An Update to "What I Did Last Summer"

(Continued from the Previous Post)

The Sudanese Refugees

The police did indeed start rounding up Sudanese refugees and sending them to a refugee camp that was built on the grounds of Ketziot prison. The government's rationale was that this would allow them to provide services for the refugees without the need to incarcerate them. So, instead of taking the opportunity to get some good press out of a bad situation, the decision-makers chose to do the worst thing possible – take a group of refugees and put them in a tented refugee camp in the parking lot of a prison that is located in the heart of the Negev desert.

Luckily, the refugees who were camped out in the Wohl Garden were whisked away by the university students and volunteers before the police could round them up. All of them were taken to private homes and many were then provided with apartments or taken to Kibbutzes that are now hosting them. I am still in touch with one of them and they seem to be making a go of it for now.

These folks are actually the lucky ones, since the Israeli and Egyptian governments have joined hands to prevent any more Sudanese from crossing the border. Israel, as the official government spokesman is not interested in being the, “dumping ground for Africa’s problems” and Egypt is afraid people might ask why the Sudanese are so desperate to forego “Egyptian hospitality” that they prefer to sit in a prison parking lot in an enemy state. To illustrate the seriousness of this agreement, the Egyptians have taken to firing at any refugee who will try to leave Egypt. So far they have killed several refugees including a mother who was trying to free her young daughter who got stuck in barbed wire.

Sadly, the Olmert government announced that it would send most of the refugees back to Egypt and immediately turn back those caught at the border. Unconscionably, they are even trying to whip up the “terrorist” fear factor by saying that the refugees may include members of Al Qaeda who are infiltrating the country or, even more conspiratorially, that Arab governments are paying for their passage so that they overwhelm the country with Muslim immigrants. Frankly, both contentions are so ridiculous and separated from the reality on the ground that they hardly merit a retort. Children are clearly not Al Qaeda members and Arab countries who think that sending Christians (half of the refugees are from Southern Sudan) will get a really poor return on such an investment. To read about this disgrace: Click here.

Musings

In general, I found it therapeutic to be in Israel. Following the news about Israel from over here is often unnerving precisely because there are very few good things to report and very few ways to get actively involved. Also, being there one finds a certain degree of normalcy that is quite reassuring. No matter how bad the situation is, people still get up in the morning and go to work or school, spend time with their kids and have fun with their friends. Actually, most of the country is free of the day to day strife that makes the headlines and most people are not living "the conflict" every moment of their day.

On the other hand, it became sadly clear that there is an ever growing disconnect between the public and the elected authorities that is even deeper and more pervasive than what Prime Minister Olmert’s 5% approval rating suggests. In fact, there is a widespread and profound “crisis of confidence” surrounding the governmental institutions and the nation’s foundational mythos.

First of all, the President was forced to resign while I was there because he was found to be a serial sexual molester who terrorized the women on his staff. Though he never admitted to doing the things he was accused of, he left his office as part of a deal where he would not be prosecuted for his actions. This infuriated the Israeli public to the point where over 100,000 came out to protest the decision. That this did not prompt any introspection on the part of the politicians is clearly indicative of a larger trend. They felt that they could ignore those 100,000 people in the same way that they ignored the 100,000 people who came out to protest the (mis)handling of last year’s Lebanon War.

This has become part of a sadly familiar pattern that goes something like this: incompetent, corrupt and self-absorbed (take your pick) government officials make short-sighted, self-serving and disastrous decisions that cause many other people to get hurt (or die). When confronted by the public’s anger and indignation, said officials hunker down, deny responsibility, blame their political opponents for opportunism and pretend like their actions were above reproach. Not only does no one resign in disgrace, no one resigns anymore. And if, for some strange reason they do, then it is because they are using it as their “get out of jail for free” card.

Even more disturbing is the general breakdown in social solidarity (bordering on anomie) stemming from the sense that everyone is out for themselves and all alone. Contrast this with the idealism and socialism of the founding fathers and you get a clearer picture of how unsettling this shift is to most Israelis. Olmert’s volte face regarding the kidnapped soldiers and the government’s abandonment and inability to defend the residents of the city of Sderot from Palestinian rocket attacks are often cited by the man on the street as symptomatic of this mindset.

Netanyahu’s dismantling of the last vestiges of socialism and embrace of neo-liberal economic policies has also eliminated the last vestiges of what was once quite a large social safety net. That this appears to have revitalized the Israeli economy is no consolation to the thousands of homeless and 1.5 million Israelis who are currently living below the poverty line. That 19 families presently control one third of the economy and that only five of those families control 61% of the country’s wealth underlies the growing social inequalities while adding insult to injury.

Nonetheless, I would be lying if I did not say how wonderful it was to be in Israel after such a long hiatus. Jerusalem was overflowing with tourists from all over the world and has a much more cosmopolitan flavor than it once had. Today you can sample food at world-class restaurants and enjoy a rocking nightlife that even rivals Tel Aviv’s. Moreover the numerous divisions between Jews, while still there for everyone to see, no longer revolve around questions of ethnicity (e.g. Ashkenazim vs. Sephardim). At least on this point Israel can pride itself that the grand “social experiment”, which involved bringing Jews from all over the world to live together to forge a modern nation-state in their ancestral home, has been a success. Now, if only this cynical administration would get out of the way.

After Thought

On my first morning in Jerusalem, I made a beeline for the Wailing Wall to deposit some notes into the cracks of this ancient and imposing wall. Since it was a Thursday morning, the expanse was filled with families celebrating Bar Mitzvah’s. There were secular Ashkenazim and Haredim in black clothes as well as Yemenite Jews banging on drums and Sephardim with their beautiful silver-gilded “standing” Torahs. Just as I was starting to take in the raucous scene, a large group of Russian–speaking Bukharan Jews in Kaftans and large colorfully embroidered yarmulkes announced their arrival with ululations and the blowing of long “dung chen” style trumpets.

The tears welled up in my eyes as I observed this spectacle of Jewish continuity. After all, if a people who had endured 80 years of Communist repression had withstood and outlasted their oppressors, then I felt there is still hope that 80 years from now there will be Jews practicing our traditions in our land.