This post is about something I had intended not to really talk about. In other words, an adventure that could be misunderstood if not fully explained. And since I don’t have the intention to explain it fully, I think it better not to speak of it.
But I am going to mention a little of it because I think it instructive of one aspect of the situation in Israel. Those who have lived where I live will appreciate it most (namely, former students), but I think any with an interest in Israel might profit.
This afternoon I went for a little excursion with a friend. We drove about a mile from home, parked the car and hiked another mile. We passed no fences. But in a short span of two miles, I found myself in a completely different world. A world I have experienced in other places, but never in this area and never so close to home. I was in a Palestinian village. Not an Israeli Arab village, and not a Palestinian community that mingles freely with the Israeli world. A village that, as far as I could tell, was not in Israel. The buildings, the streets, the people, the signs, the language – all were suggestive of an Arab community isolated from anything Israeli. It was like towns I have visited in Jordan or deep in the West Bank. How could this be? How could a town only a few miles away from dozens of Jewish communities, modern malls, McDonalds, and freeways apparently have no relation to them at all? This is something that Americans do not understand. They see something about Israel on TV and they think that the whole country is affected, that all of Israel is dangerous. But I just described a world that I have lived “next door” to for nearly 9 years and really had no knowledge of its existence (I knew in my head there was an Arab town there, but I could not picture it).
How could this be? Geography. My little village and that little village are separated by several deep valleys and ridges. And there are no roads connecting them. To drive to where we walked would have been about a 20-mile drive (assuming soldiers at Israeli checkpoints didn’t stop you). There simply is no way to go between the two except for walking. Another Israeli community actually overlooks this one, so they see each other every day. But they too are separated – here by a fence and security road. Arabs may not come to the Jewish community, and Jews would never think of going to the Arab village. There is an exception – hundreds of Arabs cross a checkpoint daily to go to work in the Jewish village – building houses. They are the ones constructing the houses of this “settlement” (a Jewish community in former West Bank territory). It might be seen as ironic that Palestinians are the ones who build the settlements they despise. But there is another reality here – they profit from the presence of the Jews here. This is the best-paying job they can find. Contrast this whole situation with another one close by. Half of a mile from where I live is an Israeli Arab village. The town’s inhabitants are Arab, but they are Israeli citizens. They didn’t fight or flee in the 1948 or 1967 wars, and they were given what Israel said they would give to Arabs who didn’t fight or flee – citizenship, freedom, and numerous other benefits. You walk through that town and you don’t feel like you’re in another world. There are sidewalks, new schools, and thriving businesses. Jewish Israelis flock to the town on weekends for the popular restaurants. These residents can travel freely throughout Israel, vote in elections, and get jobs any other Israeli can get.
The two Arab villages are only two miles apart, yet they are radically different. The primary difference: the government. There are those who aspire to Palestinian self-goverance (indeed they’ve had some form of that for 10 years). But there is something better: living under Israeli rule. But those who have that usually keep quiet and you won’t see them boasting about it on TV talk shows. On the other hand, as I walked through the Palestinian village, it was so clear to see why Israel really doesn’t want to rule the West Bank. It’s just a different world.