Taylor, Stuart, and my mother at a wedding in London, England, 1996
My father spent the summer after his 13th birthday touring the middle east and being Bar Mitzvahed, and I wanted to understand how he felt about the middle east back then, and today, both as a Jew, and an American. This is what he said.
"At
the time, Jimmy Carter was president, and we stayed at King David hotel in Jerusalem.
The week before in June of 1978, the President was staying at that hotel and
there were bomb threats we were staying at only a week before that. It was
scary because at the time, the middle east was like this; Egypt and Israel,
they were at odds. And Palestine was not yet a state so they were very terrorist
and there was a lot going on, everyone hated the Jews. I went to be bar mitzvahed at the Western Wall and tour the country. The Western Wall was the only one
standing of the temple in Jerusalem. It was the only thing left of the great
temple. Tent parties were all the rage back then, so that’s what was done for
my brother. My parents, they wanted something different so they decided a
cruise around the Greek islands was different and so I had a smaller party
without the tent and spent their money on the tour of the islands and Jerusalem.
So, they spent their money on that. It was an interesting trip, something I’ve
never done before and haven’t done since. Yes, I’d do it again if things were
more peaceful in the world. The thing is though, people don’t know why they
hate Jews. There raised and born into hatred, and they are taught to hate this group
of people. It’s not even because a Jewish person did something to them. They
think it’s because of something that happened 2000 years ago, if you pull
anyone aside and ask them what they have against someone Jewish, they wouldn’t know
the answer. Hating Jews is a scapegoat. I’ve learned to accept it as a fact, at
the same time protecting myself and my family. I tell people about me being
Jewish once I get to know and trust them. It’s for safety reasons; I protect
myself and my children from ridicule and bullying and prejudice. I have a pride
towards it, but at the same time, I don’t go around wearing a shirt that says I’m
Jewish because I’m protective. That should be worth something. I went to the 13 stations of the cross, where Jesus
dragged the cross and wore the thorns. We went to the Arab Market in Jerusalem,
it was very mecca. There were people of every religion everywhere, despite the
terrorist threats at the time. I wouldn’t go back there now, regardless of
being a Jew. A lot of guards were there,
just ready. There was sense of terror and unrest and unsafe in the cities.
There was terror for everyone, not just Jews. The sense of terrorism was
present whenever we were in the city. You see the army always ready. We traveled
through countryside in masques and it was relatively safe, at the time. We swam
in the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. We also went water skiing in Galilee, we felt
safe there in the countryside, but not in the city. Egypt wanted to crush Israel
at the time, there was definitely war back them. We were surrounded by hatred.
A lot of what we saw, were churches and masques and ruins. The fear we felt at
the time, wasn’t even just directed at Israel. In general, everyone was afraid.
There was a sense that they can attack you on your own soil. Airplanes used to
be fairly safe and now I fear for traveling, I wouldn’t go back to Israel. The
goal on this trip was to do what we had to do, and get home safely. We went
through Egypt, but only certain areas because it wasn’t safe; certain places
they didn’t let tourists visit. At the time, I felt they were not an ally, so I
kind of felt like I should enjoy the monuments and countryside in the short
time we were there and then get out quickly. In and out, we were stealthy like
that. I feel a sense of pride being Jewish,
one the smartest intellects but beyond that, there’s probably sense of lack of
security because terrorism can pop up everywhere so I would say there’s a sense
of pride for being in the best country in the world. But beyond that, there’s a
sense of ‘I need to go on with my life but this isn’t the safest place to live
as a Jew. You’re a target because Palestinians target Jews.’ In fact, most of
our neighboring countries target the Jews. So, there is definitely pride there,
but a sense of reality is needed."
|
Post a Comment