Tuesday 17 November 2015
From Cairo To Tel Aviv.....why?
From Cairo To Tel Aviv
After travelling to far and exotic destinations and exploring unknown cities Africa and Asia, I responded to an old dream. A dream to visit Palestine, a land separated by a thin dotted line on maps and by endless restrictions in reality. It was not only about crossing the borders or finding a way to reach Palestine, I had to overcome a lot of psychological barriers. Will my trip be an act of naturalization? Am I acknowledging the occupier? Am I supporting their economy by spending my few dollars there? Will my trip be regarded by the Palestinians as an act of solidarity or a traveler’s mere selfishness? My concerns kept looming as I was exploring the possibilities of the trip, how to get there? Will I be allowed in? What will be the consequences there and here?
The procedures at Ben Gurion airport made it clear that this won’t be an ordinary trip, but one that involves Human rights, Politics, Anthropology, Geography and History in every single step. As soon as I was allowed to leave the airport I headed to Jerusalem, the Holy city under siege, where I was hit by its glory, the persistence of its people and my emotional vulnerability. My few days were spent in roaming the ancient cobbled alleyways, visiting the eternal monuments, praying in al Aqsa mosque and emerging in endless conversations with the Jerusalemites. Every scene in Jerusalem was dramatic, and every word was a statement, I was not a traveler moving around monuments with his camera, I was an Egyptian exploring how Palestinians live, survive and struggle in their homeland in the 21st century. The more discussions I had the more I understood that every Palestinian is making Palestine a fact through his daily actions, selling in the Bazaar, praying in al Aqsa, speaking Arabic or even being there, all of these actions make Palestine a fact and not a term circulating in the political arenas.
I resisted the allure of Jerusalem and visited Bethlehem, Al Khalil, Acre and Jaffo ( which is now known as Tel Aviv) to see as much as possible of a land shreded by barb wires and UN decrees. I enjoyed the rich Palestinian collage in my short trip, laughed, complained and cried with people ruled by the Palestinian authority and others by the state of Israel. Most importantly I understood, or at least tried to understand what is happening in Palestine.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello! I have just finished reading your book, and i loved it! I know i read it a year late, but as they say better late than never :) I saw Palestine through your book, and I have felt all your mixed emotions as if I was there. I loved how the book is simple and personal without big and complicated words and that it wasn't synthetic as some of the writings about Palestine are.
ReplyDeleteI understood your conflicted feelings toward the visit at first regarding naturalization and so, but I am glad this did not stop you from going; you did the right decision! I hope I could do the same one day. I loved the conversations you had with the people there; they were my favorite parts of the book. I laughed with some, cried with others, but I was overwhelmed by them all! The pictures made my reading experience even more exciting and touching.
I am not writing to just thank you and say some comments that I am sure a lot of people have done before, but I also had a question. It is about the book's title. why did you choose to call it From Cairo to Tel Aviv? what i felt is that this trip was very emotional for you and you emphasized more than once that you are in Palestine and visiting the Palestinian lands, despite the map calling them Israeli, and calling them Jaffa not Yaffa, Acre not Akka and Hebron not AlKhalil. My question is why didn't you choose a name more reflective of your feelings and toward the visit and toward the situation?
Thank you :)
Hello, Thank you so much for your comment and compliments.
ReplyDeleteIn fact the title is provocative and intriguing and I wanted to shock the reader that there is a place called Tel Aviv whether we like this fact or not. Moreover the term Tel Aviv indicates that the journey is a recent one, and not a historical journey to Palestine.