Lazing around in Tel Aviv

After nearly 6 weeks in Egypt I have finally escaped. Yesterday (Sunday 4 May) I got a share-taxi to Taba and walked across the border to Israel. I wasn’t sure where I was going, so I decided just to catch the first bus leaving. So five hours later I ended up in Tel Aviv.

My passport has now been “tainted” by the Israeli stamp, which precludes travel to Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Lebannon, Saudi and a few other places… but they aren’t on the short-term schedule anyway and I can always come back with my UK passport. My Iran plan was cancelled when I found out the visa hassle. Most rich countries can get a short-term visa on arrival at the airport, but this excludes America, Britain and Australia. Damn. So instead I’m looking at Israel-Jordan-Nepal-India.

I think I like Israel. I met an interesting group of people on the bus ride and I was struck by the diversity of the country. My bus-friends came from Argentinia, Morocco and Romania. It got me to thinking about what it means to be a Jew. There is no common race, religious conviction, culture, language, foods, sport preferences etc. Hebrew is a revived language that people learn after they come to Israel. Sure, world Jews share a few holidays… but the Japanese recognise christmas and that doesn’t make them christian, white or european.

My conclusion is that the main connection between the Jews of the world is that they all call themselves Jews. That’s it. Basically, it’s a club — like a really long-running successful version of the Masons. And now we have a country dedicated to club members. It’s so strange, you have to be impressed.

Anyway — when I arrived I came straight to “sky hostel”, met some random American Jewish travellers and wandered along the beach smoking hash. Today (Monday 5 April) has been a fairly relaxed day. I got up late… surfed the net for a while… debated religion… and then wandered the streets listening to music (Augie March, Iron & Wine, Grant Lee Buffalo) and practicing fire dancing with my arabic walking stick (called Ishmail).