Israel

A fellow blogger from Israel, Dimi Reider, recently publicised a shocking story, presumably from Tel Aviv, about a shocking case of humiliation, rape and incitement to violence. The victim is a young, recently-arrived Czech student in Israel. The suspect is a local who recently took courses at a 'pick-up school'. He boasts on the forum of raping the student so that there are no signs of violence on her body (in case she decided to turn to the police). The steps he has learned at the 'school' are aggressive pick-up strategy, crushing the victim's self-confidence, exploiting the local-foreigner differences, and using the humiliating approximation while the victim is still in shock. I join fellow bloggers and Israeli activists who demand not only that the suspect goes to court, but would also add that such a school must be closed.

While this particular case may be extreme, the pattern is not so uncommon, so I hurry to provide some tips for young women who are planning to or have recently arrived in Israel.

Just read this. I have not found the words to comment it. I visited an unrecognised (I won't spell 'illegal') village in Ramleh. The families that live there were expelled from their original villages after the Independence of Israel was announced and in a period of rather lawless situation many Arab residents were forced to leave their homes. Many of them did not stay in Israel at all. Those ones did. They, along with Israeli activists helping them, have estimated that demolition of a house costs about 20,000 NIS - for this you could upgrade sewage and water supply to the village. Now the village lacks basic amenities and feels increasingly hopeless: as many times as they tried to apply for recognition, the municipality was deaf and blind. Meanwhile, a new Jewish moshav nearby got all the rights and all the amenities immediately. The villagers went to negotiate with the new members, but those reported they just got what they wanted from the government, and perhaps would not want to compromise their situation. The only positive thing is that Israel has a very progressive law: all children are entitled to school education, regardless of the status of their parents. The children of Dahmash (the unrecognised village) go to schools in towns and villages nearby, potentially enabling them to (a) claim their rights better, as they will be literate and educated to communicate with the authorities in the future, (b) access the labour market outside the village (although I cannot imagine how is one supposed to send a CV to a respectable company with the address in this unrecognised village on it). In this respect these children are better off than Roma children in unrecognised settlements in/near European cities - many of them are not in school.

Well, I guess I won't describe the  situation any better than my dear friend, Yuval Ben-Ami, already has.

There is never one side to a story. State authorities are under multiple pressures. At least in Lithuania, illegal housing is a big issue. The Roma settlement in Kirtimai, Vilnius, is in heavy debt to the municipality, for which some basic amenities are periodically disconnected. Many children do not go to school, and crime is thriving (this is the biggest drug hub). Not all inhabitants are willing to move to social housing offered to them, as they prefer to live in the community they feel comfortable with rather than have their family dispersed. When they try to move in together with all their family members they are used to have around, non-Roma neighbours complain. 49% ethnic Lithuanians surveyed (as of 2009) reported they would not like to have Roma neighbours, and 38% would not like to work together with Roma. For those who read Lithuanian, this is an article I wrote after visiting Dahmash, drawing a parallel with the Roma settlement in Vilnius (to which, I must admit, I have not been).

However, a parallel problem with illegal housing in Lithuania is local mafiozi, nouveau-riche and politicians building or expanding their houses illegally in protected heritage areas, blocking roads so that only themselves and their guests can use those, stealing land from parks and forests to make their property more attractive, and so on. The media reports such cases regularly, but it is very difficult to do something against those in power. You may not see anything in common between impoverished Roma, who have lived in that neighbourhood historically (and some rich Roma living there, too, as they have attractive business options there) and rich individuals building houses on national parks and other protected areas, such as the Curonian Spit. However, predictably, as soon as the state makes a legal exemption in its laws, the powerful will be the ones to capitalise on that. I think both states, together with the respective communities, should look for some other grounds to legalise the settlements on ad-hoc basis. And I say 'legalise', not evict these people and patronisingly move them into social housing.

The Israeli calendar of national holidays is structured following the religious calendar. You can't miss the holidays because everyday life gets restructured. My Israeli friends joke that all major Jewish holidays have the same idea: "They tried to annihilate us. They failed. Let's eat." Now, obviously, the Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is today, stands out from the yearly cycle not only because it is not a public holiday. It twists the logic of the holidays celebrated just so recently. "They tried to annihilate us. They succeeded. Let's... let's..." The truth is, although established practices have developed, the society is still not sure what should come after the "let's". What does one do on the Holocaust Remembrance Day?

Tel Aviv has a very long coastline and has many diverse beaches for all tastes. Now that I live in South Tel Aviv, I go to the southernmost one. Something I noticed yesterday exposed the fact that not all beaches are treated and serviced equally.

'Ost' means 'East' in German. Today I want to discuss a particular kind of established 'Orientalism' against (a) Israeli Arabs, (b) immigrant women from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), and (c) their relationships.

I heard a rather disturbing story about Tel Aviv municipality chanelling thousands for a special programme to 'treat' (!) girls 'at risk' (!) of dating Arab and non-Jewish immigrant men. Read this blog entry about the issue. Even though the problem is deep and painful, and one-sided judgements on either side should be avoided, I couldn't agree more with the author of the entry, saying that the response is primitive and inappropriate.

As I was on holiday, I had my first time flying ELAL (Israeli national airline). I'll tell security stories later when I'm in the mood. Another thing caught my attention this time. As both the automatic and the live voices of the plane crew were greeting the passengers, they did not translate 'shalom'. Many Israelis are absolutely sure that everybody in the world knows that word. In many cases it's true. Watch this video to see how the international recognition of 'shalom' is used for advertising tourism in Israel.

Tel Aviv is a very colourful city with various spaces. Some of these spaces feel more bourgeois, others feel cosy and simple. Therefore the city is a good playground for people who like to make some kind of contribution to the way the city looks like. South Tel Aviv, where I live, is especially rich in street art.

• If you're looking for souvenirs, go to 'Nashashabi Souvenirs' on Via Dolorosa 5th station 30. Same things as elsewhere, but much cheaper.
• Skip the Artist Colony, it's really boring. If you hope to find something like a hippie commune or expect any kind of bohemian atmosphere, you'll be twice as disappointed as we were, as we didn't expect it. It's a place for very well-established artists to sell their work to super-rich people.
• There's a cute street, which I think is called Nachalat Shva, but in any case, you get there by turning left from Hilel street if you walk towards the Old Town. It has ceramic, paper art shops, etc, very pretty and quite affordable.
• For lunch, the vegetarian restaurant on Yafo str., I think number 33. Supreme quality organic ingredients, vegetable and dairy products, good humus, friendly multi-lingual staff.
• If, however, you are desperate for some pork and for some reason want to find it in the religious city of Jerusalem, I was told that you can get some at the YMCA Three Arches restaurant.
• Take a look at the huuuuge French consulate near the Old Town and contemplate the waste of taxpayers' money on something which works only three hours per day.

One professor introduced me to his architect friend, and I had the pleasure of joining his tour around the deserted, but very interesting areas of Tel Aviv. I hope his project will succeed and the areas will be preserved for community/cultural purposes.

A new Sudanese restaurant opened near the Central Bus Station - the area of immigrants and the 'underworld' in Tel Aviv, the place which locals avoid, but which always entertains the eye of an adventurous explorer. On the way there, you might have to kick a syringe or two on the street, and observe a pathetic interaction between a prostitute and a man in a car. Yet there's about enough light in the area to make you feel safe, and the curious locals are a good alternative when you need to balance out the experiences with the stuck-up majority of young people in Tel Aviv