The following story was printed in the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv and translated. Clearly no one in the international media would publish such a story so it is left to those using social media tools to get it out to the wide world
By Assaf Gabor and Avi Ashkenazi
The Etzel Museum, near the Charles Clore
beach in Tel Aviv, assembles many pieces of history related to the Arab Israeli
conflict, including the conquest of Jaffa. The band of Palestinian youth who
had arrived yesterday to the beach in Tel Aviv and sat on the Museum’s stairs
had no idea.” This is the first time in my life that I’m in Tel Aviv”,
says Ligal Atchi, 24, who came to town with a few friends from Ramallah for a
fun day. “I’ve always dreamt about Tel Aviv’s beach, which I have seen in
pictures and on the map. When I arrived here this morning, I was dazzled by the
beauty of the city”.
Atchi works in an aluminum factory near
Beit Horon. Two weeks ago, he applied for a tourism entry visa at the Civil
Administration, on the occasion of Ramadan. He is one of a million
Palestinians who were – and will be – granted entry visas to Israel as
tourists, on the occasion of the Month of Ramadan. Thousands of them have
already filled yesterday the beaches of the First Hebrew City.
Lifeguards on the beach have been advised
of the guests who are about to flood the beach in the coming weeks. They are
heard through the loudspeakers on the Charles Clore beach, shouting in Arabic
at the bathers who have strayed away from the safety delineation. “They are
undisciplined – says one lifeguard – some of them are very excited about
bathing in the sea for the first time, but they don’t know the rules and the
dangers of the sea”.
“For me it’s like being abroad”, admits Mohamed Adana, a 20 year old student
from the Ramallah District who cannot hide his enthusiasm about visiting the
Holy Land. “I want to go to Paris and Berlin, but the word is that
Tel Aviv falls short of no European city. It’s my first time here. We only
strolled on the beach this time around, but next time I’d like to
tour Jaffa as well”.
”Good for
both sides”
According to data provided by COGAT
(Coordinator of the Government’s Activities in the Territories) 100,000
Palestinians have been granted entry visas so far, and they are visiting their
families on the western side of the Green Line or going to pray in the Al Aqsa
Mosque. It is expected that, However, the greatest bulk of visitors is expected
on Eid el-Fitr, at the end of Ramadan, when hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians are due to flock to the beaches and clubs of Tel Aviv, to make
merry and spend money over here rather than in Palestinian cities.
“The procedure is simple”, explains Yusuf from Nablus: “You apply to the
Palestinian DCO (District Coordination Office) which passes it on to the
Israeli side, where it is usually approved. The whole thing takes 24 hours,
sometimes less, depending on how long you want to stay in Israel. We see this
as something positive. Palestinians who usually identify Israelis as soldiers
or settlers enter Israel and get acquainted with other aspects of the Jews.
It opens their mind and changes the
thinking on both sides. Why is that? Because the Jews also meet for the first
time Palestinians from the West Bank, and find out that they are basically
people who quite resemble them”.
“Come Eid el-Fitr, you won’t recognize your beaches”, promises Rabi’a, 19,
from Nablus. “I believe about half a million Palestinians will come to the
beaches of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, and they will “conquer” the town’s pubs and
clubs. We’re going to have a lot of fun”, he adds and laughs.
But Karim from Ramallah, an older man, has
already used the entry permit for other purposes. “I don’t intend to use my
visa to go to the sea side or for entertainment”, he explains. “”I am a working
man. So far I’ve been with my family to Jerusalem, and I went to pray in Al
Aqsa. It was really a cool and quicker at the border crossing. It gives a good
feeling when both the Jewish side and the Palestinian side try to make it
easier for us on Ramadan.”
Yusuf from Nablus believes it is in
Israel’s best interest to let in as many Palestinian tourists as possible. “I
estimate the revenues at approximately one billion Shekels, flowing into Israel
from the PA through these visitors. Just as Israelis travel to Europe and spend
a lot of money there, so many Palestinians see their visit in Israel as their
annual vacation. A Palestinian family traveling through Israel, going to the
beach, drinks colas and buys popsicles and food for the children, can spend in
two-three days a thousand Shekels and even more. I don’t understand Israel. It
should have opened these crossings throughout the year for Palestinians who
don’t make problems. Beyond financial revenues, it’s also about a sense of
coexistence, reconciliation and openness between the two peoples”.
“Inch
Allah, I’ll come again tomorrow”
But some actually frown upon the easy
spending of Palestinian tourists in Israel. “I own a restaurant and I am amazed
that my shop remains empty during Ramadan”, says a disappointed
Karim, whose restaurant stands near Arafat Square in the heart of Ramallah. “If
at the end of the holiday season I only have 8000 Shekels left for me, then
it’s a really bad situation. In this period I am supposed to cover my all-year
losses, but you can see Ramallah and other Palestinian cities suddenly emptying
up. While I stare at the shawarmeh spinning around in my restaurant, they spend
their money in Israel instead of strengthening the local market. Many of
them prefer to buy in the malls of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem things that
they could get for half the price here in Ramallah, but they get a feeling of
freedom and of being almost abroad, so they have this urge to shop”.
And then there’s Mahmoud, a resident of
Hebron whose is denied entry. He is one of the few who were not issued permits
to visit Israel. “It’s really irritating”, he admits, “I did some foolish stuff
back when I was a kid, and now they won’t let me in. All my friends are going
to town in Jaffa and Tel Aviv, and I’ll have to settle for the things they’ll
bring me from over there”.
Mahmoud will find solace in local
festivities, for lack of an alternative: “On the other hand, who needs Tel
Aviv? We’ve got cafes that stay open until the wee hours of the night, clubs
where you can smoke the narguile and play billiard, and even dances. You can
have fun anywhere.”
Most of the Palestinian tourists who have experienced an Israeli vacation
are already planning their next break – another fun day at the beaches of Tel
Aviv or at the markets of Jaffa. “What I saw today, man, that was some
experience”, says Mariub Ashi, 25, who lives in a small village between
Ramallah and Jerusalem, shortly after coming out of the water. “I loved
everything here – the food, the sea, the air, even the beautiful girls roaming
the beach. Inch Allah, I’ll come again tomorrow, but tonight I need to return
to my village by 10 PM, because that’s what it says on my Israeli visa”.
