Americans Promote Bad Juju

I went to a tour today, sponsored by the Zochrot organization (literally "remembering") of a former Palestinian village called Khirbat al-Lawz. It was demolished by Israel and made into a national park.

And I'm like so what?

While I do not take sides in this conflict, ever, I went there with the opinion that this is what is meant by "spoils of war" and that if you engage in a turf war, you're risking your turf. Both in 1948 and 1967, Arabs lost. They lost their turf. And Israel did with it what it wanted. However, I went on this tour hoping that I could hear the other side of the argument. Because one side of an argument is useless without its other half.

The highlight of the tour was Abu Azi, a villager who lived in Khirbat al-Lawz and fled with his family in 1948. He is old, walks slowly, and speaks softly. He addressed the group in quiet Arabic, which was then translated into Hebrew by the tour leader. Very few attendees were Israeli, in fact most spoke English at least as a second language, but this didn't seem to matter to the tour leader who announced early on, "If you need translation into English, help each other." Help each other? You've got to be kidding me.

Firstly, Mr. Tour Guide, Americans do not help each other.

Most attendees, besides being non-Israeli, were journalists, filmmakers, or activists. Anyone with a camera pushed others out of the way to get a better shot of Abu Azi- a real life Palestinian villager! Their translators made a concerted effort not to let anyone besides their clients hear their translations. They huddled in close circles that did not permit outsiders to hear.

Finally I found myself wondering, why is the international media swarming all over this? The village had 500 people (something I learned from the booklet they distributed, the back page of which was in English). Nothing was explained coherently. I feel like it's because the tour operators assumed anyone coming on this tour would understand its significance. And they seemed to, but not because of their translators.

40 minutes it took to get to this dirt road near Jerusalem. 40 minutes I listened to them crap out of their mouths. 40 minutes they patted each other on the back about how progressive they are. But not once did any of them say anything meaningful.

At the mountain above the village, they paused to hammer in a sign that said, in three languages, "Khirbat al-Laws was a Palestinian village." This was where the photographers all hurt each other the most, trying to get the best photo of Abu Azi next to the sign. Then the group descended down the mountain to have the former locations of houses pointed out. I started to go down with them, then I thought, what am I doing? I couldn't understand the tour anyway and I was already starting to become bitter- that group had bad juju and it was getting to me.

I sat myself down on a rock, determined to just sit and enjoy the view instead. As they descended further down the mountain with their signs, talking amongst themselves in small groups, I found that I felt more at peace and more enlightened as the circus descended away from me and I was left in silence.