I am officially banned from entering a bunch of Arab countries now.
I thought as the immigration officer stamped my passport. It took me a while to come to this scared, unsettling, resilient, and promising land. Now I was finally in Israel, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Tel Aviv
I stood at the corner of Rothschild and Herzl St, where the legend of Tel Aviv started. About one hundred years ago, there was nothing here except the vast sand dune and 66 ambitious Jewish families. Today, it is one of the biggest tech startup hubs and financial centers. This oasis in a desert with constant threats is a miracle.
Tel Aviv reminds me of the San Francisco I used to live. The Nachlat Binyamin Arts Fair has some of the most creative crafts I’ve seen; The bourgeois Neve Tzedek is filled with posh boutiques, galleries, and cafes. The endless beach is full of beautiful and athletic youngsters. The nightlife here is almost 24/7, the air smells drug and the streets scream sex. The entrepreneurs are ambitious and hopeful; the homosexual community is liberated and proud. It’s hard to imagine this is the same people that went through exodus, holocaust, and one brutal war after another.
Perhaps the past and another potential Palestine revolt are too heavy to think of. Perhaps moving forward without looking back is the easiest solution.
A short walk along the stunning beachfront, I time traveled to thousands of years ago – The ancient city Jaffa, a different world in contrast to the modern and vibrant Tel Aviv. Walking along the ancient cobblestones, I spotted contemporary art galleries, boutiques and theaters. The handsome and beautiful young crowds were hanging around the port, drinking Chardonnay and Rieslings on the Yacht decorated like hippie hut. It’s the port os leisure and hedonism. The weight of history seemed to have been blown away by the ocean breeze.
The Israelis had created an amazing bubble for themselves. A bubble I hope will never burst.
Lying on the beach, I watched the sea slowly swallowing the sun. I compared Israel’s development with China. The PRC founded one year after Israel. After famine, civil war and the cultural revolution, our booming economy is also a miracle. But something is fundamentally different. The development of China is based on government dictatorial control. People are oppressed and used to it. We understand that what we own eventually belong to the states and we don’t trust the government; we are losing our identity, national pride, so we turn around to grab on material goods. Essentially we are scared, the affluents want to invest and migrate abroad. Even though we are booming outside, we are decaying inside. For that, I envy the Israelis.
Jerusalem
The moment I entered Jerusalem, I immediately felt the tension in the air, the heavy security, the police with rifles around the corner, even the looks in people’s eyes. I’ve left the nice bubble of Tel Aviv and entered a city carrying the weight of history, religious conflicts, fatal destruction, and constant threats for thousands of years. The blood and tears seem to make Jerusalem strong but fragile at the same time. She’s survived almost everything, but even today, a small tension here could trigger the 3rd World War.
Walking through the Old City, each of the four quarters (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian) has a different story to tell. After books after books, tours after tours, conversations after conversations, I am still confused with the history and situation in Jerusalem if not more. Standing in front of the Western Wall, I looked at people wearing Kippah, Hijab, and crosses all bear down their heads, whisper to the stone, and stick notes into the wall. How many wishes have you fulfilled? How many secrets have you kept? How many wars and struggles have you witnessed in thousands of years?
The Yad Vashem Holocaust Center is a contemporary triangular architecture sitting in mountain Herzl that took me through the history of anti-Semitism. The walls are filled with black & white pictures tortures and murders. The massacre is Babi Yar, struggle in the ghettos, concentration camp in Auschwitz… Quotes, movie clips, survivor interviews around each corner to make me relive the horror. I ended my visit to the underground dark cavern of Children’s Memorial, which is a tribute to the approximately 1.5 million children murdered during the Holocaust. Candles are reflected in the somber space, while the names of murdered children, their ages, and countries of origin can be heard in the background.
I left with a heavy heart. We mourn over the past, bewildered by how people could perform such monstrosity. But even today, segregation, racisms, and xenophobia are still present and undeniable. It’s scary what we are capable of.
On the bus to Jordan border, I tried to digest all I had seen in Israel, her almost incomprehensible duality.
“Hi”
The young guy sitting next to me greeted me with a big grin. He told me his English name is Ben, and he was on his way for a two-day trekking, a short holiday before he goes back to the army. The military training is compulsory in Israel. But while many youngsters choose some easy divisions, Ben wants to fight.
“I want to be a warrior.” Ben said, “our country needs it. And it’s good for me, it’s very hard but it’s good for me.” He pointed his head. “Sorry, my English is bad.” He kept apologizing.
There you have it, Israel’s own Schizophrenia. Here, A 22-year-old kid escaping his orthodox Jewish family and ready to go to wars the next minute. A few hours away in Tel Aviv, boys his age are playing beach tennis or enjoying happy hour. Here the contrast is so present and mind-blogging.
Perhaps the danger and prosperity come hand in hand. Here in Israel they stand on the edge and live life to the extreme. Why would you want to live otherwise?
FIFINONO - a blog about cultural exploration 
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