A History Rewritten

Today we focused a lot on narrative. Who gets to claim truth, how they do it, and how it gets reinforced for generations. This is especially pertinent for me as a citizen of the US, thinking about all the aspects of our history that have been rewritten or not told. From the indigenous people whom we wiped out from the get-go, to slavery, to the rich culture of resistance that exists among our people.

We went on a tour of Jaffa this morning, which was originally the capital of Palestine before 1948. Our tour guide was Sami, a Palestinian writing his dissertation on the history of Jaffa during the British Mandate. He is also a self-proclaimed political activist..  It was a port, and therefore central to the Palestinian trade economy (Palestine exported oranges and soap, to a name a few). In 1948, 120,000 Palestinians were expelled from the area to make room for Jewish refugees. About 3% of them stayed, and still are living there. We talked about all the aspects of these people's lives that have been erased. Like most historical cities, Jaffa is littered with plaques telling a story of something which was once there. We never once saw one that mentioned the people who were here already when Israel was created, or what/whom exactly they were being freed from when it was supposedly "liberated" in 1948.

The thing that disturbed me most was my sense of comfort when I walked over cobblestone and gazed at the infamous teal of the Mediterranean, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants style.  It felt like any other vacation in many ways. I found myself looking at the little shops and restaurants, or the lights hung through the trees and thinking how beautiful this place must look at night! or boy do I wish I could lay on the beach right now. As I took a moment to reflect on these feelings, I felt disgusted. Disgusted at how easy it was for me to look around and feel a sense of normalcy, a privilege I have in most of my day to day life. Though I do try to push myself to do so regularly, it certainly does not come naturally for me to look around and thinking about what has been erased on every street corner. The only history we see in the US on plaques like these is a history of white colonialism. A story over which I have no ownership and feel no connection. It made me think of my own neighborhood at home in Philadelphia. Recently the public high school down the street was closed, along with over 20 others in Philadelphia after budget cuts this past winter. Now it is just an empty building and we have no idea what it will be filled with. Across the street from that is a beautiful old court house or city center that has been abandoned and locked up. There hasn't been any widespread attempt at telling the story of this place, or what happened in it. What will my own neighborhood look like in 20 years when I bring my kids back. Will it be gentrified in the ways that much of my city has? WHo will be displaced and forgotten? Will I be here to put up a fight?

Sami showing us a map of Israel and telling us about the use and relevance of geography and maps in this issue. 

Enjoying the comfort and beauty of dipping our toes in the Mediterranean

The streets of the Old City of Jaffa. This seemed very familiar.

View of Tel Aviv from Jaffa

After Jaffa we headed in to Tel Aviv to speak with Kobe, an Israeli professor who works for Boycott from Within. His emphasis was on solidarity with Palestinians an using the privilege they have to be supportive of the boycott movement from within Israel (though they represent less than 1% of Israeli society) it was great to hear from him about the work that is being done internally.

After speaking with Kobe, we spoke with Ido. Ido is a pretty moderate, mainstream, 32 year old Israeli living in Tel Aviv. We spoke with him to get a sense of how our average Israeli views their situation. To summarize, these were his main points:

• After a while you start to get warn out of the politics and the negotiations, so you lose interests
• Palestinians do not want peace in the same way that Israelis do, and if they wanted it badly enough, they would get it. They do, after all, have more motivation to achieve it since most Israelis are doing just fine. 
• He wouldn't want these thing to happen to him, and many of the policies are unjust, but it is not a fair world, and in the end, the strongest will win. 

This was not surprising, and certainly not alien to me. This is very similar to the reasons why anyone lets any system perpetuate. They are living the benefits of it. It has been set up for them. It is about maintaining the comfort of every day life, just as I was feeling walking around the ghosted streets of Jaffa.