There probably aren’t many people in Israel that can say their first day driving was to the Gaza Strip or that they would cover some 1,000 km in their first 4 days driving, but I managed to do just that. Again, the pace at which things have been going is obviously quite rapid. The Shevet team has been undergoing some reforms in an effort to strengthen the group and give each individual more clear-cut responsibility. Through this process we each had a private discussion with Jonathan Miles (the founder) about our gifting, passions and where we would like to serve…Apparently this was used as an opportunity by about half the team to express their frustrations, issues with the administration, etc. When the dust settled, one of our central team members was dismissed/quit, two were given 2 weeks break to assess their feelings and sentiments and decide if they would stay on, and one other member coincidentally (perhaps not, I don’t know) got sick and has remained so since this falling out. This has essentially cut our team in half, and as two of them were our main drivers, I had had little time to cut my teeth. To pick up the slack I have been doing most of the driving for the last week; in just a 72 hour period I have gone to Gaza 4 times, through the West Bank twice, and to the Jordan border once, not included countless times to hospitals all of which are themselves an hour drive.
Coming from Los Angeles you would think I would be prepared to drive anywhere, but it’s really a whole different story here. Whereas in Los Angeles everyone more or less cooperates out of recognizing the necessity for it to get anywhere and respects at least certain rules like red lights and parking, in Israel people would much rather fight for every inch of road, make their own lanes, run red lights if they think they’re close, laying on the horn is as common as shalom, and they are quite creative with their parking. Driving aggressively is the only way to really get anywhere here, and with defensive driving knowledge under my belt I’ve been learning the ways of the road here quickly. If you were wondering, anyone with a US license can drive her for 3 months before needing an Israeli license, which is yet another expense that I will have to anticipate in the coming months.
The highways across Israel and the West Bank have made the driving less of a chore. So much of the country is farmland and undeveloped country side that it makes for quite a nice scenic tour of the land. Rolling yellow green hills, green farmlands, abandoned cobblestone buildings in the distance beckon to be explored, towns with real character nestled in the countryside, their houses placed at just the right angle to catch the best view with none of the soul stealing uniformity of the cookie cutter streets and houses found elsewhere. The road to Gaza is no different, even at the border (Disclaimer: I am not anti-Israel or pro-Palestine, the following are just observations). Facing toward the border itself, against the 15 foot barbed wire wall every few meters there are guard towers, cameras hanging over the road, watch dogs with their own area they are fenced in to guard, military jeeps about… There are even blimps high overhead mounted with cameras, notorious to the residents of Gaza as a symbol of oppression, that big brother watches their every move. The blimps are very unassuming, dead silent, flat white, but they see every centimeter; frankly if I were to brainstorm about what I could use to be a subtle reminder of vigilant oppression over a group of people I could see myself arriving at “hmm, how about a silent blimp painted flat white that slowly patrols overhead that could be filming any one of them at any moment!” its practically out of a movie. But even in the face of the perfect picture of control there is the aforementioned scenery, because if you do a simple 180 degree about face at the border there is yet another delightful open grassy field fit for a picnic. Waiting there for a few hours the other day for a family to come across I sat in the car facing it, the sun was warm and there was a gentle breeze in the air, it was very cozy, a perfect picture of serenity and freedom. Perhaps it’s only in the context of their backdrop that the other seems so extreme, but the juxtaposition creates a vivid portrait.
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