Bruce H. Bernstein: A “Listening Tour,” Final Installment

It’s midnight on Saturday, November 13. Our flight, which was supposed to take off at 11:40 pm, will now depart at 7:45 am, Inch’allah. I’m with Lita, Hanny, Judy, and Carol near our departure gate, trying to get as comfortable as possible. Wally and Chick are in another part of the airport, and Tom and Alice are off in a nearby lounge. Not the ending we hoped for, but we’re making the best of it.

We wound up having several good-bye sessions today. We really did bond as a group of twelve, the nine Dartmouth folk, plus Nadir, Daniel and Tamer. We represent a variety of perspectives, but we were able to respect our differences, and even appreciate them. Nadir and Tamer gave us each several really nice gifts at our farewell meeting, and hopefully we communicated our appreciation for all they did.

After breakfast we had our usual morning circle. Dan asked if we describe some of the high points and low points of the trip.

Wally said a high point for him was seeing the three villages next to one another: the ultra- Orthodox, Palestinian, and modern Jewish. For Tom, the Christian sites were especially significant. Alice was very turned off by the ultra-Orthodox community, which she saw as repressive. Tom also noted as high points the tour of the Separation Wall led by Samir, and the religious service prior to our Sabbath meal with Noam.

We talked in general about the hospitality that so many people showed to us, a group of strangers.

For me there were many high points of the trip, but being at Nadir’s and Tamir’s homes, meeting their families and being greeted so warmly by them, really stood out.

Somehow our discussion turned political, and we considered whether of not it was fair to compare the situation in Israel and Palestine to apartheid. Some of this was touched off by Gladstone’s article in the New York Times. I thought the analogy, while not perfect, did apply. Daniel saw it very differently.

We then left for Jaffa, to tour the Old City, walk through the artists’ quarter, and on to Tel Aviv. Our guide for the day was Ilil, a lovely film maker/Jewbu/expert on contemporary Jewish culture. She took us to many interesting places that we never would have found on our own, including an elegant place for lunch. The day ended with a boat tour of the harbor.

At our last group circle, we talked about the place in history of Yassir Arafat. We had been at his tomb the previous day, and Nadir and Tamer were separately expressing very different thoughts about him as compared to Daniel. I thought it would be helpful to get them in the open so those of us less well informed could think about it. Daniel understands that Arafat is an important figure to the Palestinians but thought that he blew the opportunity for peace toward the end of his life, played a role in the formation of the second Intifada, and was shown to have been corrupt. For Nadir and Tamer, their emotional connection to Arafat surpasses any focus on the beliefs that Daniel expressed. They see Arafat has the most important figure in the establishment of the idea that Palestine deserves to be independent. He was a fighter for the rights of Palestinians. They agree that the second Intifada was a disaster, but do not hold Arafat responsible. Daniel would say that Arafat was never able to make the leap from fighter to political leader, and never set up the kind of structure necessary for a Palestinian government.

It’s 4:30 am. We’ve had to spend the night in the airport. Hanny hasn’t slept at all; the rest of us have been able to doze on and off on the floor. Not the way we hoped to end, but it doesn’t take away from a wonderful trip.