Having fun as a subversive activity.
The trip to the Betar crossing point passed in almost complete silence. When we approached the checkpoint, the red sign, the metal tower, the speed bumps, the concrete barriers, the soldiers’ position, I felt my legs shaking – and not because of the bumpy road. I took a deep breath, slowed down but didn’t stop, rolled down the window, gave the soldier a causal wave and he indifferently motioned for me to keep going. ‘We made it!’" - Reprinted in "the only democracy?"
A little educational study about subversive fun.
One spring morning, not so long ago, four women crossed the Betar Checkpoint: Ilana Hammerman, an Israeli translator and editor, and three Palestinian girls from a village in the West Bank. The girls, Aya, Lin and Yasmin – who because of their young age have not lived one day free of occupation – went with Ilana for a fun day in Tel Aviv. They visited the museum, the mall and the market, dipped in the sea, ate ice cream on a bench in the boulevard and when the evening came they crossed the checkpoint again to return to their homes. Hammerman tells this optimistic tale in her article, "If There Is a Heaven." -the only democracy
hah, but there is a price to be paid:
But these simple and optimistic activities have turned the four women into criminals according to Israeli law. An organization called "The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel" asked the Attorney General to open a criminal investigation against Hammerman for violating the "Law of Entry to Israel" – which states that anyone who drives, hosts or in any other way assists a Palestinian’s entry to Israel shall be sentenced to two years in prison or fined.
Why is it totalitarian societies are so anti-fun?
Israelis travel and settle freely in the West Bank, subsidized generously by US taxpayers. Yet Palestinians cannot in turn enter another part of what has been theirs for hundreds of generations.
The grandparents of these children who live in the same area, no doubt traveled freely to these beaches, as they had for hundreds of generations before that.
Now it cannot be allowed. This beach, this land, is no longer theirs. Back to the Bantustan, and be grateful Israel allows you even that. Be grateful that Israel allows the West Bank food. Remember it can, if it chooses, even deny Palestinians food and sustenance - they have been warned. Be happy you are not in the same miserable state as Gaza.. Be happy you are not in a refugee camp.
We are happy that there are those that like Ilana Hammerman that dare to break the law to act humanly.