In the morning, we walked to St George’s Anglican Cathedral. The neighborhood is adjacent to the seam line, which marked the division of Jerusalem after the1948 war, and the old Mandelbaum Gate, which was the location for Israel-Jordan Armistice Committee meetings. A substantial number of hotels were erected in this area which is on the east side of the light rail line and close to the neighborhoods of Sheik Jarrah, Musrara, and Mea Shearim.
We were welcomed by Rev. Hosam Naoum, Dean of the Cathedral, whom we had met on Thursday night, and by The Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem. His Diocese includes Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. The service is conducted in Arabic and English to respond to the needs of the diverse population that is part of this community. The Bishop had just returned from Jordan where he was host to the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Many of the symbols in the Cathedral were shrouded in purple cloth, an indicator of the Lenten season. Bishop Dawani spoke about the Lenten religious imperatives of fasting, charity and care for others, drawing comparisons to the Muslim and Jewish traditions. He referred to the historic presence of the Christian community in the Holy Land and reminded worshipers of the importance of persevering despite challenges.
We travelled north to Givat Haviva, which was founded in 1949 as an educational centre for the socialist kibbutz movement, expanded to do Holocaust education (it brings Jewish and Arab teachers to Auschwitz), and, most recently, an arts and education to encourage greater linguistic, cultural, identity and political awareness. Mohammed Darawshe, an Israeli Muslim who is co-Director of the Abraham Fund and former Deputy Director of Givat Haviva, met with our group. Speaking about the Arab citizens of Israel (17-20% of the population), stated that the dream of the disappearance of “the other” will not be realized. Jews and Arabs will remain and there must be increased coexistence and cooperation between them based on full equality and a shared society.
Darawshe described Arab Israelis as the weak “left-overs” of the Arab nation without political, social or cultural leadership and said that the social, economic and political equality promised in the Israeli Declaration of Independence had not been realized. Initially, Arab citizens were seen by Jewish society as an enemy to be controlled, rather than as citizen to be respected. Over time that has changed. Prime Minister Netanyahu (2008) acknowledged that it is in the interest of the State of Israel to integrate Arab citizens into society. Darawshe raised issues related to acceptance and citizenship. Will Israel will be a Jewish state or state of its citizens? How will Israel balance between a neutral civic state and the Jewish national definition of Israel? He was critical of the Israeli demand that the Palestinian leadership recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying it would give approval to ethnic preference for Jews rather than to all citizens.
While acknowledging that there are public efforts to break down stereotypes and to seek shared society, that Israel is a better democracy than elsewhere in Middle East, and that the government now seeks to encourage minority employment, improve zoning plans, and be more politically inclusive, Darawshe was deeply critical of Israel. It was a very painful session for those who want a democratic Israel, but also want it to be Jewish and Zionist.
The rain began. It has been a dry winter season in Israel and Palestine. We had planned to have a renewal of baptismal vows for Christians in the Jordan River, but decided that the ceremony would have to take place on a covered boat in the Sea of Galilee. Lake Kinneret receives and transmits the flow of the river. Imam Patel spoke about this idea and of his previous experiences on the Kinneret. I read poetry of Rachel Blaustein, so evocative of the location. Then Rev. Hamilton and Father MacPherson, using lake water held in a bucket by Gavin Keachie, a divinity student, led Christians in this ritual of spiritual renewal.
We continued to Kibbutz Lavi, founded in 1949 by Orthodox German-Jewish refugees and now a thriving resort. After dinner, we met with Rabbi Meir Rubenstein, a member of the kibbutz and a founding faculty member of the Ma’aleh Hagilboa Yeshiva. In a quiet, thoughtful discussion, he spoke of the Biblical settlement of Israelites in the Galilee and the deaths of King Saul and Jonathan, of the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud of the Land of Israel in the region, and of the unbroken presence of Jews in the Galilee. He spoke the importance of creating a culture of equality and justice in the kibbutz and of slow, steady efforts to build an Israeli society that will be inclusive of Arab citizens.
Although it was late, we debriefed, giving participants the opportunity to reflect on important spiritual moments of the past few days, their feelings about the holy sites we had visited and their thoughts about the politics of identity. There was a great deal to consider as we made our way to our rooms, still continuing our intense conversations.
Rav Baruch
