The Israeli Shuk: A Place for Peace

         The Israeli Shuk: A Place for Peace

By: Rebecca Chanin

The Busy Streets of Shuk Ha’Carmel

Tel Aviv, Israel

Photo by Rebecca Chanin, August 2016

    You have not truly experienced Israel if you have never been to a Shuk, the Hebrew word for market. For Americans, the idea of going to an outdoor market to do daily shopping for bread, food, juice, and maybe a t-shirt or coloring book for the kids, is surprising, and even a bit revolting. As Americans we like to shop in pristine, high-end, clean supermarkets that sell brand name products and organic food. Americans do not like the idea of shopping outside, on a dusty street, where people are bargaining over the price of a pepper, choosing between ten different pita stands, or standing in the hot sun surrounded by hundreds of strangers trying to fit onto a small street. But to Israelis, this is better than any supermarket. For them, the fresh fruits that are sitting on every stand that were picked that morning are better than any organic fruits sold in the supermarket. Bargaining is the national pastime and acts as continuous background music. The shuk feels like home, the shuk is Israel.

   

Fresh Fruits in the Shuk

Tel Aviv, Israel

Photo by Rebecca Chanin August 2016 

  

    

  The colorful and diverse Shuk

Shuk Ha’Pishpeshim, Jaffa, Israel

Photo by Rebecca Chanin, August 2016

  I will never forget my first time in Shuk Ha’Carmel, the main shuk in Tel Aviv, and in my opinion, the best shuk in Israel. I was excited by the bright colors of the fresh fruits and vegetables, loved the smell of the spices and sweets, and was overwhelmed by the feeling of life in such a simple place. Here you have people working day and night to make a living, and everyone seems so happy. But, what makes this place so special is that it is not simply a market, but a microcosm of Israeli culture. Besides the fact that you can buy any type of vegetable, fruit, sweet, or hummus, you can also buy shirts, jewelry, shoes, and a myriad of other products. Every part of Israeli commerce is represented. But, it gets more interesting, and diverse. There is also every type of person shopping in the shuk, and most notably: Arabs and Israelis, both as merchants and shoppers. This brings about a series of questions. 

      First, lurking in the background of this picturesque scene, does the shuk perpetuate settler colonialism? The sweet smells of the shuk are produced by the foods being sold, especially the desserts, but where do many of these recipes originate? Many stands sell kunafeh, a Palestinian sweet with roots to the city of Nebulus. You can also buy hummus, another Palestinian recipe. Many

Kunafeh (left side) is sold in the shuk

Shuk Ha’Carmel, Tel Aviv

Photo by Rebecca Chanin, August 2016 

Palestinians feel that when Israel took their land, Israelis also took their culture, and then “re-branded” it as their own, a typical case of settler colonialism, taking someone else’s property and culture and claiming it as your own. It is true that many people consider hummus Israeli when it is truly Palestinian. However, in the shuk, kunafeh and hummus do not have to be seen as examples of settler colonialism. First, these items are sold by both Israeli and Arab merchants. Furthermore, the vibrancy of the shuk described above creates a unique environment that allows coexistence and sharing of culture in a way that everyone can enjoy. I also argue that Israeli’s did not necessarily steal the recipe for hummus from Palestinian’s, but learned it during brief periods of peace in an effort to understand each other better by learning the cultures. In reality, when shopping in the shuk, people are less concerned about who they are buying their products from, and more concerned with whose hummus is the freshest and tastes the best, so Israelis and Arabs are buying and selling these products together. This leads to the question, is the shuk fostering a special community that acts as a template for peace?

A few years ago, my parents, who are Jewish, were shopping in the Arab Market in Jerusalem. They were at one of the stands where the owner, who was Muslim, knew my parents’ religion. While they

The Streets of some Shuks empty during Prayer
Times
Photo by Rebecca Chanin, August 2016

were deciding what to buy, the prayer bells rang from a near by mosque. The owner quickly gathered his things and asked my parents to watch his stand while he went to pray. A short while later he returned and they finished their transaction. This short story is very powerful. It portrays the reality of everyday life in Israel that the media rarely shows, since it would not make “dramatic” news. It shows that Jews and Muslims, Arabs and Israelis do not all innately hate each other or fight all the time, but for the most part, coexist on a day-to-day basis. This is not to fantasize or simplify the Arab-Israeli issue. There are still many Arabs and Israelis who do not get along, and obviously, as seen through on-going war and disagreements, there is still a lot of conflict. However, any coexistence, no matter how small, even a simple exchange in the market, is important to recognize, because peace does not occur over night, and it definitely does not happen all at once. Many peace plans are constructed on the basis of starting to accomplish peace on very small-scale goals and gradually striving for larger achievements.  

Interactions in the Shuk

Shuk Ha’Carmel, Tel Aviv

Photo by Rebecca Chanin, August 2016

And the Shuk is a perfect place to start. First, food is something that always brings people together. As previously stated, the shuk connects people over food, each trying to buy and sell the best products. And, if you can get people to gradually have more contact with each other during these transactions, perhaps they can eventually start to have better relations. This is not meant to be fairytale-ish, but a sincere question of trying to get civilians to have amiable relations. And if you can get people to break barriers and get along on one simple topic first, maybe can they can gradually build better relationships. It may be impossible to overcome all issues, but the goal is simply to begin with something basic, like sharing a passion for food. This is also not necessarily an attempt or suggestion of how to fix the Arab-Israeli conflict, but a start of trying to get civilians to coexist. A conversation of “how do you make this delicious hummus” can lead to “tell me more about your history,” can lead to a friendship and understanding. 

Fresh Fruits used to squeeze juice

Shuk Ha’Carmel, Tel Aviv

Photo by Rebecca Chanin, August 2016 

Some may say that these things cannot happen in the shuk, but I have seen these kinds of relationships develop first hand. One of the most memorable experiences from my most recent trip to Israel was at a juice stand in Shuk Ha’Carmel. The woman who owns this stand is a very hard worker who hand squeezes every juice she sells as customers order. Therefore, she has the chance to talk and build a relationship with customers as she makes their juice. Israelis, who are known for their impatience, wait in a very long line for her juice not only because it is the best, but also because she is genuinely interested in her customer’s lives and building relationships with them. This kind of scenario is not unusual in the Shuk and is why I believe the shuk can harbor peace instead of hate. As people learn more about each other, it is easier to get along, and harder to harbor animosity.

One of my favorite quotes is “travel is the enemy of bigotry.” This can be applied to the shuk. This quote is true because it is easier to hate a person, culture, or place you do not know and have never been too, but it is more difficult to hate something that you have experienced, have an emotional connection with, or understand the history of. Travel decreases a person’s perceived stereotypes and replaces them with genuine experiences, which gives way to a better understanding of a culture and its people. So, in the shuk, people of very different backgrounds, which are often opposing, have the chance to learn more about each other in a peaceful environment where the biggest concern is which food to buy. And though it may seem insignificant, a simple conversation can start a positive relationship. Perhaps, the negative stereotype associated with settler colonialism and “recipe stealing” could be replaced with first-person stories explaining how recipes were shared and learned together in times of peace from people with hopes of community. Again, this is hopeful, but hopefully not impossible. As people experience more exposure to each other in a positive environment, their negative stereotypes and bigotry can decrease as similarities and understanding increase. And this is the most important point, for Israelis and Palestinians to build better relationships, they need to start focusing on their similarities, and stop placing so much emphasis on their differences.

     I am not suggesting that shopping in the shuk can solve all the issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict; peace takes a long time to achieve. First, people need to build relationships that will take generations to grow. So, realistically, large scale peace is still far off, but even creating peace between two people who previously believed they disliked each other, is an accomplishment worth striving for, achieving, and acknowledging. A simple friendship, nourished over time, can eventually infiltrate generations of Arab and Israeli families and ultimately create a community that respects and understands each other and their culture. The shuk represents the first step towards the very long road of achieving peace.

Leaving the Shuk, an oasis under the trees

Shuk Ha’Carmel, Tel Aviv

Photo by Rebecca Chanin, August 2016

Shuk Ha'Carmel: 

Bio: My Name is Rebecca Chanin and I am a First-year Student in the School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.