Comments on: The Round Trip part 11: Good takeaways

By: Dhalgren

Dhalgren — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:05:44 +0000

Thanks again, Asaf. Let’s just hope happier songs can be written before too long. That will no doubt require everyone, on the left and on the right, to avoid “bending reality to fit ideology.” Unfortunately, that seems like it might be the current working definition of politics.

By: A

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:57:32 +0000

Ya’akov Gilad, the writer, was a member of the communist youth movement, and was in that time in the Kibbutz of Yad-Hanna, which as Yuval wrote was a communist Kibbutz. Back then, the communist party was the only opposition to the Israeli establishment from the left. It was a joint Arab-Jewish party, and was against any form of nationalism – both Jewish or Arab, supported the right of return and fought from day one of Israel for total equality for the Arab citizens. In its peak it had 7 seats in the parliament, both Arabs and Jewish. Like many other political parties in that time, it had its youth movement and its own settlements.
In 1964, a young member of Yad-Hanna was killed by Jordanian soldiers while working on the fields of the Kibbutz. The members of the Kibbutz and the youth movement were very much shocked, as they were educated that Israel was the aggressor in the conflict. To their surprise and anger, the leaders of the party at that time came to them and insisted they provoked the Jordanians, and tried to justify the killing. This incident directly led to the split in the communist party, between the majority of the Jewish members, which after a while assimilated into the Zionist left, and the more radical part, which was mostly Arab (together with a handful of Jews). This part, especially after the 67 war, started to identify itself with the Palestinian national cause, and is now the major part in the Hadash party. The idea that Arab and Jews can be part of the same cause (forget for a moment that this cause was global socialism) lost most of his support in the Jewish public, and its youth movement is now mainly an Arab-only one.
Sadly, the symptom of bending reality to fit ideology, can be still seen in the left wing even today. .
The song itself can be read in different levels: The first is the story of the Ramalla radio station, actually the national Jordanian radio, which was very popular in Israel at that time, since it played western music that was banned in socialist Israel at that time. The second is the story of the grief over losing a friend in battle. The deeper layer is the grief over broken beliefs ,losing your ideological anchor, and the betrayal of the leaders. Notice the year mentioned in the song is 1965, the year of the split in the party, and not 1964, the year of the border incident.

By: Dhalgren

Dhalgren — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:35:06 +0000

@A(saf)
Thanks for the information. Alas, but I don’t read Hebrew (maybe I will learn that after I finish learning Spanish). I do see that Ya’akov Gilad wrote the lyrics to the song, and it is about a friend who lost his brother in the army in 1965. I can’t seem to find out much more than that (there is next-to-nothing on Ya’akov Gilad in English).

By: A

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:42:50 +0000

The story behind the song is even sadder.. tightly related to the history of the Israeli left, moments before the 67 war when everything changed. It also such a strong and good song, that it gained so much popularity despite its non consensual political load (well, I don’t believe many are aware of it). Part of it can be read in (hebrew only, sorry):
http://www.mouse.co.il/CM.articles_item,607,209,20170,.aspx

By: Dhalgren

Dhalgren — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:03:26 +0000

@Ayla
I always appreciate your comments. They elaborate on Yuval’s accounts in such informative and interesting ways.

@A(saf)
That is a sad song.
http://www.hebrewsongs.com/song-radioramallah.htm
For those who want to read the rest of the lyrics.

By: A

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:47:30 +0000

This post made me sad. It connects so well with Yehuda Poliker’s Radio Ramalla. The landmines and cotton fields separating Yad-Hanna and Tul-Karem are replaced with a tall tall wall, and we continue to “waste our options, imagine what once was and what could have been, memories are mixed with nostalgia and burn, like salt on wounds”

By: AYLA

AYLA — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:27:15 +0000

Thank you for your good attempt to take away goodness. I suspect that one reason I succeed at this most of the time is that I don’t listen to radio or television news, especially on days like yesterday. The second reason is that I live in the desert, whose memory is so much longer than ours. The hardest times for me to be in Israel are the times when we are committing violent, hateful crimes that catch the public’s attention, and the Israeli public’s response is to swarm in self-defense. I’m trying to understand how it has come to this; how to speak to it in a way that people–the swarmers–can hear. I don’t think 972 does that; usually, 972 speaks to people who are already listening. The swarmers are not the radical right; they are everyday israelis, many whom I know personally and can attest are otherwise sweet, caring people. I’m trying to understand, so that I can attempt to break through. Meanwhile, your attempt to take away goodness broke my heart, in the best possible way.
*
Question! So I’m so surprised (thank you!) by this definition of Olim Chadeshim and by the Palestinian-Israeli response to them! Let me see if I’m getting this straight: We’re talking about the West Bank Palestinians who work undercover, and under coercion, for Israeli intelligence, who are later essentially granted asylum within Israeli’s borders. Correct? I have a friend who works with them. My understanding is that they’re essentially in a witness protection program here, with a lot of predictable trauma and identity crisis. Some of the kids go to Jewish schools to avoid ridicule, which doesn’t help with the identity crisis. So I’m surprised by so much! a) there are so many of them to be considered such a problem by “old-timers”? b) they’re out of the closet? c) this feeling of discomfort by the Old Timers–I can only begin to imagine the character of that discomfort; talk about complicated. But not as complicated as being those Olim Chadeshim… There’s a whole novel in there. Not for me. For David Grossman. This is not me making light of reality by turning it to fiction; fiction brings these stories to light, in ways that move people and opens their hearts. The news *should* move people, but it doesn’t. It turns their hearts to stone.
*
They pass out Qat in Ethiopia, on the busses! Didn’t know it grew here! I think the Viagra vendors are keeping that under wraps .

By: Dhalgren

Dhalgren — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:16:03 +0000

I like the humor of Ruth giving you the kerchief and the picture of you indeed requiring its absorbent services later. It puts me in mind of Douglas Adams, his advice for galactic hitchhikers and that most important of items: the towel.

“Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”

You are clearly a man to be reckoned, Yuval. Hold on to that kerchief.

By: caden

caden — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:05:58 +0000

Got a question, it was my understanding that while the protests morphed into a lot of other things the initial kick off was the price of cottage cheese. What do you want the government to do. Protect the dairy industry at the cost of everybody else.

By: Michael H

Michael H — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:50:45 +0000

Is Hanna Senesh the one who was captured and is said to have faced the executioners without her blindfold? I’ve always found that story a lot more inspiring than some of Israel’s more dubious ‘heroes’.