Military Training In My Neighborhood

For those of you who may not know, I live in Ramleh - not Ramallah, Ramleh. Yeah, it is different. Aside from the fact that the former is in Israel and the latter is in the West Bank (Palestinian Authority) I found out today that it is pretty much the same. Unfortunately, I am not referring to the similarity in the night life, Cafes or Bars.

I finally decided to write about this rising phenomena of IDF (Israeli Defense Force) military training taking place in my neighborhood. Remember, this is Ramleh, the one in the state of Israel. I am not talking about shooting guns and firearms, but still, I find this very infuriating.

The unit that is carrying out this training is the military dog unit - Oketz. I guess they find my neighborhood in the old city of Ramleh very similar to the urban atmosphere in the West Bank so… what the heck! The neighbors are not complaining so let’s train those dogs in a nice quite Arab neighborhood at night, no one is going to notice. Besides, keeping it quite is part of our professionalism.

I am not very familiar with the "laws" regarding military zones and the legal implications of this but it just doesn’t seem right, at all! At first, I found it amusing. Coming back home at late hours from the University is usually not a very pleasant walk and having those soldiers and dogs running the streets as if this was a movie filming set was entertaining, in a way… Later, this started to annoy me – there’s always a soldier by the end of the street who needs to stop the “operation” so you could actually walk through… This was the point when it stopped making sense to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand the need for such trainings. Despite the fact I object involving those dogs in this stupid war, it’s totally legit for those units to have these training sessions. But don’t we have enough military zones in this country?! Aren’t half of our nature reserves such zones?! What about the desert?! Lands confiscation?! Build a demo Arab-like city and set dummy puppets as your potential dog threats!

To be honest with you, I haven’t contacted any of the authorities about this. I usually call the municipality when there is unusual issues in the neighborhood – who should I call for this? I don’t really want to talk to some Army General about this.

I just want my quiet and scary walk home, back.

Independence Day in Sinai

Haaretz reported on April 13, 2010 the following: “The Counter-Terrorism Bureau on Tuesday warned all Israelis currently visiting Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to leave immediately, citing a concrete threat that terrorists were planning to kidnap Israeli nationals and smuggle them to the Gaza Strip.”

This announcement defiantly ruined my Independence Day “celebration” of 2010. Obviously, no kidnap occurred, but following this announcement, it’s almost impossible to convince my traveling companions to join me to Sinai.

Ever since I was a kid, I never really celebrated Independence Day. I never really promoted any Nakbah kind of conventions at the same time but… that’s just not my “thing”. I never really liked those barbeques, never attended the street parties with the foam spray and of course I never hung a flag on my car windows.

Lets make this clear, Palestinian Israelis should be integrated in Israel’s society in every way – they should make every effort into that sort of integration. In addition to that, I came to the conclusion that Independence Day in Israel is just a wedding I wasn’t invited to. So, as a Palestinian who is a proud Israeli citizen, I’ve decided to get the best out of this day – I decided to celebrate Independence outside of Israel. I’ve tried it once and I just loved it. Despite the fact I have a lot of criticism toward Israel, I think there’s a lot to appreciate about its existence and no better way doing this than outside of Israel.

The best recipe for such an excursion is Sinai. As much as one loves that heaven, it’s a place you can’t stay in more than a week. You basically pass the crossing point a day before the actual celebrations start and you come back a day or two after. That way, you get to avoid all the pointless patriotism and useless nationalism you can never really relate to. Above it all, you enjoy a nice vacation in the best desert ever – No wonder the people of Israel spent 40 years hanging in there.

Now from this stage, I want to thank that National Security Council for ruining my Independence Day of 2010. All I’m left with now is reading Emile Habibi’s book ‘The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist’ and writing a seminar about 'Nationalism and Ethnicity'. You’re just pushing me to be a Palestinian citizen remembering the Nakbah.

History Repeats Itself in Neve Sha’anan

I participated in a city tour two weeks ago in the southern neighborhood of Tel Aviv; “Neve Sha’anan”. Our guide, Kim Sher, stated that Neve Sha’anan is the oldest neighborhood outside the walls of Jaffa; it was built by the pioneering working-class Jewish immigrants in then-known colonized Palestine. This statement opposes the main stream approach that “Ahuzat Bayit” (Rothschild Boulevard area) was the first Tel Aviv neighborhood to be built.

In addition to all the enlightening information I learned, both historical and cultural, Kim’s recommendation to visit Neve Sha’anan pubs was the most appealing to me.

I was lucky to meet a friend from the neighborhood that week. We managed to get together this Tuesday in Neve Sha’anan to watch a Champions League football (soccer) match between Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

I have been anticipating this game for a while. In addition to that excitement, I got the chance to watch it in an area most of the Israelis would consider the downtown of Tel Aviv – a place you would walk by without even noticing its existence. The neighborhood has some controversial “areas” with “shinning lights” and other elements that are not serving its reputation in a very good way.

The entry to the pub in the end of an ally will tell you nothing about the fiesta that was occurring in that improvised backyard pub. It was a full house and we barley found a place to sit. The game had already started and we missed the first goal for Manchester United by the Englishman Wayne Rooney.

It took me a few minutes to realize I was in Neve Sha’anan surrounded by football fans like myself from Sudan, Eretria, Nigeria and many more immigrant workers from Africa!

The waiter approached me in Arabic; I suppose he recognized my facial similarity with Palestinian workers he probably ran into before. The (verbal) menu included well known Arabic delights like Knafe, Burma and Biklawa and of course various kinds of beers. At a certain point my friend looked at me and said: “I feel like we are in Egypt”, referring to the Shisha smoke decorating the place, adding the smell of Sinai and Egypt well known to most Israelis.

At that point Bayern Munich tied the game with a free kick by the Frenchman Franck Ribery and half of the fans were in discomfort. The other half were cheering and their excitement rose even more when the Croatian Ivica Olic scored the winning goal in the injury time far beyond the 90 minute legal time - history repeats itself. The clapping got stronger and stronger and all of a sudden a new stream of people started flowing. People were coming in and out, some very excited and happy whilst others were sad and depressed.

At the end of the evening as we walked out of the alley back to the Neve Sha’anan main street, I realized how each one of us has our own bubble we live in. It is Tel Aviv University for me and it’s Neve Sha’anan for thousands of people you, will never meet!