I’ve just returned from a two day trip to Al’Quds (Jerusalem) with three friends from my trip. For the last month I’ve been worried that I wouldn’t make it to the Holy Land; one of the destinations most recommended by my friends back at Skidmore. I delayed traveling to Jerusalem thinking that I wanted a truly Arab perspective of the Middle East. I’m not sure why I delayed, it may have been because every Jewish student I talked to at Skidmore immediately pushed the idea of travel there, and it may just have been because of my stubbornness to support a country whose history I am so torn about. But, after a semester of political and historical examination of the century long conflict I finally found the courage and money to make a trip over.
The four of us woke up early Wednesday morning to make our trip over. We had heard horror stories of the time that it takes to travel through the King Hussein Bridge to the Allenby Bridge crossing. Some of our friends (mostly those who had Syrian, Lebanese stamps in their passports, or Arab relatives had trouble crossing). From the North bus station in Amman we rode up to the border. The process to get into Israel is not easy. First we crossed the Jordanian check-point into the West Bank. From there we had to take a shuttle bus to the Israeli border crossing. The first thing to greet us at this check point was plainly clothed men strapped with Kevlar vests and scoped machine guns. At the visa booths were (mostly) attractive, young Israeli women. All citizens of Israel have to serve a mandatory 2.5 years in the military and often the women are posted at border crossings.
The process to get through this checkpoint was relatively quick for all of us. Josh, who is Korean and lives in Indonesia, had a little trouble, as he had to ask to have his passport not stamped, but eventually we made it through. From here we took a taxi to Jerusalem and were dropped off at the main Jaffa Gate to the Old City. We made our way through the Armenian shuq (market) to our hostel. We stayed at the Youth Citadel Hostel in the Armenian quarter. From the roof of our hostel we looked out upon the beautiful landscape of the Old City.
After arriving we stopped at a shwarma shop and had the best shwarma of our lives. Delicious! Who knew Armenians could get it so right? Afterwards we met up with my childhood friend Ryan who’s family lives across the street from mine in Vermont. He was raised Catholic but converted to Judaism after a birth rite trip to Israel and meeting a beautiful Israeli girl (this could be a deciding factor ; ) ). Our hostel sent us to meet up with a tour guide named Miko who gave us an amazing free tour of the Old City. We started at Jaffa Gate and looked at parts of the city wall which still held bullet marks from the 1948 war. In 4 minutes our guide retold us the story of Jerusalem, the Holy City which has been toppled and rebuilt time after time by conqueror after conqueror. Most recently Jerusalem switched hands from Jordan to Israel in the 1967 war and has remained in Israeli protection ever since (disregarding the Dome of the Rock which Jordan controls).
On our tour we walked through the streets that Jesus walked through many, many years ago. We traveled through all 4 quarters (Armenian, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim) of the city. The Armenians, who claim to be the first Christians, are only a measly population of 250 people but still hold a quarter of the city. From this quarter we made our way to the Western Wall and the Jewish quarter of the city. This is the newest looking quarter and the cleanest. The reason for this is because it was totally destroyed during the 1967 war and rebuilt afterwards. Along every street hang flags of the Star of David and we passed Hasidic Jews going from home to school or work or the bakery.
After this we stepped into the Muslim quarter and I immediately felt at home (Jordan home). This is the oldest quarter in the city and you can tell. It is also the most densely populated quarter with families of 7 to 10 people living together in one apartment. This was also the quarter with the cheapest food. On an exciting note, I found Ben and Jerry’s in the Armenian quarter and stuffed my face!! It was dellllicious! Tastes of home sweet home. After our tour we rested it up at the hostel and went to dinner.
Because I am quite low on funds these days I found a small falafel shop by our hostel and made friends with the owners. It’s amazing how far being an American who can speak Arabic takes you. The shop owners were so pleased with my knowledge of Arabic that we stayed and had a cup of tea afterwards. Afterwards I headed off with the group to the New City to find a restaurant for them to eat at. The New City of Jerusalem is very similar to any Western metropolitan area I’ve ever been to. It’s very clean and there is a new tramway system being put in. The city that night seemed to be swarming with young tourists looking for a place to go and have a drink. After dinner we made our way over to a bar to have a drink and smoke some argilah. At the bar Ryan and I ended up sitting next to a Romanian man in his late twenties who had worked in South Burlington for one summer. It never fails to astound me how small our world really is.
The next day we got up early and made our way over to the Western Wall. The area of the wall was broken up into two sections: one for women and one for men. The section for women was significantly smaller and thus looks to be much more populated than the men’s section in photos. Walking up to the wall it was surreal to think I was there as an agnostic boy from Vermont. Strangely enough my trip to Jerusalem wasn’t very spiritual for me. I saw everyone around me; people on pilgrimages from Russia, Ethiopia, Germany, getting emotional and singing chants together, but nothing really made me feel any closer the idea of a single God or human connection. Jerusalem is a beautiful and old city with many wonders. The Dome of The Rock is a great testament to this with its pure gold dome paid for by the late King Hussein.
The Old City of Jerusalem is amazing for the fact that it is home to the three major monotheistic religions. It hosts Armenians, Muslims, Jews, and Christians, who may have conflicts and biases against one another, but who co-exist on a daily basis. While there, I sensed hostilities and distrust but I also saw people traveling between quarters safely and while not being harassed. The city survives off of tourism, pilgrimages from far away countries, and thus, has to maintain an air of safety and tolerance. Had I had time to travel northwards in Israel or to Tel Aviv and other major cities I think I would have discovered an entirely different attitude. My roommate Joe told me about his interaction with some IDF troops that really bothered him. He said that his friend and him went up to some troops to talk with them one night in Jerusalem and began questioning them about their beliefs on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The troops said something to the effect of, “It is our land and we will crush all the Muslims, all the way to Yemen.” The reason they included Yemen was because Joe’s friend was actually from Yemen. Hearing these kinds of stories make me sad. Similarly, my taxi driver the morning I headed to the North Bus Station in Amman to go to Al’Quts, without knowing where I was heading off to, said to me, “I am Palestinian, even if I’m not Palestinian. I have on enemy and that enemy is Israel. We will push all the Jews into the sea.” Where is this conflict heading? If you ask me it’s not going anywhere.
Even before heading to Jordan I have always taken a non-biased stance on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. As an American, I’ve always felt that it was my obligation not to blindly buy into the propaganda that we are Israel’s older brother and protector. So, I’ve spent my collegiate days in politics classes trying to learn about the people of Palestine, to listen to the debates between both sides, and keep my mouth shut. Then I came to Jordan partly hoping to see what kind of hope there might be left for a peaceful resolution. Again and again I found myself defending the existence of Israel with hot headed Jordanians (Palestinian refugees) saying that Jews had no right to existence in Palestine. Sometimes, even in the same day however, I would find myself arguing with Jewish friends on the trip the absurdity of the existence of a “Jewish” state on Palestinian soil. I have felt my thoughts being tossed around like a hot potato with only one coherent realization: every time I have defended a side it has been out of hot headed emotion.
Emotion is what drives this conflict. Pain and suffering from the parents of Israeli school children who have been blown up in terrorist attacks from Hamas, and pain and suffering from Palestinians living in the West Bank who live under a corrupt government who cannot protect them from attacks from IDF troops which might as well be considered terroristic in essence just as Hamas. Every time Palestinian extremists kill a few Israelis Israel returns fire, blindly killing 50 times those that were lost in the extremist attacks. With the constant barrage of attacks on civilians and the daily presence of fear and distrust how can two people with such deep and present resentments move forward? Neither side is the good or the evil, they both deserve safety and the right to exist, but they both have committed atrocities against one another that I’m not sure can ever be forgiven. And this is why I fall into heated debate; this is why everyone can debate this conflict till their face turns blue, because at the end of the day no one holds anymore right to that land than the other (from both a realist and idealist perspective). Idealistically, Palestinians should still have their land, but realistically the Israelis won, they conquered a land just like every nation has had to do to come into existence. After all, ass an American if I argue that Palestinians should have a right to the land and to govern the land than I am saying, “let’s give all the Native Americans back the United States and let them govern.”
The role that America plays in this conflict is huge and I think this may be the one place that I should be allowed to have an opinion. As a citizen it is up to me to be aware of how my government acts in foreign relations and to have an opinion about how they should act. However, I won’t voice my opinion on a travel blog, as it seems I’ve already taken this tangential stream of thoughts far enough. After traveling to the Holy Land am I glad I went there? Yes. Undoubtedly I would have been far more ignorant and one sided had I come to the Middle East without going to Israel. Just as the many Americans who travel to Israel in their life who never step foot in the West Bank, Jordan, Egypt, or Syria are binding themselves to one view; the view that Israelis are civilized, Western, and perfect allies for us. This view often compliments the common belief that Muslims are backwards, uncivilized, terrorists, who can never be trusted allies of ours (at least not respected at an equal level).
On Friday morning Josh, Becca, David and I woke up early to leave Jerusalem and return home. We had heard that the third intifada was being called for by Palestinian extremists and wanted to return safely to Jordan and not get stuck in Israel. As we caught a taxi out of the Old City IDF troops were setting up baracades around the main gates and preparing to shut the city down. Israelis continued to go about their daily business, as the third intifada has been called for a number of times but never come. The IDF troops fitted in Kevlar vests and machine guns looked as if this was a routine, run-of-the-mill kind of day, and it was.
We made it across the border in half the amount of time it had taken us to get in. I personally made it to Jordan with only 5 sheckles left to my name and proud to have been able to do the trip in fewer than 150 Dinars. Yesterday at the gym we worked out while watching live footage of the IDF troops guarding the Old City. It was sublime to realize we’d been there 12 hours earlier feeling completely safe and happy and that now we were watching live footage on Al’Jazeera of the gates we’d traveled in and out of to get from one quarter to the next.
That’s all on Al’Quts. This Thursday my Mom is coming to visit Jordan finally! I’m more than excited, I’m ecstatic to finally get to show a family member my beautiful home away from home. Hopefully this crazy rain that we’ve been having the last few days will go away. Yesterday, while teaching my home stay parents how to play Texas Hold’em, Salim told me that this was the first time ever that it had rained this much in the month of May in Jordan. I would be a little sad to not experience a taste of the Jordanian summer before going home. Also, I talked to my cousin Dylan Stephens online yesterday and he made me promise to mention that in my post (apparently he thinks more people read this than really do). He’s just graduated and moved to Austin TX to start up a music studio and make it big with his new band. If you haven’t gotten his EP yet go and download it!
Love,
Wylie of Arabia
