Know Your (Fr)enemy

Frank Rich's excellent op-ed in today's New York Times highlights the contradictions in the conservative response to the Fort Hood shooting.  If "There is a powerful case to be made that Islamic extremism is not some fringe phenomenon but part of the mainstream of Islamic life around the world," as Jonah Goldberg argues, then how, exactly, are we going to work with the Muslim populations in Afghanistan and Iraq?  Goldberg himself recognizes that treating Islam like the problem guarantees "that Islam will become the problem" yet this admission does little to soften the accusation in the earlier sentence.

Rich then points out the fallacy at the center of the conservative hawks' call for more troops in Afghanistan.  "If, as the right has it, our Army cannot be trusted to recognize a Hasan in its own ranks, then how will it figure out who the “good” Muslims will be as we try to build a “stable” state (whatever “stable” means) in a country that has never had a functioning central government? If our troops can’t be protected from seemingly friendly Muslim American brethren in Killeen, Tex., what are the odds of survival for the 40,000 more troops the hawks want to deploy to Kabul and sinkholes beyond?"

We must, as iterated and reiterated since 2003, win the hearts and minds of Iraqis and Afghanis.  Yet the biggest supporters of the wars, the conservative hawks, do not trust or understand Arab Muslims.  It is arrogance at its finest; they must learn to love us even while we gaze down on them with suspicion and disdain.

I wish I could say things were better in Israel but they are, probably because of close proximity, possibly worse.  It is difficult to describe how some Israelis utter the word "Arab."  The closest analogue is the way some racists say a word I refuse to say or type, but it rhymes with "bigger."  That is not to say all Israelis are anti-Arab, far from it.  But buried in much Israeli rhetoric is the implication that if only the Arabs were reasonable human beings, if they could put aside their petty grievances, the conflict would end.

Then again, many Arab and Persian Muslims are truly convinced that Jews control the world, Jews drink the blood of Muslim babies, and other such fanciful notions.  There is always enough ignorance to go around.  If only the same could be said of understanding.

That's Israel...

"That's Israel," my friend Sarah said while we were walking to the salon.  I don't remember what she was referring to but that phrase is a staple of our lives here.  So I'd like to dedicate the following list to all of the WUJS members who have experienced, seen, or heard something silly, rolled their eyes, and said "That's Israel."  Because this country is wonderful but also really, really weird.

1) Bank times: The banks here are open at ridiculously weird hours.  For example, today at 3 PM, the bank was closed.  But it's not because of business hours because some days, they are open at 3 PM.  So good luck finding any kind of rhyme or reason to their schedules.  This also applies to the post-office but I don't really mail anything.

2) Fun protests for stupid reasons: While there were riots a couple days ago at al-Aqsa (yes, more riots), the Hasidim staged their own protest during Shabbat.  They clashed with police, prayed, and wore their furry hats. Why? Because people had the audacity to drive cars during Shabbat.  To rephrase H.L. Mencken, Hasidic Judaism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be living in the 21st century.

3) Screw lines: The line (or queue for the Brits out there) is a staple of Western life.  We do it all the time, whether while getting movie tickets or crossing the street.  One of the biggest adjustments is that the line ceases to exist here in Israel.  If you're waiting for movie ticket, expect someone to push you aside, walk up to the ticket counter, and buy their tickets first.  Or as I experienced while waiting for the walk signal, and old man to push you to the left and stand directly in front of you all to wait for the walk signal as well.  He may have had a white beard, but he had sharp elbows.

4) Incredibly expensive pasta: This probably is good for my waistline but it is still incredibly annoying.  Still, paying 10-12 shekel ($2.50-3.00) for a box of pasta sucks.  Feeding lots of people cheaply with home made pasta sauce and Barilla used to be a staple of my cooking.  Now, I get my carb fix by making latkes with Shira.  They're great but it's not the same.

5) Racism against Asians: I know I've written about this before but it's a significant part of Israeli culture.  There isn't a lot of overt racism against Asians in the US, and most I've encountered is the "I bet you're good at math and science and bad with women" kind which is easily shrugged off (mostly because the first two are fine and the last obviously isn't true).  But here, I encounter the "You're a low class migrant worker" type of racism and it's not fun.  It does make me more sympathetic to the plight of Latin immigrants to the US.

Obviously, this is an incomplete list that I will be expanding while I'm here.  And while I'm posting away, here's a promise for yet another one (serious this time) tomorrow!