During my visit, Israel was celebrating 65 years as a nation. There were flags everywhere. For me, a highlight of my Israel visit was gaining an appreciation for the Zionist pioneers who built the country–slowly early in the 20th century, then very quickly after its modern founding in 1948–and seeing how far the nation has come.
In 1908 Tel Aviv was just a big sand dune. Born in 1909, the city today feels like San Diego. Of the almost eight million people in the country, more than three million live in the greater Tel Aviv area. The relative prosperity among Israel and its neighbors is striking. Waking up on my first morning here, I looked out my hotel window at the wonderful sandy beach (which is made of sediment from the Nile River). Pondering the joggers and kayakers getting in their morning exercise, I kept thinking it’s as if someone put California in the middle of Mexico.When you look at a photo of the early Zionist pioneers who came here and mixed sand, sweat, brain power, and a determined vision into a powerful nation, you can understand the passion Israelis have for their homeland.After WWII, a generation of Holocaust orphans–many still wearing the striped uniforms issued to them in concentration camps like Dachau–helped end a 1,900-year-long Jewish diaspora.
Comments
16 Replies to “An Appreciation for Israel’s Determined Pioneers”
I am enjoying your blogs, just returned from Israel and Jordan and definitely felt the strong Zionist passion for Israel..
“In 1908 Tel Aviv was just a big sand dune.”
This sentence is not the only thing wrong with “An appreciation for Israel’s determined pioneers”, but it exemplifies a simple lesson on accuracy in reporting and the dangers of contributing to ongoing ethnic cleansing. A map recently published by Zochrot maps the Palestinian villages destroyed in order to build Tel Aviv (‘California in Mexico’, as Steves refers to it), directly negating the anti-Palestinian ideology parroted in the sentence above.
In their description, the map’s authors conclude: “Today, with the support and encouragement of the Tel Aviv municipality, large construction firms are gnawing away at the remains of the [Palestinian] villages. If this trend is not reversed, in another decade or two Tel Aviv’s children will believe, as in a painting by Nahum Gutman, that this city really was born out of the sand.”
Rick,
I am very much enjoying your Israel blogs. I traveled there 12 years ago, and the country will forever be in my heart. I’ve been to several places in Western Europe, but Israel is very special; I’d love to go back again.
Helene
P.S. I’m still in contact with my Israeli guide, as well as with several people from my tour. So, you see, my trip is always with me.
It’s so nice to see you there. I’ll be watching closely because I believe I will be heading back there after July. In Awe. Looking forward to all the travel tips. :) Shalom.
Benjamin
Rick,
In the Huffington Post last year, you wrote the following:
“In my view, many Palestinians live under inhumane conditions, and U.S. taxpayers help to make it happen… The question of whether Israel is conducting a brutal military occupation or a reasonable defense against terrorism gets no real airtime.”
(link: huffingtonpost.com/rick-steves/reflections-on-israel-and_b_1401220.html)
Where is the necessary mention of the Palestinians in your coverage here? I find it troubling that you do not include within this narrative of the “modern founding” of Israel the 700,000+ Palestinians displaced, and the 400+ localities destroyed or abandoned (Source: Ruling Palestine, A History of the Legally Sanctioned Jewish-Israeli Seizure of Land and Housing in Palestine. Publishers: COHRE & BADIL, May 2005, p. 34.).
Please do not add your voice to the nationalist narrative of Israel that ignores the historical and ongoing oppression of the Palestinians.
Amy
Really disappointed to see that the power of the Israel lobby got to Rick Steves.
But of course they would not have allowed someone with Rick’s credibility and name recognition to criticize Israel as he did in his Huff Post article a year ago and have that be the last word.
Truly sad …
Rick — Glad to see you’re visiting Israel, that fascinating, aggravating, dynamic and beautiful scrap of land on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. I have been there three times and can’t wait to visit again someday.
Lots of history. Don’t like the politicians. Don’t like the in the U.S. either.
I’ve never seen that last image before. The juxtaposition is really powerful.
Sorry to read Thayer’s embittered criticism. As an Israeli who was born in tel aviv in 1942, and whose father arrived there escaping the nazis in the mid 30’s, I can tell you from personal experiences and observations that tel aviv was sand dunes, with brauhouse buildings interspersed. And the last picture posted was extremely moving for me, having been riding on my dad’s shoulders at the haifa terminal as the ferry arrived from Cyprus carrying his brother from a displaced persons’ camp to freedom in 1948, having been the only sibling (out of 12) to survive the war in Europe. When walking down the plank into my dad’s arms, both in tears, he kneeled down to kiss the earth!!! This is why America and Israel have much in common-the love and appreciation for freedom found in very few corners on earth.
Rick,
I’ve really enjoyed following your blog and reading your thoughtful posts about Egypt. However, I’m disappointed to see that you’ve taken to posting Israeli government propaganda on your blog. The Israeli government has long used the myth of “A land without a people for a people without a land” and the idea that the land was empty of people and without agriculture before the Zionists arrived in order to deny the injustices that were committed against the Palestinian people in the process of the creation of the modern state of Israel. The land of Israel/Palestine has been inhabited continuously since ancient times, and the history is much more complex than this myth would have you believe.
In this home of three major religions, I was struck by the visceral mistrust, hatred and even violence between groups that all believe in the same God.
Kind of makes you wonder if Religion is any answer to Peace at all…
Thank God, our American Founding Fathers recognized this, and went through great pains to eliminate the emotionalism and the I’m-Right-And-You’re-Wrong-And-You-Deserve-To-Die essence of all religions, completely and permanently from all governments in the USA…
In 1947 many Arabs vacated their homes to allow their armies to wipe out the Jews.
Until the Zionist movement, Palestine was regarded as a wasteland. See what Mark Twain wrote.
American taxpayers provide much of the money to support the Palestinians. Much is squandered.
“Kind of makes you wonder if Religion is any answer to Peace at all.”
Pagans (Nazis) and atheists (communists) have killed more people than religion. The founding fathers were not hostile to religion; they took the view that it was indispensible to a republic.
Les, the American Founding Fathers were not hostile to religion, they were hostile to Religion as any part of taxpayer-funded American Government…they were very specific about that…and that is why America has attracted millions upon millions of immigrants fleeing religious persecution in their own countries, even from persecution from THEIR OWN RELIGION!!!
I am enjoying your blogs, just returned from Israel and Jordan and definitely felt the strong Zionist passion for Israel..
“In 1908 Tel Aviv was just a big sand dune.”
This sentence is not the only thing wrong with “An appreciation for Israel’s determined pioneers”, but it exemplifies a simple lesson on accuracy in reporting and the dangers of contributing to ongoing ethnic cleansing. A map recently published by Zochrot maps the Palestinian villages destroyed in order to build Tel Aviv (‘California in Mexico’, as Steves refers to it), directly negating the anti-Palestinian ideology parroted in the sentence above.
In their description, the map’s authors conclude: “Today, with the support and encouragement of the Tel Aviv municipality, large construction firms are gnawing away at the remains of the [Palestinian] villages. If this trend is not reversed, in another decade or two Tel Aviv’s children will believe, as in a painting by Nahum Gutman, that this city really was born out of the sand.”
Rick,
I am very much enjoying your Israel blogs. I traveled there 12 years ago, and the country will forever be in my heart. I’ve been to several places in Western Europe, but Israel is very special; I’d love to go back again.
Helene
P.S. I’m still in contact with my Israeli guide, as well as with several people from my tour. So, you see, my trip is always with me.
It’s so nice to see you there. I’ll be watching closely because I believe I will be heading back there after July. In Awe. Looking forward to all the travel tips. :) Shalom.
Benjamin
Rick,
In the Huffington Post last year, you wrote the following:
“In my view, many Palestinians live under inhumane conditions, and U.S. taxpayers help to make it happen… The question of whether Israel is conducting a brutal military occupation or a reasonable defense against terrorism gets no real airtime.”
(link: huffingtonpost.com/rick-steves/reflections-on-israel-and_b_1401220.html)
Where is the necessary mention of the Palestinians in your coverage here? I find it troubling that you do not include within this narrative of the “modern founding” of Israel the 700,000+ Palestinians displaced, and the 400+ localities destroyed or abandoned (Source: Ruling Palestine, A History of the Legally Sanctioned Jewish-Israeli Seizure of Land and Housing in Palestine. Publishers: COHRE & BADIL, May 2005, p. 34.).
Please do not add your voice to the nationalist narrative of Israel that ignores the historical and ongoing oppression of the Palestinians.
Amy
Really disappointed to see that the power of the Israel lobby got to Rick Steves.
But of course they would not have allowed someone with Rick’s credibility and name recognition to criticize Israel as he did in his Huff Post article a year ago and have that be the last word.
Truly sad …
Rick — Glad to see you’re visiting Israel, that fascinating, aggravating, dynamic and beautiful scrap of land on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. I have been there three times and can’t wait to visit again someday.
Lots of history. Don’t like the politicians. Don’t like the in the U.S. either.
I’ve never seen that last image before. The juxtaposition is really powerful.
Sorry to read Thayer’s embittered criticism. As an Israeli who was born in tel aviv in 1942, and whose father arrived there escaping the nazis in the mid 30’s, I can tell you from personal experiences and observations that tel aviv was sand dunes, with brauhouse buildings interspersed. And the last picture posted was extremely moving for me, having been riding on my dad’s shoulders at the haifa terminal as the ferry arrived from Cyprus carrying his brother from a displaced persons’ camp to freedom in 1948, having been the only sibling (out of 12) to survive the war in Europe. When walking down the plank into my dad’s arms, both in tears, he kneeled down to kiss the earth!!! This is why America and Israel have much in common-the love and appreciation for freedom found in very few corners on earth.
Rick,
I’ve really enjoyed following your blog and reading your thoughtful posts about Egypt. However, I’m disappointed to see that you’ve taken to posting Israeli government propaganda on your blog. The Israeli government has long used the myth of “A land without a people for a people without a land” and the idea that the land was empty of people and without agriculture before the Zionists arrived in order to deny the injustices that were committed against the Palestinian people in the process of the creation of the modern state of Israel. The land of Israel/Palestine has been inhabited continuously since ancient times, and the history is much more complex than this myth would have you believe.
In this home of three major religions, I was struck by the visceral mistrust, hatred and even violence between groups that all believe in the same God.
Kind of makes you wonder if Religion is any answer to Peace at all…
Thank God, our American Founding Fathers recognized this, and went through great pains to eliminate the emotionalism and the I’m-Right-And-You’re-Wrong-And-You-Deserve-To-Die essence of all religions, completely and permanently from all governments in the USA…
In 1947 many Arabs vacated their homes to allow their armies to wipe out the Jews.
Until the Zionist movement, Palestine was regarded as a wasteland. See what Mark Twain wrote.
American taxpayers provide much of the money to support the Palestinians. Much is squandered.
“Kind of makes you wonder if Religion is any answer to Peace at all.”
Pagans (Nazis) and atheists (communists) have killed more people than religion. The founding fathers were not hostile to religion; they took the view that it was indispensible to a republic.
Les, the American Founding Fathers were not hostile to religion, they were hostile to Religion as any part of taxpayer-funded American Government…they were very specific about that…and that is why America has attracted millions upon millions of immigrants fleeing religious persecution in their own countries, even from persecution from THEIR OWN RELIGION!!!