A Settlement Shabbat
As those of you checking the war updates at Jamīl's blog may have noticed on Friday or Saturday Night, I spent this past Shabbos up @ the Muqāṭa‘ä.
المقاطعة
Like I said once,
either the Muqata looks like
a cluster of caravans on a hilltop...
or it looks like Alon Shvut.
Amshinover was right. The Muqata is really really normal. Frighteningly normal, when you look around at suburban paradise and the kids playing outside after hearing Jameel's stories of the early Intifāḍä II and driving to work wearing a bullet-proof vest and an inch-thick-plastic-visor helmet. And the hostility of the Palestinian Arabs in the next village over. You know, the kind of thing that makes it hard to sleep at night because you're worried about unfriendly people with weapons looking through the window. And when you're not worried about getting killed, you're worried about accidentally outing yourself as a "leftist" in the middle of a settlement full of ideologically-motivated immigrants.
However, (ir)rational fears aside, it was a pretty good Shabbos. No one I met said any of the extreme kinds of comments ("’itbaḥ al‘arab", for instance) that I'm used to hearing from certain settler-wannabes I know in the States. The food was great, especially the barbecue chicken made by Jameel on Friday afternoon right before Shabbos.
دجاج
Jameel and all his family are really nice, and surprisingly open about his blog. I think at least 80% of the people we talked to over Shabbat made some kind of comment about "Jameel this" or "Jameel that" or "why don't you talk about ______ on your blog, what's it called again, with that Arabic name?" Jameel was packing heat all Shabbos, which both made me feel safe, and made me feel worried about the fact that weaponry was needed at all.
On Saturday Night we drove around, and Jameel showed me the various nearby settlements. We went up to a nearby hilltop and hung out with the people who lived there for a little bit. The hippy-peios'd youngsters were sitting around a campfire making tea and singing Havdala songs when they weren't showing us around and introducing us to the soldiers there to protect them. And the scenery was literally breath-taking.
أرضنا
I'm beginning to understand why people are so in love with living up here.
In other news, I got the people at thecrap crêpe place in the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem to make me a tuna melt. Some Israeli couple were disgusted. They can go eat my hhumus. Poor tunamelt-deprived Israelis. They don't know what they're missing.
Like I said once,
either the Muqata looks like
a cluster of caravans on a hilltop...
or it looks like Alon Shvut.
Amshinover was right. The Muqata is really really normal. Frighteningly normal, when you look around at suburban paradise and the kids playing outside after hearing Jameel's stories of the early Intifāḍä II and driving to work wearing a bullet-proof vest and an inch-thick-plastic-visor helmet. And the hostility of the Palestinian Arabs in the next village over. You know, the kind of thing that makes it hard to sleep at night because you're worried about unfriendly people with weapons looking through the window. And when you're not worried about getting killed, you're worried about accidentally outing yourself as a "leftist" in the middle of a settlement full of ideologically-motivated immigrants.
However, (ir)rational fears aside, it was a pretty good Shabbos. No one I met said any of the extreme kinds of comments ("’itbaḥ al‘arab", for instance) that I'm used to hearing from certain settler-wannabes I know in the States. The food was great, especially the barbecue chicken made by Jameel on Friday afternoon right before Shabbos.
Jameel and all his family are really nice, and surprisingly open about his blog. I think at least 80% of the people we talked to over Shabbat made some kind of comment about "Jameel this" or "Jameel that" or "why don't you talk about ______ on your blog, what's it called again, with that Arabic name?" Jameel was packing heat all Shabbos, which both made me feel safe, and made me feel worried about the fact that weaponry was needed at all.
On Saturday Night we drove around, and Jameel showed me the various nearby settlements. We went up to a nearby hilltop and hung out with the people who lived there for a little bit. The hippy-peios'd youngsters were sitting around a campfire making tea and singing Havdala songs when they weren't showing us around and introducing us to the soldiers there to protect them. And the scenery was literally breath-taking.
I'm beginning to understand why people are so in love with living up here.
In other news, I got the people at the
carved on the walls of the caverns by Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) at 7/23/2006 03:02:00 PM
16 Comments:
Awww...I miss the Tachana Merkazit! So, how long are you going to be in Israel for?
I miss the Tachana Merkazit!
In a stupid way, I miss the old one, like in TA. And now they took Ralbag away from us, too!
Steg, did you have reserves to go and visit a settlement? Was that different in the current situation?
Tmeishar:
Until around August 10th or so.
Lipman:
I didn't really have many reservations; since they have a lot of experience with security and keeping the village safe, i thought it'd be a lot safer than taking a trip up to Haifa for Shabbos or anything like that. And it was fine, no alarms or beeps for Jameel to go out on an emergency patrol or anything like that. It's very possible that i just felt the "on the edge"ness when i was there more than someone else would, becuase i was staying with someone *actively involved* in security.
That's the day I'm coming back...
You are bringing back memories. I was never at Jameel's hourse, but I may very well have been at his yishuv for Shabbat.
When I did my year in Israel (92-93) I had not relatives and few family friends, so I was pretty much unfettered during those free shabbatot. So what did I do? I would just randomly call a yishuv each week and invite myself over. I never got a negative repsonse, not even hesitation. I got to meet great and interesting people living in all types of yishuvim, from the tzefoni types to the "hardcore ideologicals" in Tel Rumeida (a neighborhood in Hevron) and Yitzhar (a suburb of Shechem).
Ah, what a year!!!
P.S. Of all people, I thought you would use Hebrew characters, no make that Paleo-Semitic characters, for the word verification.
Tuna melt. Feh! Just kidding. ;)
Steg, I had asked not about security, but political stance, but you obviously answered my question. [ 8~)»
maqutta is the new amshinov
Israelis don't have much regard for Tuna in general, IIRC.
When I was in Yeshiva, the only Tuna that they served was so ichy that most of the Americans didn't even bother.
They warned us to bring white tuna from America if we liked it so much. But I don't think anyone was that desperate.
The Meishar:
Hmmm... i think i know someone else who'll be on your flight ;-) .
Mr Kinsberg:
Sounds like an exciting year! I don't quite have a year in which to try that anymore, unfortunately. I wonder if that works with random Jewish communities in the States, too?
Do you know of a way to get Paleo-Hebrew word verification? ;-) I just ordered a big alphabet chart poster for my classroom.
(Jack doesn't get a response) :-P
Lip Man:
It wasn't nearly as politically charged as i expected it to be. Or maybe that's just cause i didn't pick arguments with people.
Amshinover Rebba:
Does that mean you're also going to be on Tmeishar's flight? ;-)
Rab Lab:
I've seen a lot of tuna on pizzas here. I wonder what's up with that.
Mmmm tuna....
Tuna salad with chopped green chilies on dark rye, with a shot of whiskey. The perfect midnight snack.
chilies on dark rye, with a shot of whiskey
Why did you repeat the rye part?
Steg, my original question was, do you have reserves to enter Jewish settlements in the shtachim because you think they shouldn't be continued?
I have reservations about hanging out in settlements because i feel like a jerk, being friends with people and accepting their hospitality while not fully supporting the existence of their homes and communities.
Really? Who?
(Sometimes I feel bad about posting comments that have nothing to do with the post at hand. Then I get over it and do it anyway...)
Sounds like a really special shabbos. Good for you.
B"H Why don't you support the existence of our homes and communities? You're not worried about upsetting the goyim (ie "the almighty international community), or the poor, and oppressed (sic.) "palestinians" (ie enemies of the Jewish people with a made-up name from Roman times, who according to the Ramba"m are indistinguishable in status from their leadership)?
Just curious....
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