Smaller worlds in one big world

My Hebrew study group mainly consists of middle-aged to senior ladies, almost exclusively of Russian origin. To say that we haven't clicked is an understatement. I can tell by their way to look at me, that they think that I belong to the worst liberal, morally degenerated, leftist and idealistic scum there is to find. In other words a serious threat to the Israeli nation. Their conservative and prejudice attitudes have shone through on several occasions, as we in the discussions have dealt with specific events like the gay pride in Jerusalem, or merely the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general, and Arabs in particular.

Yesterday a young couple joined the group. An Israeli Jewish girl came with her Spanish boyfriend, who she recently brought to Israel. When they explained that they live in Shfar'am (Shefa-Amr), I think that all of the Russian ladies collectively almost fell of their chairs. I have talked about Shfar'am previously on this blog, when I told you about the excellent mastic-flavoured ice cream you can get there. The population in Shfar'am is mostly Arab, but other than that the diverse population drawn from several different communities gives the city a relatively cosmopolitan and multicultural ambiance. This is of course something that does not exist in the narrow mind of these frightened ladies and they immediately threw questions on this poor couple on how they could live there with all the Arabs and what language they can use there and the one ignorant question after the other. The fact that they are unaware of that Israeli Arabs speak excellent Hebrew, since they actually go to school, made me aware of exactly how isolated some communities in this country actually are. Our Hebrew teacher, who is also a middle-aged woman, however has a more open mind than most of her students, and she kept on defending tolerance and openmindedness.

The couple defended their multicultural life-style and tolerance and I added to the presentation about Shfar'am by telling everybody about how you get the absolute best ice cream there and that we go there often for just that reason. The Hebrew lesson proceeded with other subjects and I looked forward to exchanging a few words with the couple after class. However, they suddenly left earlier and the girl just left a note to our teacher. After they had left us, the discussion took fire again. One of the ladies told a, for her, unbelievable story about some person who had chosen to live in a ethnically mixed community in Israel. They concluded that this must be some sort of naive peace-project, and that this couple probably lived in Shfar'am for the exact same reason. It never occurred to them that you don't need to have a higher philanthropic purpose to choose something else than an isolated monoculture of your own kind.

I still don't know if they simply left a bit earlier because they had a long drive home or if they thought that the Hebrew level was too high for her boyfriend, or... if they actually felt despised by landing in the middle of a group of redneck-type of people with terrible views. I pray that it was not the latter, and that they will return, because I could really use someone in this group that is reasonable enough to relate to in a normal way. It is worth mentioning that this group of ladies does not constitute a good representation for the general population in Kiryat Tivon. Most people here have an open mind and a tolerant attitude. Among other things, Tivon is a somewhat epicentre for the anthroposophic community in Israel, with Waldorf schools and kindergartens in every other corner.

On Friday we are invited to our friend Samir's home, for food and a nice chat and I hope to get to see his beautiful horses. I guess that the Russian ladies would never consider even going to his butcher shop to buy his meat, although it is the best and cheapest meat around. Why? Because he is Arab, and as far as they are concerned he most likely carries a suicide belt around his waist all day long...

How can we expect two entire nations to achieve peace when we cannot even reach out to each other on a personal level and dissolve boundaries by nurturing friendships across these imaginary borders. Now Assi will call me a hippie again, but honestly, without some idealism to balance up the cynicism, the battle is lost.