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January 12, 2007

I am a visitor here

Many of my friends have children and I have enjoyed wonderful times playing with them. Of course, when the children get fussy or over-stimulated or otherwise less adorable, I just hand them over to the parents and go home. In a way, this describes my visitor status in Israel.

I read the English edition of HaAretz almost everyday. This daily, mainstream newspaper looks head-on into the challenges and stresses of the country and territories. While stories of tragedy are never hard to find anywhere in the world, there is a personal pain when I read about roadblocks and house raids in the West Bank and Gaza.

I am a visitor in Israel; I do not vote here; I will not send a husband or child into the army. To criticize U.S. policies is one thing; but do I have the right to judge Israel? Surely there are political subtleties that I don’t completely understand. I am a visitor here, but I have a lifetime relationship with the place and believe it was founded for a beautiful purpose: a haven for Jewish refugees when there was nowhere else for them to go. Maybe I have no right to judge, but I can’t help feeling sadness and frustration and concern with the current situation. Beneath the larger, most visible swell of politics are people working towards peace and environmental sustainability and social equality. I may have no right to judge, but I do hope they will succeed in their efforts.

I explore the city and other parts of Israel, meet new friends, write, read, have fun. And then, I will go home.

The Sergei Courtyard houses the Jerusalem Branch of The Society for Protection Of Nature in Israel.

Another view of Sergei Courtyard.

Posted by Ilene Weismehl  at 8:58 AM | Permalink

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