Saturday, July 5, 2008
Yacking with good people - Watch out when you say...
Two meetings recently made me realize how little foreigners understand Tel Aviv. Two people who came to Israel for business but also wanted to come across as friendly and interested in Israel. One, a business man, gave a technical talk. Working for an American company he resides in Dubai. The trend of basing Middle East operations of American companies in the gulf states is something of a fad now. The other one was a president of a large university. Both came primarily for business, they would not have come to Israel just to visit or to extend their contacts. Israel is now an acceptable place to do business and the fear of terrorism seem not to stop most people. But there is something that most people do not understand until they get here. Actually, not just get here, but really speak and interact one-on-one. Israelis are still not totally "friendly" to Arabs. Israel for the most part is still at war with most Arab countries. There is somewhat of a quiet fear and a bit of hatred. In the mainstream media the more moderate Arab countries like Dubai, Qatar, Tunisia, and Jordan are lumped in with Israel. After all, we are mostly against terrorism and solving the "Palestinian Problem" with violence. Well, it's not that simple. Israel has been essentially hated and attacked by Arabs for longer than the state has had it's own independence. While a minority of Israelis try to stand for Palestinian rights and fight for the wrong that is perpetrated on most Palestinians in the name of a few terrorists, most do not see things this way. For the most part, both Palestinians and Arab countries are still fighting a war with Israel. While the war is sometimes quiet and non-violent, never the less it is there. Maybe the media in Israel and the world is stirring the emotions more than necessary. But still, this is the only country in the world who is being attacked on a regular basis. No Israeli is oblivious to this fact. So for the most part, we may "tolerate" some Arabs, but we mostly don't like them. When Israeli leaders in negotiations and in political speeches say that "first the Palestinians must stop shelling, shooting, and killing" - they pretty much reflect what most of the population really feels - but does not shout out in public - in protests that you would see aired on CNN, ABC, or BBC.
American style shopping in Natanya - BIG! and somewhat lost in translation. Back to the point! When foreigners with good intentions say that they come from Dubai and still "like" Israelis, that does not make most Israelis smile! So when this kind of statement is made in front of 300 Israeli computer scientists they tend to twitch and than TUNE OUT! My advice, don't do it! It may seem like you are a nice guy to come from Dubai and do business in Israel. Maybe to the corporate managers in the US and England it may even seem like this is your little part in the "Peace process". But most Israelis are not ready for it.
Now for the college president comments. She said that meeting with Palestinian women she was amazed how difficult and how little the higher education system in Israel enables them to obtain college degrees. Again, while some Israelis feel that some Palestinian women are totally NOT TO BLAME, we still wonder why there is so much support for terrorism among Palestinians. No terrorist organization could attack so much without popular support. While some Palestinian women are somewhat "innocent", they still allow terrorist organization to organize, arm, and attack Israel. This seems to be the view in Tel Aviv. The truth is, most Israelis do not know what it's like to live in a Palestinian refugee camp, so there is no way of telling what these women say or don't say. But than again, in Ireland, the women are the ones who stopped the IRA (with all due respect to the British, Irish, and international peace effort). So you see, Tel Avivians are not that ignorant or that hateful! We do see the big picture, and it is not as simple as coming here and saying: "we are your friends". Hopefully this is helpful to you business people who come to Israel and try to be politically correct and "friendly".
ps. these is my take on the situation but it's a result with conversations with a few Israelis and their comments.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Mid June Yakin' in Tel Aviv...
- Israel is a country that produces food at prices that all can afford. When those who suffer deprivation in Africa illegally cross Israel's borders we take them in. Israel provides them with world class medical services, food, shelter, and jobs. Other countries that share their culture mostly reject them. This was true with Asian refugees in the past. Israel will always take in refugees - it's in its DNA.
- While Arabs in the Palestinian Territories try to kill us, we provide them with electricity, water, oil, and food. When there was tragedy in Burma, a country that calls for our destruction, we freely sent medical aid, food, and drinking water. Israel has rushed aid to all those in need: friend and foe.
- Tel Aviv is a modern city which provide a vast variety of service for its people. The postal service delivers the mail and our cable TV delivers entertainment. We have a huge variety of food from around the world. It's fun to vacation in Tel Aviv.
- Barak Obama the presumptive US democratic party nominee made a recent foreign policy statement. In response to questions about Venezuela, North Korea, and Iran, he responded that these are three small insignificant countries. Someone finally got it right. Good show Barak!
- Jimmy Carter America's worst president has a lot of nerv to be critical of Israel. He keeps on criticizing Israel for the treatment of Palestinians without regard to the situation and the daily terrorist attacks which continue regardless of any political and government activities ON BOTH SIDES! The man who brought the Isramic revolution lead by mullahs to Iran, let 400 US hosteges rot in Iran, AND ruined the American economy - shold be hiding in some corner with his head down in shame. Any advice from you ain't worth a bag of peanuts!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sex and the city (not a "Sara Jessica Parker" story)
The International Herald Tribune of May 20 reported on the latest sex rage in the US. Fathers and grandfathers are taking their daughters and granddaughters to what are popularly called "Purity Balls". These events are held to indoctrinate young girls that sex is bad, dirty and that you are violating your GOD.
These girls with their father take a covenant that says "I, (daughter’s name)'s father, choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity." (see Wikipedia - Purity Ball) Abstinence is the word. I find this approach discriminatory. No such admonitions are mad as to the men. The idea that sex should be use to control the freedom of women is nothing new. All religions use it to degrade and control.
I am happy to report that life in the Tel Aviv area has not stooped to this cheap maneuver to control the minds and bodies of our women. It is nice to see that men and women are equal when it comes to deciding your sex life.
See also the NY Times article: Dancing the Night Away, With a Higher Purpose (May 19, 2008) -- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/us/19purity.html?ex=1368936000&en=c34e4ad599933e50&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
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