Hello from Gaza!
Getting to Gaza—
This was the most convoluted trip I have ever
completed.
First of all, I missed my original bus because I had to call the US Embassy about the
security warnings in relation to the recent US military offensive in Iraq.
By the way, the embassy sounds like a Middle Eastern souk– loud and
very chaotic. After wards, I caught the bus going to the wrong bus
station. Then I had to catch a cab using my Russian to the central bus
station in Tel Aviv. I took a bus to Ashkelon. From there, I was
supposed to take a taxi to the Erez checkpoint to cross into Gaza.
There were no taxis in sight, so I took a bus further south to the Yad
Mordechai junction. There were no taxis there either. So I put out my
thumb and tried to hitchhike. I looked pretty funny. Luckily, a cab
stopped and took me to the checkpoint. At Erez, the Israelis were a
little surprised to see a foreigner in the middle of the day
crossing. If I had come a little later. I would have seen a lot of the
Palestinian workers returning from Israel. I waited about 20-30
minutes to cross because I was first directed to the wrong office and
then I had a to wait for an Israeli soldier to get back from
lunch to look at my passport. Then I walked for about 5 minutes, and
crossed into Gaza. On the Gazan side of the border crossing, there was a
wedding party blasting music from their old Mercedes car stereo and dancing
while waiting for the groom to cross the border. After my crazy journey across
the border, I wasn’t expecting people to be singing and dancing as I entered
the most densely populated place on the planet. I caught a taxi. I tried to call
my host to tell them I was late, but the only phone at the checkpoint didn’t work.
The taxi driver did not really know where to take me. To
make a long story short, I spent at least 45 minutes in the cab trying
to communicate with the guy in very, very basic English. there were no
foreigners in sight. I was not scared at all, just frustrated. I was
remembering where I was last week in calm San Diego. No I do not
prefer San Diego to this necessarily. Finally I got to my destination,
five hours after I planned to get there.
The Israelis definitely don’t make it easy to get here.
Many of the roads in the city are not paved and there are kids
playing on dirt. However, there are Mercedes and other nice cars
everywhere.
There are people waiting to go to dinner so I can’t write very much.
I just had a very interesting conversation with a UN official for
refugees.
More details later. Tomorrow, I am going to the settlements and
refugee camps.
Take care.
Hello!
I have been waiting for over an hour inthis Internet cafe for a
computer and I am ina bad mood. The glass of bad white wine didn’t
help either.
Friday the 13th in Gaza
I spent Friday touring some of the refugee camps in Gaza. What a
horror! 7-12 people sleeping in a small room, dirt roads, sewage
system questionable..
Anyway, I have been too quite a few 3rd world countries before. But
these people are refugees in their own land! The thoughts going
through my head during the ride centered around the Holocaust and
Europe. Do the Germans, the descendants of the Nazi state with their 6
week vacations, great medical care and spa vacations, know about the
tragedy inflicted on these Palestinians because of the Holocaust
massacre survivors flight from Europe? (Actually the Eu and
Scandinavia in particular are the biggest donors to Palestinian
projects.) But still, this is the solution to anti-semitism in Europe?
The derooting, torturing and killing of a population completely
disassociated with the Holocaust, the Roman Explusion and The ASsyrian
conquest which kicked out the JEws from this land?
I have seen the ghettoes and concentartion camps of Eastern Europe
and am heartbroken to know that that was he reality for millions of
Jews in Europe. They served as the filter through which I looked at
these refuge horrors.
To be honest, though, I have to admit that it is also great to see
modern Israeli society. So modern, and powerful compared to the
shtetl past.
So, therein lies my extreme internal conflict about the terra santa.
(holy land)
tommorrow, I leave for Petra in Jordan. Maybe i will think about other
things there.
take care,
Hello!
I am back in Jerusalem now. Actually, *I am writingto you
from akibbutz. In my last email, “the holiest city in the world”, I was
referring to Jerusalem even though the content of the email was about
Gaza. If Gaza City were the holiest place in the world, we would be
livign in hell.
Ilearned a very important lesson in Arabic recently. Last Tuesday, I
set off to go to Amman, Jordan. When I called the Jordanian embassy in
Tel aviv, they said the visa is cheaper to by at the border at the
Sheik Hussein bridge. Well,my guide book was written in 1996, and
only had one bridge listed, the Al Malek Hussein (King Hussein)/Allenby
Bridge. SO I just assumed, taht they were the something. HA!!!!
When I arrived at the border at 6pm, I chanaged my money,paid the exit
tax and got a very big surprise. At the passport window, there wasa
sign”NO exit without a visa”. When I told them that the Jordanian
embassy told me that I could buy the visa at the border, the Israeli
border control informed me that I was at the wrong Hussein bridge. The
Sheik Husssein one, in the northnear Tiberias, was the right one. SO i
had to take a cab to the main road and stand on the road for about 40
minutes at thebus stp waiting for the bus. It was totally dark. To kerp
myself amused, I stared singing all sorts of sings, “Guantanamera,etc,
etc”. I tried hitchhiking, but the only one that stopped was not going
to where I needed to go. On thebus, it was recommended to me that I do
not go to the border that night, because I was not sure to have taxis on
the other side to take me to Amman. So, instead, I took the bus to
Tiberias, and spent the night in this lake side resort. The next
morning, I got to the border and a very nice A Scottish man gave me a
ride to Jordan University where I waqs supposed to meet my friend’s
father.
When i was standing on the road, I was actually quite amused, I don’t
think I would have felt so safe in the Us doing the same thing. I also
did not even imagine the beauty that I would soon see at Petra.
Petra was built before Christ. It is a city built into stone. Imaginea
smaller version of the Grand Canyon, with Greek and Roman-like
buildings exquisetely carved into the rock. This was one of the most
incredible things I have ever seen in my life.\
I have more to say about the Israeli-{Palestinian conflict, but I
cannot write it at this time.
please write, i will be back int he us dec. 2I leave here on wednesday.
take care,
susan