Sheik Ibrahim's and a book rec
Yesterday I (and about 30 other HUC people) went to the Mt. of Olives in East Jerusalem, on the Palestinian side. We met with a friend of our classmate Ethan’s, Sheik Ibrahim. He’s very involved in his community and met Ethan’s parents at a Peace Conference. His walls are covered with Peace posters and pictures and logos in all languages, with Shalom and Salaam (in Hebrew and Arabic, respectively) on huge rainbow flags hanging from the ceiling. He fed everyone a lunch of fruits and vegetables, symbolic as we are all of the earth, and we talked about peace and his life’s work.
It was an amazing experience, and really did shatter a lot of my stereotypes about Palestinians, as my trip to Germany did about my preconceived notions of post-WW II Germany. He’s the first Palestinian I’ve ever shook hands with, and he and his family were wonderful people. A few interesting tidbits: He’s lived in the same house all his life, and his family has been living on the mountain for 1400 years. He’s traveled all over the world, but has never been issued a passport by any of the occupying countries who’ve owned the area, because technically he’s never been a citizen of any country. He thinks that Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all "children of Abraham," and he’s been given countless awards and written up in many newspapers for his work in promoting peace in the Middle East. He puts up anyone in his guesthouse, regardless of race of religion, and refers to Ethan as "my son Eitan." He has 8 children, two of which live in the US and aren’t allowed to reenter Israel, so now he won’t let any of his other kids study outside of Israel. He’s also old-school sexist, and thinks that women should be in the home, ready to fix their husbands dinner.
There was one thing in particular which Ibrahim said that stuck with me: when asked about he reacted to bus bombings and terrorism, he said, paraphrasing, "The young people bomb Israel because they have no houses and can’t find jobs." It made an impression - East Jerusalem is poor, dirty, and has small streets and cramped quarters, seeming like a world away from where I live, even though it's only about 15-minutes away by bus.
I’ve been thinking about it: is the Palestinian/Israeli conflict really about economic disenfranchisement, and not religion? If so, it explains why a religious peace process has never been successful. I was speaking with a few classmates about this on the bus, and one woman said that she took a college class on Frontiers and Borders, and think thinks that religion is the veneer for almost all conflicts about money. She said that even the Catholic/Protestant conflict in Ireland, the poster child for religious wars, is and was basically a war between the haves and the have-nots. It’s a good point – what is the true root of this conflict? Religion, territory, or money? Can it be just one, or is it all three? I realize it’s kind of a broad topic, but I'm interested in learning more - so if anyone has any readings they know of this, please email me and pass them along.
Aside from Ibrahim - I’ve been reading about anti-semitism in France in the news. I felt sympathetic, but it seemed so far away - then I realized that besides Hebrew and English, it's been French that I've been hearing on the streets here, even more so than Russian. That’s never happened before, in all the times I’ve visited. Talk about a real-life direct connection.
Thursday I went to my weekly community service reading to a blind woman. Sharon is amazing, I love visiting her house every Thursday – we started off reading about Ethiopian immigrants, and now we’re reading fiction. I highly recommend “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.” It’s a murder mystery, and the narrator is a 15-year old boy with autism. I don’t know much about the author, but he must either be autistic, have a kid or friend who’s autistic, or at the very least have delved deep into psychology – the book is brilliant. It helps me better understand some of the children I’ve worked with before, and it’s a damn good read. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time/dp/1400032717
Right after I got home from Sharon’s, I headed to Stephanie’s apartment, where she was throwing an ice-cream b-day party for her roommate. Then afterwards we hung out with Courtney and Jeffrey on Emek Refaim, a long street full of restaurants, bars, and other trendy places. Yesterday morning was appointments and errands in the morning, then afternoon at the Mt. of Olives, which I’ve already told you about, then cat time with Jonathan, Mara and Helayne, and in the evening Shabbat services at HUC and a potluck dinner. Today has been cleaning, and then I go to a concert tonight with Mara and Leah. The only problem with being so social is that I never seem to end up doing my homework!
And ooh - Jonathan and I figured out how to sign my name to these blog entries, so now you can see they're by me. But if anyone still wants me to put my name in the header, just let me know.
It was an amazing experience, and really did shatter a lot of my stereotypes about Palestinians, as my trip to Germany did about my preconceived notions of post-WW II Germany. He’s the first Palestinian I’ve ever shook hands with, and he and his family were wonderful people. A few interesting tidbits: He’s lived in the same house all his life, and his family has been living on the mountain for 1400 years. He’s traveled all over the world, but has never been issued a passport by any of the occupying countries who’ve owned the area, because technically he’s never been a citizen of any country. He thinks that Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all "children of Abraham," and he’s been given countless awards and written up in many newspapers for his work in promoting peace in the Middle East. He puts up anyone in his guesthouse, regardless of race of religion, and refers to Ethan as "my son Eitan." He has 8 children, two of which live in the US and aren’t allowed to reenter Israel, so now he won’t let any of his other kids study outside of Israel. He’s also old-school sexist, and thinks that women should be in the home, ready to fix their husbands dinner.
There was one thing in particular which Ibrahim said that stuck with me: when asked about he reacted to bus bombings and terrorism, he said, paraphrasing, "The young people bomb Israel because they have no houses and can’t find jobs." It made an impression - East Jerusalem is poor, dirty, and has small streets and cramped quarters, seeming like a world away from where I live, even though it's only about 15-minutes away by bus.
I’ve been thinking about it: is the Palestinian/Israeli conflict really about economic disenfranchisement, and not religion? If so, it explains why a religious peace process has never been successful. I was speaking with a few classmates about this on the bus, and one woman said that she took a college class on Frontiers and Borders, and think thinks that religion is the veneer for almost all conflicts about money. She said that even the Catholic/Protestant conflict in Ireland, the poster child for religious wars, is and was basically a war between the haves and the have-nots. It’s a good point – what is the true root of this conflict? Religion, territory, or money? Can it be just one, or is it all three? I realize it’s kind of a broad topic, but I'm interested in learning more - so if anyone has any readings they know of this, please email me and pass them along.
Aside from Ibrahim - I’ve been reading about anti-semitism in France in the news. I felt sympathetic, but it seemed so far away - then I realized that besides Hebrew and English, it's been French that I've been hearing on the streets here, even more so than Russian. That’s never happened before, in all the times I’ve visited. Talk about a real-life direct connection.
Thursday I went to my weekly community service reading to a blind woman. Sharon is amazing, I love visiting her house every Thursday – we started off reading about Ethiopian immigrants, and now we’re reading fiction. I highly recommend “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.” It’s a murder mystery, and the narrator is a 15-year old boy with autism. I don’t know much about the author, but he must either be autistic, have a kid or friend who’s autistic, or at the very least have delved deep into psychology – the book is brilliant. It helps me better understand some of the children I’ve worked with before, and it’s a damn good read. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time/dp/1400032717
Right after I got home from Sharon’s, I headed to Stephanie’s apartment, where she was throwing an ice-cream b-day party for her roommate. Then afterwards we hung out with Courtney and Jeffrey on Emek Refaim, a long street full of restaurants, bars, and other trendy places. Yesterday morning was appointments and errands in the morning, then afternoon at the Mt. of Olives, which I’ve already told you about, then cat time with Jonathan, Mara and Helayne, and in the evening Shabbat services at HUC and a potluck dinner. Today has been cleaning, and then I go to a concert tonight with Mara and Leah. The only problem with being so social is that I never seem to end up doing my homework!
And ooh - Jonathan and I figured out how to sign my name to these blog entries, so now you can see they're by me. But if anyone still wants me to put my name in the header, just let me know.
posted by Michal at 8:14 AM
4 Comments:
I read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime" over the summer and loved it as well. I passed it along to my mom who also enjoyed it. Remember when I worked with those autistic girls in Whittier?
I also couldn't reisist posting about your experience in Palestine. How fascinating that a dedicated peace activist is also a sexist?! It just goes to show that one can be forward-thinking in one area and not in another.
Also, the whole economic argument for most conflicts seems very insightful, and probably true deep down. Unfortuntely people would rather believe they are fighting for their god and religion, than for the almighty dollar.
I also read that one and enjoyed it. I read another book at the same time on a similar theme - Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. It takes place in the near future and focuses on a high functioning autistic man who had to decide if he wants to be 'cured' It was a great read.
Wow, I had no idea that book was so prevalent! Sheryl, I will definitely check out Speed of Dark, it sounds fascinating.
And Becca, you're right, Sheik Ibrahim was so complex. I also kinda hope I'm wrong about my economic theory - who wants to think that money really *is* the root of all evil?
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