Life in Karmi'el

                                                             (the view from our porch)
For almost a month now we've been living in our new home in Karmi'el, and so far it has been a fantastic experience.

Karmi'el literally means the vineyard of God, though to be honest the vineyards have yet to be located (there are none in the immediate valley). Nevertheless, Karmi'el is most certaintly blessed with beauty and is an extremely accomodating place to live. It sits on a few hills, making the terrain a challenge but providing a picturesque view (so much so that our street "mizpe nof" means the view of the landscape) . From our house we can see the neighboring arab villages (including Deir Al-Assad, where members of the group work) and the road that winds to Akko.

With a population of 45,000 Karmi'el is just a large town, but because it has become a popular place to live in recent years, it is blessed with two malls, the old and the new. Sometimes on the weekends we trek the 25 minute walk (of pure hills) to grab a burger or a slice of pizza. It's pretty gratifying to be in a place where that luxury is possible, speaking in comparison to Kibbutz Ein Dor where we were constantly reminded that there was no where to eat other than the chadar ochel (dining hall) and that we had very few chances to leave the kibbutz.

Karmi'el was established in 1964 as a development town, meaning that its creation was mainly for the purposes of bringing a Jewish population to the area and absorbing new immigrants coming to Israel. This shows dramatically in the demographic. Karmi'el is home to a huge population of Ethiopians, Russians, and Mizrachim (North African Jewish immigrants, mostly from Morocco). You would think that such a diverse group would bring cooperation and tolerance to the area, but in fact Karmi'el suffers deeply from racial tensions. A couple months back advertisements were run in the local newspaper saying that if anyone was selling their house to an Arab (or knew someone who was), they should call a provided number. That number led to a group of people that would persuade others to sell their house to an Israeli and if there was a lack of cooperation, sometimes harrass the homeseller. When the ads were traced back to the Deputy Mayor, the whole thing became a public scandal, and the tension still hasn't been diffused. The worst part is that it's not only happening in Karmi'el; it actually originated in Tzfat.

Part of our community service projects are to try and teach understanding and stop those tensions from brewing hate in the community, but more to come on that later.

Karmi'el is lovely and a pleasant place to live, but our involvement here stems more from the belief that we stand to help the area gain a greater sense of tolerance and benefit from the values we seek to teach and the kids we seek to influence. Hopefully in the time I have here I will be able to impact the people around me to have greater respect for one another and to seek equality in their daily lives.

Turkey

A lot has changed since my last post on this blog (my deepest apologies) so I'll embark on the task of filling you in on what I've been doing with myself this past month.


Our Kibbutz Ein Dor adventure ended on December 19th when we moved out and transported our lives (which was basically just two suitcases) to Karmi'el. Leaving the kibbutz stirred up a lot of mixed feelings. On one hand, the food was terrible, the people weren't always friendly, and there was a perpetual aroma of cow excrement. And though we wanted to leave our analysis of the kibbutz at that superficial level, we also saw the tight relationships people formed with one another and the great sense of mutual responsibility that still prevails within kibbutzim.


We waved goodbye to Ein Dor and made our way to the hilly Karmi'el (but more to come on that later). Just a few days into our stay in our new home, we were released for chofesh (break), which I spent in Turkey with my mother and sister. We decided to travel for about eleven days, and stayed in Istanbul the whole time.


Istanbul is an amazing city. We spent our first few nights in the old city, seeing major sites such as the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, and Topkapi Palace. I most enjoyed the Hagia Sophia, whose construction started in 532 CE and was used as a religious building until 1934. It was originally built as a Byzantine church and used as so for hundreds of years until 1453 when the Ottoman conquerers converted it into a mosque. Eventually, with the secularization of Turkey, the Hagia Sophia became a museum. Some of the Muslim motifs were uncovered and right below them lay (perfectly preserved by plaster which was covering them) the old Christian mosaics. The building is the perfect blend of Christianity and Islam and allowed me to understand the evolution of Istanbul from Byzantine to Ottoman and eventually to an independent republic.

                                              Mom and Rachel in front of the Hagia Sophia
After exploring more of the old city, we headed across the Golden Horn to the new city, the bustling centre of life in Istanbul. Whereas the old city houses many of Istanbul's most classic sites, the new city is home to more of Istanbul's residents. With a good seat on Istiklal (the main thoroughfare), we could sit and observe people taking walks, getting home from work, or kids going to school. I enjoyed being on the modern side of town and seeing more students and young professional types.

The new city was much more interesting for meeting people. A lot of times we would be asked where we're from and where we live. I often experienced the tension of not wanting to say that I live in Israel right now, especially in light of the flotilla conflict (the ship involved in the incident arrived back in Istanbul during our stay). I felt that a lot of people would not have been as friendly to me knowing where I am spending this year. It's not like I didn't know that people have problems with Israel, but coming from the United States (or at least Philadelphia) serious distate for Israel is taken more wholistically and less blindly critical. I think a lot of people in Turkey (though this is just my opinion) don't like Israel no matter what, and there would be little I could say to change that, whereas at home there is usually more room for conversation.

That being said, I found the people incredibly interesting, helpful, and friendly. By staying in the same neighborhood for a week, we were able to shop at the same places and dine at some of the same restaurants. It meant that the man in the corner shop recognized us after we had been in a few times, and we were greeted warmly as if we were friends (though in reality we could barely communicate).

By the end of our stay, which I enjoyed immensely, I was excited to return to Israel, where I have a home, friends, and I understand the language. Overall I had a fantastic trip to Turkey and a welcoming return to Israel.