We spent the afternoon in a school teaching troubled kids to read, and went to an organisation called Windows for Peace, where we had a lecture abut the organisation and a tour of Jaffa City. Our tour guide seemed to think that because of tourism and urbanisation the fishermen would soon stop fishing and she even hinted that the government is putting things into place to have them forceably removed. it all seemed a bit strange to me, and so I took pictures instead.
The Fifth Woman in the Room:
It started with a Chareidi woman telling us that we should step up to the Torah. Really read and believe what its all about. study and know the Torah inside and out because we can really learn from it. She told us she moved from Australia, from an average to normal secular life, but had found the Torah and her Judaism and moved to Israel. She told us all about the process of her becoming more and more religious and getting married. She told us that she now had 12 children and a husband whom she loved very much.
And then she took off her scarf.
We all sat in shocked silence, as she put on a different head covering, leaving some of her hair visible. She proceeded to take on the persona of a Right Wing American woman who had made Aliyah and Jewish people to live in the land that was theirs, thereby kicking all the non-Jews out.
She took off her head scarf completely, and placed it around her neck. She stood up, pulled her skirt down, to reveal a pair of trousers, and took out her sunglasses, placed them on her head, and made a few phone calls. She was now a secular woman, who lived in Tel Aviv, with two children and a Lesbian Lover. She represented all the people who have a particularly secular stance and mostly aren't bothered about the world.
We played Superstar whilst she changed completely to a Hidjab and a Buirker to take on the fourth woman in the room, an Arab, who doesn't have Israeli citizenship. She told us about the troubles she faces during her time on the other side of the green line and all the hardships that Arab people face in general.
Over the couse of the evening we were allowed to ask questions and she answered an stuck to her role through each of the different characters she took on. At the end of the night she told us all about herself, the fifth woman in the room, and she explained that she made Aliyah, and used to be in Netzer. She had been in many dialogue groups with the women that she based all the characters off, and really felt that this was a great way to educate young people about what was going on and a good way to really distinguish between the different sects of Judaism.
I really enjoyed the day, although I was absolutly exhaused by the end of the night.
