Learning bits of Israel

Prior to coming to Israel I knew very few things but here is what I knew:

1. It was God’s chosen land.
2. Jesus lived and did ministry in Israel.
3. People are at war often.
4. It was supposed to be hot.

Getting off the plane in Tel Aviv I had no idea what to expect out of my time in Israel. I was going to be working with people whom I had never met and being staying in places still not yet confirmed. But I knew one thing- this was a once in a life time opportunity. After grabbing my luggage there was a taxi man holding a sign scripted with my name- our destination was Nazareth a two hour car ride from the airport.

Pulling away from the airport my eyes were bright with excitement. Many of the views we passed reminded me of home in Southern California, lots of palm trees and dry hills brought me visions of the hills that run through Camp Pendleton. The skies were clear and the weather was 95 degrees- perfect hot weather an escape from the many rainy months I have spent in France.

As we headed down the highway the driver would often point out areas where large boarders had been placed to mark the territory difference between Israel and Palestine. I was told the boarders are created to keep the Palestinians out and from bombing the roads, it is for the protection of the people and land. Later I was informed that Israel and Palestine are divided into three zones: A, B, and C.

A: The Palestinian (Arab) territory. The Government, boarders and community are run by the Arabs.

B: Roads and land shared between the territories of Israeli and Palestine. The Roads are then governed and monitored by the Israeli’s while the community is presided over by the Arabs.

C: The Israeli territory where all land and people are governed by the Israelis.

Throughout my time in Israel there would be many times when it would be necessary to go through check points where it was normal for a man with a machine gun to approach your vehicle and inspect your car and question your reasons for being in the country. It seems so abnormal for this to be a normal process.

Throughout my time in Israel, I had many conversations with different people on their perspective on the feuds that have continued for so many generations, and each person came to me with a different perspective. Some Arabs living in Israel still strongly identify with their Palestinian roots, while others believe that because they live in Israel, that they are Israeli, and therefore support the Israeli government.

I was speaking to one girl who was an Arab who finds it difficult to understand why God was allowing her people to suffer. The only comfort she said she is able to find in not understanding is from scripture where it talks about not knowing the plans of the Lord but through trials and hardships He will be glorified and work to the good of those who follow Him.

The most interesting person I spoke with on this topic was with a young guy named Dima. Dima was born in Uzbekistan and fled to Israel when the Berlin wall fell. He is Jewish and was thus required to join the Israeli army for three years. Dima was dispatched from the army one month ago and is now trying to figure out what the next step in life holds for him. In the army he was a tracker and had many interesting stories to share from his time in the service. Dima dreams of being a doctor but the wages of being a doctor in Israel are initially equivalent to working minimum wage until about the age of 40. This does not appeal to him, though being a doctor has been his dream since he was a young child. He has thought about going to the U.S. for schooling but has too much pride and love for Israel that he could not possibly leave the country, it would hurt him too much to do so.

After speaking to both Dima and Arab girl I saw many similarities between the two and found it so sad that neither person would ever recognize the pain they both share. Truth be told (by an outsider), unless you are in a strict religious area you cannot really tell the difference between the Jews and the Arabs. To me they looked the same. I often hung out in the evening at a coffee shop called Aroma, where you would often find a mix between Arabs and Jews. One night a group of about 15 people went to Aroma and each person told the guy at the counter Shukran (thank you in Arabic) while collecting their order. The guy remembered me from the night before and said, “they all tell me Shukran but I am not Arabic.” Inside I laughed because he really looked no different than his Arabic co-workers so how was a person to know the difference? But responded to him with a smile and said, “Toda” (thank you in Hebrew).

Before leaving for Paris I had a brief conversation with someone who works in Congress and he told me that if I always wanted to have work to do, then to work on “Peace in the Middle East.” He followed that by saying that the problems would always exist and that I should set a time limit no longer than 5 years and then continue working on something else. When I was older I could return to working with the Middle East and use those skills I gained, along with the knowledge I had previously acquired to work once again on “Peace in the Middle East.” I don’t think I fully understood him at the time, and I am sure my understanding is still on a surface level. But I do believe he was correct- there are so many intricacies to uncover before you can even begin to identify where the real root of these issues lie. That these problems go deeper than Land, they go deeper than religion, they go to thousands of years of unrest and until you can uncover thousands of years of issues you cannot begin to resolve the issue of the day.

My perspective on understanding anything of Israel is minute, and I am no scholar to be cited as a source of information- but these are my perspectives and insights gathered in the short time I was lucky enough to spend there. What I do know, is that I love both the Jews and the Arabs and that God does have a plan for these people and their land, and that I have much to learn and uncover from those who live in this region of the world.