Trip to See Cousin in Karmiel

I just received internet in my home a few minutes ago so I am so happy to be back online. It was tough and expensive going to restaurants and bars just to use the internet. I kept having to eat and drink when I didn’t need to do so. So, you’re thinking, “life isn’t so tough for you.” True but I am getting the schpilkes. I have been studying Hebrew for 5 hours per day for over 2 months and I’ve been here over three months. I am approaching the time to decide my next move in life.

In this entry, I write about last weekend when I visited my cousin in the north of Israel.

My father, Max, has been doing genealogical research for a while and has found our distant cousin, Dorit, in the city if Karmiel, Israel. Last weekend, I visited her and her significant other, Ephraim, in their condo that has a gorgeous view of a valley that is between the Upper and Lower Galilee. On the top of the hill on the other side of the valley sits a Jewish village next to a Bedouin village. As a schvinctally neat and organized teacher and an Israeli, she doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. So, one criticism she had of my writing was that I tend to write as if readers are children and know nothing about Israel. I explained that my friends are not all Jewish and some are not familiar with the land. Please excuse my simplifications if that is the case.

My cousin, Dorit, is in her early 50’s and has two grown sons. She is a passionate Hebrew and English instructor and asked me where I would like to take my Friday trip in order to see the area. I said that I wanted to see different Arab villages and, perhaps, to walk around them to get the feel of the daily life. Ephraim told me that he has several close Druze friends that he visits to drink tea and Dorit has tutored Muslim and Druze children. Karmiel was founded under Zionistic pretenses in order to get a Jewish presence in an area that was mainly populated by Arabs. These Arabs each have their own villages, now. Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bedouins all have live apart from one another. All are Arabs. All also have representation in the local and federal governments.

On our trip, we saw each of the villages. Bedouins are traditionally nomadic, live a herding lifestyle, and sleep in tents. The increasing population of Israel has put a strain on the Bedouins who claim to own vast acreage due to their millennia of wandering from place to place. They now tend to live in shacks of dilapidated tin and cardboard. The government has offered them land and to build them homes in a suburban fashion. They have refused to accept offers that would force them to change their lifestyles: no where for the goats and for the huge extended families to live. They generally do not wander anymore as most suitable land is under use for farming, or used for housing. Their situation reminds me of the plight of Native Americans. They often pay no taxes and, therefore, get little infrastructure. They often have no electricity but the government does supply them with fresh water. It was strange to see the suburban sprawl that encircled what looked like what would be a future construction site. Upon further inspection, one can see that it was a Bedouin shanty.

Dorit often pointed out that the Arab towns and villages stuck to what I call a traditional style of development: All homes are close together and there is little greenery. The Jews have a more Western style that Americans would appreciate. Arab traditions are to have extended families living together for generations. That is, houses are sometimes huge with dozens of people living in them. Parents often have 6 to 10 children. They often cannot, or choose not to finance their homes. As they get cash, they build a little more on to their new homes. It may take 20 years to complete a house. Therefore, you can see shells of houses going up everywhere.

The Christians often have tensions with the Muslims and many have chosen to leave the country. The Christian Arab population is small. The Druze have excellent relations with the Jews and usually choose to serve in the military alongside their Jewish countrymen. However, they tend to segregate themselves as a population from others (Who doesn’t). Muslims are the majority of the Arab population in Israel and, of course the Middle East, and do not serve in the Israeli military. They have a much higher standard of living than the Arabs in all of the neighboring countries, but remind me of the blacks in the USA in the 1960’s: All are equal but some more equal than others. There are approximately 20 Arab representatives in the Knesset out of 120 seats. This is proportionate to the overall population. The USA certainly does not have a proportionate number of Blacks and Hispanics in Congress.

Each religion has its own school system. Jewish studies are a part of Jewish public schooling and Islam a part of the Arab schooling. Arabs are usually much poorer as were the blacks in the USA. There are many wealthy Arabs and business owners, however. Many of the Arabs moved to the area in the early 20th century from what is now Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan for jobs in the construction for the waves of Jewish immigration. Like in poorer areas in the USA, there are tensions regarding services paid locally federally. When taxes aren’t paid, maintenance other infrastructural services are not done. Dorit thought that the water we saw running in the sewer-way was raw sewage that would eventually run to Akko and into the sea.

Akko, an historic city on the sea that was developed by the Christian, is one of the few big cities with integrated populations of Arabs and Jews living comfortably together and each still living by its distinct identity with religious Jews in the garb from the Polish Aristocracy from the 17th century and the Muslims and Druze in their Arab headdresses. We had a nice fish lunch in an Arab Restaurant before returning home where Dorit helped me with my Hebrew for a while.

In the breeze on her balcony at sunset, you could hear the jackals howl in unison with the Mosques calling the worshipers to prayer. All were at the edge of the wind with the sun setting over Haifa on the horizon. This is the Israel that I would like to incorporate as a part of my essence. As I am a mixture of Jewish German and Irish, it is a mixture of different indigenous peoples, each with deep traditions and complex intellectual intricacies that have torn each, split each, but at times pulled each other together. All the while, the jackal yells that nature rules over all mankind and that the earth, despite “progress” and the industrial revolution, fights back and will always win over its visitors over the long run. That is all that I will say about that in this entry. My mulling over my spirituality is saved for a later entry.

Dorit will visit my folks in Chapel Hill in a few months. She has met my folks a few times before and has been to their home. During last summer’s war with Lebanon, Hezbollah was shelling much of Northern Israel, Including Karmiel. In speaking with my folks, Dorit would often have to hang up to go into her home’s bomb shelter as the sirens warned of incoming Katyusha missiles. Over 200 of these powerful missiles pounded Karmiel and its surrounding areas. Arab and Jewish areas were hit.

At 5:15 AM on Sunday, Ephraim and I headed out. He has a 2 hour commute to work each way, each day. He dropped me at a bus stop in Netanya where I caught a bus to Tel Aviv and then straight to my Hebrew class.

Randy