Israel: June 1989
William Phillips
THEN AND NOW:
'68
AND
'88
I have just returned from my second visit to Israel (with Edith
Kurzweil). The first was in 1968,just after the triumphant Six-Day War. I
found myself constantly comparing the two Israels, then and now. In fact,
most of my observations have been comparative observations of everything
from the food to the politics. Even the buildings seemed different because
there were so many more of them. I am allergic to quickie journalism, but
one feels so much at home in Israel, as though one were going back from the
big city to the shted, that impressions during a stay of only a few weeks
seem somehow to be legitimized. Anyway, here they are.
The
rrwod:
Despite the bustle and vitality of the Israelis, I could not help
being saddened by the change in the mood of the people. In 1968, I was
swept up by the euphoria following the rapid victory over the Arabs. The
high spirits were exhilarating, even though one felt that they went too far,
that they were bound to tumble. Obviously the political situation had changed,
for the worse, and one felt a sense of yielding to fatalities. One thing had not
changed: the unshakeable hostility of the Palestinians, except that it has be–
come more violent. In 1968, I was taken to the West Bank to meet some
local Israeli leaders. They lived in a small but comfortable cottage. We were
served coffee and some exotic cakes. Conversation was civilized, until we
came to the question of relations with the Israelis. Then they became ag–
gressive, telling me that I had been brainwashed by Nixon. They also tri–
umphantly showed me a document written by the American New Left, the
gist of which was that Palestinian rights were being trampled by the Israelis.
Their parting shot was that Israelis should go back to where they came
from. When I asked where that was, they said, "Poland."
The expansion:
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem seemed to be bigger, more
crowded, more like world cities. More people, more traffic, more stores, more
houses, more pollution. One tended to forget Israel's almost invisible prob–
lems, as they were dissolved in the carnival of daily life.
The shtetllook:
Despite the phenomenal growth of the cities, there was
still the small-town look. Most of the stores were dinky. There were few of
the boutiques, the shops filled with the goods of the modern consumer soci–
eties that you see in New York, Paris, London, Berlin. The exceptions were
