January Roundup

Forming a coalition

It's almost official: President Peres is now expected to ask Netanyahu to form the coalition, he's completed his consultations with various Members of the Knesset and party leaders. As I wrote a couple of days ago, this is not news, everyone has already starting jockeying for position and Bibi has been offering up portfolios.

 

Syria

I cannot say that the IAF attack on Syria's Jamraya military research center has become water cooler conversation yet, but I guess we'll see.

 

Weather

Winter returned yesterday. It's cold and raining (cats and dogs!). We were close to snow this morning. On the ride up to campus, the bus windshield was thick with slushy lumps. And, our living room is a pool again! Four, maybe six, more weeks of winter. It won't rain continuously, but we will be subject to these nasty outbursts. I cannot wait to stop wearing 3 layers of shirts and fleece and a down jacket inside all the time! And, I definitely won't miss my shift with the squeegee in the living room!

 

Gatekeepers

The first time I tried to see this movie, we had hoped for the early show; it was sold out, so was the late show. Extra screenings have been added at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, everyone wants to see it and lots of folks are talking about. What's it about? From the Cinematheque's website:

Charged with overseeing Israel's war on terror-both Palestinian and Jewish-the head of Israel's secret service, is present at the crossroad of every decision made. For the first time ever, six former heads of the agency agreed to share their insights and reflect publicly on their actions and decisions. The Gatekeepers offers an exclusive account of the reasons that each man individually and the six as a group came to reconsider their hard-line positions and advocate a conciliatory approach toward their enemies based on a two-state solution.
The Gatekeepers is nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary.

The secret service is called Shin Bet -- basically they are the FBI equivalent. (Mossad is like the CIA.)  If you do go see this movie, I'd recommend brushing up on your history from the Six Days War of 1967 forward. Those of you who lived through that time as adults might find you remember enough -- the movie assumes a fluency with, and detail of, Israeli history that I just don't have yet.  For that reason, and that when you read subtitles it limits how much time you get to take in the film, I'd like to see it again.  My landlady, Hedda, saw the film a couple of days before I did.  When I told her I'd seen it she asked what I thought. I said, "Umm...it's profound and I don't think I've processed it." She said, "Ken, whywhywhywhywhy." Which is Hebrew for "Yes; I was overwhelmed in a negative way." Yup, it's a profound film. I saw the movie with an Israeli friend who said, about the movie, "It makes me want to cry." And, it makes the current government's position (and the likely new coalition) on the Palestinian issue all the more frustrating.

The Gatekeepers is a unique and profound comment on the Israeli-Palestinian situation. See it if you can.

Ein Karem

Way back at the beginning of December, on a fine weekend of weather -- clear blue skies and full sunshine with daytime highs of about 20C -- Theresa and I took full advantage and did two big walks in the city. The Friday we spent on the west side of Jerusalem in and around Ein Karem; on the Saturday we were on the east side of Jerusalem, up the Mount of Olives. (I haven't any photos of Saturday's excursion since my camera disappeared (magically) when we reached the top of the Mount of Olives and suddenly found ourselves in a crowd of touts!)


Ein Karem is a charming village on the far west edge of Jerusalem -- it's now effectively an upscale suburb. Reputedly the birthplace of John the Baptist, the village is filled with Christian landmarks.  We took the bus out to the Hadassah Medical Centre Ein Karem (this is where you find the famous Chagall windows, but they are not open for viewing at the weekend). Then we walked down into the valley toward Ein Karem.

The view from Hadassah to Ein Karem

Terraced agriculture -- found throughout the Judean Hills

On the footpath to Ein Karem

Along the way we saw the Moscobye Orthodox Russian Church, begun before WWI and finished recently:

The golden onions of the Moscobye (photo credit: T Tribaldos)

And, we stopped at the Church of the Visitation.

Church of the Visitation

Pop Quiz!

What visitation? Who visited whom? When? Why? The hint is in the mosaic in the pic above. The story is that Mary was pregnant with Jesus when she visited her cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. I have no idea why: perhaps because pregnant cousins want to hang out and catch up? Um, sometime before Jesus was born?

Mosaics of flora and fauna decorate the floor of the church:

After the Church we stopped in at Mary's spring. This is meant to be where Mary drew water to drink on that same visit to Elizabeth.

In need of scrub -- Mary's Spring

Later a mosque (see the minaret) was built over the spring

After stopping for coffee we moved on to visit the Church of Saint John which is built upon the spot where John the Baptist is said to have been born.

On the way to the Church of St. John

At the church

At the church

Ceramic plaques of a prayer in multiple languages at the Church of St. John

From there we hiked up to Mt Herzl (near to Yad Vashem).

Follow the Jerusalem Lion (the trail marker)

On the path to Mt Herzl

From Mt Herzl we hopped on the tram to Mahane Yehuda (the shuk) where we went for lunch.

The next day we (Theresa and I) walked west around the south end of the Old City, past the Zion Gate and the Dormition, down into the Kidron Valley, up to the Garden of Gethsemane. We stopped at all the churches on our way to the top of the mount. And, I took some great pictures! Alas, they left my possession along with my camera. So, we are planning to redo that hike and get some great photos. The view of the Old City from the east is truly magical!

Plus ça change...

The talks to form a coalition are underway and it appears that nothing new is on the horizon. Labour rejected an offer to join the government; they will stay in Opposition.  Bibi is contemplating his options. There are efforts to form a Haredi bloc; Yesh Atid (There is a future) and Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) -- not the most obvious of partners -- are discussing a possible alliance. Apparently, Bibi has 100 days to form a coalition. I cannot imagine the backroom negotiations going on -- a serious chess game for politicians. I suppose if one feeds off that sort of thing, Israel is the place to practice politics. It doesn't get any better than this.

Meanwhile, the people have a bit of a hangover. Just wait a minute...who is this Yair Lapid (head of Yesh Atid)? He's a former tv anchorman (think a younger Peter Mansbridge) who is minimally educated, but attractive and charismatic. Just what is his centrist party's platform? And rega (wait), he's talking to Habayit Hayehudi? And, worse, just last night he announced on national television he doesn't know what portfolio to accept in the coalition (Bibi's people say Lapid can have whatever portfolio he wants - Finance, Foreign Affairs), but he is sure that one day he'll be prime minister.  His political career started last year (Jan 2012) when he left journalism to found Yesh Atid.

Generally, it seems like younger leftist voters were more excited by the election results than older voters. Older voters knew they were seeing the same wine in a different bottle. The centre in Israel tends to be (re)occupied by (new) parties that don't have overly grand visions; they tend to get broad populist support. This is not surprising; gradual change tends to work well for folks who are doing reasonably well in life. (I cannot relate any stories from more right-leaning voters -- I don't know folks that vote that way well enough to learn more of their opinions.)

For people who see Israel in need of an acute policy overhaul (addressing economic inequalities, limiting state support of ultra-Orthodox and requiring them to be in service to the state (army, civil service), managing immigration, addressing Arab-Israeli issues, and finally, resolving the Palestinian issue) the centrist position is frustrating. It means little change can be expected.  And, with life in Israel on the decline, not just economically (for many) and social tensions (inside and outside) on the incline, well, this is desperately frustrating.

There is a future (Yesh Atid)!

The Israeli election results are far more exciting than expected. Yesh Atid (There is a future) led by Yair Lapid has captured 19 seats. This is gobsmacking. It means a centre-left party holds much more power than expected. The most likely scenario (as of now) is a Bibi-led coalition with a thorn of centre-left in his side. As of tonight it appears the Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) and the upstart Bennett-led Jewish Home Party don't have enough seats to join Bibi to form a right wing-Haredi government.

Secular leftist Israelis are optimistic that they will see a more centrist government in 2013. (How long it will last is another question altogether.)  If the Haredi parties are excluded from the coalition, there may be a real opportunity to reform some serious social policy issues in Israel. As for progress on the Palestinian issue, well, that's less clear.

For now, we wait -- until President Peres asks a coalition to be formed sometime next week. Until then, the pundits will be busy with predictions.

Election Eve

Tomorrow is Election Day in Israel. It's a quasi-holiday -- universities, schools, and offices are all closed. But, apparently coffee shops are open and buses run. Sounds like a weekend back home. Polls are open from 10h-22h and the results come back the next day. Can you imagine Canada? What if we had to go to bed not knowing who had won and by how much?

I cannot add any insight to the elections or tell you any great anecdotes. Being Hebrew illiterate and essentially Hebrew-deaf (besides the basics) means I'm insulated from most election talk and all election shenanigans. As I wrote in November, Bibi has apparently got things sewn up with Lieberman at his side. The interesting question in this election isn't who will win, but rather by how much. And, how the left will be represented in the Knesset. We'll have an answer on Wednesday.

As for all that disturbance that Operation Pillar of Defence caused back in November - it's water under the bridge in the daily life of Israelis. Everyone knows Hamas will restock weapons, Israel will make improvements to the Iron Dome (missile defence system), and the dance will continue.

By foot, then take the train

Snow? What snow? It's balmy in Jerusalem. Ten days later and we've got highs of 16C. I'm beginning to understand the "grin and bear it" attitude to winter around here. Anyway, last weekend we escaped the snow of Jerusalem for the Coastal Plain.

What's on the Coastal Plain? It's that bit of Israel that hugs the Mediterranean before you head east to the West Bank or the Judean Hills or south into the desert. Specifically, we went to Ma'abarot Kibbutz because that's where Amit grew up. Ma'abarot is a bit north of Netanya and a bit inland from the coast. At that point, Israel is a narrow strip of about 9km.

On Friday morning we went to Caesarea National Park. There's been something at Caesarea pretty much continuously since about 500 BCE. In what's becoming a familiar pattern, the usual suspects set up shop on site after defeating the previous group. So, first the Phoenicians then the Greeks and Hasmoneans, followed by -- you guessed it -- the Romans! King Herod (the Roman client king of Judea and generally busy guy about whom I'll have more to say in future posts) really made Caesarea into what it is now known for. As a planned city, Caesarea had a road network, a temple, amphitheatre, markets, residential quarters, and -- of course -- an aqueduct!  Also, Caesarea has a great natural harbour.

Jews and Gentiles lived together until the Great Revolt by the Jews in 66 BCE (more on that later -- when I tell you about my trip to Masada this weekend). Later Christians, Pagans, Jews, and Samaritans lived together. In the Byzantine period the city was extended and fortified. Following the Arab conquest in 640 CE, Caesarea became a sleepy town for a couple hundred years. The Crusaders showed up and conquered the city which they held until 1265 when the Mamelukes destroyed it (despite the Crusaders' improved fortifications). In the late 1800s the Ottomans settled Bosnian Muslim refugees in Caesarea. Today it's a touristic site -- more coffee shop than national park. On the day of our visit parts of the site were underwater; Jerusalem had snow, the coast had buckets of rain.

Some pix (photo credits Theresa Tribaldos):

The Amphitheatre at Caesarea

Looking North from the Amphitheatre (the flooded bit on the right of the walkway is the old Hippodrome)

Rocky outcrop at Caesarea's Harbour

Mosaics in the residential quarters

Deciphering the ruins -- I think we found the laundry rooms

At the kibbutz we hung out and ate, visited the kibbutz zoo (just like at Neve Ur, there's a zoo), walked, went mushroom hunting, and ate some more. Yep, it's really hard work visiting a kibbutz. No one puts you to work -- unless you count shelling pecans so you can take a bag home -- and everyone feeds you (Yemeni specialties and lemon meringue pie) and sends you home with food (cookies, jam, nuts, fruit). We are still working our way through the cookies that Amit's parents sent us home with -- we keep them at the office for coffee breaks. Fortunately, Theresa prefers the nut cookies, while I have a fondness for the tahini cookies (like peanut butter, but tahini!).

Snow Update

Apologies for the delayed reportage. I was out playing in the snow. Then we escaped Jerusalem by train (no one takes the train normally, but the highway was closed) to visit my friend Amit's kibbutz on the coast, not far from Netanya. More on that later.

We did indeed get an impressive amount of snow overnight on Wednesday about 15cm.  Thursday morning Jerusalem was a winter wonderland. I spent two hours walking around enjoying it. Here are some highlights. First, from my neighbourhood:

Snow in my backyard at 730 am (10.01.13)

Snow!

Emek Refaim looking south -- no traffic!

Just one of the many snow-laden trees in town

My bus stop, in the snow

Emek Refaim -- peaceful! I love snow!

HaMoshava HaGermanit (10.01.13)

 Then we wandered into the Old City:

South wall of the Old City near Zion Gate

Looking southeast (toward the Dead Sea) from near Zion Gate

Theresa in the Old City...with falling snow

The Western Wall and Al Aqsa in snow

The Dome of the Rock in the snow

To get to the train station (which is oddly in the south of town) we had to walk, since there were no buses running until well into the afternoon. In a way it was an epic walk to escape Jerusalem, a city under siege of a snowfall. But, we weren't actually trying to escape because of the snowfall. About 6 weeks ago we planned this weekend trip to Amit's kibbutz to visit his family and tour the region a bit. It just so happened that our weekend away coincided with this crazy snowstorm.

Theresa

lots of folks were making snowmen

Amit leading us down Aza Street

Finally, here's what's left -- 3 days later -- in my backyard.

Around the city piles of snow remain. Things have warmed up a bit and the sun is out, but the indoor temperatures remain chilly. I'm still sitting in my office in my down sweater jacket. The infrastructure is just not built for winter --- or anything resembling it. The forecast is for 10 days of sun before our next wallop of winter.

Snow!

The snow -- in the form of graupel -- arrived this morning. But it was fits and starts. Some snow, some rain, lots of wind, five minutes of blue skies and sunshine, followed by more rain. The schools were shut down at noon.

Things cooled down tonight and now we have snow, without intermittent rain. It's 2230 and there's about two centimeters accumulated. I'm hoping I can get some (better) photos in the morning. At the Haaretz website they are calling this "heavy snow"; in my backyard it doesn't quite look like that yet. But, it is possible that up on the hills (Mt Scopus, Mt of Olives, Mt Herzl) that things look different.

Snow in the German Colony (09.01.13)

Meanwhile, the lower elevations continue to flood. The Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway has been shut. Some 25,000 homes are without electricity...and we're only at the beginning of the snow that is meant to fall continuously until noon tomorrow.

More in the morning.

Snow (09.01.13)

The rainiest winter in a decade

Last time I moved to the Middle East I barely ever saw the rain. This time it is quite a different story.

We are in the thick of what is probably the worst storm Israel has seen in several years. Since Saturday it's been raining, cold and windy. Ya, I know no sympathy -- that's only 4 days. But, what's critical to understand is that this isn't drizzle, it's RAIN. Great torrents of rain. And, Jerusalem's infrastructure cannot handle it (including the house I live in where the living room is once again a pool and now there are leaks coming from the ceiling. Alas, this is not abnormal -- it's winter!). As one Israeli colleague said to me today, "We are acting as if this is extreme. We pray for rain and then it comes and it's too much."

Indeed.

What makes it unpleasant is the aforementioned lack of central heating. For example, today in my office on windy Mt Scopus the heater is not working -- it's very chilly in here, it might even be time to put on my down sweater. (At home I have changed space heaters and the one I have now has a fan which has improved my comfort immeasurably.  It's better able to keep up with the drafts of cold wind that sneak through my improvised window coverings.)

In addition to the general lack of central heating is the general refusal of the population to prepare for winter. If I can make an analogy it's a bit like Vancouver drivers who refuse to put snow tires on their cars because the chances of snow are pretty minimal in the city. And even if it does snow, it'll probably melt in the next day or two. Here people don't clear drains of debris so that when the rains come it will have somewhere to go.  This is as true for the streets -- which become rivers -- as it is for public places and private residences. 

This failure to prepare resulted in quite a bit of drama at my local cafe (a favourite because it is open on Shabbat) on Saturday. One side of the cafe has a wall of high windows -- on the outside there is a wall with planter boxes along it. Between the wall and the windows (at about shoulder level if you were standing next to it) is a narrow space that turned into a trough with the rain running off the roof into it. The drainage of the trough was obviously blocked because as the rain poured down the water level rose on the windows - it was like watching an aquarium fill. In one part it was leaking through. A cafe worker headed out to fix the problem, pushing all the water and its flotsam and jetsam along the trough and finally down upon the entrance: the security guard and his backpack got a soaker. Twenty minutes later the exercise was repeated. On the third attempt the worker finally reached into the trough, finding the drain and picked out all the leaves and branches that had accumulated there. Success!

You could say the Jerusalem attitude to winter is to grin and bear it. You won't enjoy any of it, but it will pass. The rains will come, but they usually only come for 2 or 3 days. In between you can have a week of sunshine and warming to about 15C, which as I have said is pretty amazing. But, when storms last longer, it really starts to wear on people. And, it looks like we have 2 or 3 more days to go since a massive low pressure system is sitting over Israel. Before it moves on we may have snow.

I'm a little excited about the snow.

Oh Canada, Oh Israel

Hey Canada, I'll bet you didn't know that Roller Hockey is "A Fun Unique Extreme Sport".

Advert for roller hockey (Dor Dor Vedorshev 05.01.13)

Or that Jerusalem has an "Academy of Blade Sports" -- how fun!

Yad Vashem

Today I went to Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance campus. It's located at the western edge of Jerusalem near Mount Herzl in the Jerusalem Forest.

I have been hemming and hawing about going to Yad Vashem (Isaiah, 56:5 -- a memorial). The last time I visited a Holocaust site was in 1996 in Dachau, Germany. It was among the most disturbing experiences of my life to that point. Seeing where people had lived, crammed into bunks, worked to the bone, and ultimately, ended up in gas chambers. Horrifying. But, I felt, really important. Reading about history is one thing, going to the sites, it's something different.  Yad Vashem is a unique and important commemoration for the individuals who were victims of the Holocaust; its mission is to ensure those who were lost are never forgotten.

Getting to Yad Vashem is a bit of a commitment - it's at the far end of the light rail and it's only open during the week, and Friday until 14h (because of Shabbat). So, you have to commit an early morning to get out there and give up an errand-running day. Or, know that you will run around like crazy at the busiest time of the day at the shuk to get your groceries. If this seems slightly lame, I apologize, but it's the truth -- in Jerusalem, you really only have a half day of a weekend to get your errands done otherwise they must be done during the week. Once at Mount Herzl it's about a 10 minute walk to Yad Vashem through the glorious pine forest. Today was sunny (again, amazing!) and the smell of pine wasn't exactly thick in the air, but it was lovely.

The entrance to Yad Vashem is through a large main plaza -- this is where visitors are welcomed, you can get a map, and an audio guide, check your backpack, and grab a coffee or pastry. Then you pass through the plaza, walk over a bridge and enter the Holocaust History Museum, designed by Moshe Safdie (Habitat 67 in Montreal, downtown VPL). The museum is described as a "triangular concrete prism" and that's about right.

Yad Vashem -- on the left is the Holocaust History Museum; on the right the Visitors Centre

There's a skylight that runs along the apex of the triangle, but there is no continuous footpath below the skylight. You cannot walk straight through the museum.  Visitors are forced to cross back and forth as they move through exhibits. This is a cleverly designed and curated museum. The design forces people into cramped quarters together and you never quite know where the exit or entrance is.  The museum catalogues events throughout Europe, from Lithuania to Greece; it is a full documentation of the Nazi program of ethnic cleansing from the 1930s through WWII, from badges to ghettos to camps -- The Final Solution. It is of course, appalling. Many of the camp names and events are familiar, but the egregiousness of the events and actions are not lessened by their familiarity.

The museum was very busy today and there are so many exhibits that it is all a bit overwhelming. Two things stood out for me after I left. One, a haunting picture of Hitler with his deputies, in full winter overcoats striding down a Parisian avenue with the Eiffel Tower behind them. Two, Treblinka (one of the most famous camps) was only operational for 15 months -- but nearly 1 million people were killed, about 800,000 Jews and an uncertain number of Romani people. That's over 2000 people a day. That is staggering.

Besides the museum, Yad Vashem includes the Hall of Names - a disorienting room where the names and personal details of millions of victims have been recorded. The Children's Memorial is also disorienting, walking down and into a black tunnel where a candle light is reflected in what seems like hundreds of mirrors while a woman's voice reads out the name and hometown of the killed children (some 1.5 million of the 6 million exterminated Jews were children). The campus grounds are extensive and include memorials to the Righteous Among the Nations -- the non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue Jews (e.g., Schindler) -- and the Valley of the Communities -- a monument to the over 5000 Jewish communities that were decimated during the Holocaust. And, monuments to Partisans -- Jews that were Allied soldiers, or in the resistance movements and in the ghettos - that fought the Nazis.

Partisan's Panorama at Yad Vashem

Sometime before one this afternoon, we retraced our steps back to the train station on Mt Herzl from Yad Vashem, back through the pine forest. An interesting thing about that pine forest. Apparently, the pine forest that encircles the western slopes of Jerusalem was planted in 1967. Why? Well, this being Israel, there are always at least two narratives. Both narratives say it was to cover the barren slopes. Only one says that the slopes were barren because until 1948, those barren slopes had been the site of Palestinian villages. You can still see the terraces that were made by Palestinian landowners.

On pennies, agorot, and dirhams

Having been reminded earlier this week that the Canadian penny will no longer be distributed after February 4, 2013 and may or may not be accepted by retailers thereafter has given me an excellent entree to sharing an old story.

When I lived in Doha, Qatar in 2004-2005 there was a regular problem in getting change.  In Qatar the currency is called the riyal (like dollars) and dirhams (like cents). According to Wikipedia dirhams come in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50. I've only ever seen 25 and 50 dirham coins. What's more, dirhams always seemed to be in short supply. Especially at the grocery stores; and, especially at the Carrefour at the City Centre Mall. So whenever you rang up a bill that was QR XXX.25 or QR XX.50 or QR XX.75 you could never get your change in dirhams. Instead, you got chiclets. Yup, that's right, chiclets like you used to collect in your pillowcase from trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en. They came in 2-piece packages. For 25 dirhams you got one pack; 50 dirhams 2 packs; 75 dirhams 3 packs. Attempts to refuse chiclets (have you chewed that stuff in the last 30 years?) were pointless as you weren't getting anything else and you certainly weren't getting your dirhams. Anyway, I had a running joke about the Qatari chiclet economy and how could you really take a country seriously when the National Mint couldn't seem to keep enough dirhams in circulation? Maybe it was a ploy of grocery store management to keep its chiclet distributor happy, who knows? And, of course, I could have avoided this by paying electronically with credit so I wouldn't have needed change, but for some reason I regularly bought groceries with cash.

Fast forward to this fall in Israel. Here the basic currency is a shekel (yes, right out of the Bible), more precisely, the New Israeli Shekel (NIS) eventhough it's been around since 1986. A shekel is made up of 100 agorot. Agorot coins come in 10 and 50 (the 1/2 shekel coin). Fortunately, there is no shortage of agorot coins -- there are no chiclets for change in Israel. When you rack up a bill that ends in a unit of .01 shekel, since there isn't a 1 agora or even 5 agorot coin, somebody eats the difference to the closest 10 agorot (unless it's an electronic transaction).  So, here's what happened when I bought a toothbrush and toothpaste the other day:

Total bill: NIS 33.79

Following the rules of rounding, I got 20 agorot back with my sixteen shekels. This is how it's going to work in Canada. And, while I can see the benefits of rounding to the nearest nickel (now that a penny costs more to make than it's worth it's hard to argue with its demise) I, nonetheless, think I might miss the penny.

There will be no more copper in my change purse, only gold and silver coins.  No more putting a penny on the railroad to have a train run over it and flatten it out. (Okay, I have never done that, but my gramps used to do it and it was a total delight when I was wee to see the stretched out penny the train left behind.) And, what of the maple leaf motif on the tail-side of the penny? The nickel has a beaver; the dime, the Bluenose; the quarter, the caribou; the loonie, well, you know; the twoonie, polar bears.  It seems fauna are well represented, but what of Canadian flora? With the demise of the penny how will Canadians be reminded of the country's plant legacy? (Ya, the botanist in me rises up every once in awhile.) Maybe we need to displace the Bluenose? Or the beaver?


And by the way, can you believe it's 25 years since the loonie was issued?