We are currently in Haifa on the West coast of Israel- our very final stop of this trip before we fly from Tel Aviv later today. Israel has more than lived up to my expectations and I have loved every minute of it. I am sat writing in an artsy warehouse cafe near the port in Haifa- a very cool city.
We took the bus from Eilat up to Jerusalem- suffice to say I was VERY excited to arrive in the central bus station. A short light rail ride towards downtown, we arrived at our hostel. We headed straight out for the nearby market we'd been recommended, Mahane Yehuda. Our hostel was quite near the Ultra Orthodox area so the bustling market was an amazing mix of men in their tall black hats and trademark ringlets as well as chaps in kippas and ladies in wigs left, right and centre. As you can imagine (for anyone that knows my interest/obsession!) I was pretty excited again. We sat down in a little cafe within the market and had some tasty pasta, watching the Jewish world go by. We ended the night by watching the open mic session back at the hostel with some great music.
The next day was dedicated to the scheduled ring shopping. Yonna did well to maintain interest as we scoured every single jewelry shop in Jerusalem. After hours of shopping I was starting to worry that I wasn't going to find my ring in the holy city as per the plan. But then, we happened upon a small vintage and antique jeweler on Jaffa Road. We poured through tens of rings until we found the right one! A couple of days later we picked up my resized, beautiful 1960's sapphire and diamond ring :-) After we felt happy we'd found the right ring, we headed towards the old walled city of Jerusalem- my first glimpse of the place I have read about and wanted to visit for so long and it was breathtaking. The incredible mix of people- the Armenian, Christian, Muslim and Jewish quarters, including Jewish people from all areas- North Africa, Eastern Europe, Spain, America etc. etc. all with their unique appearance.....again very excited!! The meander around the old city culminated in us reaching the Wailing or Western Wall- where men and women, separated into two halves (well actually the women get less than a third!), were praying, rocking and placing their paper prayers into the wall.
We were keen to learn a lot more about the much contested and fought over old city so joined a free walking tour the next day. The guide took us through all the areas, explaining the key sites and their importance to the three religions that consider this place central to their faith. After the tour we headed off to explore some more of the sites in detail- we started at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I had absolutely no clue that they had built a church over the areas where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, taken off the cross and the cave in which his body was placed. Even though we aren't religious it was quite something looking at these sacred spots within the church which were being venerated with all the religious fervour you would expect. The church is owned by numerous denominations of Christianity- Armenian, Ethiopian, Catholic- and they are not allowed to change or move one single thing in the church unless all heads of the different faiths agree. As they never meet and never agree, the church is quite ramshackle in places where they simply are not allowed to repair. We also walked to David's tomb, another site of pretty feverish Jewish prayer, and Oskar Schindler's tomb (which was actually padlocked so we couldn't see it). The food in Jerusalem is pretty varied due to the mix of nationalities living there- we had some amazing sushi and went back twice it was so good!
The next day was probably the most interesting- we signed up to a dual narrative tour of Hebron in the West Bank. The hotly disputed city was explained to us by our Jewish guide in the morning and then our Palestinian guide in the afternoon. As you can imagine the security in this city was pretty crazy- there are checkpoints with heavily armed Israeli soldiers at every turn. The city itself was divided into two sections- H1, the Israeli controlled area and H2, the Palestinian area- in an agreement signed by Clinton, Netanyahu and Arafat. The whole day left me much more knowledgeable about the situation and probably more fairly balanced towards both sides- I won't go into what I believe here but will merely explain a bit about why both sides of the argument declare such a passionate 'claim' to Hebron.
For the Jews, Hebron is where Abraham lived, died and was buried, along with one wife and his sons. It is therefore where they consider Judaism was born and the final resting place of the patriarchs and matriarchs of their religion. They claim to have found evidence of Jewish life dating right back to the times of the second temple in Jerusalem (around Jesus' time if I have understood correctly). Jews have lived on the land continuously since that time and until around 1917, in harmony with their Arab neighbours. As the ruling regime in what is now Israel shifted, the Jews of Hebron suffered expulsion and a massacre in 1929 by the same Arab people they had previously called friends. Since the creation of Israel in 1948, Jews have returned to Hebron and built homes here- in a place they feel is rightfully theirs to build on due to its ancient importance for their faith as well as their historic presence in the area. As their presence increased and the feelings of Palestinian nationalism also rose, there were attacks on the Jewish population- a pregnant couple was killed by a suicide bomber, a baby was shot directly in the head by a sniper. The Israeli government, in order to protect its people, shut off areas of the city to the Arab cohabitants.
Ok after that fascinating history lesson, we crossed over into H2, the Palestinian area. The handover from one side to the other was slightly shady as both our Jewish and our Palestinian guides could invite trouble from their respective sides if seen to be collaborating. We were taken to the Muslim side of the tomb of the Patriarchs, the same one we'd just visited with our Jewish guide. The problem is that both faiths believe they are the sons of Abraham- just descended from a different son. The tomb literally represents the split in the religions, in Hebron and in Israel itself- half is a synagogue, half a mosque (the splits differ in actual dimensions depending on which side you speak to). Our guide took us for lunch and walked us through the old souk. When we looked up we could see metal nets full of cans, rubbish and rocks. The guide explained that Jewish 'settlers', as they call them, have built on top of the shops below and hurl objects at the Muslims passing underneath. The 'settlers' are protected by the armed guards that stand on many roofs around the area and the Palestinians say the soldiers never stop their mistreatment. We visited one family who told harrowing stories about being offered millions of dollars to leave their house by 'settlers' and when they didn't a molotov cocktail was thrown into their house, killing two children. We visited another family, the father of which told us that his family had lived in that house for a traceable 700 years but he was now surrounded by 'illegal settlements'. He too had been offered millions of dollars to move and had refused- he claimed his son had been partially blinded by bleach being thrown by a settler.
The Israeli government say that the control of where Palestinians, as well as Israelis, can walk in the city is for security. The Palestinians say they use individual events to take widespread measures to push the muslims further back, increasingly restrict their movement and therefore lives in a subtle, steady attempt to push them out of the area. The Israelis say they are not 'illegal settlers' but rightfully returning to where their forefathers lived. The Palestinians say their land is being occupied, they are being surrounded, threatened, intimidated and built upon until they will give up their houses and their land. The Jewish guide we had said a Palestinian state was a bad idea, that it draws permanent lines of separation and that Jews and Muslims should be able to live together peacefully. Our Palestinian guide told us that this kind of integrated state was totally impossible.
We returned to Jerusalem tired and probably more confused than we started out. It was an incredible, insightful privilege to visit.
The next day we walked the walls of the old city to see all the areas from above and then visited the trademark Dome of the Rock. As you can imagine security was pretty tight to get into the place Jews consider the foundation stone of creation lays and where the arc of the covenant laid as well as where Muslims believe Mohammed ascended to heaven. The golden domed building is beautiful and we took a stroll around whilst being serenaded by large groups of ladies chanting 'Allahu Akbar' very loudly. We then took the light rail out to Yad Vashem- a vast and sombre holocaust museum.
After six days we had to leave Jerusalem- I probably felt the most sad I have to leave anywhere all trip. Not least because the city and the Jewish faith has interested me for so long but also because it is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city with such rich, undeniable history regardless of what religious or non-religious camp you sit in. I thoroughly recommend a visit to anyone :-)
Yesterday we arrived in Haifa and today have explored the Baha'i gardens. My UKBA friends will recognise this as the outlawed faith which originated in Persia and from which we get the occasional asylum seeker. The gardens and the city of Accre (Akko) just across the bay, are the two holiest places for this faith that preaches an end to war, equality of all and unity as one global nation- sounds great and they have the most beautiful gardens to boot! There is also a festival going on here at the moment- an interfaith event with live music, street food and performances- Haifa is really a lovely, lively place.
So this is it, the end of this incredible trip- I think our most rewarding yet. We have experienced so many fascinating cultures and people. Almost everything has been a pleasant surprise and nearly every day has brought unique and memorable experiences. Oh and to top it all off we got engaged :-) Now it's time to go home and celebrate with our dear friends and family.....and then....the adventure continues! Thanks for reading :-)
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