MKs, PMs, NGOs, CEOs, and the GA

GA hostess addresses the crowd at Binyanei HaUma.

The following is a multiple choice question. Please choose the best answer: Last week in Jerusalem, Brian a) heard five current and former Israeli prime ministers speak; b) stayed free in a 4-star hotel for seven nights; c) participated in a debate on the Israeli-Arab conflict with two Members of the Knesset; or d) listened to a Scottish Jew conduct a seminar on the week’s Torah portion in a William-Wallace-like accent. (See here for quick reminder of the accent)

And the answer is (drum roll, please): ALL OF THE ABOVE. 

I arrived in Jerusalem last Thursday for a media/journalism seminar, which the World Zionist Organization organized in conjunction with the GA. What’s the GA, you ask? In short, it is an annual conference for members of the American Jewish world, mainly from the United Jewish Communities, who hold meetings to discuss programming and philanthropy. This year, in commemoration of Israel’s 60th birthday, this weeklong conference/birthday party was held in Jerusalem, and former Israeli prime ministers and heads of Jewish organizations addressed the more than 4,000 American Jews in attendance at the Binyanei HaUma conference center.

During the GA, I participated in a journalism seminar with participants from Israel, Russia, France, USA, Switzerland and South Africa, all of whom are here doing yearlong programs. We met with the editor-in-chief of Israel’s leading online news Web site; had a discussion about security issues with the former chief of staff of the Israeli Army, Moshe “Bugi” Yaalon; listened and partook in a debate about the two-state solution with two Members of Knesset; and sat in an audience of 4,000 to hear speak: Shimon Peres (Israeli President), Tzipi Livni (Acting Prime Minister), and former PMs: Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ehud Olmert.

The week soared above all of my past weeks in terms of intellectual stimulation, social networking, and a long series of days without needing to watch episodes of Heroes to stave off boredom. Furthermore, I expanded my network of available couches on which to crash for the weekend.

I wrapped up the week by spending Shabbat in Ofaqim, a small town of 30,000 people in the Western Negev and my future home from Jan. 4 to April 1. I stayed at the house of my roommate’s adoptive family, a bunch of eccentric yet very hospitable and gregarious Moroccans. They are also Shomer Shabas, which means I could not watch TV, turn on the lights or use any electric devices from Friday to Saturday, sundown to sundown. 

On Monday, I and the other four people who will be sharing our cozy, little apartment in Ofaqim, got a tour of the town, making stops at our future volunteer sites: a high school, elementary school, after-school coffee house and a farm, where the family grows everything from khat (a hallucinogenic plant) to bananas.

Monday was also my birthday, and I have to publicly thank my mom (I don’t know how public it is if she is the only one who reads this blog) for her resourcefulness and thoughtfulness. A woman who five months ago did not know how to turn on the computer, somehow managed to contact a florist in Arab-speaking Nazareth to deliver to me a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates. Love you, Mom.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the birthday wishes. Keep in touch.

Brian.

Coffee, anyone?

River snaking through the bottom of a valley near the Golan Heights.

In effort to fight back against the boredom that was our day, a couple friends and I laid out a mission: go to the coffee guy in Nazareth and stock up. This man, named Ahmed, said he has been in the coffee business longer than we have been alive. His father and his father’s father, too, all coffee men.

We navigated up the narrow, windy cobblestone streets of the market and found our man. But just when we were set to leave, he invited us for some hot coffee in the back of his shop. And if there is one thing you don’t do in Arab culture, it is decline an invite for coffee. (Personally, I don’t decline anything free.) So we drank. And we talked. And we drank some more (three cups). And we talked. All in Hebrew, so the conversation was a bit limited. And after 20 minutes, when the awkwardness began to settle, much like the coffee grains to the bottom of the pot, we left. Shukran, Ahmed. 

Weekend recap: I went up to Metulla, which hugs Israel’s border with Lebanon. You can see UN vehicles, Israeli tanks, and Lebanon tanks all patrol the same area. The North is beautiful (see picture). Green mountains, kibbutzim, turquoise rivers, and wide valleys all dot the landscape. It is a stark contrast with the city atmosphere (Tel Aviv) and desert scenery (South) in the rest of the country. I spent the weekend with a friend from summer camp. We went to a kibbutz party Friday night and hiked Saturday and then ate some hummus in a Druze village in the Golan Heights.

On Thursday, I head to Jerusalem for a 6-day journalism/media conference. Free hotel room, three meals a day, seminars, field trips. The works. Then, I have the distinct privilege to celebrate my birthday with a grand tour of Ofakim, the development town where I will live January-March. I return to Upper Nazareth Nov. 24, at which point I will only have a couple weeks until I say goodbye and move on to the next stop on my journey: two weeks volunteering at an army base.

That’s all for now. Thanks again for reading!