Thursday, January 27th

Umm el-Fahm Art Gallery in the Israeli Arab/Palestinian Muslim city Umm el-Fahm

The Arabs of Israel: Israeli Palestinians, at Giv’at Haviva, Lydia Aisenberg

Life on the Border and Coping with Stress – How and why one does it , Chana Manne

 We began the morning with a trip to Umm el-Fahm, a town whose improbable name translates to “Mother of Charcoal.”  The village was originally surrounded by woods, and the residents did a tidy business for some time slowly turning hardwood into charcoal (which is a long, dirty job, in case you’ve never explored it).  Today it is a small city of hairpin turns and sharp changes in elevation where rug shops and clothing vendors alternate along the street with empty lots piled high with trash, and peopled mostly with Israeli Arabs.  The Umm el-Fahm Art Gallery is a two story space in one of the more modern buildings, and has plans for a large new $30M building as soon as they can find the funding.  Meanwhile, the top floor shows a variety of modern installations while the lower floor displays an amazing collection of photographs from the history of the area.  The museum is also working to photograph and do video interviews of all the local Arab elders, so that their stories are not lost.  Gallery Director Said Abu Shakra is passionate about his work, and speaks eloquently about the role of art in preserving the dreams of humankind, and proudly lists Yoko Ono among the artists whose work has been exhibited in the gallery.

We moved on to Giv'at Havia, an educational facility which works to promote equality and common understanding between Israeli Arabs and Jews.  Our guide for this segment was Lydia Aisenberg, a tiny formerly British woman who cheerfully overrode our schedule to take us on a physical inspection of the “green line” which divides Israel from the Occupied Territories.  She brought us to an overlook where the divide could be clearly seen, and then to a village which had been split in half by the line.  She also told us of an Arab man who had two wives (according to local custom) living on opposite sides of town.  When the green line was drawn, he had to decide which set of wife and children he would live with and which would be left on the opposite side of the border.  (The green line is not marked at this point, but there is a clear understanding of where it lies and those found on the “wrong” side face significant punishments.)

Our next segment had been planned as a presentation on being Muslim in Israel, but the presenter discovered he had been double-booked and our group received the welcome gift of some free time instead.  Many of us have acquired greater or lesser cases of a head cold, and I overheard Dr. T explaining to one of our group that we should have expected to have lessened resistance to Israeli viruses.  Between the cold medicines, the strained systems and the stress of this prolonged trip, it was probably just a matter of time before we started coming down with various ailments.  Still, we all dutifully trooped into the hotel’s meeting room for our last event of the day, a conversation with psychologist Chana Manne.

Ms. Manne is an Israeli born and bred, and draws a dramatic picture for us of the strains of living in a place where bomb shelters are part of almost every home and residents plan for the next missile attack even during times of peace.  She works at the local hospital, dealing with everything from post-attack counseling to long-term PTSD.  She talks about how to help children overcome the stress of having their homes destroyed, and adults who seemed fine until one event uncovered previous traumas and became the straw which broke the camel’s back.  She also commented on working with medical personnel who themselves become traumatized, and the need to “normalize” the experiences as much as possible.  I had the impression that a future chaplain could learn much from her, and I would love to stay in touch.

Tonight is our last night (already) in Tiberius, where we have developed a comfortable routine of drinks and dueling computers in the hotel lounge (the only place with dependable internet access).  Aram did a card trick last night with incredible showmanship, and tonight a few bottles of wine have made their appearance.  It seems like a good time for me to end for the night.