It is amazing how travelling can demolish the stereotypes that filter our perceptions of the world. Before coming to Israel and Palestine, I believed that groups in this region could be easily distinguished on the basis of recognizable traits. This is only partly true. The distinctions, I have discovered, are mostly cultural. Stripped of their particularistic attire and other cultural symbols, most of the people here actually resemble each other and other peoples in the Mediterranean region. I have traveled extensively in Southern Italy and visited Greece and Spain. I also have many Portuguese friends who I grew up with. This life history has given me a sense of the shared traits that people from the Mediterranean posses.
The shared cultural traits were made clear when I tried to get on a bus to Ramallah in the West Bank this afternoon. Being of Southern Italian origin prepared me for the absence of queuing as a cultural norm, and for the consequent Darwinian struggle to get on the bus. Worshipers had just left the Mosque in old Jerusalem, and the station was packed. As I pushed and shoved to try to get on, old Arab ladies, youngsters with gelled hair and fake diamond earings, and middle aged men dressed like Salafists also pushed and shoved, and yet it could hardly be described as aggressive. It was done with smiles and friendly chatter. When the bus driver announced that the bus was full, people yelled at him, some clearly frustrated, but most with an air of resignation. In Salerno, where my family is from, this event would not have been out of place.
Another shared trait is the style of communication. It is very expressive and theatrical. Walking down the street in Arab or Jewish Jerusalem, one encounters loud, boisterous and rambunctious conversations that, in other contexts, might be interpreted as either rude or angry in tone. Open displays of affection between men are also ubiquitous, which is ironic since the traditional cultures of the Mediterranean peoples tend to be more homophobic than the progressive attitudes of peoples elsewhere.
Lastly, the style of driving is similar to what I am familiar with in Southern Italy. It is a style that, shall we say, interprets the rules of the road liberally. It does not mean that it is anarchic or dangerous. It just means that there are a different sets of rules that are followed. These rules are informal in character, and as long as one recognizes and adapts to them, one can navigate the roads safely. For example, people on motorcycles often drive between cars, an act which would incur a hefty fine in North America. As long as one is cognizant of this practice, one will adapt.
The shared physical traits are many as well. I have been in Jerusalem for 4 days, and have been mistaken for being both Israeli and Arab. Why? A few reasons come to mind. First, I have dark olive skin and very dark hair. I also have very thick eyebrows and eyelashes (a trait I get from my mom's side). Of course, not all Mediterranean peoples have these physical traits. In fact folks here are very diverse; both Arabs and Israeli's seem display traits from a wide spectrum, from light haired and light skinned al la Sweden to the dark skin and hair that one sees in North Africa and the Arabian peninsula. What is more, these differences often exist in the same family. In my own family, my youngest brother has very light hair and skin, whereas my features are dark.
These shared cultural and physical traits are the result, of course, of the inter-civilizational mixing that has taken place in the Mediterranean region for thousands of years: Romans, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, and many others have conquered this region and left their mark. Jerusalem is the epicenter of this millennium long, inter-civilizational struggle, which explains why, stripped of their culturally specific attire, most people here actually look and behave similarly. The irony is that they are deeply divided. In fact there is a lot of hostility here, especially between the Israeli's and Arabs. More on that in a future post
The shared cultural traits were made clear when I tried to get on a bus to Ramallah in the West Bank this afternoon. Being of Southern Italian origin prepared me for the absence of queuing as a cultural norm, and for the consequent Darwinian struggle to get on the bus. Worshipers had just left the Mosque in old Jerusalem, and the station was packed. As I pushed and shoved to try to get on, old Arab ladies, youngsters with gelled hair and fake diamond earings, and middle aged men dressed like Salafists also pushed and shoved, and yet it could hardly be described as aggressive. It was done with smiles and friendly chatter. When the bus driver announced that the bus was full, people yelled at him, some clearly frustrated, but most with an air of resignation. In Salerno, where my family is from, this event would not have been out of place.
Another shared trait is the style of communication. It is very expressive and theatrical. Walking down the street in Arab or Jewish Jerusalem, one encounters loud, boisterous and rambunctious conversations that, in other contexts, might be interpreted as either rude or angry in tone. Open displays of affection between men are also ubiquitous, which is ironic since the traditional cultures of the Mediterranean peoples tend to be more homophobic than the progressive attitudes of peoples elsewhere.
Lastly, the style of driving is similar to what I am familiar with in Southern Italy. It is a style that, shall we say, interprets the rules of the road liberally. It does not mean that it is anarchic or dangerous. It just means that there are a different sets of rules that are followed. These rules are informal in character, and as long as one recognizes and adapts to them, one can navigate the roads safely. For example, people on motorcycles often drive between cars, an act which would incur a hefty fine in North America. As long as one is cognizant of this practice, one will adapt.
The shared physical traits are many as well. I have been in Jerusalem for 4 days, and have been mistaken for being both Israeli and Arab. Why? A few reasons come to mind. First, I have dark olive skin and very dark hair. I also have very thick eyebrows and eyelashes (a trait I get from my mom's side). Of course, not all Mediterranean peoples have these physical traits. In fact folks here are very diverse; both Arabs and Israeli's seem display traits from a wide spectrum, from light haired and light skinned al la Sweden to the dark skin and hair that one sees in North Africa and the Arabian peninsula. What is more, these differences often exist in the same family. In my own family, my youngest brother has very light hair and skin, whereas my features are dark.
These shared cultural and physical traits are the result, of course, of the inter-civilizational mixing that has taken place in the Mediterranean region for thousands of years: Romans, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, and many others have conquered this region and left their mark. Jerusalem is the epicenter of this millennium long, inter-civilizational struggle, which explains why, stripped of their culturally specific attire, most people here actually look and behave similarly. The irony is that they are deeply divided. In fact there is a lot of hostility here, especially between the Israeli's and Arabs. More on that in a future post
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