Trips
Asalaam Alaikum (Peace be with you),
I am almost giddy with excitement about my upcoming trips to India and Palestine. I feel blessed to have visited India so much in the last two years - Dec. '09, Nov. '10 and now March '11 - and I have never visited Israel, though I've wanted to go since I was 13. I am currently reading Reni Bachman's "A Wall in Palestine" and the book has made me realize how unique and incredibly ridiculous the situation is over there. Is there another place in the world where you can exist in two different locations at the same time? I will be in Israel because that's where the airport is (Tel Aviv), but when I visit Jerusalem and Ramallah and insha'Allah Haifa and Nablus, I will be in Palestine - and never the two shall meet.
I am hoping to see some of the historical sites in Israel like the Wailing Wall, Yad Vashem and Lohamei Ha'Geta'Ot, the Ghetto Fighters Kibbutz. But, my heart is set on visiting Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and specifically, Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah and Al-Aqsa. I will be spending some serious time in Ramallah as well and hope to give a couple of talks at Ritaaj, my friend's company. I have also emailed some organizations in the area to hopefully network and maybe even give some presentations on domestic violence insha'Allah.
This is a major trip to India too insha'Allah because my sister is getting married. Even though this will not be a Bollywood wedding - the way most people expect Indian weddings too - it will still be large and chaotic. My favorite part of South Indian Hindu ceremonies is the music, usually the sounds of the thavil drum and the nadaswaram, a long wind instrument with a very unique sound. I associate this combo of thavil and nadaswaram so much with South India, with Madras, that as soon as I hear the music, I am gripped by nostalgia.
Thoughts on education, politics, social justice, equality, pop culture and Islam through the heart, mind and soul of an American Muslim. I am a 32-year old male, Hindu convert to Islam, community college professor, doctoral student and past coordinator for Muslim Men Against Domestic Violence. Please email me at iwontjudgeyou@live.com
While in Israel you very much would enjoy and learn from a visit to the Givat Haviva Center in the Galilee region near the city of Afula. Givat Haviva is associated with the left-wing Kibbutz Artzi Federation, was founded in 1949, and is the largest institution devoted to developing and strengthening positive interactions and understanding between Jewish and Arab citizens of the State of Israel, as well as between Israelis and Palestinians.
ReplyDeleteI'd also recommend going to the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Peace, near Tel Aviv I believe it is, as well as the Willy Brandt Center in Jerusalem. The latter is a small cultural center, supported by the young adult arm of the German SPD party, and it is a cooperative project of Young Meretz, Young Labor and Young Fatah.
Last thoughts for now. Explore the Palestine-Israel Journal, with Palestinian Arab an Jewish Israeli co-editors, as well as the co-led Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information. Both PIJ and IPCRI have informative websites and as it happens are based in Jerusalem. And ... The mission of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI) is to harness the teachings and values of the three Abrahamic faiths and transform religion’s role from a force of division and extremism into a source of reconciliation, coexistence, and understanding. To accomplish this, we work with youth, women, and religious leaders to promote Jewish-Arab coexistence and peace-building projects. Also with good website ...
ReplyDeletesalams,
ReplyDeleteHave a safe journey & have a wonderful trip,hope you enjoy the south indian food ;)