No one can say that life in Israel ever gets boring. It is the #1 country of contrast, for good and bad. What other country ceases public transport on the Shabbat, while at the same time sending a transsexual contestant to Eurovision Song Contest (Dana International, who won in 1998)? The society is strongly polarised when it comes to expression of peoples identity, and while you will never see anyone as orthodox in Sweden as the Israeli haredim, the drag queens and transsexuals in Israel are far more extravagant than the ones in Sweden. However, the masses are still swimming around in this pond of strong ideas, conventions and moral obligations, and considering the Israel/Palestine conflict, which they simultaneously have to wade through, it is safe to say that it is a tough journey to develop a selfless heart and a blooming open mind! Like in any part of the world, the individual revolution and struggle for freedom of expression is concentrated to the largest cities, and in the case of Israel, the epicentre is Tel Aviv. You don't have to go far away, though, to find rigid ideas built on ignorance and fear, much created by segregative structures in the society.
In Rehovot, some 20 km South from Tel Aviv, they are about to decide this week whether to approve a planned eviction of a hostel for mentally disabled adults from the Marmorek neighbourhood. Both the municipality and the Marmorek residents want to shutter the hostel - in the residents' case, because they would prefer neighbors without disabilities. A recent survey found that half of Israelis would not want to live in the same building as a mentally disabled person, and the same number would not want their children to have any contact with such people in school. This is a battle over the social and human values that a modern society needs and there is a constant striving to get rid of prejudices and integrate these mentally disabled people into the society, community and areas of life that have thus far been closed to them. Neighbourhood residents where throwing Molotov cocktails and burning tires, while showing signs with slogans such as "blood will be shed" and "you've brought explosives into the neighborhood." This behaviour have no place in a civilised society and is no better than any other violent and hostile act.
A much better example is Kfar Tikva, which is a scenic, kibbutz-like community belonging to Kiryat Tivon. Kfar Tikva is the home to approximately 190 disabled adults. Now you might think that they are safely contained there, well separated from the rest of us "normal" people, but that is not the case. Its members are well integrated in Tivon as well. Many of the members work and shop here, and various programs are offered that bring the members of both communities together on equal footing. Additionally, approximately 50 of Kfar Tikva’s members choose to live outside of the village, in residences supervised by staff in the heart of Tivon. We have members of Kfar Tikva living in a flat in our own house. In Kfar Tikva they have a dog kennel, where most of the work is performed by members of the community, and the kennel is owned by our very own vet. When we go to Sweden for two weeks in July we will let them take care of Goshen for us. With the progress she has made during the last few weeks, we don't want to see her falling into old patterns and in this place we are certain that she will get all the attention that she needs, by very loveable people.
This is not the only example of truly virtuous initiatives in Tivon. We also have Ein Bustan close by, which is an integrated Jewish/Arab Waldorf kindergarten. The founders of Ein Bustan share a vision of a society in which Jews and Arabs live together peacefully in equality and understanding, and what way can be better than to foster the new generation with tolerance and unity? An educational system that separates children by their religion and nationality fails to take into consideration the widening gap between the two communities, which will take years to bridge and generations to mend. This is one of the (still way too few) bicultural/bilingual education initiatives in Israel and the enthusiasts responsible for these projects are true heroes.
Harmonious relations are built by tearing down imaginary walls between people. The personal meeting is the fundamental basis for removing feelings of fear and emotional distance. Homophobes should be sentenced to volunteering at the Gay Pride, and people who are afraid of mentally disabled people should get a chance to interact with them. Same goes for different ethnicities, like Jews and Arabs... This is where the project "Aikido without borders" also contributes, by building bridges between people of different background. I know that I will be called a hippie now again, but it is OK. I take it with pride!
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