Crying out, both sides of the wall

ISRAEL – it’s a funny little word that can cause all sorts of trouble, even in South Africa.

For instance, a comment like “I’ve just been to Israel” can silence a room of the politically correct in one fell swoop. Odd really, how some people choke on such a small piece of information.

So here’s my question again: do South Africans go to Israel?

Well, it depends what you’re looking for.

If you’re embedded in the ranks of the politically correct, why bother, really? You’ll be too busy checking for labels to enjoy your hummus or Jewish Iraqi meatballs.

If you’re wanting to do the religious touristy trail thing I suppose there’s a lot to make you feel good.

And if you’re slightly contrarian and have a taste for the old and the new, you’ll find the Yehuda Menachem little different from 33 years ago, the history and architecture of Israel entrancing, the smell of cardamom coffee still wafting through the streets of Jerusalem, the stone passages of the old city unchanging and the moon still rising over its ancient walls. And some men, well, they’ll be forever handsome.

But there’s something more to going to Israel. The main reason I think South Africans should go is not because of what we can get from that fractured, bleeding nation, but what we can give.

We have something quite special, really: our story. It’s imperfect and entirely unresolved, but it says hope and a level of reconciliation are possible for a divided nation with its back against the wall.

And yes, politics in Israel is far more complicated; and yes, the world treats them with gross hypocrisy; and yes, it’s nigh impossible to separate Palestinian autonomy from a hostile Arab world; and yes, there is extremist fundamentalism; and yes, hope – “that thing with feathers on” – is often far removed from the reality on the ground. But while the pain of loss is, and will probably always be, a partner in this struggle for survival – the truth is that if “a peace of no choice” is not waged with the same vigour as “a war of no choice”, then the alternative could be very much worse.

And South Africans, even though from a new country, know well the value of coming back from the brink of war. We live the reality that change is an endless process, that setbacks can be overcome with great forward leaps of faith like changing your mind, and that the greatest chapters in history, as in life, as in venture capital, begin with risk.

Most importantly, it has been our enduring lesson that redemption lies not in liaisons with the Brits or the Americans or the Libyans or the Scandanavians, but in turning to face each other and grasping that slim chance of a second life.

And this is not the sole preserve of leaders, but of ordinary people, in the small things said or done. These are the things necessary to ensure that the future is not defined by the past and that what happened before will never happen again.

So yes, this non-Jew would go back to Israel in a heartbeat. For me, it’s like going home. I’ve learnt there is great treasure there – all the way from the nightclubs of Tel Aviv to the shores of the Dead Sea.

And on this one thing I am clear: the outcasts of Israel cry out from both sides of the wall.

Dawn Barkhuizen is leader page editor of the Dispatch. She was hosted in Israel by Project Interchange