't as exciting (maybe because I know the neighborhood?) But also, the paths we were running on were very narrow at times which is kind of scary - people are shoving, swerving around runners, and slowing down a lot.



In the end, it was still fun. I finished in 1 hour 2 min and 46 seconds! Tamar and Paul (Director and sub-director of IGF) were at the finish line and gave me a chocolate medal! (The best kind there is!! ;-) So it was good.

The only bad news is that I found out that I'm semi-flatfooted. This explains why my knees and hips hurt so much when I run! The only thing that can really be done about this, is to go to a pediatrist to get special insoles made. Great - now I have to be self-conscious about my feet?!?! just kidding. It's not a big deal, but I haven't been running since. Not because I'm lazy (though i am), but simply because it hurts! So we'll see what happens with that. Maybe I'll just keep doing 10k's - afterall, you get a free shirts and people think you're fit!!! haha.

In other news, mom is coming to visit me in 6 days!!!! weeeeeee!! so stay tuned - i'm sure I'll have plenty of stories :)

*~* Shabbat Shalom *~*
בלה

Tiyul to the Negev and Sderot

Remeber how I said that I finally have some interesting stuff to write about now? Well, that's because we took a trip to the Negev and the city of Sderot. The general theme of the trip was learning about the periphery of Israel and the different issues which accompany this region of the country. For those who are not familiar, the Negev is the name of the desert region in the south(in hebrew it means 'dry'), which comprises more than half of the land in Israel. It's incredibly beautiful, hot as hell, in desperate need of water, and lacking in development (for the reasons just mentioned).

We started off with a visit to Ben Gurion University and met with the President of the university. That was nice. Then we visited a unique industrial park which was founded by Stef Wertheimer. (You can read about him and his industrial park model here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stef_Wertheimer#Industrial_parks).
Afterwards, we went to the Abu Basma Regional Council. This is basically an organization/body which is trying to deal with the issue of the Beduins in the South. Before this trip, I really didn't know anything at all about the Beduins of Israel (except that they have camels and very delicious tea). Historically, the beduins were a nomadic people of the region. They are not 'Palestinian', nor are they exactly Muslim (that is, they have their own unique traditions which are not necessarily based on the sharia). There are actually 2 sectors of Beduins in Israel -the ones in the North and the ones in the South. The northern beduins are much more assimilated, less severe in their traditions, and more integrated with modern society. The beduins of the south, however, are much more traditionalist and have not really accepted modernity. Many beduins are invovled in crime, such as theft (EXTREMELY prevalent), drug trafficking, human trafficking, and violence. They accept money from the state but do not really recognize Israel. There is much you can write about this whole situation, so to make a long story short - the Beduins of the south are a serious problem which nobody wants to touch with a 10 foot pole! (seriously). Anymoo - so we visited this organization which is trying to somehow deal with this whole situation.
Continuing with our Beduin theme, we visited a beduin town called Likia. Here, we met with a Beduin woman who is spearheading an organization which is trying to bring about some form of rights (nevermind equality) to beduin women. [As I mentioned, the southern beduins are very traditional. This means that their society is extremely male-dominated. For example, women cannot go anywhere without their husband (or a male family member), they do not work, typically end their schooling after the 8th grade, and have restrictions on who they can marry. A man, on the other hand, can have up to 4 wives.]

So this woman (who'se name I don't remember, sorry), has started several projects. She put together a library, works with the local female community in terms of education, and has provided employment opportunities for women through the craft of embroidery. Traditional embroidery has been a part of the beduin culture, and now these women sell their crafts while getting their message out. She told us a story of how she wanted to take a group of women to the sea - without any male accompaniment. She got a phonecall threatening to burn her house down if she went through with the trip. She decided to go afterall, and her house was indeed burnt down. This just goes to show what this organization is up against. Clearly, bringing about change is no easy task. That's it for day one. (This is me with a cup of Beduin tea -- yummmm!)
The next morning we wake up at 5:30am (that's right - BEFORE dawn) and go for a hike in the Negev. It was absolutely beautiful! And the most amazing part - was that it was GREEN!!! There were dunes covered in yellow and purple flowers, and we got to spend some time sitting on our own little sand hill and enjoy the silence of the desert. Well worth the lack of sleep!




After a nap and lunch, we went over to Ben Gurion's tomb and house. Ben Gurion had a great love and intimate connection with the Negev. He had a lot of things to say about it (which I won't go into - but its very interesting and there is much written about the topic). BG's tomb (and his wife's) are incredibly modest and are on a point which overlooks the Negev. In his will, Ben Gurion requested that his house be preserved as is and become a museum. Walking through the rooms tells much of his personality and passions. He knew 9 languages, would stand on his head every day as part of his health regiment(no joke), was fascinated with Buddhism (spent 3 days in a Buddhist monestary living with the monks), slept no more than 3-4 hours per night (he thought sleeping was a waste of time, and perhaps most importantly - deeply deeply loved Israel! Really a fascinating character.


This was followed by a visit to a 'student village'. Basically, a couple of guys -after finishing the army - decided to initiate this housing project where students can live in wonderful apartments, pay very low rent, and get help with tuition - but in return, must volunteer 10 hours per week in the community and help work the land which this student village is situated on. After studying, the government offers to help subsidize mortgages for people who buy homes in the Negev. The idea is to slowly populate the Negev. By having people contribute to the community as well as invest a part of themselves in the land, they (hopefully) develop a connection to the Negev. So far it has been very successful and is very well organized. I mention this in the blog because it's truly remarkable how much spirit, passion, and dedication these people really have. It's like Zionism of the 21st century! I personally couldn't live there, but it was incredibly inspiring to see something built out of nothing. Not just physical houses but a legitimate and significant movement in its budding stages.
The last day was the most emotional. We got to Sderot and met this guy named Jacob Shrybman, who works for the Sderot Media Center (http://sderotmedia.org.il/). This organization is basically trying to let the world and israel know what people have actually been dealing with for the past 9 years in Sderot. Over 12,000 rockets have fallen on the city! Government has only recently been subsidizing the building of bomb shelters for residents. People can't leave because the value of property in Sderot has dropped by over 50% (I mean think about it... who the hell would want to buy a house that is most likely going to get hit by a rocket anyways?!). So most people are stuck. A generation of children has been growing up in this horrendous environment. There is a bomb shelter every 15 seconds, because that's how much time you have before the rocket hits. Now think about the implications of this.... How do you hear the alarm if you are in the shower? how do you go to the bathroom? how can you go grocery shopping? what if you sleep through the alarm at night? (that's redundant because nobody there has really slept in 9 years). How do you let your kids go play or go to school? The most fundamental aspects of life are completely mutilated because at any momment, a rocket could be launched and all you have is 15 seconds to pray that it doesn't hit you! I really can't imagine a situation any more fucked up than this. It's ABSOLUTELY disgusting and unbelievable.

**some of the many Kassam rockets**

**bus stop**

**That long catapillar is actually a bomb shelter for children to run into**


We also went onto a lookout point from which you can see northern Gaza. Unfortunately it was a bit foggier than usual (normally you can see the cars driving and everything). Never the less, it is RIDICULOUS how close Gaza is to Sderot. 2 miles!!! Can you imagine living 2 miles away from a place which is shooting rockets at you?!?! It was totally sureal to see it. Jacob pointed out the high-rise buildings which Arafat constructed from international aid money. You could see the power-plant in Ashkelon (which provides 70% of the electricity to Gaza) that was also rocketed. It's extremely difficult to understand the proximity of all these things until you see it with your own eyes. It's just unbelievable. Scary.



Our last stop on the trip was a meeting with a woman by the name of Rachel Saperstein. She and her family were evacuated (or as she says, expelled) out of their home in Gush Katif (Gaza) during the 2005 disengagement. Her husband lost his right arm in the Yom Kipur war. Her oldest daughter was on a bus which was blown up by a suicide bomber (luckily she survived). And then her husband lost several fingers on his left hand and was shot in the leg after a palestinian shot up his car in Gush Katif. Then the government pulled her out of her house and stuck her and her husband in a hotel room for 9 months. Now she is living in a special settlement specially designated for ex-Gush Katif residents. One of the guys in our group asked her if she feels like a refugee and she said yes. She's pissed, has lost much faith and trust in the government, and is not too optimistic about reconciling with the Palestinians. I asked her if she would have felt differently about the situation if peace would have resulted from the pull-out. She said: "It didn't. there is no peace. and that's the only thing that counts. don't be naieve - they want to kill us." Just like everything else we experienced on this trip, there is much to say about the situation and not enough room (or energy) to do so. The point is though, that regardless of how you may feel about the government's decision to evacuate Gaza, it is undeniable that this ruined family and severly damaged the spirit of these people.

So that was my trip in a nut-shell! I'm hoping to do a lot more traveling, now that the weather is turning up.
Hope I didn't exhaust you all with this long entry.
Will be writing you soon about my first experience at a wedding and running the Jerusalem 10k race! weeeeee :-D

All the best to everyone!!!
<3

Back from the Blogging Hiatus

Hello Hello to everyone!
Long time no blog! Hope you are all doing well. I haven’t written in some time, not because I completely forgot about the blog (on the contrary - I kept telling myself that *this* Shabbat I’ll write an entry) – but somehow I just never felt like I had anything significant to write. It’s not that my life is boring here, it’s just that I’ve finally settled down a bit. It took about 5 months or so, but I’ve got a little routine going. I work full time, have started running again (am running a 10k race in 6 days), am taking Hebrew lessons twice a week, going to our weekly seminars, and trying to have fun here and there when I can. It isn’t that exciting, but it’s funny how you really do acclimate to your surroundings after some time. I can get around town, am understanding just a *tad* bit more Hebrew, know a couple good spots to eat, and have even cooked Shabbat lunch.
I deal with problems when they come, know where to get cheap groceries, and officially can’t eat a meal without hummus.

It doesn’t seem like much, but I distinctly remember saying out loud how I can’t imagine ever feeling settled in any way. And here I am, 6 months later, sustaining an independent life in Israel. Pretty wild! Given the extremely minimal hardships which I’ve encountered while being here, I can’t help but think how unbelievably difficult it must have been for my parents to immigrate. It’s terrifying to come to a completely foreign place and have to build your life from scratch (never mind having children to feed and a family to somehow maintain and support). If my experience bears even the slightest resemblance to what they went through, I simply don’t have any words sufficient enough to describe my amazement and gratitude for everything that they went through. Makes me think twice when I want to complain about lack of friends or American comforts.

However, there is a price to pay for finally reaching a state of equilibrium and comfort in this environment. Because I have a daily routine and am keeping busy with day–to-day activities, I feel like I’m a bit out of synch with Israel. I used to be acutely aware of the fact that I was in Jerusalem – the holiest city there in the world. I felt the magic in the air and smiled when I would see someone praying on the bus – because that’s normal here. Jaffa oranges were that much better because they are grown in Eretz Israel. And going to a club and seeing guys in kippas dance was somewhat of a small miracle to me! These days, it’s not that I’m less aware of these things, or don’t think they are special – I just have to remind myself – and that’s really upsetting to me. I don’t ever want to take this country for granted, and I’m scared that that might be a natural side-effect of spending so much time here.
But don’t worry dear reader(s) - I do have new and legitimate adventures to write about, with pictures and everything. But I guess I just wanted to provide a little background as to what my life has been like in general. So no complaints. Hakol Beseder 

Lots of Love from Jerusalem
בלה

שלום

Shalom lekulam!

Hope everyone is doing well. Almost the end of January 2010! Unbelievable how quickly time passes no? I haven't written for a while because not a whole lot has been going on. Still working at MEMRI and am really enjoying it. Most of my time is split between two things: doing transcripts/clips in English with MEMRI-TV and researching Jihad in the Caucasus (for the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor).

For those of you who are not so familiar with the Caucus region (I sure as hell wasn't before MEMRI) - it is comprised of a various republics which are technically part of Russia and are not independent (i.e. Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Ossetia, and so on). Sounds crazy? that's because it is! Most people have never really heard of these places, much less considered that there are Muslims there, or even radical Islam and terrorism! It's a total mess over in that part of the world, there is not a whole lot of scholarly writting about it --- and it's MY job to figure out what the hell is going on! Along with researching the historical context of the situation, I am also reading daily the Caucus-Jihadi websites (in Russian) and trying to figure out if there is any relevent/interesting information that MEMRI might be helpful to MEMRI. I never thought my my Russian skills would be put to such use ahha! But it's great, I am learning a lot, and it is pretty interesting (as long as you're a safe distance away) ;-)

I have also decided to move out of my apartment and move in with my friend Karen and her two flatmates. Despite giving up a wonderful apartment, having to share a room, living in a smaller space, and moving (which is always a pain in the ass) - I really think it's going to make me happier and (hopefully) bring my experience full circle. I love my flat, but the honest truth is that it's not my home , it's just a place where I sleep. I still feel pretty isolated and lonely at the end of the day. It's just not worth it for me to be paying so much and not feeling fulfilled. So, instead I'll be living with 3 really great girls, who will be speaking Hebrew, and are sweet and caring. if worst comes to worst - it's only for 4 months. I'll survive :)

In other news - I've kind of started running again. It's time for my fat lazy ass to make an attempt at getting into (some kind of) shape. Probably not the best time to be doing so, seeing as how its FREEZING here right now! There were serious thunder/lightning storms for a couple of days too. But I'm trying to make it out as long as there isn't any rain. brrrr

Oh, and one other thing - I'm starting private Hebrew lessons!!! YAY! I know it sounds really lame and ridiculous that I haven't really learned any hebrew - but jerusalem really isn't the 'all immersion' environment you would expect. everyone speaks english, many speak russian, and meeting israeli's isn't as easy as one would think. (that is - getting hit on/picked up on isn't a problem - it's actually making israeli friends that's a bit more challenging) haha oi! so hopefully these lessons will help me develop my Hebrew. better late than never right?! ;-)

that's really the most of it folks. nothing too exciting. don't have any adventures to really write about - it's simply been too cold to do anything extremely interesting! hopefully that will change soon

Lots of Love!
<3

Who Knew Anti-Semitism Could be so Fun!?!

Hello All!

Just wanted to give you a quick update on what I am doing, that I am at working at MEMRI. I get into the office about 8:30am and leave around 5 or 5:30pm. The people here are so sweet, constantly bringing in food and pasteries (I am going to gain so much weight), and there is plenty of work for me to do! Also, every day, Yigal gives me some kind of article or political analysis to read. How cool right?

Okay, so as far as my what I actually spend my time doing (aside from stuffing my face with bureka's and croissants). I am compiling a huge list of contact information of all the influental newspapers, media outlets, professors, private orgs, and military personal - IN RUSSIA! Yes, it's a massive job, but the good thing about is, is that I am doing a lot of reading in Russian. This is in the office which handles the Arab press.

In addition, I am splitting my time with the office (across the street) which handles Arab television (http://www.memritv.org/). Though I am not doing direct translations (since I don't speak Arabic or Farsi), I am writing all of the transcripts which accompany each video. Also, some videos are all in English. In these cases, I transcribe the clips AND insert all of the subtitles using this special software.

May I just point out, that when you watch one of these 2 minute clips, you can't help but be stunned by the speakers and horrifyed by the messages. But what you *don't* think about, is how much time and work it takes to actually translate, transcribe, and insert subtitles for these little clips. It is SOOOO MUCH WORK!!! Seriously!!! A 10 minute clip can easily take about 3 hours to complete!!!! It's really incredible. I can't tell you how much my appreciate for this organization has grown, that I understand the work people are doing here. wow!

Many people ask, including myself, how you can watch these videos - day in and day out, over and over again. People talking about the slaughter of Jews, the glory of martyrdom, the evilness of America and the West. It's astounding and incredibly disturbing. I'll admit that the first time I transcribed one of these clips, I couldn't believe that my own fingers were typing these terrible things. It's a legitimate feeling. But the truth is - you get over it, treat the words and words, and even laugh off some of the more ridiculous statements crazy people make. There are people here who have been dealing with this for years, and have just learned to dissasociate themselves. Pretty nuts though.

Anymmoo - that's about it for now. I actually have to run. I am going to be working with Proffessor Menahem (who gave us the lecture on our first visit to MEMRI) - and then we (IGF) have a lecture with Prof. Irwin Cotler (who is AMAZING!).

Hope everyone's week is going well!
:) בלה

A New Start in a New Decade!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYBODY!!!!

Hard to believe that it is already 2010! I figured we would have been zipping around in space-pods by now and taking lunar vacation (Maybe next year?). I hope everyone had a wonderful NYE celebration. I ended up meeting the new decade with my program director (Tamar) and some IGF alumni. It was actually pretty good. Nothing too crazy, and no, I didn't get completely wasted. But, I was with good people and 10 minutes walking from my apartment - what more could you want?! ;-)




Well - I have some great big news!

........It has to do with work.......

...................I have a new job..............
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**drum roll please**
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I AM OFFICIALLY WORKING AT MEMRI!!!!!!!

That's right ladies and gentlemen - I am finally in an environment which is condusive to hard work but is still pleasant and enjoyable! I am in the company of very intelligent and diligent individuals! I am already improving my Russian language skills. And to top it all off - LUNCH IS PAID FOR!!!! Holy crap, I think I just died and went to (unpaid) work heaven! hahaha. To put it bluntly - I'm thrilled! This should be good and will hopefully prove to be a really great and meaningful experience.

As far as the MOT (ministry of timewasting...i mean tourism) is concerned, I am going to go in tomorrow for a little bit to tie up any loose ends, grab any remaining items, and say goodbye to Noga. Tamar is going to try and find a different option for me in another government position, but to be honest, I've kind of lost faith in the government and would rather just enjoy MEMRI to the fullest. We'll see how it goes.

In any case - 2010 seems to be off to a very good start! :-D

On that note, I am off to have a drink!
Happy New Years everyone!
<3 Love <3

Sitting on Babies and Holding My Breath...

Two bits of information to report for today (that's a big deal in my world haha).

Firstly - I had my first experience babysitting in Israel. There is a website called www.janglo.net (which stands for Jerusalem Anglos) which is more or less a crappier version of craigslist for Jerusalem.

Anymoo, last week when I was bored&frustrated at work, I was scrolling through the 'jobs' section and came across a post of a mom looking for a helper on Sunday December 27th. Her name is Tanya and she has three kids (all boys): Oldest is 6 years, middle is 4 (I think), and youngest is 2 months!

So I met her and the kids the other week, and just as soon as the door opened, I had a 4 year old jump into my arms and the 6 year old gave me a hug, grabbed me by the hand, and started pulling me inside....I guess they liked me! :o) Tanya called me later on to tell me that the kids loved me (whew) and that she would love my help today. It was only for about 3 hours (4:30-7:30) and she was home (which was very nice) and to top it all off --- KESEF!!! (That means *money*)

That's right ladies and gentlemen - I got PAID!!!! (25 NIS/hr) I completely forgot what it's like to get money for working! hahaha. Oh man. Ofcourse, that money was shortly spent on groceries, but never the less, it didn't come directly out of my pocket! EXCELLENT. Hopefully this gig will continue from time to time and I asked her to pass my name along to any other mom's in need of some babysitting.

The second bit that I'm really excited about (though I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch) is in regards to MEMRI. Remember that institute that I offered to volunteer at and sent my resume to?....well I got a call from a man named Yegal Carmen today asking if we could meet tomorrow!! EEEEEEEEE.

This is really great! Hopefully I will blow him away with...err....something...haha and will manage to do some volunteer work for the organization! I'm trying not to amp myself up about it too much, but just the thought of contributing to such a great organization gets me a little jumpy. I would *love* to put that on my resume.
Hopefully I will have some really great news to write about in this blog tomorrow :)

That's it. I'm going to go out and celebrate with a drink
BTW - did you know that it's almost 2010!?!?!?!?! WTF?!?!?! when did that happen?!?!

*oi-va-voy*
talk to you soon
<3

MEMRI and Natan Sharansky

Shalom Lekulam!

This week, though slow to start and not necessarily a glamorous week, had some notibale highlights.

To begin with - I have *officially* established that my boss does not have any work for me. On the one hand, this is incredibly unfortunately. The department which I was placed in seemed like a match made in heaven. I have the skills for marketing, some previous work experience, and large amounts of enthusiasm. However, the reality of the situation is that nobody within the New Media Marketing department knows what they are doing. That is to say, that they are not trained marketing professionals. Of course, it's not like I graduated with some fancy shmancy business degree, however a lot of things (esepcially in marketing) are common sense. Yet, the people in my department don't seem to have this kind of knowledge. Whether it's cultural differences, lack of qualifications, or beurocracy, the bottom line is that there isn't any meaningful or legitimate work for me to do.
The good thing about this news, is that at least it has finally been fully and openly established. I would like to think that I did everything I could before comming to this conclusion. I don't necessarily want to leave my ministry (since I have already committed 3 months there), but I simply can't handle wasting any more of my time (or my parents money) doing nothing. Sure, I could sit in the office and study Hebrew or prepare for the GRE, but I don't need to be in Israel to do that. I busted my ass to get into this program, and I am going to try and get everything that I deserve and was promised out of it! So, once my program director gets back from vacation (December 30th), we will start looking at other internship options for me. I am asking everyone to start praying and crossing their fingers/toes so that I don't end up in yet another shitty situation. I need all the good universe vibes I can get right now! Of course, I will let you all know how this whole situation develops and where I end up.

Now, Thursday is really when all the interesting stuff happened. Every Thursday, instead of working, we have an IGF seminar day. This usually consists of lectures, meeting various political figures/heads of organizations, and other educational activities. This week we got to do a couple of interesting things.
Firstly, we got to visit MEMRI = The Middle East Media Research Institute (http://www.memri.org/content/en/main.htm). You know all those YouTube videos that are online - of the Hamas religious leader giving a sermon about 'death to America', or the infamous clip of the children't program teaching little Muslim kids that Jews are descendants of 'apes and pigs'. (If you haven't seen them, here are some links:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjbJnZUJTYU&feature=PlayList&p=F6A416AF9D7CD1E1&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=53). In any case, these videos are an example of what MEMRI does. They translate and analyze numerous media sources (t.v., newspapers, websites) generated from various Middle East countries. They don't only monitor the content for anti-semitic/anti-israel/anti-american statements, they also give voice to the moderates and those who try speak out against their governments. I personally believe that the work they are doing is not only incredibly fascinating, but also incredibly important. I got really excited after our lecture, so I came up to the professor who gave us the lecture and asked him if they ever need interns or volunteers. I'll admit - I don't know a word in Arabic, don't really know any Hebrew either, but hey, it never hurts to ask. He took my contact information and wouldn't you know it - I recieved an email that very day asking for my resume!!! eeee! we'll see how it goes . If they do decide to take me on to do some work, that would be *really* amazing!!! Oi!

Later we got to meet with.....*drum roll please*.... NATAN SHARANSKY!!! That's right, Mr. Sharansky came to meet all of this year's IGF'ers. A local media source (called Arutz Sheva) got wind of his appearance, so they decided to come to the Begin Center and do a little piece about the IGF program. Guess who was asked to be interviewed on camera?! Here is the link to the webpage where you can watch the 5 minute piece on the IGF program, and get to hear some of my collegues:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135192

After our little session with Mr. Sharansky, we took a group picture with him, and he literally sat right next to me for the photo. Yes, I was completely star struck! But don't be fooled by his small stature - Mr. Sharansky is a very fascinating man with a great sense of humor, sharp wit, and a genuine concern for the future of Jews around the world. Hopefully IGF will email that picture to all of us, in which case I will be sure to put it up on the blog.

That's all the official stuff. I do have a cute little story though that happened to me later that evening. I went down to Emek Refaim to the book store. I had some time to kill and figured I could just treat myself to a book and then go sit in the next door coffee shop to read for a bit. (I am making an effort to push myself out of my house and out into the world of Jerusalem). As I was standing in the shop, debating if I should get Alan Dershowitz's book "The case against Israel's enemies" - I see there is a guy standing next to me leafing through an English book. I asked him if he has read Dershowitz's book, he says no, and we end up having a small chat about various authors and what not. I find out that his name is Wayne, he's originally from South Africa, he lived in Israel for some time, but has moved back to S.A. and just on a visit in IL for a friends wedding. He recommended some authors to me, and in particular, this one book called 'the lion's honey'. bla bla - i say thanks, enjoy your night, go to pay for my book, and take a seat in the coffee shop as originally planned. 10 minutes later, Wayne comes up to me, and says "here, I got you this - because I like to do crazy things and I really think you will enjoy this book" - and he hands me 'the lion's honey' which he previously mentioned to me in the bookshop!
I was totally stunned and tried to offer him a coffe, but he kindly refused and said that he was actually meeting up with friends and had to run. Don't get the wrong impression here guys, this wasn't skeezy or a pick up line or anything like that. It was just an honest gesture of kindness and thoughtfulness for no reason other than being nice! I can't say that anything like that has ever really happened to me (at least not as far as I can remember) but it's really refreshing to come across a genuinely kind person. Especially when everything else around you seems to be more on the crappier side. I guess it was just a reminder that there really still are some decent people in the world and it was nice that it happened in Israel. hehe. I'm about a third of the way through the book (it's really short) and so far Wayne has kept his promise - the book is great! :-D

Well - that's the most of it for the week. Could be better, but also could be a lot worse. The sun has been shining during the day, I am in Ashdod with family (and my cousin who is here from Lithuania), got a stomach bursting from delicious food, good books, and a hopeful outlook :)

with that said - time for me to go to bed! (HA - i'm a poet and I don't even know it). Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate! Merry chinese food and movie day to all those that don't!

Hope everyone is doing well!
Lots of Love!
<3

Israel: Round II

Okay, it has definitely been a little while since my last post. My sincere apologize for that. Basically what happened is that things dramatically slowed down, in terms of work, IGF, social life, etc. Here is a brief breakdown-

Work: literally had no work, was just sitting in the office needlessly loosing my mind. You can imagine how frustrating this is when you/your parents are paying so much money for a supposedly unique experience.....right. The reason for this is a combination of things. My boss, although extremely sweet and caring aboutme, does not have enough time/idea of what to do with me. The beurocracy of the government doesn't help either, as there is a lot of discord and lack of unified vision between departments. After much consulation with Tamar (IGF director) and my parents, and with enough insistence on my part- hopefully this will change. Keep your fingers crossed

IGF: well, I guess when the internship aspect isn't going so well, its easy enough to get disenchanted with the program as a whole. I'm not giving up yet though!

Social Life: mmm...this aspect is still in the works. To anyone wondering - no - i am not close with anyone from my program. It's also a bit challenging because I haven't really found a community to be part of. For example, while i was studying in Oxford, I came upon the Chabad - which is how I ended up meeting some really great people, participating in events, and so on. Here, I haven't been able to find anything of the sort. So, either I get lucky and meet a great group of people, or keep sticking my nose in places it may or may not belong. It's really a matter of continuing to put myself out there. Granted, it's a bit harder to do when the weather is crap and all you want to do is stay under the covers. But persistence is the name of the game when it comes to Israel.

That's the general idea. In other news, as some of you may already know, yesterday I got back to Israel after a week long trip back home to CA. Oh my goodness, I can't even tell you how wonderful it was to be home. In my bed, driving around familiar neighborhoods, hot showers, family, friends, and genuine hugs and kisses. It was a much needed trip. The only bad part about the trip was that it ended all too quickly. Part of me couldn't help but dabble with the idea of staying home and forfeiting this whole IGF project. Yet, my friends empathized and encouraged me to continue and my family suggested a number of possible steps I can take to ensure that my experience here reaches its full potential (and doesn't become another waste of time/money). So, here I am, back in the Holy Land trying to keep that positive energy flowing.

In fact, I was ready to return to Israel with a 'go-getter' attitude, but of course, things don't always work out as planned. During my 4 hour stop over in London Heathrow Airport, my stomach really began hurting, and continued throughout the 4.5 hour flight to IL. To make a long story short - I ended up at a 24 hour emergency clinic in Jerusalem (suitecase and all)with the diagnosis of a stomach virus and an IV in my arm. oi! I got home in the middle of the night, exhausted and pretty demoralized. There was also a Tiyul which started today which I skipped. I may/may not miss the remainder of the Tiyul as well. UGH!!! Maybe this is the country's way of rejecting my presence. Maybe, it's just another challenge that is meant to help me grow and become that much better of a person. In any case - it kind of sucks (but makes for interesting blog writting) haha. I swear, I only attract the most ridiculous situations (especially when in Israel)!

So that pretty much covers everything. We'll see how things go from this point forward. In short, I'm going to give this whole thing another go- be aggressive, demanding, and outgoing. If, after all of that, things STILL don't work out - then I can say that I gave it a fair shot and come home. I need to make up some kind of mantra to keep me going. Maybe something like "Israel Israel, it's a balagan, but I am determined to make it fun" haha.

Israel round two: here i come!

The End of the Honeymoon

Shalom All,

I don't actually have anything interested to report at all. I was sick all of last week (which really sucked). Work has slowed down significantly (which also kind of sucks). The weather is getting shitty - wet, windy, and *really* cold (which as you can guess --- ALSO really sucks). So the fact of the matter is that the first two months of being in Israel, what I officially am calling the honeymoon period, are quickly coming to a close. The problem of moving to a foreign country for a while - is that you have to start from scratch. Now that my life has slowed down and i'm not running around Israel like a chicken with its head cut off - I am beginning to feel the impact of not having *any* familiar comforts. No friends, to immediate family, no language, no sense of community, and everything is foreign. It's really hard. I'm starting to miss home alot which makes it hard to stay positive. I'm not miserable, crying every night or anything like that - but I do feel sorry for myself (since nobody else is around to do it for me). The truth is, that I really shouldn't be complaining. I do have some family in Ashdod, I am lucky enough to have Netanel's parents (who brought me food when I was sick), I have my own apartment, and there is always the IGF staff in case things get really bad. And yet, I still feel lonely. It's a shame that the social norms of kindergarten stop applying once you get older. I would love, more than anything, to be able to come up to a decent looking person in the street, and ask if they would want to be my friend. How much more honest and simple can you get?! Unfortunately, that's not how 23 year olds are expected to make friends. Ugh! All this stuff is to be expected, and I'm sure that sooner or later it will pass, but right now it just kind of sucks.
That is why everyone who is reading this blog right now - should totally come visit me in Israel! Yes - I think that is a brilliant solution. I can't exactly show you around since I don't know the city myself, and I don't really have any food in the house -- BUT -- you should totally come anyways!!! haha. That's my brilliant proposition. So, just send me the dates of your arrivals and we'll figure things out from there! haha.
Anymoo - that's the latest and (not so)greatest news from me. I know it's kind of a bummer. Hopefully thing will start turning up sooner rather than later.
Love and miss everyone!
<3

Second Tiyul: Settlements and Dead Sea Region

Last week we had our second Tiyul. This trip basically consisted of two sections: the first was on settlements and the second was more about green/resources/geology in the dead sea region. Though there is much to be said about the second aspect, and it is important, i'm not really into that stuff so I'll be rather brief on that front. What was of more interest to me were the few settlements which we visited and trying to understand that whole situation.
The day started with a presentation from Hagit Ofran who is a (high ranking) representative of a group called Peace Now (shalom akhshav). Here is the English website: http://www.peacenow.org.il/Site/en/homepage.asp
and here is the wikipedia page about the group: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Now

Basically, PeaceNow advocates complete dismantaling of all Israeli settlements and moving all of these people into 'israel proper'. Often known as land for peace. I'm not going to comment too much on what I think of this organization (as this isn't meant to be a political blog), though I am sure that many of you can already guess my reaction (especially given the outcome of the Gaza dissengagement).
Directly after her lecture, we proceeded to visit two settlements. The first is called Gush Etzion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gush_Etzion) which has a very interesting and rather tragic past. Currently, it is a beautiful, big and modern collection of communities. We didn't interact with anyone from the community here, but we did watch a short film about Gush Etzion's history and got to see the bunker in which many people were murdered during 1947.
The next settlement we went to is called Tekoa.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tekoa,_Gush_Etzion). Unfortunately the wiki page won't tell you much, but i found this settlement to be particularly interesting. A man, by the name of Bobby Brown, came to speak to us about Tekoa. He made Aliya from the states and has lived in Tekoa for 30+ years. What he said was, that Tekoa has a rather dynamic and open relationship with its arab neighbors. often, the jewish settlers employ the local arabs, they invite one another to social functions, share resources and find common ground despite cultural differences. Granted, these relations used to be better in the past but you can still see it now. While being absolutely committed to the territory and finding disengagement to be out of question - Mr. Brown believes that peaceful coexistence can be reached by taking steps towards better basic aspects of life. For example, if the Arabs need water and the Jews need soil - you start there and steadily improve on the elementary needs of life. He said that the way he figures it, the more you work together and help each other out, the more trust is established. and the more trust that is established between your neighbor, the harder it is to pick up a rock or a gun against that neighbor. Though I didn't ask him this, it does sound somewhat akin to Netenyahu's 'economic peace' idea. Perhaps in more simpler, 'grass roots' terms?
At the end of the day we had a discussion about the PeaceNow presentation and meeting Bobby Brown from the Tekoa settlement. There was one thing which was pointed out that I find especially interesting. Usually, when we think of left-wing groups, we get the idea of people who are trying to create dialogue between Jews and Arabs, bring them together, all that good stuff. And when we think of settlers, most imagine extremely right wing, religious finatics that want to be segregated from arabs. Well, last weeks encounter proved the exact opposite. It was the left-wing group which is basically calling for a complete seperation between Jews and arabs behind a border, and the settler who is calling on cooperation and coexistence between Jews and Arabs. just something to think about...
That was really it for the settlements. After that it was more ecological stuff. We went to the dead-sea factories, had a speaker give a presentation about how the dead sea is drying up and all of the ecological consequences going on because of it. I wasn't really into this stuff, but there is one thing that we did which I really appreciated. Josh (our tour guide so to speak) offered an option to go on a hike at 6am to anyone interested. Not everybody was, but I decided to go for it. After all, I haven't gone running since the race (I'll give you the list of excuses later) and I don't have a problem waking up early. This was a 3 hour hike and we made it to the top of the crazy mountain overlooking the dead sea and surrounding areas. It was a pretty hardcore hike, but well worth it. The best part was when we took 4 minutes to sit in silence and enjoy the incredible view around us. It's so nice when everyone just stops their useless jabbering for a bit. That was really great.
Once we returned from the hike, we had to quickly scarf down our breakfast and head for the bus. We had two more stops for the day - the Ein Geddi water falls and the Dead Sea. I was at both of these places last year, so it wasn't new, but it was definitely nice to take a dip in the cool waterfalls (since we didn't have time to shower after the hike). I passed on floating in the dead sea because I was too tired from the hike to deal with the saltyness and all that. This turned out to be a pretty good decision since it was very windy and there was a strong current and "waves" in the dead sea. Why is this so bad, might you ask? Because when the water is SO incredibly salty, and the wind is spraying it in your face, and you can't exactly swim back to shore normally since you're just floating the whole time - it can make for a rather uncomfortable experience. ;-)

Though that was technically the end of the Tiyul, I got lucky and got kind of an 'extended version'. Josh (our tour guide) invited me to spend Shabbat with him and his family in a different settlement called Maaleh Adumim. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maaleh_Adumim). It's hard to call this a settlement as it is a collection of communities which is home to about 40,000 people. The proper term for Maaleh Adumim is a city - which it really is. It's beautiful, well kept and has an incredible view of Jerusalem on the one side and the desert on the other. The weekend was great. Josh and his wife, Chana, have 5 kids (the youngest being 7 months old) and it was a blast. Even though they are kind of hyper and pick on each other, they are really sweet kids and all of them are very smart. It was amazing to see how Josh and Chana dealt with every crying/screaming/door slamming situation so fairly and calmly. Really really great parents, that's for sure.

That's the most of it. Unfortunately I don't have any other adventures to write of because I cought the flu and have been in bed the past week. Sucks pretty bad, but it happens. At least it's not the swine flu! (How ironic would it be to catch the most unkosher flu in the most kosher country?! ha!) I'm hanging in there though :)

Hope everyone is doing well!
<3 <3 <3

My First 'WTF?!' Momment in Israel

That's right ladies and gentlemen --- I *officially* had my first 'WTF!?' momment yesterday night! A 'WTF' momment is when you wake up one day, not knowing where you are, how you got here, or why you are here in the first place. I knew I was going to have one of these sooner or late, and yesterday was it.

It was around 5:30pm and I was at the bus stop waiting for the number 13 bus. It is pitch black outside, raining, cold and miserable. I was on my way to the Begin Center because we started up with the Ulpan classes again. As I'm standing, the 'wtf' slowly starts creeping up on me. I realized that I couldn't sit and wait for the bus, because the bench is completely soaked. I also realized that I was literally *waiting for a bus* in the freezing rain, hoping that it would actually come on time so that I don't get entirely drenched. Luckily enough, the bus came quickly and I scrambled on and grabbed a seat facing the front. I like to sit in a seat which faces the front because that way I can see the road and can recognize the stop I need to get off at. However, this did me no good seeing as how the windows were so fogged up, i could have just as well been standing on my head blind-folded. By this time, I am also beginning to sweat because its so stuffy in the bus. I try taking my scarf off...but it's still cold. I finally get off the bus and have to walk a good 7 minutes to the Begin Center. And THAT'S when the WTF really hits me!

Where the hell was I?! Jerusalem?!? What the hell is wrong with me? Have I nothing better to do than freez my ass of in a crazy country full of crazy jews?!? Where the hell is my car with the amazing heated seats? How do people live like this?! Who the hell wants to be a zionist in this kind of weather anyways?!?!?!? WHAT THE FUCK?!?! hahahaha.

Yup! That's literally what was going through my head. I really just started laughing in the middle of the street because the whole thing was just so ridiculous. Don't misunderstand me - it wasn't a bad feeling. It's just an amazing reality check that kind of sneaks up on you. This was one of the first times I ever understood *just how truly* spoiled I was back home. I don't have heavy rain-boots becase I've NEVER had to walk extensively in the rain as a motive of transportation! My ability to get from one place to another never required me to consider the amount of time I would have to wait outside in the rain. If I ever decided not to go somewhere back home, it was because I was lazy - NOT because it would was a *serious* endeavor! Amazing right?!?!

Needless to say, I was humbled and totally stunned by all of this. Looks like I'm going to have to toughen up if I want to survive in the Holy City. I think this is definitely one of the reasons why people are so encouraged to live abroad. Because it really is a challenge. Everything: getting cash out of the ATM, using Microsoft Word, figuring out what is body wash and what is shampoo, checking your bills - these are all activities which I have *literally* had to re-learn (or am in the process of figuring out). It's a crazy learning process which is occasionally supplemented by 'WTF' momments ;-D

It's all good stuff though and I'm sure I will get used to things soon enough. (I guess I don't really have a choice right) ;) We'll see how many more momments like this I will have. Life here is a genuine adventures and I wouldn't have it any other way.

<3

The Temple Mount

On Thursday we had a "1st and 2nd Temple time period" tour of Jerusalem. We started at the City of David and eventually made our way to the Temple Mount. For those that don't know - the Temple Mount (where the Al Aqsa Mosque and the famous Dome of the Rock now stand) - is THE holiest and most sacred site in Judaism, because this was the location of the 1st/2nd temples. I'm not going to go into detail about the history/significance/controvery of this site, but here is a link to the Wikipedia page. I encourage everyone to read a little bit about this site (if you are not already familiar with it) because it is incredibly interesting and meaningful in a variety of ways:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Mount

Oh, one thing I will very briefly mention, is that along with all of the political controversies surrounding this site, there is also much religious debate within the jewish world on whether Jews should/shouldn't visit the Temple Mount. Again, there is much to be said here. Because of the extremely Holy and sacred nature of this site, many Jews choose not to go there at all (as we are not in the proper spiritual state for such a priveledge), some Rabbis say that parts of the Temple mount are okay to visit but not others, or, as long as the person takes the necessary precatious in preparation for going up to the mount, it is okay. There are many schools of thought and the trip to the mount in general was not mandatory due to its controversial nature.

Currently, Israel has political control over the mount, however the Waqf maintain religious control of the area. This means that no non-muslim prayers can take place at the site, non-muslim items/icons cannot be in view, and non-muslims are not aloud to enter the mosque. In otherwords, if someone is wearing a kippah, star of david, cross, ect - you will either not be aloud on the premises or be asked to remove the items. Some of the guys in our group were told to take off their kippahs.

I could go on and on about this site, the challenges/controversies it presents - but I'm not going to do that here. There is simply too much to be said and it is too emotional/controversial to try and write out in a blog. What I will tell you is my personal reaction to the visit.

Though not entirely sure of the idea (for various reasons), I am glad that I went. If there ever (G-d forbid) comes a time when people will not be aloud to enter the area at all - I can say that I *have* been there and seen the holiest spot on earth (for Jews) with my own eyes. With that said - I will openly admit that I don't think I would readily go back there any time soon. I honestly didn't feel comfortable being there and in many ways (not just politically) it was upsetting. Despite being such an important place in the Jewish narrative, I did not get any spiritual fulfillment from being there. It's really hard to explain but I guess uncomfortable is the only word I can think of...

I wanted to write this in the blog though, because i DO think it is important to read about the Temple Mount, discuss, and visit (if interested).

Interview at the President's Residence - moving up in the world?

Okay - so here is the biggest thing that has happened to me so far...

On Tuesday, October 27th, 2009, I was at work as usual doing my thing and not really expecting much. Suddenly, Noga pops into my cube and asks me:

"Hey, would you be willing to go to the President's residence to interview a delegation of Rabbis from Los Angeles?"

At first I thought I misheard heard her .. would i be willing? THE presdient's house?are you kidding me? never mind that i have *never* interviewed anyone in my life or feel important enough to go to the president's residence...OFCOURSE I AM WILLING!!!!!!

So here is the background info. A delegation of 18 rabbis, of various denominations (orthodox, conservative & refor), came to Israel for a 3 day trip. The idea was to show solidarity with Israel and to also show unity between the differeing denominations. (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/)
One of the stops on their busy tour was the Shimon Peres's place for a short, closed doors meeting. So, the Ministry of Tourism (at last minute of course) decided that they wanted to interview some of these rabbis on camera for promotional material. They needed someone to actually interview the people - and that someone turned out to be ME!!!! WHOAH!!! After getting things in order, I went home, took a 20 minute nap, woke up to do some research on the different Rabbis, take notes and memorize faces, and changed into nice clothes.

I met the camera crew (2 latin american jews) and after passing through security (which is no joke) and receiving a 'media' tag, I made my way into the President's main reception hall! Ofcourse, from the momment I walked up to the residence, I couldn't stop smiling and looking like a silly idiot. I really couldn't believe that I was sitting inside the presidence residence about to meet/interview some of the most influental jewish leaders of our day! (a few of the rabbis in the delegation were part of Newsweeks '50 most influental jewish leaders').

Before the doors were closed on the session, I managed to snap some pictures of Shimon and the Rabbis.


In the end, there was only time to interview two of the rabbis. Here are their names and links to short bio's:

Rabbi Denise Eger
http://www.boardofrabbis.org/Rabbi-Denise-Eger

Rabbi Marvin Hier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Hier

If you are wondering whether or not this footage will actually be used for promoting tourism to Israel- I have no idea. It may have been a complete waste of time (from a business perspective). However, it was an *incredible* opportunity for me and even while writing this, I am having a hard time believe that I actually did that.

Oh, and you should all know that Shimon Peres walked RIGHT PAST ME AND SMILED AT ME!!!!! that's right people - i almost touched the president of Israel! hahaha.

I guess the one thing that I want to point out, in writing all of this, is the profound difference in Israeli culture when it comes to celebrities/political figures. In the U.S. there is a *very clear* wall between the 'common person' and the famous figure (be it hollywood/politician/what ever). But in Israel, as long as you pass security - it is totally normal to ask for a picture, shake hands, and interact with the nation's "stars". the relationship here is almost familial in a sense. It's pretty cool and further demonstrates how small this country is but at the same time, how involved people are with what is going on. I don't think something like this could have happened for me in the U.S. unless i knew some people who knew some people....

oh man - i love Israel!
<3

Tel Aviv 10k Night Run – First completed race of my life!

Who can believe it! I, Bella Shapiro, a girl who generally hates running, prefers eating, and has never participated in any kind of communal athletic challenge – successfully completed a 10km (6 mile) race in Tel Aviv, Israel ----- AND IT WAS GREAT!!! The whole process of getting to Tel Aviv on Friday (before Shabbat), picking up my Nike jersey, finding a place to stay – that was all a big balagan (mess). However, as always, everything worked out just fine and some hours before the race, I met up with the people that I was also running with: Noah (my pseudo-coach and fellow IGF’er), Daniela (girl from Venezuela and fellow IGF’er), Gahl (who showed up right before the race started), Matan (Gahl’s cousin) and Becca (Matan’s gf). It was the 6 of us, and as we were walking up to Rabin square (where the race started) you could feel the wave of energy , excitement, and anxiousness in the square. It was a sea of red – everywhere you looked, all you could see is people, thousands of people, in red jerseys! There was music, people stretching, the crowd gathering along the sides of the course. The atmosphere was fully charged.

The cool thing about this particular race is that is it part of a global even t called the ‘Nike Human Race’. Essentially, people all over the world start the race at exactly the same moment (even though the time may actually be different). So people in Los Angeles, Brazil, Ireland, Prague (etc) all started running at exactly the same time! Pretty cool right? When you think about it, it really makes you feel like you’re participating in something big. I will point out that, at least in my vicinity, there were really no other females. Daniela and I were fairly close to the front of the line, so that might have had something to do with it, but it was definitely a bit intimidating. In general I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on and how the hell I managed to sign myself up for this crazy thing in the first place haha.


Eventually the countdown began and Daniela and I were stuck in the middle of the red ocean. There was live ‘pump-up’ music, people were jumping up and down to keep their legs warm, some were clapping and cheering, others were quiet and meditative. Before I knew it, the bell had rung, the crowd started shifting, and somehow my legs just started moving. I began running, and as my legs were moving, I was trying to comprehend everything around me. I keep saying ‘my legs were moving’ because I honestly didn’t feel like my mind took part in what my legs were doing. The bottom half of my body was functioning completely independently from the rest of me. It's really hard to describe the feeling, but the best way I can put it- is it felt like a video game. someone was in moving me around a track and i was just following directions. pretty wild.


so i was running at my usual pace (maybe even a bit slower) and when i hit the 4k mark I was really surprised at how good i felt. i wasn't tired, i wasn't feeling any pain, and couldn't believe that i was almost half way through the entire thing. i was running with Gahl and Daniela which was cool. Gahl was cracking jokes, Daniela was in the zone, and I was somewhere in between. For me, what really helped, is that there was a DJ playing music at every kilometer. So, it was motivating and kept my energy level up. As soon as i would hear music, I knew i was one step closer to reaching the finish line and often i would clap, yell, or sing along to the music! (actually, i think i run a lot better when i have a beat to breath/move to).
In any case, by 7km point, i realized that I really could be running much faster, actually pushing myself (not just running at my slow comfortable pace) and ended up leaving Daniela and Gahl.

Well - I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face and couldn't help but let out a little cheer of victory. Again, it was all pretty surreal, and I couldn't believe that I actually completed a race. Even though my left knee was hurting a bi and I was pretty smelly/sweaty - i felt great! Eventually we all met up, took some pictures, and went to the big lawn where there were various stages with dj's, free popsicles (i ate 2!!), more water, and some people were even passing out nutrition bars. The craziest thing, is that we totally started dancing our asses off and jumpint around to the music after the race!!! You'd think that we would just be collapsing on the ground with exhausting - but it is incredible how much energy and adrenaline is pumping through your system. it wasn't until my body started cooling down and we were waiting for a taxi that i actually got tired, quiet, and wanted to just go home and sleep.

After grabbing some (nasty) fellafel, we finally got on a bus back to Jerusalem and was in bed by around 2:00. Needless to say, being at work the next day at 7:30am was painful and my co-worker told me i looked tired. HA! thanks :-P

did i like it? surprisingly - yes
is it worth trying? absolutely!
would I do it again? hell yes!!!

without sounding conceited, i'm relatively proud of myself (it honestly wasn't THAT challenging but still - my biggest athletic achievement). I'm still debating about the 1/2 marathon. I would like to do it - the only thing that's kind of making me second guess is the rain. it has officially started raining here in jerusalem, and it's just such a cold wet pain in the ass to train in such weather. ich. we'll see. regardless, i really should/need to keep to running - otherwise I will just turn into one big fellafel! :-P

we'll see :)