New Jewish Tourist Center in Palestinian Neighborhood

Palestinian Territories in Israel, 2014

            The Jewish and Palestinian people have had a never-ending issue on land in the area where the state of Israel is currently situated.  Since the years of the British Mandate in the 1920’s to the 1940’s the issue of territory claims have been a conflict between the Jews and the Palestinians.  In 1948, the state of Israel had been created and the Palestinians in the region have ever more been scattered.  In 2014, you can see where there are Palestinian settlements inside the Jewish state.  These territories are very precious to the Palestinians since they do not have much to claim.  According to the Ma’an News Agency, Israel is planning to build a Jewish tourist center on private Palestinian land.  The project is government sponsored by the Ir David Foundation.  One of the foundation’s commitments is development for tourism. Israel is planning to develop a Jewish history museum and national park in the eastern part of the neighborhood of Saliwan. 

Saliwan and threatened Palestinian neighborhood

This city is near the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This mosque is the third holiest site to the Islamic religion. Already you can see there is tenseness on the decisions by the Jews for the location of this proposed Jewish tourist center. The article goes on to address that the Wadi Hiweh Info Center condemned this project since it is threatening the many Palestinian homes in this area. There is a notice of the project posted in the area with language that states that the homes of the occupants will  essentially go into eminent domain if the occupants of this area do not leave. It is in Hebrew, so I cannot really see what it says.  Additionally, the article explains how some of the lands that the Palestinians are on have not really been registered, so they can be kicked off regardless. But I do not think that it should be Israel’s decision to make that happen.  The Wadi Center( linked above) also mentions that Jews have no historical roots in this area which contradicts the whole purpose of this project since the Israeli government wants to make a Jewish museum and a national history park.

            I tried to look into different opinions about this new project that Israel has decided to embark on because of the lack of information and shortness of this article. I unfortunately could not find different articles other than the information from the Wadi Hiweh Center.  Both articles did not display authors.  After reading the source from Ma’an News, I was curious as to why did Israel want to build another historical Jewish museum.  I thought about this after reading that the location the Israeli government chose was not really historical to the Jews. I wanted to know how many museums there were in Israel already. Israel and the Middle East alone, have fifteen museums providing history about the Jewish people. Globally there are much more than that in the UnitedStates, Europe, Canada, and Australia just to name a few. I thought this was really interesting to find that there are so many museums dedicated to the history of the Jewish people.  If Israel decides to build another historical park or museum, they should opt a more suitable area for a tourist center in their state and not on Palestinian land.  I think it would keep a sense of peace within the two cultures and keep them away from unnecessary conflicts. I hope there will be a follow up on this article as this develops more.

Israel’s Humanitarian Aid to Syria

         Since 2010, there have been civil uprisings in Middle Eastern countries due to the people’s exhaustion of their extreme authoritarian governments.  Beginning with Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, the countries’ people have been trying to overthrow their governments to acquire more political freedoms and civil rights. Syrians revolted against their President, Bashar al-Assad’s ruthless rein. The frustrations and anger he has brought on his people has fueled a civil war in Syria. In the article “IDF Allows First Peek IntoSecret Golan Heights Field Hospital” in Times of Israel, Yifa Yaakov, describes the critical and tense situation that Syria is enduring in their civil war during these recent months.  The reporter says, Israel has opened their arms to help the people in need.  Yaakov continues to point out in her article the humane acts of kindness Israeli soldiers are showing towards the wounded Syrians during this difficult time. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) established a secret medical facility in Golan Heights to treat the Syrians. This location is in the northern border region between Israel and Syria, which could be easy to travel to for the Syrians. Many are wounded critically on their bodies to the point of amputation. The facility in Golan Heights has the IDF trained for these severe conditions. The interesting part of this article was that the Syrian patients had preconceived judgments on the Israelis and were suspicious of their help. This being said, in this desperate time of need, the Syrian patients turned to the Israelis for help regardless.

Yifa Yaakov makes a cautious objective to show how the Syrian patients were skeptical about the Israeli efforts to provide humanitarian aid.  This preconceived thought was based on what was being presented to them by the Syrian government as a tool to install fear and prevent any form of harmony between the two nations. The author goes on to show how the Israeli Defense Force was willing to risk their safety to help the wounded Syrians despite what opinions they had of them. Some patients said that their government said they were Satan and the enemies of the Syrians.  The patients quickly pointed out how their own government in Syria would not help them but the Israelis cared for them and have been aiding their needs in this critical time.  This situation has shed a new light on how the Syrians that were treated feel towards their neighboring country, Israel.  As Israel continuously helps the wounded from the civil war, Syrians are making their own opinions on the Israelis and not relying on their President’s word. Yaakov displayed this trend a few times quoting different patients on how appreciative they are receiving aid from the Israelis and their bitter feelings toward their own Syrian government in this difficult time.

In the article, Yifa Yaakov provides a fair amount of information to prove what the IDF is doing for the Syrians in Golan Heights. She not only writes about it, but she has a few pictures displaying the hospital as well, which was broadcasted in the Channel 2 news on Israel television.  Yaakov also writes how many patients have been treated in the facilities, which are over 700 Syrian patients since the hospital has been open less than a year ago in 2013. She also points out how important this hospital is in Golan Heights because of how many wounded Syrian patients come in and out of the facilities and are treated because of them. Without this humanitarian aid by the Israelis, many more Syrians would have suffered and possibly died because of no help from their own country. It is heartening to see how human beings help others in difficult times of need regardless of what others think or say about each other’s cultures.

In Yaakov’s article, she had continuously shown a positive light on what Israel is doing for their neighboring country, Syria. I was curious that she did not report what happens after the wounded Syrian patients are taken care of. Do they go back to Syria? Are they safe to even return home, or do they stay in Israel? In my research I did stumble upon an article that addressed my questions I had for Yaakov’s article.  It was frightening to read that these patients in the Golan Heights facilities were actually “afraid to return home”.  The wounded Syrians face risks crossing the boarder to be treated and to go back to their broken home. They also go to this hospital secretly, so they are not framed as traders of their own country, which they could be killed for.  Yaakov did not mention any of this, which led me to my curiosity. Even though the IDF is doing something nice, it is not completely in the Syrians’ favor to risk their lives because of potential persecution by their own government.  After my research, I feel like this situation for the Syrian people who are seeking treatment is a double-edged sword.

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