“A culture is made -- or destroyed -- by its articulate voices.”

Yes, the title is a quote by Ayn Rand. No judging.

I had an epic conversation this evening overlooking the Old City (my normal position to watch the sun set) with an Israeli named Ben. Ben was chilling in my hostel for a week or so, and saw I was reading a book on the Israeli Polity and Community Space (for my research), and casually, in a very nonchalant way, mentioned if I wanted a native viewpoint, he would love to have a convo. Jumped all over that.

Ben is an Ashkenazi Jew, or of Eastern European origin. His father came to Israel in '49 from Germany, and left in '68 to settle in Los Angeles. His two older brothers were born in Germany, himself in Israel, and two sisters in America. He actually was educated in Los Angeles for university studies. Talk about a diaspora family. He is the only individual in his immediate family still in Israel, with an occupation in helping struggling businesses to improve their business methods through establishing their global network on the internet (he said it in a much more sophisticated manner, but that's my lamist terms).

He was just chilling in the hostel, where he knows the Palestinian owner- he helps out around the place while getting a free stay. Apparently this is normal for him- his uncle owns a hostel in Tel Aviv, which used to be the headquarters of Shin Bet (the internal security service). Anyway, he was a self-declared liberal Zionist, and while raised extremely religious, is relatively secular now. His pride for his country equaled my love for America (aka a lot). His two mandatory years in the army were with the Magav, or Border Police in Hebron and Jerusalem- which he described to me as being one of the most hated groups of Israeli security forces. He stayed on, and serves with the Magav for one month out of every year. It's not something he enjoys- even mentioning how the movie Waltz for Bashir was a reminder for him how much he suppresses his military experiences. But at the same time, as a Zionist, he sees it as an obligation and a part of being Israeli.

Our conversation ranged from the South in the US (for some reason people are interested in that here? Or maybe I think so since I'm so in love with it...woohoo he knew James Taylor and Carolina on my Mind!!!) to kunafa (he's a huge fan) to the study of language (and his wicked friend who knows 11 languages). Since my majors are big flashing red lights to what I am interested in, we also delved into security and cultural intersections. He expressed a lot of frustration at the fact most people never got to know the culture that he loves to much- as a country that in statehood terms was founded on immigrant populations from Africa, the Americas, and Europe, and existing local culture, the rich diaspora of food, culture, and traditions had formed a unique Israeli identity expressed through arts and Israeli daily life. He talked about the Tel Aviv music scene, such as the great reggae scene that's developed there with the Ethiopian population influence. But no one gets to see it outside of Israel- even his father, who spend around a decade here, saw his former home in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict only.

My convo with Ben was huge for me- living in the Old City, riding the Arab busline, working in the Shufaat neighborhood of East Jerusalem, my exposure to the everyday Israeli has been limited--and I think a huge demonstration of how successful self-imposed division has been in this city, from efforts on both sides. Surprise, he knew nothing about the Gypsies, but was genuinely interested, and when I finished my now well rehearsed description of disenfranchisement and discrimination, he was like, 'yeah, that happens a lot here.' Not to over analyze, but I also picked up on how very different Tel Aviv is from Jerusalem, not even having been there. He talked about how his abrasive and open habits weren't acceptable here, and how to most in Tel Aviv, the decisive and overly-tension ridden atmosphere of Jersualem was worlds away (even the politicians choose to reside in Tel Aviv, even though Jerusalem is the capital). This was particularly interesting- I have heard people express anger at the fact this conflict doesn't phase the everyday Israeli as much as it should, particularly in the tactics used in the West Bank and Gaza, and the other idea saying the rest of the world is getting it wrong by only seeing Israel in terms of the conflict (for example, people still eat at McDonald's, even though we invaded two countries in the last 8 years....cough, cough). Someone could write a book about this (probably has), but Stephen Walk went ahead and had some good commentary on it.... I found this right afterwards in my daily google-readering, on efforts to 'rebrand' Israel through emphasizing its' dynamic culture, location, and identity. Overall: it isn't going to work. It's an interesting read, highly suggest.

So that was mostly a random throw together of a new perspective I gained tonight, and thought I would share- because this city is all about the perspective. In some cases, that's what it is mostly about. Actually, yeah, that's all its about.

On another note, the other girl interning with CFK this summer (where I will be at the end of June, in Kenya) is about to start!! Here is her blog, if you are interested: http://loizias.blogspot.com/