Is It Safe?

I really didn't know much about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before traveling to the part of the world that seems to have belonged to everyone and no one since the beginning of time. After spending 10 days there watching and reading and learning as much as I could, I can say I still don't understand all of it and probably never will. As our Israeli tour guide often replied following a question from somebody about it, or about a border, or ownership of land, or the history, "Well," followed with a pause, "it is complicated."  It really depends on who you ask.

All of the signs are trilingual.  Hebrew is at the top.  Its letters or sounds are boxy.  Arabic is in the middle.  I think it looks beautiful, like drawing.  Then, good ol' English.  We English speakers are so lucky that it is the universal tourist language.  

For a Palestinian point of view, read this blogger's explanation.  For a moderate Jewish perspective, read this news article.

All of that history and turmoil often makes news outlets like CNN and the BBC put Israel in the global hot seat. When you watch the news, it feels like the most dangerous place on earth to be.  The most common question I have received pre and post travel to Israel has been, "Is it safe to go there?" I purchased my trip and airfare in October and never really gave that question too much thought. After the escalation in the Gaza Strip in mid November, when missiles were fired at both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the first time since the 1990s that either city has been directly targeted, I wondered about safety and thought the trip would likely be cancelled.

After what must have been lots of time on the phone, Steve Perry called to reassure each of us that the tour was still on and that it really is a safe place to visit. I accepted his more experienced perspective but was glad I had purchased trip insurance, just in case.

Israel is, in fact, a safe place to visit. The northern coastline and central part of the country, around the Sea of Galilee, felt much like traveling through Idaho but with more history. Major world empires haven't been conquered and lost in the potato state. Still, we traveled through lots of farmland and small towns dotted the landscape. Homes were essentially in good repair and there were plenty of gas stations to fuel most people's small compact cars. I'm sure there are also some not so safe areas up there, just like Idaho Falls probably has a sketchy sections, but that seems to have more to do with socioeconomic disparity than ideological and racial land disputes.

When we left the north and traveled through the West Bank to get to the Dead Sea and then to Jerusalem, it did feel different...more tense. More stressful. More disparity between wealthy and poor. More like any big city in the US with its good neighborhoods and bad. There is definitely more security  at places.

I think Israel takes many precautions to make itself safe for tourism. To begin with, I could not check in and print my boarding passes for my flight there online. The United agent confirmed my suspicions that it was because of my final destination. All tickets to Tel Aviv require confirmation of passport documentation by the airline before a boarding pass is printed.

There was also a secure gate at the international airport in Newark, New Jersey. My ticket simply read "C 138" but when I found 138, next to gates 135, 136 and 137 with flights going to Munich and London and Frankfurt, there were walls completely surrounding it with a roped off entry on either side. When TSA agents arrived an hour before take-off, our passports needed to be shown again as well as a mandatory carry-on bag search and having our bodies wanded by detectors (metal? I don't know. You just had to stand with your arms out while they moved a machine around the silhouette of your body). Then we had to show our passports again with our boarding passes before walking down the Tarmac.

The flight was normal until the last hour before landing. The stewards passed out breakfast and then we were instructed to use the restrooms if necessary because it is against Israeli law to have anyone out of their airplane seat 30 minutes before landing. As soon as we passed into Israeli air space, we were in our seats.

Customs wasn't nearly as big of deal as I thought it would be after all of that. Perhaps it was the United States passport I carried but I stood in a line exclusive to those with an Israeli or US passport and answered a few simple questions about the purpose of my trip while doing my best to understand the customs agent's thick accent and then had 7 hours to kill in relative comfort. I'm sure a visitor with an Egyptian or Asian passport would have a much more intense experience. In fact, I know some holding passports from countries hostile to Israel cannot fly into Tel Aviv at all.

Even though I compared some areas to Idaho and others to bigger US cities, I was surprised that Israel felt as poor as it did.  I'm not sure how much has to do with wealth as much as it has to do with space. Almost everyone lives in apartments. Almost everyone hangs their laundry out to dry. Almost all of the building seems more akin to methods used in Mexico or Thailand, concrete and rebar, and it seemed like there were lots of new buildings abandoned or older buildings abandoned.  It all being concrete, it was hard to tell.  I was expecting more wealth.  The muslim communities are very poor.  There is lots of garbage and derelict homes. Regardless of the economy, it felt safe. There were no angry mobs,  hostile demonstrations or military patrols.

A poorer muslim neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

When we left the Galilee, we passed a checkpoint that didn't even require our bus slowing down. We had just passed into the West Bank which is in "Israel" kinda sorta. This is disputed land which used to belong to Jordan but Israel won/took in the Six Day War in 1967.  Before that, Jordan controlled the entire area, including the Old City part of Jerusalem. When Israel defeated the Jordanians, almost a million Palestinians became refugees. This time of history, the 1970s to modern day, is when terrorism as we understand it began. After Israeli soldiers were killed by terrorism along the border, Israel threatened the government of Jordan with full retaliation if they didn't deal with their border issues and, according to our Israeli guide, who, I am sure has her own historical bias, Jordan's King Hussein's solution was to slaughter the refugees. That led to their fleeing to Lebanon, another border country which used to be harmless, to be another trouble spot of terrorism.

But, things with Jordan are better now and that border is considered peaceful. We got to visit the baptismal site of Christ with ease. The checkpoints in and out of the West Bank are patrolled by Israelis those wanting to enter Israeli controlled land are going to get stopped but going in the opposite direction was met with no resistance.  I can see how that might cause some hard feelings.

This explains it all.

Checkpoint into Jerusalem.

Someone's getting searched.  

After crossing in and out of the West Bank several times and then traveling outside of Israeli controlled land into Bethlehem, which is separated by a huge concrete border fence about 20 feet high, I have wondered what is to become of this land. The signs in Palestine, intended for the many Christian pilgrims to read, say,"Pray for the freedom of Palestine." I will admit that I felt less comfortable there, with the heavier Muslim presence and higher level of poverty, compared to Jewish controlled areas. I hope that my own bias and indoctrination doesn't blind me to truth and reason, although I am sure they do. I just admitted as much. We were perfectly safe in Bethlehem. And yet, I felt less so.

You can see the security fence.  Resembles the Berlin Wall, in my opinion.  Families are literally separated. 

Blurry graffiti on the Palestinian side of the wall as we drove by on the bus.

Jerusalem is a divided city and, as such, there is much more security. Coming as neutral tourists with money (although one angry man accused Maureen and I of loving Jews more than Arabs after we won't accept his help as a day tour guide), I felt like we were welcomed everywhere. Not that any of them seemed to particularly like Americans but their economy does want and need our money! The most heavily guarded area of Old Jerusalem was to get to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. We had to go through detectors and have bag searches to get to the Western Wall and an armed officer simply told us to turn around when Maureen and I got to an entrance that was open only to muslims. There are a lot of Israeli solders in training in the Jewish quarter and there is security on the Jewish side up on the ramparts checking tickets. I guess I will say that while in Jerusalem I didn't feel Idaho safe but more like rock concert safe. They are going to check your bags.

Israel is pretty friendly with the US.  All Israeli citizens are required by law to serve in the army for 2 years when they are 18. 

Part of their training is to go to the same exact sites we visited and learn about history.

Western Wall security

I took this picture up on the rampart. It's hard to see but this ruin, within the Old City but in the muslim quarter, is filled with trash.  Plastic bottles and plastic bags.  I try to understand why difference between the Jewish and Christian quarters and the muslim quarter, which has trash everywhere, and I think it has to do with the level of education.  I'm not sure these families know about decomposition and just how long those bottles and bags are going to sit there. 

The most intense scrutiny came when leaving the country. Taking off shoes and walking through a metal detector is like sandbox play compared to getting on a plane at Ben Gurion airport.  To even approach the ticket counter, I was asked a series of questions from security. Why did I come to Israel?  Where did I go? Have my bags been with me the entire time? What did I buy? Was I given any gifts? All with no smiles or happy eyes. This was no farewell committee bidding me adieu.

Once I answered the questions to some satisfaction, a sticker with a barcode was attached to my luggage.  It then had to go through an X-Ray scanner.  I can't imagine what inside my suitcase sent up a red flag, but I then had to proceed to the area for a bag check.

I had to open my luggage and they checked everything.  They wanded everything with a plastic stick with a microfiber cloth on the end and then placed the cloth on a scanner that checked for explosive material.  Something failed and they did it again. Then, I had to put everything back in and go back to X-Ray.  Then, I got to go check into my flight.

I thought that would be it but there was more security to go through.  All of my carry-ons were also personally checked and swiped for explosive materials.  More questions were asked about where I purchased such and such.  With their accents, I wasn't always able to answer right away as my brain had to process the question first and I felt a bit like a criminal.  It took me over an hour to get through security.

Entering the US again was almost just as hard.  The customs agents were taking about 4 minutes per person (I started timing when the line was moving so slowly) and I didn't have much cushion time before my next leg, even though I had an over 2 hour layover in New Jersey.

My point is, all of the security makes Israel as safe as a place can be. I'd say it's as safe as visiting any place in the US. I know there is a lot of turmoil and that things constantly change but if you have any inclination to go and the safety issue is what might be holding you back, well, then...you should go.  Really. I'm sure glad I went and I'm very glad I was safe. I do pray for peace in that land and for the people that live there. I will continue to observe and learn as best I can and be thankful for the safety precautions taken which allowed me to enjoy an amazing part of the world. It's a wonderful place to visit.  It truly had it all.



If the walls could speak, I wonder what they would say?  Who deserves this land?