STORIES
Ronald Sukenick
PALESTINE
Civilization comes down to a man staring at an empty page.
Ravings . I have important practical things to do. I have to get my car
fixed. I have to call my agent. Here in Israel we have no need of cars . Or
of agents. Automobiles have long been exiled from the cities and
towns where transportation depends on various beasts of burden
camels burros oxen . There are even a few llamas to be seen and modern
experiments are underway with giraffes and zebras which in fact
antedate the use of the horse in Africa and the Middle East. We have an
extensive intercity monorail system and colorful barges make their way
among the canals . Environmental planning is largely given over to the
artists with the result that the native beauty of the Holy Land has been
preserved and even heightened. The prestige of novelists along with
other artists is such that no intermediaries are needed between our–
selves and the public and we have the means to produce and distribute
our own work which is in constant demand . Artists are recognized as
the creators not only of esthetic works but of reality itself all scholars
scientists and rabbis are acknowledged as artists each working in his
appropriate sphere even politics is considered to be a certain kind of
art. I live in a kibbutz called The Wave . The Wave is situated beside
the sea and our main ritual activity is surfing . Surfing is practiced by all
the kibbutzim save the aged and infirm children begin to surf at the
age of three or four and we have many octogenarians who are still active
surfers . Surfing is of the nature of a sacrament for us it attunes us to the
cosmos and gives every man and woman direct access to that union with
NOTE : Palestine is from 98.6, a forthcoming novel.
