When you think about Israel, many things come to mind. Unfortunately, conflict is the first thought. Then, Holy Land. Next, probably the Jewish people. Perhaps someone we know, perhaps memories of the Holocaust.
I haven’t had good experiences with Jews before. For me, encountering the whole community was going to be challenge. I never thought they could be even close to nice and the ones I knew were really greedy. No wonder why they have been trying to take over Palestine all this time, am I right?
Not really. Not at all. I couldn’t be more wrong. People in Israel are extremely friendly and trustworthy. They are very family oriented and don’t seem as voracious as they are often being described. Actually, markets close early in the evening so people can get back to their loved ones and there is no entrance fees to go into the most popular touristic attractions. Parking and restrooms are public. Also, free of any charge. Not even the airport or checkpoint immigration officers were a hassle. Public transportation seems easy and convenient. Holidays and breaks are extremely abundant. Who wouldn’t like something like that?
When it comes to sweetness, Israelite’s are the definite winners, and I mean it literally. You will find the most delicious pastries all over the country and there is no other place in the world in which I have seen an actual Nutella Store. Also, the best chocolate croissants I have ever tried were in a little bakery on the West Bank.
However, like any country Israel has a bitter taste. The conflict persists on the two sides of the border. Inside Israel you always see armed soldiers just going around. They don’t seem invasive, but actually quite silent, almost invisible. However, you know they are protecting a country that was born in war.
In Palestine, any person you encounter will try to persuade you. They are anxious in telling you their stories, their feelings, the deep mystery of what they consider to be a historical crime. Did you know that most of the Palestinians that got relocated when the territory was given to Israelite’s thought it was temporary so they took and kept their house key?
The conflict is now so beneath Palestinian skin, that it seems they breathe and feed of it every morning. They are always under alert for Israelite’s coming to town or getting too close to the border. They don’t like them, but there is nothing they can do to stop them. They do require permission to even consider crossing to Israel territory, so they feel like foreigners in their own land. They have opted to live in fear, regret and denial.
But the conflict has become part of daily life. Because time continues with or without any agreement. The funny thing is to notice how Israelite’s and Palestinians are so much alike. You can actually suffer some disappointments in both sides. Traffic is one of the big issues. It can be get really chaotic and disorganized. Drivers don’t leave any spaces, they don’t signal either. It can get hard to navigate. The cost of living can also get really high. There are very limited fast food chains, but plenty of local and good food! No matter the circumstances, people are extremely friendly and polite.
Israel is definitively a very charming place to visit. It is full of contrasts, full of surprises and full of lifetime lessons. I thought I was never going to change my position about the conflict, my mind about the Jews, my empathy towards the Palestinians.
How come that I did all those very things in a very few days. The conflict is not white and black. It was just brutally imposed, but neither the Jews or the Palestinians are the ones to blame. They just had to learn how to live with it. Either to protect it, either to reject it. Does that make either party the bad guy?
You see reason in both sides of the story. You see resentment. You see hate. You see fear. However, you get a sense of hope. You get a sense of true love. This is what is truly magic about Israel: the chance to rediscover the deepest sorrow and at the same time, the purest faith.
Wookitu 