As I mentioned earlier, Thursday we went to a settlement (town, neighborhood, whatever you like to call it) ad heard from a settler, Ardi, about his experience. Ardi grew up in as a secular Jew in Chicago. Ever since exploring his Jewish heritage and faith, Ardi has been very religious and classifies himself as a Modern Orthodox Jew. His explanation of what it means to be Modern Orthodox: adhering to Jewish law and living in the modern world with modern problems. We started our tour of Efrat in the Synagogue, which was a great place to learn a little more about the Jewish faith and ease the tension a little bit. Ardi is known to be confrontational and knowing this going in we were all a little on edge and uptight about hearing such a radically different opinion from a strong headed person. After sitting in the "un-air-conditioned-but-not-at-all-hot" Synagogue for 20 mins we relocated to Ardi's backyard Which had a GORGEOUS view of the mountain side- not obstructed by roads, buildings, or homes like the view of the Settlement from my house in Bethlehem.
SO here we were sitting in his backyard asking him questions about life in Efrat, his views on Palestinians, the wall, etc. And the way he took on some of our questions was very... abrasive. It wasn't like having a dialouge or intelligent conversation- he took almost every question we asked and turned it around in a way so that he could give the answer (or non-answer) that he wanted. It was deffinitely an experience that I appreciate. Admitedly the only opinions I have heard about the conflict are more pro-Palestinian or rather, pro-peace, so it was deffinitely enlihgtening to hear the logic of someone who was willing to accept an "extreme evil [the Wall and Israeli policies against Palestinians] for an extremly necessary cause [protecting the Israeli population from Palestinian terrorists.]" There are lots of ways I could depact the various claims made in that statement but I don't want to waste time doing that on this post. (I am also running out of time to be on the computer... motif of my time in Bethlehem!)
SO here we were sitting in his backyard asking him questions about life in Efrat, his views on Palestinians, the wall, etc. And the way he took on some of our questions was very... abrasive. It wasn't like having a dialouge or intelligent conversation- he took almost every question we asked and turned it around in a way so that he could give the answer (or non-answer) that he wanted. It was deffinitely an experience that I appreciate. Admitedly the only opinions I have heard about the conflict are more pro-Palestinian or rather, pro-peace, so it was deffinitely enlihgtening to hear the logic of someone who was willing to accept an "extreme evil [the Wall and Israeli policies against Palestinians] for an extremly necessary cause [protecting the Israeli population from Palestinian terrorists.]" There are lots of ways I could depact the various claims made in that statement but I don't want to waste time doing that on this post. (I am also running out of time to be on the computer... motif of my time in Bethlehem!)
Is the logic he uses one of we won't deal with the terrorist even though we created them. Or don't they admit their policies are responsible for them.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, I know only some of the context here. Nevertheless, I write this and look forward to seeing and discussing this when you are home:
ReplyDeleteI am reading a lot of Palestinian peacefulness and non-violence, and I am sure there are a lot of folks there for whom this is a guiding, real, and difficult principal by which they live their lives. However, to ignore or justify the also very real issue of Palestinian Terrorism seems to oversimplify the situation there.
Also, though I have not picked a side in this issue, I do feel for this man. I don't think it is possible to have a dialogue or intelligent conversation when the situation is set up as 1 on 3, 5, 10+(?).
More personally, I love you and love that you are having this wonderful experience!