My mother backs me up, but the boys have their sister’s back covered on this one; which is in itself highly unusual, and gives me pause to believe I might have said High School but thought university. My only justification for allegedly promising the trip after High School was the fact that she was merely 9 years old, and no doubt, I figured the Last Amazon wouldn’t be turning 18 until some time over the rainbow. And if the day ever dawned over the rainbow she would have lost any desire to go to Israel.
I didn’t count on the Last Amazon going from grade 7 to grade 9 so that she would be fast-tracked to graduate before she turned 18, nor did I count on her ongoing love affair with a place she has only read about. Who knew she would map out all the decent shopping spots from Tel Aviv to the Golan? I certainly didn’t think she would be able to track the local “hot” night spots over the internet. Oddly enough, Jerusalem never made the list of “hot night spots” – which shows the deep divide between our values - at the moment. But if I am going to Israel, than there is no way I will not go to Jerusalem for at least a few days. Besides, I have promises to keep at the Kotel.
That’s why this 007 vacation tour hosted by Israel Law Centre and billed as the Ultimate Mission caught my eye in Yahoo News.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - It's billed as the "Ultimate Mission" -- an eight-day, James Bond-style quest behind the scenes of Israel's conflict with Palestinian militants. For a little less than $2,000 (1,077 pounds) and a donation to a centre that sues countries and groups it accuses of militant links, participants are promised briefings from Israeli spies, a visit to a
West Bank checkpoint, tours of the Lebanese frontlines and trips in light aircraft over northern Israel. "Experience a dynamic and intensive eight-day exploration of Israel's struggle for survival and security in the Middle East today," reads the promotional material for the tours. Highlights listed on the organiser's Web site include:
* "Inside tour of the Israel Air Force unit that carries out targeted killings"
* "Meeting Israel's Arab agents who infiltrate the terrorist groups and provide real-time intelligence"
* "Meetings with senior cabinet ministers and other key policymakers"
The trips are organised by the Israel Law Centre, www.israellawcenter.org, which describes itself as a "Jewish legal rights institute". It says it is not affiliated to any branch or agency of the Israeli government.Headed by a 32-year-old lawyer, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the group uses the funds it raises to pursue cases against Palestinian and international organisations it suspects of funding Palestinian militant groups.
Among others, Darshan-Leitner has sued Iran and the European Union for their suspected role in funding Palestinian groups. "We file cases against those who help to fund terrorism or deal in terrorism," she told Reuters. "It's helping the terror victims to fight back against those who ruin their lives." As well as the $1,895 cost of the trips, participants are asked to make a tax-deductible donation of between $500 and $5,000 to the Israel Law Centre to support its work.
Darshan-Leitner won't say how much has been raised since she started the tours in 2003, but the next trip, scheduled for November 6-13, will be the 11th. Each one attracts between 30 and 50 participants, she says, with visitors from the United States, Canada and Europe. Participation is not restricted to sympathisers with Israel, though most are. There are no meetings with Palestinian officials to present their viewpoint on the uprising since 2000.
Palestinian lawmakers said they were aware of the work of the Israel Law Centre but surprised at its method of raising funds. "You wonder about the safety and the legality of what they are up to," said a senior member of Fatah, a group that has been the target of some of the Israel Law Centre's probes.
I read the last paragraph and spluttered coffee all over my computer screen. Suddenly, I am to believe that the Fatah Leadership is concerned with legalities or safety of others – do they really think all Westerns suffer from the same willful blindness that US Secretary of State Rice does?I decided to check out details at the Shurat HaDin’s website. The upcoming November tour’s itinerary impressed me:
And that is not even a whole 8 days worth of itinerary. It just gets better and better. Forget the shopping. My feet hurt thinking about it already. I just so want to do this. I hadn’t planned on bringing the boys, and I doubt I cannot afford too, but I can’t help thinking they would rank this tour as the ultimate “sick” vacation. For the uninitiated, “Sick” it the new cool and I can only pray that something more easily understood like “groovy” makes a comeback. You have no idea at the miscommunication that has been going on for the last 6 months in my household.Monday, November 6 : Opening
Registration at the Sheraton Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem.
Opening Banquet at the Sheraton Plaza Hotel.
• Introductory remarks by Shurat HaDin’s director, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Esq.
Lecture by best selling author Michael Oren: "The seventh Arab Israeli war: breaking the paradigm".
Tuesday, November 7: The Terrorism RealityBreakfast in the hotel.
Travel to the Israel Defense Force Center at Latrun.
• Briefing by terrorism expert, former Shin Bet Commander for the Judea and Samaria region: "The use of informants, analysis and counter terrorism".Discussion with undercover Palestinian agents who work with the Israeli security services to infiltrate the Palestinian Authority.
• Briefing by Gen. Avigdor Kahalani, the hero of the Yom Kippur War who defeated the Syrians on the main Israeli-Syrian battlefield of the 1973 War
• Briefing by former head of the interrogation unit of the Shin Beit: "Israel’s case for pre-emptive self defense."
An authentic Middle Eastern lunch in Tel Aviv's historic HaTikva Quarter.
Walking tour of Jaffa.
Insiders’ tour of the IDF Headquarter in Tel Aviv, HaKiria.
• Briefing by Defense Minister’s senior adviser, Amos Gilad: “Israel’s response and preparedness in a hostile Middle East”.
• Briefing by twenty five year veteran of the Mossad, Dr. Uzi Arad: "An analysis of the current Middle East political situation with a focus on the impact and fallout from the proposed withdrawal plan."
Dinner at Meatos, the finest restaurant in Tel Aviv.
Wednesday, November 8: The Judicial Reality
Pack for two nights stay in the North.
Breakfast in the hotel.
• Briefing by Senior Official of the Mossad: "Tracking The Material Support and Resources of the Palestinian Terrorist Organizations".
Visit to Machane Ofer Military Base near Jerusalem.
• Tour of the military court.• Observation of a security trial of Hamas terrorists.
• Briefing by head of the military prosecution in Judea regime.
• Greeting and discussion by Chief Judge of Military Court, Col. Shaul Gordon.
Lunch at the military base.
Travel to the Arab town, Kalkilia.• Tour of an IDF checkpoint on the outskirts of Kalkilia in the West Bank, guarding one of the main terrorists infiltration routes into Israel. First hand visit and inspection of the controversial Security Fence.
• Briefing by the head of IDF Humanitarian Unit: "The infiltration and detection of terrorists, explosives and smuggling, “humanitarian” dilemma -emergency medical vehicles, and the civil population".
Drive to the northern Tel Aviv Airport “Sdeh Dov”.• Pre-Flight Briefing.
• Private airplanes for a low-flying flight from Tel Aviv to Rosh Pina in the Galilee.
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Travel to the Sea of the Galilee, Kinneret.
Moonlight Boat Cruise on the Sea of the Galilee.
Dinner at Decks, the finest restaurant on the Sea of the Galilee.
Check-in at the Kinar Village Hotel on the Sea of the Galilee.
• Overnight: Kinar Village Hotel, Tiberias.
11 comments:
That does look pretty intriguing. A once in a lifetime opportunity, really. CDA$2,270 a head, though, plus airfare.
Since you had originally planned to take only the Last Amazon, maybe you could work out a bargain with the family. You will underwrite a certain percentage of the trip for everyone, and the remainder is contingent on their own enterprise.
I mentioned the trip and then your suggestion to the boys. Isaiah Sender mumbled something about child labour laws and suggested I get a pay pal button, and if I don't take him he'll tell Nana on me. Montana told me I better get busy on the book and sell it.
I have some doubt as to whether the PayPal button could effectively finance a trip. If it does, then I am a fool because I haven't been to Bermuda yet and it's on my list.
Actually I take that back, I'd be willing to cough up some coin to the notional trip fund as long as you took lots of trip pictures and posted them somewhere. Mind you some of the places you would be going might not permit photography.
I can't say I blame them though, I was not too fond of the idea of having to raise money for my own Grade 8 trip to Florida.
I hope you can take that vacation! It actually sounds better than living here- no day to day grind.
Um...wouldn't that be an ideal vacation for a Palestinian terrorist? How do they screen the applicants?
OC
I did read a caveat on their website that all participants must provide appropriate background information so I assume there is a screening process of some kind.
Remember, the Israelis have been profiling quite successfully for years, and they certainly don't have any of the North American squeamishness towards judious use of profiling.
Michael, definitely the daughter and I will be showing up next year but maybe not with the boys or on this tour.
I remember people used to complain about package holidays being a "cheap holiday in other people's misery". Israel Law Center removes the cheap part.
Outsider, I own up to being an outsider too - but Israel is hardly the land of misery. Sure, there is undeniable grief and heartache at times, but the idea that everyone walks around shell shocked all day is flat out wrong. They write music, poetry, plays, books, they dance.
Take a look, they have built a dynamic society despite their security issues. People still laugh and love. People work and and still play. The contribution the Israelis have made to medicine, science and technology are simply unbelievable - talk about punching above your weight class and they have done it all the while with the threat of anniliation hangs over their heads.
I believe that if Canadians had lived through a quarter of the trials the Israelis have lived through, apartment buildings seiges, school bus hijackings and school massacres, suicide bombers in the buses, the malls, the restaurants, we would be in total lockdown mode, but still,
the Israelis are running an open society.
Even during the recent war with Lebanon when Israeli soldiers encountered injured Lebanese in the field of battle, the Israelis did not leave them to die from their injuries but medavac'd them out to Israeli hospitals, where Israeli doctors did their utmost to save their lives. Show me where Hezbollah has made the same committment to lives of injured Israelis?
Israelis struggle constantly with their security needs versus human rights. They have much to teach us in being human and how to live with the threat of terror over one's head.
Furthermore, take a look at the work the Israel Law Centre is doing. Its a just cause, perhaps not always a popular cause, but just.
The Israelis have much to teach us but first we must understand the lesson. This tour is just one lesson in understanding the lesson.
Kateland, thanks for the reply and sorry I didn't get back to you.
My reference to misery is not so much for Israel as it is for Palestine. I find the idea of having a paying audience at a trial immoral. The site refers to them as "Hamas terrorists". Aren't they suspects until proven guilty? And this is a just law centre?
Israel and Palestine are Siamese twins that have a long road to follow before finding stability and peace together. I think initiatives such as this that glorify the armed struggle are basically unhealthy. The lesson I take from the conflict is that there is no military solution to political problems. Learning to live under duress is one thing. Learning to build peace is another one entirely. We should be helping these two nations engage politically rather than celebrating pre-emptive strikes and war zones - and that can be done without sacrificing Israel.
Outsider, Israel and the Arab Palestinians are not Siamese twins. Nothing can be further from the reality. Please examine the values of the Palestinian Arab culture and enlighten us how it matches up with their alleged Israeli counterparts?
Have you ever realized that the Palestinians have no political plan for the day after the Jews are driven into the sea - except that they will have an "Islamic State". There are no even crying to create a democratic free state.
I find it interesting that you think we should be helping these "nations" engage politically. Just what do you think our political leaders have been trying to do for the last 50 odd years to no avail - if anything, our interference has prolonged this conflict needlessly.
Furthermore, tell me how do you propose to politically engage a group of people who collectively want your death and your society's destruction? It just seems to me there is no basis for rational discussion or compromise on their position.
Arafat had no intention on continuing a peace process which he made very clear in Arabic - right up to his death. He used the Oslo Accord & discussions as springboard to bring his phased plan to fruitation. You do know about the phased plan for the destruction of the Israeli state?
There are no other signs that the current PLO leadership wishes to deviate from the phased plan. The Palestinian electorate overwhelming voted for a terrorist organization whose mandate is the destruction and death of every Jew in Israel. Hamas, furthermore, still has the collective goodwill of the Arab Palestinians according to every single poll.
Do you realized that prior to June 1967 the PLO was not even interested in the West Bank of Gaza and specified that in their 1964 Charter - that there would be no Palestinian nation formed within those boundaries? Go look at the PLO charter prior to their 1968 ammendment on the UN's website. The West Bank and Gaza only became part of the mythical palestinian nation once these lands were liberated by the Israelis from the Egyptians & Jordanians.
As far as the trip goes, actually I think its most instructive to watch a Israeli military court in action and speaks to the nature of Israeli society, nor do I have a problem with translators, tour guides, and bus drivers being paid to take me to the court and back.
Perhaps it would be instructive to watch not only an Israeli military court but the Palestinian court try an "alleged" collaborator as well. Of course, justice for a collaborator under a Palestinian court takes on a whole level of meaning. We could watch and see if your Siamese theory has any basis in the two justice systems.
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