Today was entirely a day of juxtapositions. We started off the day by going to the Temple Mount – though really, therein lies the first juxtaposition. While I refer to this place as the Temple Mount, others call it the Haram, and yet others Har HaBayit. Most signs in Israel are written in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. Yet in discussion, I often refer to it as the Temple Mount… as Katy wrote, what is lost in translation? What is stated by this loss? How do our word choices affect our discussions and interactions?
We walked along the perimeter of some of the Temple Mount before meeting up with our ‘guide,’ who took us around more of the area. Before we could move on, we had to be ‘dressed modestly,’ which for women means skirts, sleeves past the elbow, and hair covered entirely. (I later saw some men whose shorts were too short and so they had to wear scarves as makeshift skirts!!)
As we walked, our ‘guide’ gave the Muslim and Christian histories surrounding the land, while completely neglecting Jewish history. He took our group to the Dome of the Rock and to the Al-Aqsa mosque, and told a very slanted narrative in which the Jews had no history on the Mount and merely “occupied” territories in Israel and did not want peace. Though this narrative does have a place in the earlier stages of the process of creating peace, it is hard to go forward with the process when many individuals believe and retell narratives like this.
One cute vignette from the Temple Mount – we stopped to ask directions to the bathroom from two police officers. One of them said “I’m Arabic, he’s Israeli, and we are friends. See? Even here! Friends!” It was a peaceful moment in a stressful morning.
The area usually closes to tourists at 10am, however, we had an extension until 11am. We ran a little late, though, and so we were chaperoned off the Mount by police officers. We then split into groups, and Katy, Carole, and I went to the Jewish Quarter. While we were eating lunch – kosher felafel and our sandwiches – we heard drumming that got closer and closer. It turned out to be a Bar Mitzvah procession headed to the Western Wall – but in style!! There were drummers, shofars, a couple of men who were leading singing and dancing, and more! It was quite a sight. It was a crazy transition to make, from the Temple Mount ‘tour guide’ to a Bar Mitzvah procession and the Kotel.
Bar Mitzvah Procession - they had stopped to dance!
After lunch we all met up at She’ar Yaffo, or the Jaffa Gate, and took taxis to Hebrew University. When we arrived, there was a protest across the street. Yesterday was ‘nakbah day,’ which is the calendar day in which Israel was established, and so the protest was against the creation of the state of Israel. (Note – the Israelis follow the Jewish lunar calendar for Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom HaZikaron, hence why Israeli Independence Day is not always May 15th.) Again, there was this juxtaposition, of having spent the morning at the Temple Mount, in the Jewish quarter, and then the literal juxtaposition of the protesters across the street from the university. As a group, we have very different views on these days and their meanings, and it was a stressful moment for the group.
At the university, Suleiman co-taught a class on the Qu’ran with a professor from Hebrew University. The students were much older than typical Smithies – the youngest was probably 23 years old. They spoke Hebrew fluently, some spoke English, and they all spoke Arabic as well – they were discussing a specific chapter from the Qu’ran for the whole year! I was very impressed.
We returned to Kfar Studentim, and met up later for dinner. Katy, Molly, Hunter, and I decided to go to Kenyon Malcha, the big mall in Jerusalem. It was huge! And so exciting. There were all sorts of awesome stores, from Home Center (phonetically spelled out in Hebrew) to Aldo, the best ice cream ever! and the restaurant Yotvata B’Ir, which is a company that makes the best dairy products in Israel. We also found a DVD/CD store and a “Super-Pharm” which, again, was spelled phonetically in Hebrew. The pharmacy was really different from a CVS – it was much more upscale, and carried really nice cosmetics and perfumes (ie. Dolce & Gabbana!)
It was really nice to be somewhere different for a couple of hours – and it was surreal to be surrounded by such a modern mall having come from a day of history & ancient city walls!
It was especially nice to be away after such a stressful day. Carole’s post below outlines some of the reasons why it was so stressful, and I can’t agree more. We need to be open minded and open in discussion (and open to discussion) to move forward. I too vote for discussion and teamwork in the following weeks and months.
Tomorrow we head north for a few days. We won’t have internet access, so expect a blogging hiatus!
-Margot