On Friday afternoon, when our friend Aviva went around with us, she happened to mention Chinese construction workers doing grocery shopping in her neighborhood. When we went around town on Saturday, we saw them in action in a different neighborhood. It then dawned on me. While Israel has many potential laborers within (e.g. Palestine) and all around them (e.g. Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon), this settler colonial state has so aggrieved the natives, they have to resort to importing laborers from the other end of the continent.
Most of Saturday we went around town, following a self-guided walking tour, "The White City", provided by the tourist office, looking at Bauhaus buildings. Most are mediocre, only a very few gems. Weather was breezy, but many people were enjoying the beach. I thought of the Palestinians that were dispossessed from here, scattered to Bethlehem, West Bank, Gaza, refugee camps, Jordan.... A friend expressed consternation that we had Israel on our itinerary. I now realise that coming to Israel is like reading Mein Kampf.
To cheer me up, John reminded me that Noam Chomsky had pointed out that we have the current situation because the status quo helps politicians on all sides stay in power and keeping the population in control - if your people is mad at the enemy, they cannot be mad at you.
The view from the train en route from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
Our hotel was near the Old Jaffa district, so we explored.
View of Jaffa Beach.
We met up with our friend Aviva for a late lunch and drinks.
The new tram line is underground, allowing for this new above ground greenway.
The scene at Greco Beach.
A few Fav Tel Aviv Buildings.
4 comments:
thank you for your observations and insights. kind like we rather hire illegal mexicans than blacks. but could it also be that the Palestinians can't unit within and can't organize to compete with the chinese companies? they complain too much and fight for laborers rights much more than the chinese workers? or the chinese offer more kickbacks and political advantages to Israel's politicians?
The beach looks lovely.
@Liz, they are a lot beach infrastructure too, even just compared to others on the Mediterranean. We seem primitives - how things could be different without hurricanes - or would they?
@WQ, The situation is more like South Africa, or the Native Americans. I suspect the Israels would be afraid of substage. Arabs are playing the ultimate game with the non-cooperative strategy.
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