Last week we finally had our first Otzma seminar in north! We traveled to the Galil to learn about the populations who live within the region, which are not typically focused on during a trip to Israel. We started our trip by meeting with someone from Shorasim, a small Jewish village in the Galilee of about 80 families. She gave us a general overview of the region and the consequences of living within very different populations. Not only are there both Arabs and Jews living in the region, but each people has different variations that make them distinctly separate and live life very differently. For example, within the Arab population you have Muslims, Christians, Bedouins, and then Druze (who really don’t consider themselves to be Arabs).
We then went to Sachnin, a large Arab city, to meet Arab university students who were studying to be English teachers. We discussed all kinds of topics with them from the political situation in Israel to how annoying the stray cats can be everywhere. Of the girls I spoke to, they all liked living in Israel and felt it was their home. They expressed a strong connection to the land and their families who were rooted here, and that Israel itself was where they belonged. However none of them felt connected to the Israeli community and they didn’t feel like the government was supporting them. None of them had any Jewish friends and one girl said she was afraid of Jewish people (which was interesting because she didn’t seem to be afraid of me). I think the fear is of Jewish Israelis, not really Jewish people, because as American Jews do not appear as threatening. Most of them did not like the government or the fact that it was a Jewish state; they wonted some sort of combined state for Arabs and Jews. They did not want a second state, and if one was created, they emphasized they would not leave to go to it. One of the most interesting things I heard though was in a response to a question I asked. I asked one of the girls if given the situation, if she thought that anything could be done by Jews or otherwise to make the her feel like a part of the community and integrate into society. She told me no, that nothing could be done to make her want to be included in a general Israeli community, because it is all rooted in her and her friends’ families. They grew up being told to live separate lives and were raised to stay in separate communities from the Jewish people. The whole experience was very interesting and something most Israeli Jews never even get a chance to do.
We then hiked to the Peki’in village, where we experienced Druze hospitality. We ate authentic Druzian food and spoke with a Druze man. The Druze people are a people that are very loyal to the country of which they reside. Having said that, all the Druze people living within original 1938 borders are very loyal to and supportive of the state of Israel. They are so loyal that they demanded to have the obligation to serve in the army like any Jew. The non-religious Druze men are the only Arab people who have an obligation to serve in the IDF. The Druze people loved Israel and unlike the Arab university students, they felt very much a part of the Israeli community.
The next morning we went on a walking tour of Akko and then went to the Western Galilee college in order to speak with both Israeli and Arab students who study together. The dean spoke to us and explained that the mission of the college was to give everyone an opportunity to study without the restrictions of Jewish or Arab. The students are encouraged to leave the politics and their differences at home and work together to achieve all their individual goals. The Arab Israeli citizens here were a more positive about their relations with Jewish Israelis. We spoke with several different students again covering a wide range of issues, but mostly what I took from this visit was that in some places at least, if both populations work together they can coexistence and live peacefully together in a community,
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