We decided to make an impromptu trip to the Berlinale, the Berlin Film Festival, in order to see some films and hopefully become encouraged to keep working on the films we have been making. The month of January was a bit of a bust with the invasion of Gaza, Ramallah had become a city of tears, demonstrations and depression. But slowly, as everyone got back to their lives (or what was left of them in Gaza) we were trying to get back to into our work and needed some inspiration.
Going to Berlin from Ramallah we experienced a bit of culture shock, and felt that these two places could not be more indicative of order vs. chaos. Driving in Ramallah was akin to playing a video game, always on guard for an obstacle to be avoided, usually an oncoming car. In Germany, never mind the cars, pedestrian traffic is tightly controlled; stray on that bike path and you’ll be immediately reprimanded by some shrill bicycle ringing. I had also forgotten how clean Germany is. Maybe they tidied up Berlin for the Berlinale, but it was amazing, not a curry-wurst wrapper or even a cigarette butt to be found. Coming from a city where land-fill sites stand in for parks, it was a bit unnerving. Yet one thing that Ramallah and Berlin do share, is a familiarity with walls. The last time I had been in Berlin was in 1986, on a high-school German exchange program. At that time, Berlin was still divided and we passed through Checkpoint Charlie to spend a day in East Berlin, trying to spend the 25 Marks we were forced to exchange upon entry. As I recall, it was nearly impossible, and I came back with a cheaply bound complete collection of Karl Marx readers. I remember seeing the wall, impressed with the graffiti, and our teenage behaviour, waving to the guards in the towers trying to elicit a response.
The Berlin wall is now a monument in the city, revealed in leftover fragments still intact, or the inspiration for some pretty cool landscape art at Potsdamer Platz. Unfortunately, the wall we are familiar with here is very much still doing its job, and let me tell you it is a LOT bigger. We kept looking at those pieces of Berlin wall and thinking, ‘you call that a wall? I’ll show you a wall!’ I do remember the Berlin wall did have this massive zone behind it with trenches and mines etc. but now, seeing the wall itself, out of context, it looked kind of pathetic next to the Palestinian one.
It took us awhile to psychically leave Ramallah and enjoy the festival. The evening we arrived we sat watching a Michael Snow video of Panasonic speakers and simultaneously realized how far away we had been. We then made ourselves fairly unpopular at the cinema office by chastising the festival for showing a retrospective of Israeli cinema. We seemed to gravitate to the films on Israel/Palestine – ‘Rachel’ and ‘Defamation’ (1). Despite the tasty Weissbier, the shiny new train stations and excessive orderliness we just couldn’t shake the Middle East.
Eventually we did calm down and attended some interesting films that weren’t connected to the politics of Israel/Palestine: films on sheep and bricks for instance. Yet in the end, we just couldn’t help it and finished off our trip with a visit to the Holocaust Memorial, Peter Eisenman’s work of hundreds of tomb-like rectangular columns which undulated with the topography, forming a grid of blocks to wander through. The memorial was very powerful and worked both as graveyard and ghetto, sculpture and environment. It seemed to also work for some children as a play structure. Our thoughts turned back to the wall, the landscape of Palestine and we wondered when we would see fragments of the Palestinian wall left as monuments to remember these bad times.
On the plane back to Tel Aviv we read about the Israeli election in the newspaper. Livni and Bibi were tied and Lieberman was going to decide how the government would be formed. The options were a choice between a right-right coalition or, a right-fascist coalition. Palestinians were fairly disinterested in the outcome, the consensus being from those we spoke to, that it really didn’t make a difference who was in power in Israel. And as for Palestinian elections, it doesn’t look like Abbas is even planning to hold any in the West Bank.
It will be awhile before that wall comes down…
Footnotes
1) ‘Rachel’ – film about Rachel Corrie, an American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza, near the Rafah border. ‘Defamation’ was a film by an Israeli director who takes a very critical look at the issue of anti-Semitism.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Wild Kingdom
Love is in the air. Well, not exactly love, but a lot of sex, and not exactly in the air but in the foliage. Every time we look outside the cats have taken to the trees, fornicating on some precarious branch. We thought it might be the Ramallah style of spring fever but it is probably just because our dog Leila(1) has now commanded the lower level of our yard. They sure make a lot of racket as well. I know cats are pretty noisy whilst in the act, but it could also be because they are nervous about falling out of the tree, dropping to the earth in the middle of what seems to be a fairly traumatizing event.
As for Leila, she has become a microcosm of one aspect of the situation here, the Palestinian refugee who just can’t seem to catch a break. We have trotted her out to many an adoption occasion, only to have her efforts summarily rejected. Actually, she was more ignored than rejected, which was probably more painful for us than for her. One day however, as we were enjoying an outdoor café in Jerusalem (guiltily transgressing our BDS(2) position we have been trying to hold since Gaza) a nice outdoorsy looking guy named Mark stopped to pet her. Pleased (and desperate) that he was showing such interest in her, we laid on the sob story of how we rescued her from a life on the streets, but were unable to keep her because we were travelling bohemians with no real fixed address. We omitted her ethnicity, not wanting to risk shutting down his interest before her charms would surely win him over. In any case, she was charming enough to get an invite to his house to meet Pokey, his 12-year old dog who he thought needed a companion. So the next weekend, we brought Leila over to Mark’s house in Baka, a beautiful area of Jerusalem, full of old ‘Arab’ homes. Mark was a new import to Israel, having left California and some mysterious tech business to make Aliyah(3) about 6 months ago. Elle and I had a little talk before this visit, and decided that what was most important was that Leila find a good home, even if it was a politically incorrect one. So we took a deep breath and drank tea in Mark’s vaulted kitchen admiring the arches and stone floors while the dogs acquainted themselves outdoors. It was only when Mark started talking about a certain ‘Arab mentality in the Middle East’ which he found difficult that I saw the thought-bubble emerge out of Elle’s head: “That’s it! No racist home for Leila!” I gave her the ‘keep-your-mouth-shut-glare’. After all, wasn’t it better that Leila stay in her country, than ‘voluntarily-transfer’ to Canada? Besides, I kind of liked the idea that she would be in fact reclaiming an old Palestinian home. The other thing is, Leila herself is really not all that political. She seemed to have no issues with Pokey and was pretty happy running around Mark’s spacious backyard. In any case, whether it was our stony silence, Elle’s subsequent comments about his ‘Palestinian home’ (couldn’t help it….) or the fact that Pokey seemed irritated with Leila, Mark decided Leila just wasn’t for him.
Perhaps it was for the best. Leila now has her bags packed for Canada, rabies certificate in paw, and we no longer have to decide what level of Israel is acceptable for a Palestinian dog. It is ridiculous for sure, but ridiculous is everywhere. This past week one friend left Ramallah and one came to visit: both Jewish, both anti-Zionist, both career activists and even both lesbians. One is Israeli, one American. The American refuses to visit Israel, in fact, she refuses to recognize Israel and refers to it as ‘48’, spending all her time in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Israeli, doesn’t spend any time in the Occupied Territories, but to be fair, is not allowed to. Yet she did come to visit us in Ramallah, but only stayed for a few hours practically refusing to leave our apartment for reasons of guilt, shame and fear. Two women fighting for the same cause yet will probably never meet except for maybe at some feminist peace conference in another country. This is when it gets really depressing. If these two Jewish lesbian anti-Zionists(4) don’t even cross paths, what hope is there for the rest?
The cats are yowling again. I try not to imagine them enduring the season of the tomcat. Now soft and fat from the cat food we bring from Israel to feed them, I hope they can still make it up and down those trees. Maybe they are just hungry. I’ll go check.
Footnotes
1. We named her based on the epic Arabic love poem of Qays and Leila, lovers who were forbidden to marry and then went crazy. The term, ‘Majnoon Leila’ (crazy Leila) came out of this story, the precursor to Romeo and Juliet.
2. BDS: Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions
3. 'Aliyah' is widely regarded as an important Jewish cultural concept and a fundamental concept of Zionism that is enshrined in Israel's Law of Return, which accords any Jew and eligible non-Jews with immediate Jewish relatives, the legal right to assisted immigration and settlement in Israel, as well as automatic Israeli citizenship (from Wikipedia). The term ‘to make Aliyah’ describes this process of returning to Israel.
4. Again, if I may quote from Wikipedia: Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism, the international Jewish political movement that established a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine and continues to support the state of Israel. Opposition to Zionism has changed over time and has taken on a spectrum of religious, ethical, political or military forms. Some include, opposition to the creation of a Jewish state prior to the appearance of the messiah, objection to the idea of a state based on maintenance of a Jewish majority, differing democratic values and differing dimensions or rejection of Israel's right to exist in any form. The legitimacy of anti-Zionist views has been disputed into the present day, along with the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Some commentators argue that anti-Zionism represents fair opposition to Israel or its policies, particularly in the occupied territories. Others contend that to the extent anti-Zionism represents an opposition even to Israel's existence, it is inherently antisemitic. In this context, and admittedly oversimplifying, I am referring to those who believe in a one-state solution for Israel-Palestine.
As for Leila, she has become a microcosm of one aspect of the situation here, the Palestinian refugee who just can’t seem to catch a break. We have trotted her out to many an adoption occasion, only to have her efforts summarily rejected. Actually, she was more ignored than rejected, which was probably more painful for us than for her. One day however, as we were enjoying an outdoor café in Jerusalem (guiltily transgressing our BDS(2) position we have been trying to hold since Gaza) a nice outdoorsy looking guy named Mark stopped to pet her. Pleased (and desperate) that he was showing such interest in her, we laid on the sob story of how we rescued her from a life on the streets, but were unable to keep her because we were travelling bohemians with no real fixed address. We omitted her ethnicity, not wanting to risk shutting down his interest before her charms would surely win him over. In any case, she was charming enough to get an invite to his house to meet Pokey, his 12-year old dog who he thought needed a companion. So the next weekend, we brought Leila over to Mark’s house in Baka, a beautiful area of Jerusalem, full of old ‘Arab’ homes. Mark was a new import to Israel, having left California and some mysterious tech business to make Aliyah(3) about 6 months ago. Elle and I had a little talk before this visit, and decided that what was most important was that Leila find a good home, even if it was a politically incorrect one. So we took a deep breath and drank tea in Mark’s vaulted kitchen admiring the arches and stone floors while the dogs acquainted themselves outdoors. It was only when Mark started talking about a certain ‘Arab mentality in the Middle East’ which he found difficult that I saw the thought-bubble emerge out of Elle’s head: “That’s it! No racist home for Leila!” I gave her the ‘keep-your-mouth-shut-glare’. After all, wasn’t it better that Leila stay in her country, than ‘voluntarily-transfer’ to Canada? Besides, I kind of liked the idea that she would be in fact reclaiming an old Palestinian home. The other thing is, Leila herself is really not all that political. She seemed to have no issues with Pokey and was pretty happy running around Mark’s spacious backyard. In any case, whether it was our stony silence, Elle’s subsequent comments about his ‘Palestinian home’ (couldn’t help it….) or the fact that Pokey seemed irritated with Leila, Mark decided Leila just wasn’t for him.
Perhaps it was for the best. Leila now has her bags packed for Canada, rabies certificate in paw, and we no longer have to decide what level of Israel is acceptable for a Palestinian dog. It is ridiculous for sure, but ridiculous is everywhere. This past week one friend left Ramallah and one came to visit: both Jewish, both anti-Zionist, both career activists and even both lesbians. One is Israeli, one American. The American refuses to visit Israel, in fact, she refuses to recognize Israel and refers to it as ‘48’, spending all her time in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Israeli, doesn’t spend any time in the Occupied Territories, but to be fair, is not allowed to. Yet she did come to visit us in Ramallah, but only stayed for a few hours practically refusing to leave our apartment for reasons of guilt, shame and fear. Two women fighting for the same cause yet will probably never meet except for maybe at some feminist peace conference in another country. This is when it gets really depressing. If these two Jewish lesbian anti-Zionists(4) don’t even cross paths, what hope is there for the rest?
The cats are yowling again. I try not to imagine them enduring the season of the tomcat. Now soft and fat from the cat food we bring from Israel to feed them, I hope they can still make it up and down those trees. Maybe they are just hungry. I’ll go check.
Footnotes
1. We named her based on the epic Arabic love poem of Qays and Leila, lovers who were forbidden to marry and then went crazy. The term, ‘Majnoon Leila’ (crazy Leila) came out of this story, the precursor to Romeo and Juliet.
2. BDS: Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions
3. 'Aliyah' is widely regarded as an important Jewish cultural concept and a fundamental concept of Zionism that is enshrined in Israel's Law of Return, which accords any Jew and eligible non-Jews with immediate Jewish relatives, the legal right to assisted immigration and settlement in Israel, as well as automatic Israeli citizenship (from Wikipedia). The term ‘to make Aliyah’ describes this process of returning to Israel.
4. Again, if I may quote from Wikipedia: Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism, the international Jewish political movement that established a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine and continues to support the state of Israel. Opposition to Zionism has changed over time and has taken on a spectrum of religious, ethical, political or military forms. Some include, opposition to the creation of a Jewish state prior to the appearance of the messiah, objection to the idea of a state based on maintenance of a Jewish majority, differing democratic values and differing dimensions or rejection of Israel's right to exist in any form. The legitimacy of anti-Zionist views has been disputed into the present day, along with the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Some commentators argue that anti-Zionism represents fair opposition to Israel or its policies, particularly in the occupied territories. Others contend that to the extent anti-Zionism represents an opposition even to Israel's existence, it is inherently antisemitic. In this context, and admittedly oversimplifying, I am referring to those who believe in a one-state solution for Israel-Palestine.
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