Every year the North American and Israeli Jewish Communities hold a conference called the General Assembly. This year the General Assembly of 2008 was held in Israel, in Jerusalem. Otzma was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend it this year. Although going into it i had no idea what it was, in the end I really appreciate the fact that i did get this opportunity. The general assembly has people attend from north america (u.s.a and canada) and from Israel, and they come together to talk about different topics that have to do with the Jewish Community, the next generation, israel, etc. This year I was told that less people attended due to the financial crisis in the United States but at the same time there was still 4500 people in Jerusalem for the conference.
The first day of it we were full particpants and attended the Next Gen day, which was the first one ever held. There was 800 young jewish people between the ages of 20 and 40, from north america and Israel and it included soilders from the IDF. It started at Yad Vashem where we heard people talk and then we all split up onto different buses and they took us to see different organizations in Israel. Interestingly enough I ended up on the bus that went to see TEVA.
Which is a pharmacutical company and although might have been interesting for some people, i was a little bored by it. I met some really cool people though, some from Israel, some who had made alliyah and some who were here on different types of programs.
That night was the opening of the GA and the Prime Minister Ehud Omert spoke to everyone.
Although he really isn't that popular here, i was really excited that I got to hear him speak. In college I took a Israeli Politics and Society course, and although one of the more difficult course i had in college, it was one of my favorite ones. It really is an interesting experience for me to see and hear from people that i read about and learned about in a classroom. I can not exactly remember what he really talked about but he did give a shoutout to OTZMA. That was really exciting.
Throughout the G.A. we heard a lot of other speakers that I was really surprised to be hearing. We heard from President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Leader of the Likud Party Benjamin Netanyahu and the new Leader of the Kadima Party, Tipsi LIvni who spoke about Tikkun Olam. I would say the best speaker was the leader of the Likud party but at the same time i'm pretty sure he was giving us his campagin speech. Which would have been great if i had the ability to vote in Israel.
On the 2nd day of the G.A. all of the particpants had signed up for different buses to go on trips around Israel. the point of it was to see the different projects the federations help fund throughout Israel. Since OTZMA particpants volunteered that morning to help get people onto buses we got an awesome opportunity to get onto any bus that had room and join a trip. I would have to say this was one of the best days and experiences i had durig the general assembly. I got lucky enough to get on a bus that was going to Sderot and areas near the Gaza Strip, an opportunity that because of security reasons I couldn't have done with OTZMA. We got the ok from the office and i joined the bus with Eilan, Erica, the ilanas, sara, rena, and justine and particpants that came from many different areas in the U.S. Since we were going to a area that had been hit by rockets the last 10 days before, we had to sign a waver to even get on the bus. The idea of danger I do not really think processed in my head until we got there, so at the time I was not very worried.
Why was this day so signficant to me you might ask? After that experience I think i began to really understand what the people living there are going through. Its not the same to read about a situation in a newspaper or hear it on tv, rather then talking with the ones affected by it on a daily basis. It gives you a whole new perspective and you go from feeling disconnected from it to feeling like you really want to do something to help them. To sum it up though, the day was really depressing to me. When you go to places like this and you meet with people, for me it makes me feel sad for our society and the world. Its enough to already have to make it through daily life challenges but then on top of it these people who live there have to constantly fear rockets being shot into there cities. They have to fear that a rocket might hit there home or that they might not make it to a place to hide when the siren might go off.
When we got to Sderot they took us to this place that collects the rockets. While you walk there, it was noticable that not a lot of people were walking around outside. they showed us rockets that had hit the day before and rockets from the day before that. Pretty much every day they are getting hit by them. Many of the rockets are as they say "primitave." and these are the ones that are detectable but then there are these other ones that I guess they are getting from Iran that has no warning when they will hit. Apparently they are smuggling them over from egypt to the gaza strip. It was 10 days before this that rockets started coming over and since then there have been 107. the day before there was 13. that morning 4 had hit. since the year 2007 there had been 471. Except for that 3 month period where there was the cease fire and it was actually being kept, rockets have been coming over the border since the year 2001.
Can you imagine that? Imagine living somewhere, where every day for 8 years you live in fear that you could die from getting hit by a rocket? Its just so uncomprehendable and so sad all at t he same time. They say that people don't even really go outside anymore to do normal life activites that most people do on a daily basis. Kids don't really use the playgrounds anymore for fear a siren might go off. Most people only go outside to get from point A to Point B. Usually there is about 15 to 20 seconds to repond if a red siren goes off.
After they showed us the rockets and talked to us about them they brought us to see the trama center where they treat people for Post tramatic Stress Syndrome. Basically what we were told is that the type of PTSS they are dealing with is something different that is never seen anywhere else. Usually when people suffer from this its when an event begins and then ends but here there is no end. People have suffered every day for 8 years and they find it difficult to even treat it.
We heard a resident from Sderot talk to us about her experience living there and it was really emotional. She told us about how her house had been hit twice by rockets and that her children have nightmares because of fear. They can't even sleep by themsleves anymore. She said the 3rd time she experienced a rocket she was on the way to work and she couldn't get into hiding in time. She had to duck where she was and the rocket hit to close and she flew in the air where she then landed with a pile of concrete landing on top of her. In hopes to not upset her kids, they never told them what happened and said she was just sick in the hospital while she was recovering.
After the visit to sderot, where they also showed us where a rocket had hit last week... they took us to a moshav outside of Ashkelon. The Moshav is called Netiv Haasara and they told us that usually in the newspapers they never actually mention the name but rather call it a small jewish community. While in reailty they are also another place that every day gets hit by rockets because they are so close to the gaza strip. One of the woman that talked us told us she didn't think the situation was going to get any better, that before it could get better it would have to get worse. Not a really great thought, but i guess it is better to realistic sometimes to be prepared for a situation.
Me, Eilan, the Ilanas, erica, Justine, Sara, and Rena near the border of Gaza
Bomb Sheltor at Moshav I went to...
Many of the rockets that have hit sderot
The end of the day we met with people that were part of the disengagement of GusH Katif, which does not exhist anymore. I learned that 10,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Although the Government considered it to be a efficient evacuation, they left most people with no after plan. What my interpretation of it was that they evacuated everyone from their homes and then since then have done nothing to help them out. A lot of them had professions in the community even if they weren't qualified by paper for it. Even though they were a teacher all their life or a librarian for 25 years after the disengagement they couldn't get a job because they didn't have the right certificates. We heard three different women speak to us. They were part of this program call Job Katif that is funded by money from the federation system, and it has helped them get back on their feet and get jobs. The whole day in it self was really depressing but this for some reason hit me really hard. The third woman to speak started crying after her first sentence. Just seeing her get so upset about her life and what has happened to her made me cry to. It was really emotional, her entire life was turned around from the engagement. The saddest part about it is the organization is going to be out of money next year with no hope at the moment for secondary funding.
What was so signicant about this tiyul (trip) was meeting the people actually affected by these sad stories you might read in a newspaper. You feel more connected to the situation emotionally. What amazed me the most was how much the federation system actually does for people, and to see where these emergency funds were going to. I knew they did a lot for people the United States but there are so many great things being done here to.
The General Assembly ended that Wednesday and that Thursday I had another educational day with OTZMA. The day was called "Israeli Politics and Society." One of my favorite educational days so far. They took us to see the Knesset and talk with a member of the Kadima party. For me this, was soo exciting, it was exciting to see this place i learned so much about in college. I still remember the first time I had to read an article in class and I actually didn't even know what the Knesset was. I was really unknowledgeable about Israel. Now i look at myself, the things that i know, the people I met and its hard to beleive where I stood two years ago. For anyone who does not know what the Knesset is, it is Israels house of politics where all the decisions are made.
We met with a member of the kadima party while we were there, who was the first female general in the IDF. It really impacted my thoughts for the day. One thing she said that i think is important to share is "To understand a culture, you must first learn their langauge." Its this idea that you have to remember how much language can change a persons perspective. How can you really understand a culture when you don't understand the words they use to communicate. Definatly there is other ways to communicate but the point is, what do you do if the democracy means something different in one language compared to a next. It creates conflict, and its something to take in to consideration. In my Ulpan class the other day we talked about this. the fact that theres one word for snow in Israel but then in alaska there are many words for the word snow. I want to same its a simular idea. Words do a lot to change a context of situation, and a understanding of why people do one thing or another. Also in some languages they have words or phrases that aren't even translateable to the english language. Or words in the english language you can't translate to a different language...
Today was education day for "Israeli Politics and Society" part two. True story I went to a prison today. I have not even been to one in the United States before. We were forwarned to not wear tight pants, low cut shirts, or to touch anyone (guys or girls). Let me just say, although they have simular problems such as a cycle of crime, israeli prison system is really different. The one we went today people only stayed there for a max of 7 years and were there for i any crime you could think of. I am a little unsure of how to explain this prison, so i am going to leave it at that I went to prison today for the first time. Although I was tempted to stay because they receive vacations every month and tv's with cable, i decided that i'd rather be living in the outside world...
As for whats going on now... In a week and a half I move out of Be'er Sheva. Its hard to beleive i've been here for three months already. Tonight we are doing a big thanksgiving dinner with americans and some israelis and i think its going to be good. I am going to miss Be'er Sheva a little bit, i really feel like i live here now. Not only that now all the students have come back for school! It is werid to see so many more people around but now i'm leaving. After I leave Be'er sheva I will be moving to Sufat to do a program called Livnot. There is about 15 of us doing this and it revolves around hiking, volunteering and learning about judiasm in a more informal matter. It has more to do with spirtiuality and i'm really excited about it.
