Photos from Tel Aviv

Food at the retreat!

Kids at the beach

Couple in Jaffa

Musicians in Jaffa

This menu included spanish churros, argentine empenadas and mexican burritos...so not sure if its true south american flavor but what can you do?

Grafitti in Florentine

Juice at the shuck

Walking to the beach

South Tel Aviv

Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Quick Quick Updates/Copy Paste.

So much going on here! One week until I am officially a resident of Tel Aviv! Work is good and busy -  Noah is here and we went to hang out in Jaffa, which comes alive at night with his friend from TAU on tuesday. It was so beautiful down there! Currently working on a grant, and this is really difficult...now I see why people get legit paid to do this work. This weekend I am going on a J Street U trip to Ramallah and then friday night Noah, Robert (the friend, he is from Berlin) and I are going to Haifa to stay in a norwegian guest house and see the city. I'm excited! It's a really interesting place - a mixed city, right on the water.

I wrote this message to Nolberto, who is currently interning in Mexico City not sure what he is doing but anyway - whats up. Thought I would post it here. Wrote this a few weeks ago.

Being in Israel is a constant moral struggle. It is way to easy to live in Tel Aviv and love it (the ocean, the gorgeous Israelis omg, the style, the endless beautiful cafes always full of impossible chic people) and not even acknowledge that there is a conflict – but that does make it easier to understand the apathy plagueing so much of the Israeli public. So many people live here in the middle, sheltered from the lived reality in the north, south, east and west. The Prawer plan (the Bedouin thing) is heartbreaking – and the bedouins are fairly unorganized politically. The left-y people I work with hope that this will spur them into action. It’s also interesting of course to see the Palestinians take up their cause. My internship is with an org that works with youth – Israeli jewish, Israeli arab, and Palestinian from the west bank – and to see them is really inspiring. On our retreat one of the Israeli jewish girls said “once we learn to treat the Palestinians with respect, we will treat the bedouins with respect as well” – a simple concept, but so incredible that this can be articulated by a 15 year old and not a politician. But again, this is tel aviv and most people here think like this (and don’t act on it, thus the political climate we have now). Elana (also a mac student) is working at a similar org but in Jerusalem and she told me how she was canvassing and invited some Israeli jewish girls to an event to meet their arab neighbors (from east Jerusalem) and they laughed at her and walked away…those are the moments that I personally understand what blatant racism looks like. for my other internship (journalism) I’m writing about how Israel basically bullied some Eritrean asylum seekers to go back home to Eritrea (where they will be forced into military slavery, basically) from unlawful imprisonment, but then in my research find an article of how one IDF unit refused to send Sudanese refugees back across the border to Egypt because they knew the horrible treatment that waited for them there…it’s all quite difficult. But what I keep reminding myself – and will repeat again and again – is that the Israeli government does not enjoy widespread support of it’s citizens, and many citizens are unaware of these things (and when they are, they often act – there are protests all over about the prawer plan). Also, the amount of orgs doing incredible work is great (but underfunded). Combatants for Peace and Bereaved Families Circle are two of my favs – but it sucks that people must already be traumatized and damaged to open themselves to the other side. This does not excuse them – but this is a country with citizens like any other – concerned with schooling for their children and the insanely high cost of living. Perhaps because I am jewish and grew up with this jewish victim rhetoric, but I see trauma and residual trauma in both sides (both, as if there are two. There are at least five if we count the African immigrants and the Bedouins and this is ignoring the ultra orthodox and the druze) – mainly stemming from fear, forced violence, and ignorance from purposeful lack of information. It’s hard to accept, but people can only react and act from a place of their own reality – and here this is an extremely skewed reality, but can I really fault people for ignorance when the government works so hard to maintain it? One israeli jewish 16 year old told me that as part of the pen pal program that my org runs, he learned for the first time that suicide bombings are condemned by Islam – and it was clear that this is the moment that the Palestinians were humanized for him. Similarly, Palestinian kids at Elana’s org thought that the Torah mandated us to hate Arabs – and was surprised to learn that it does not. I like working with an org to work with youth – because they learn that they have partners and friends across the green line – especially important for the Israelis who are coming to terms with the reality of their military service…it will undoubtedly influence their behavior in uniform (one kid said “to refuse to go is the same as to go and do bad things. At least if I get sent to the border, I will treat the arabs better”). One of the hardest things for me here is to accept the way that people here live and think – and that even the most basic things (like understanding that no religion orders people to blow themselves up) that I understand intrinsically as a result of my childhood are huge realizations for people kept forcibly apart.

life updates

Haven't written anything in a while so here is a short run down of my life here in Savyon/Tel Aviv:

I had been living in Modi’in with Ronit, but then moved to Savyon with Raviv. I thought my commute would be easier but it is actually more difficult, because instead of taking one train I have to take several buses and walk quite a sizeable distance (although it is flat, and in Modi’in it’s uphill...) Raviv is very very generous and accommodating and has driven me to the city several times when he had meetings or plans there, and to the bus stop when he did not. He and his wife have been in France all week on vacation and then I was on my own with the crazy neighborhood cats!. I am incredibly grateful to both Ronit and Raviv for taking me in, for feeding me, for driving me around – it has been invaluable and amazing

So far, I have seen Eyal and Elana each once. Eyal and I got some ice coffee (its like coffee slush, and thank you!) in his neighborhood, Florentine. This is also where Maya lives and so far is my favorite part of the city. It’s like the Lower East Side but in Hebrew and with more stray cats. It’s quite charming. It was nice to see him again and hear about his nocturnal life as he prepares to move to Vienna for school come September. Elana is living more in the middle of the city near Rabin Sq with her very nice boyfriend named Amit. She cooked us pasta and it was SO nice to see her and hear about her semester, her  internship (which is incredible) and how it has been for her to live here for so long. She seems to be doing really really well. Noah arrived in Israel yesterday and I am so so so excited! Also Cooke, if you are reading it's been two weeks and this is getting out of control!

I am really enjoying myself here. It is hard to be here, linguistically and climate wise, but it is worth it. This city is so charming and seductive but at the same time I feel as though I am learning a lot. Life is a sociology experiment – which makes it endlessly fascinating, exhausting, exhiliterating and traumatic I suppose. I have been working reading guidelines for an EU grant, and the referenced EU documents, researching  all these cool documentaries we can screen and some interviews of speakers we could have in conjunction with them, and now I am doing some more concrete stuff for the EU thing. After work,Maya and I have been going to the beach and swimming in the Mediterranean ocean. You could say life is pretty good. Last week we went out with some of Raviv’s sons friends which should be hilarious if nothing else. Last night we went to Josh’s house (we work with him) where he lives with 7 other girls (all of them go to Yale) because he leaves Friday. Then we found a huge group from a hostel (2 argentines!) and went to Penguin, which is also where Eyal works. Tonight we go to Jerusalem for a J street trip to Sderot and the Gaza border. This week I started my job with +972 magazine with an article on the repatriation of Eritrean immigrants (my boss casually gave me the phone number for the UNHCR Rep here in Israel, unfortunately they have declined comment). I have many projects to start at work and much to learn. I spend a lot of time just walking, trying to map the city, and I can essentially navigate myself in Southern Tel Aviv – the grungiest part and so naturally my favorite. I paid a deposit this weekend on a beautiful big room overlooking the ocean near Shuk Carmel for next month. I still cannot believe that I am here, that I was in South America, that I have to go back to school, that this is my life! 

“Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground.” - Sara Ahmed 

The Seminar

So much has happened in such a short amount of time!

Last weekend I went away with my job for an overnight seminar. The seminar was for the program participants - it was their culminating meeting between all three groups and the end of their program. The way Windows works is that they work in a unique "triangle" formation with the three points being Israeli Jewish youth from Tel Aviv, Israeli Arab youth from varying locations and Palestinian youth from various places in the West Bank. The kids meet in their Single Identity Groups once a week for two years (there is also "open space" time which is optional time for them to come into the office. It is my understanding that this time is highly utilized). There they learn about the conflict, social justice, social justice work, and how to dialogue effectively. They are introduced to the other groups through pen-pal relationships. All three groups get together to dialogue and work 3-4 times a year. They develop friendships, have conversations and ultimately create a bi-lingual publication. Windows has been working since 1995 and has had delegations of youth meet in several European countries whose governments respect and helped fund some of the work. It is really incredible. Speaking with the youth made me realize how much they learn from one another - both simple things that seem obvious to me as a student educated in NYC public school where we learned about Ramadan in first grade but things that are widely unknown here, and highly sophisticated ideas and revelations that are a product of their highly contentious environment. Windows also runs tours and lecture series to educate the community about plurality and reality in Israeli society.

We, the interns, were mainly in charge of cooking/cleaning (in the outdoor kitchen with many many boxes of vegetables and bags of pasta). We also got to listen in on some of the sessions. Much of the work was done in Hebrew and Arabic with the adult facilitators translating back and forth from each language. Some of the small mixed group work was done in english, depending on the english level of the youth in that group. It was amazing to meet the kids - they were between 14-16 and so smart, intelligent and eloquent - in their second or third language! I sat in on a discussion about the role of women in Middle Eastern society which the girls self-facilitated. A lot of it was the Tel Avivian girls asking one girl from the West Bank why she wore a hijab and what she thought about veiling/the relationship between men and women. That was interesting because the girl from the West Bank said that she had never been asked these questions before, and the girls from Tel Aviv are all very feminist in the western liberal sense that I have become enculturated to in school. It is hard to explain that many women veil not as a response to men or as a act to protect themselves from other men for men, but as an act of self respect and personal religious observance. In fact, this is a point that many in the world seem to have missed (notably, the French government, FEMEN, and many many more). One of the Israeli Jewish girls had said "I can accept your religion and what others believe. But I think there are different ways for a woman to respect herself than covering herself." These kinds of nuanced statements were often. I was very impressed. They also spoke on honor killings (another tough topic to discuss, as this stems from an entirely different cultural mindset and way of reasoning/conceptualizing the family), the way women relate to one another in society, and how female politicians would influence the conflict. It was pretty incredible to see this totally calm conversation occur between a group of 16 year old girls (in english) with no outside self facilitation.

I made friends with one of the Israeli boys because we were both picky eaters (his mom is a chef) and South American (the chef is from Brasil). We talked about many things and all were interesting, but too private to blog here. It was fascinating and heart breaking. Reality here is such a crazy thing. I still cannot fathom it.

The cooking part was fun too. I feel like in America or at camp when you go camping you just cook the simplest thing. NOT HERE. We cooked pasta with 4 kinds of sauce, rice lentils and poyke (a kind of stew cooked for an hour over an open fire), constant fresh melon, fresh made palestinian style pita in the morning, never ending bowls of Israeli salad...it was constant work but it was fun (I did love being a camp aide)!  Also teaches ya to be resourceful. How we obtained the food was resourceful as well- we solicited some vegetable donations and the kids brought vegetables and pasta with them.The next day they did workshops in the morning (including little skits about how the Palestinian youth will feel when their Israeli friends go into the army which I wish I could have understood) and then went to the beach! The mediterranean ocean is SO WARM and beautiful. It was nice to see all the kids enjoying the ocean - but sad too, knowing that some of them are barely able to access it, while others can walk to it whenever they wish.

I think that this was the perfect way to orient myself to Windows. I got to see right away what the organization does, and who it serves. I could not have been more impressed by the youth - how poised, respectful and eloquent they were, and also how engaged. I am privileged to start work knowing exactly what - and who - I am working for. Several times over the weekend I thought back to the Seeds of Peace documentary we watched in school, and how the same process was unfolding right in front of me. Additionally, it was a good way to get to know my co-workers, all smart and friendly students from the US and Canada. There were five of us, but now Ashley has left and we are four. Notably, Maya is friends with Sasha at home and Leah at school!

Windows is in need of funding to be able to print the next edition of the magazine, to run school workshops in order to maximize its educational effect in Israel and to start planning its next cycle of programming (this is currently in limbo and depends on financing). If you want to learn more about windows, click here. To check out the campaign or make a donation, click here.

Circumstance

In just two days of commuting to work in Tel Aviv, I believe I have struggled more than I did in 4 months in Buenos Aires. Bs As was comfortable for me - my hand was held in a program, I had friends, I could speak the language, I had many maps. Tel Aviv holds many more challenges. Although I have contacts all over this country, I am alone. I cannot read a street sign, a website, a billboard, a stencil. I feel ashamed having to ask everyone I speak with whether they can speak English, and not being able to speak to them in their own language. The neighborhood in which I work is a neighborhood of "foreign workers" - economic and political refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. The conditions of this neighborhood are like nothing I saw in wanderings in Buenos Aires. After reading about Israeli treatment of African migrants, I can barely walk through this neighborhood without hurting. I feel my race in an entirely new way than I did melting into the Argentine crowds. I still jump when I see 18 year old babies holding guns and casually texting on their iPhones. And my political views have changed and refined - I at once admire the young soldiers and fear the capabilityfor violence that lie in all of us. Commuting in Israel - while relatively cheap and fast has time constraints (and it isn't even Shabbat yet). These first few days at work have been a little bit chaotic and overwhelming, but such is the nature of starting a new job. I keep reminding myself how long it took me to not get lost in Bs As - and that soon I will know exactly where I am going.

Yet despite all of this, I am incredibly blessed and lucky to be living in yet another enchanting capitol city. To be working with an organization whose work inspires and motivates me - an organization whose work I believe in with all that I have already learned and seen. To be seeing, every day, an incredibly interesting and different neighborhood and melting pot. Tomorrow I am going with the organization south of the city to an eco lodge to meet the next generation of teenage Israeli and Palestinian social justice workers, human rights activists and peace builders as they come together for the last time, to plan their future.

Israel - part 1

Here I am, thousands of miles from both New York City and Buenos Aires, navigating a much more foreign world. It is a place where I cannot speak the language, read the signs - where I can barely ask for directions. It is hot here, almost perpetually sunny. It is quite a strange feeling to be starting this kind of experience again - I was used to my routine in Buenos Aires. I knew which streets to walk on, which buses to take and if all else failed I could ask virtually anyone to help me. Last night I started freaking out when my google maps converted into Hebrew, a language I cannot even read let alone understand. It is strange to be here and realize that every single person my age is in the midst of an experience I will never have and can never relate to- and while the uniforms are easy to get used to it is unsettling to see a boy so young with a gun so threatening looking...

My 30 hours in New York was a success. I managed to eat bagels, pizza, buñuelos, a soft pretzel AND tortilla chips. I was stuffed. My grandparents, aunt and uncle all came over in the afternoon and my friends came over at night which was all wonderful. I even did the most american thing ever and went to target where I waited online to return things and bought a pair of shorts with american flag fabric running down the sides. It was soo nice to have my mac friends and my home friends all under one roof. Even Osaremi, Sarah Schu and Anita came over which was so nice cause Osaremi and Sarah Schu are always on the road and Anita just happened to be interning in NYC this summer! Also turns out that Alvin is living for the summer with some of Phoebe and Tyler's friends from AU. Small, small world.
Going back to JFK was surreal. Made even worse by American Airlines lack of check in counter, charge for my second bag (on an international flight? are you kidding me?) and then tiny little plane that they flew me in over the Atlantic Ocean. I was not amused. It was all good when I got to Paris though, which is a nice airport. I bought myself some macarons and settled in and missed the El Al reps calling my name through the loudspeaker (what can I do, I don't speak french!) which was a disaster because then they were extra harsh...We went down to the questioning room - actually thats too passive, we ran down so I wouldn't miss the plane where they unpacked my carry-ons and asked a bunch of questions including where my name comes from (bingo). Anyway. I made it. These first few days I am staying with Ronit in Modi'in, a really nice suburb outside Tel Aviv. It has a beautiful view.

Today was my first day of work. I gave myself 2 hours to make the hour long commute and still managed to be 10 minutes late - but shout out to the very nice man from Eritrea who served as my translator and helped me navigate the unmarked streets. Windows is located in a neighborhood that is full of immigrants - mainly from East Africa but I saw several families from Asia and India as well. The person I had been in contact with was not there (sounds familiar *cough cough first day at NG in Bs As*) and they did not know to expect me but it all worked out. They gave me some reading materials about the organization and I read them, and then went with 2 other girls who work at the org to solicit fruit donations at the fruit stands down the block for the upcoming youth seminar this weekend (which I get to attend!). Tomorrow is day two and then Friday I'm jumping in the deep end to go to this youth conference...