Over half of the Jewish population in Israel believes the marriage of a Jewish woman to an Arab man is equal to national treason, according to a recent survey by the Geocartography Institute.

Sounds like male half of the Israeli population is a little insecure....

The Scramble for Africa, reloaded.

In today's Haaretz:

Jewish philanthropists are bringing orphans from Rwanda to Israel. (Uprooting them, taking them to a country that treats it's black citizens as 2nd class and non Jewish as 3rd, and discarded the blood donated by it's ethiopian citizens, and oh... i forget... with an ongoing conflict and occupation of the Territories - that's going to solve their problems!)

She quotes "Altneuland" by Theodor Herzl, who sought to alter the fate of the Jewish People, as well as "to assist in the redemption of Africans." Indeed, she sees the Yemin Orde project as the "fulfillment of Zionism." If Judaism improves the world, Israel must be a "light unto nations." [emphases mine]

Ah, the Jewish Man's burden. Please be a light unto my nation....

Sometimes, Kigali feels like Ramallah

I'm extracting myself from kigali's "social scene" - which has lately become overwhelming - for a week.

Ya tukkho yaksir mukho, as we say - I've gone from having absolutely nothing to do to too much, and I've also discovered that there is so much drama. He-said-she-said has reached a whole new level, and I thought Bethlehem was bad! That's what happens when you start meeting bored expats, I suppose.

Speaking of mzungus - you know how we say "expat" or "expat community" with a roll of the eyes, synonymous with "malaria medication taking, 4x4 driving, beer chugging and frequent user of the term "local" with a dismissive shrug of the shoulders"?

I'm trying really hard not to get sucked in. It's hard, when choosing between doing nothing or doing something. Saturday night I was at an all-expat table. Amidst the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol there were conversations about the "hired help", people exchanging horror stories about disobedient or stubborn house boys or house girls. And when the waiter brought their barely filled shot glasses of vodka, they protest: "T.I.A"

[For those of you who are uncool, that's Leo DiCaprio's line in Blood Diamond, another film about Africa where the white guy saves the day with his street smart, friendly, gentle but violent-if-angered, African side-kick. This Is (Hollywood's) Africa]

Life is really hard, you know. Why are they all so damn uppity, don't they know we're here to HELP them, with our $50,000 salaries and operational costs exceeding 55% of our total budgets?

three ba2aras, lost in translation

Transcript of an interview from yesterday, in an area so far removed from a paved road that 3 days of 7 hour drives a day have left me with bruised shoulder blades, back of my neck, legs and ass - all a yellowish blue. Well. At least I was productive:

[background: we were taking interviews in one of the districts about cases of looting during the genocide, soon to be addressed by the gacaca courts]

Me: So, how many cows did they steal?
Mr. X: They didn't steal any cows.
Me: But I thought you said they stole your cows after you ran away?
X: No, they ate my cows.
Me: Right. So how many did they eat?
X: two cows.
Me: But you're asking them to pay for five?
X: Yes because they had my five cows.
Me: So what happened with the three others?
X: what three?
Me: the cows that they didn't eat but that you don't have anymore
X: They stole them.
Me: Who did?
X: I don't know. [turns to the two kids climbing on top of me, pulling at my clothes in an attempt to reach my hair]:Tssss, leave the umuzungu's hair alone, it will fall out.
Me: Actually, umuarabu! [awkward laugh, failed attempt at building a rapport]. But thank you. But who will have to pay for your 3 cows?
X: What three cows?

Ultimatum.

I am going to be out in "the field" for three days (why these people trust me with these missions is beyond me). But when I come back, I want this to be fixed. I want it to be all over. It puts me in a bad mood, 3a hal subo7.

Also, if Ehud could temporarily lift the occupation until I figure my shit out, that would also be nice. Right.

Malaria, here I come.

This is how "Reconciliation" works

An interview with a genocide survivor (from a rural area), asking her opinions regarding the Travaux d'Interet General (TIG) - the Rwandan governments' latest effort to promote "Unity and Reconciliation" while at the same time reducing the sentences of the former genocidaires. The ex-killers are sent to do "public interest" work - building roads, planting trees, building schools and houses for the poor, and the survivors. In the work camps, they work all day and are "sensitized" in the evenings - retaught the history of Rwanda, made to sing songs about Unity and Reconciliation, told to be nice to the survivors and, worst of all, they are made to wear bright pink uniforms. In return, someone who has killed an entire family gets to go home after as little as 5 years.

Needless to say, this is controversial, and I don't mean to get into it in this post - they're watching! But I wanted to share this quote [translated from the french, in turn translated from Kinyarwanda... so bear with me]. I've been re-reading it all day, it blows me away. This woman is the poster-child survivor, an ad-campaign for this experiment:

"They’ve changed a lot. We speak with them without problems, sometimes even those whom we don’t know come up to us and begin talking. They ask us if we know them, we answer them no. Then they say that they know our parents, without forgetting to introduce themselves to us. In turn, we ask them if they knew them. They answer yes while expressing much remorse, saying that truly they committed crimes against them without wanting to. Moreover, they feel sorry for us and ask whether we’ve received houses. We tell them that we’ve received them and that, God willing, we’ll move into them. They show they’re satisfied with that, in fact one doesn’t notice any bad spirit around them. And from our side, with what they say to us, we feel happy. (..) Last time, they joined us to do the monthly Umuganda [monthly "national volunteer day" required for all of Rwanda's citizens]. In fact it was thanks to them that we had such a high turnout. We dug anti-erosion ditches. At the end, to show us that they are studying, they sang us songs about unity and reconciliation. We were satisfied with these. We noticed they work like us and that helped us cast out the fear which we felt towards them."

Ah, Rwanda.

To go back to the by-now-tired comparisons [it's the curse of those who Travel While Palestinian]: I get the vague impression that this wouldn't quite work in Israel/Palestine. But wouldn't it be fun if we could require Shlomo to pick our olives, sing a song and do the jig for 5 years and call it even?

Heveynu Shaaaaaalom 'aleikhem!

Something to think about

Last night, someone suggested: "Rwanda is the Israel of East Africa." They then said that I'd probably have something to say about this [fairly common] comparison.

Astute observation, my friend.

Now I've never been a fan of these sorts of meta-contextual comparisons, they're not particularly conducive to any real understanding or creative thinking (although they can get pretty creative: "Palestinians are the Jews of the Middle East" or "Arabs are the new Russians" and have they decided whether Iraq was their WWII or their Vietnam?). But I want to entertain the thought, just for a post, and see what happens...

I’ve actually been considering this relationship for some time now, ever since I met a few Israeli military consultants at a bar here, trying to cultivate an aura of mystery as they did an intentionally terrible job at dodging my questions about their work: "I, uh, consult on water issues. I'm afraid I can't tell you any more" (or if I did, I'd have to kill you). Thankfully, the head of their little mission here is an older lady that doesn't entertain elaborate spy fantasies and is more open about their not-so-top-secret work: training the Rwandan military to use computer programs developed by the IDF, to which Rwanda has bought exclusive rights in Africa.

But I digress….

Now we all know that "Israel is an island of Democracy in a Sea of Dictatorships [common variations: Civilization/ Barbarism; Enlightenment/ Dark Ages; Jews/Gentiles; whiteness/ darkness; purity/impurity; fearlessness/ cowardice; sexiness/ unsexiness... or read the Jerusalem Post for further inspiration]. But I think that the Rwanda - Israel comparison is usually made with different characteristics in mind (although my sexiness vote goes to Tanzania).

Here is, roughly, what it refers to: Rwanda is a tiny country in a sea of … large ones. Compared to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, which if put in the right hands could become one of the most powerful states in Africa, Rwanda doesn’t really have any natural resources (unless you count the 300 gorillas). But it does have the most powerful military, the most expansive intelligence network, and a ruthless reputation. This one, small country can destabilize the entire Great Lakes region, and has in fact repeatedly done so. The RPF started in exile, working alliances with various leaderships of the more powerful countries in the region (Uganda, Kenya), training with their armies.

More importantly, however, is the whole victims-turned-Victors phenomenon leading to entitled unilateralism, and the use of the inalienable right to victimhood to silence all criticism and reject all compromise. (“Where were YOU in ’94?”). The world looked away while Tutsis (and moderate Hutus) were being massacred, and the genocide was only put to a halt by the RPF’s invasion. The government is understandably resentful of anyone telling them how to run things now that it’s all over. “Never Again”.... (for us!).

This identification is apparently not lost on Israelis, as the Mossad has trained the RPF and is currently training the army, and it is generally acknowledge that the relations between the two are quite warm.

But let’s not tiptoe around the subject, and follow this comparison to its logical conclusion: If the RPF-state is like the Israeli state, founding itself through force, against all odds and putting an end to their exile, then that would mean that the Hutus are the… Palestinians?

I mean come on, so many of the elements are there: The demographic “ticking bomb”, the refugee population, the constant existential threat, the reliance on a strong military for survival, the return from exile… We can also throw in an element of “indigenousness”, as the Tutsis are often portrayed, in popular histories, as a “settler population” that came south to “civilize” the Bantu population somewhere in the 17th century. [See Mahmood Mamdani for an excellent critique of this]

This is my point about such comparisons. They just don’t work, and they’re dangerous. They’ve ruined my evenings on several occasions.

Surely someone can see how easily this whole thing can be turned right around? The Palestinians have never attempted genocide or ethnic cleansing of the Israelis, if anything, it is the other way round. The Tutsi refugees who fled persecution in the late fifties and had been living in exile ever since, organizing themselves into an organized militant group with aspirations of return –that sounds like the PLO. Then the “returnee” phenomenon, our freedom fighters in exile returning and changing the whole dynamic of the liberation movement, overshadowing the efforts of those who stayed on the inside and then claiming to be their sole representatives despite a very different set of experiences – shit, that sounds like the PA. Then there are the various academics and politicians writing to find a solution to the “Tutsi Problem”, advocating their “relocation” to a neighboring country with similar cultural, linguistic and ethnic characters - Now that’s just good old fashioned Zionist Transfer-Speak!

I was at the Commission on Unity and National Reconciliation the other day, trying to get a permit to visit the work camps. I ended up shooting the breeze the head of one of the divisions who is among this “returnee” population, and who seemed really excited to speak to a real, live (alive) Palestinian. "When I was young and joined the resistance in Uganda they used to give us a lot of homework, and we had to read about and learn from other people's struggles. I was made to read about Palestine, South Africa and Lenin. I had to read your history from 3000 years ago until the 1967.” So apparently his commander also found inspiration (or maybe lessons about what NOT to do?) in my people’s case.

So what I’m saying is, lay off the Middle East comparisons, they’re not helpful. Sure, there are plenty of similarities. Like I said, I am somewhat guilty of this myself as I was trying to put my finger on what it was about Rwandan politicians and attitudes towards their neighbors that reminded me of Israel’s.

"But tell me" said my friend at the commission, "will there ever be a solution to you guys' problems, there?" If I had a penny for every time a Rwandan asked me this... and for everytime i stopped myself from replying "I don't know, will there ever be one to yours?"

But then I just tell myself we’re all just trying to make ourselves feel better by looking at the next in line in the "Seriously Fucked Up" section of the world's nations.

But hey, at least our ambassadors aren't getting caught naked except for the S&M gear they're tied up with by the local police!

International Women's Day

The flags are up, offices are closed and people are out in the streets singing and dancing as they head to the stadium by my house - all decked out in traditional outfits. As I walked over to the internet cafe I was greeted with a "bonne fete" from the pharmacists, the Western Union guards and a street kid. I'm not sure i've ever seen such mobilization for annual celebrations of... womanhood.

I, too, celebrated. I had the day off work, stayed home. Put down the genocide books and blasted a combination of the Rolling Stones, Aretha and Faris Karam.

Speaking of behavior that's best contained to the privacy of one's own home - Here is a photo of the women's contingent doing the women's march at the world social forum in Nairobi, blasting and dancing to "I Will Survive". This pretty much sums up my beef with much of feminist activism:

R.E.S.P.E.C.T!

Barack, Barack... why do you do this?

Today I will write something, as per my mother's request.

Let's see.... I've been having strange dreams involving onions. i'm not sure why, but this was the second night in a row onions have made it into my dreams, in some mildly scientific way. For example, I had a revelation about the growth pattern of onions. Curious, but not too troubling, yet.

In other news, things are going slowly. I'm still not sure how much longer i'll be out here, and i start a new internship tomorrow morning with an organization that I really like... They've published a lot of stuff that's been very critical of the way the government has been handling their "reconciliation/ reconstruction" efforts, and, I gather, are getting a lot of shit from the authorities. I'm probably going to do mostly editing and translating work at first, so look forward to much more online time on my end.

Being in Kigali for the past two weeks or so since Paige left has been interesting. I got a lot of reading time in, and my crush on Mahmood Mamdani has only intensified. I've also picked up baking.

Been meeting a lot of people lately - some more exciting than others. This weekend brought two run-ins that may be someone up there warning me as I consider moving back to the Middle East. On friday night, someone clumsily introduced himself to me at the Afro-Carribean Carnaval party, an inch from my face: "Hi! My wife married me because she thought I was Palestinian!" ... (has that worked for him in the past?)

On Saturday, an Egyptian I had coffee with pulled out his laptop to play Madonna's Like a Prayer video clip while the live band was playing only a few meters away - maybe even close enough to read the file names in his "movies" folder: "Brittney Spears takes it up the #ss" and "Saudi Girl Amateur Very"

Now add my new friend - who is now regularly posting comments on this site - to the mix and, although I hate to admit it, I'd say our men are having a major game crisis.

At least in the streets of Kampala, things are much more straightforward: