Dear Cyndi,
I’m glad that you believe in equality, so do I. Unfortunately, my country doesn’t. In the state of Israel, equality is a word frequently used, but rarely practiced.
In the occupied territories, under Israel’s control, in East Jerusalem, and the West Bank, Palestinians and Israeli settlers share the same ground, but that’s all they share. There are separate legal systems, military for Palestinians, civil for Israeli, segregated roads, buses, and check points. There are different water quotas, and different building permits, as in, none of those for Palestinians. Settlers have freedom of movement, of work, of protest, of speech, Palestinians have none of those. Every Palestinian protest is violently suppressed by the Israeli army. Also, most of the Palestinians living in the West Bank, cannot cross into Israel, whereas all settlers can do that. Many of them, will probably come to your show.
It goes without saying that all of the Palestinians living in Gaza, under siege since 2006, will not be able to make it. Many of them are without electricity, 16 hours a day, fuel is running out. Medical operations are made in candle light, and many pay with their lives, for the fuel shortage created by Israel’s closure of the strip’s borders.
As for those Palestinians who are so called, citizens of the State of Israel. Yes, they have citizenship, but their equal status begins and ends with this piece of paper. They don’t get equal funding, for school, for welfare, for infrastructures. The Israeli education system invests 8 times more in an Israeli pupil, than in a Palestinian one. Most Palestinian towns get no public transport, and not a single train station operates in any of those. The state of Israel operates in order to Judaise areas in which there’s a high concentration of Palestinians, such as the Naqab or the Galilee. These programmes include the demolition of Palestinian houses, the eviction of Palestinian citizens, and the expropriation of Palestinian lands.
As for romantic relationships between Palestinians and Israelis, there are several organizations, supported by various Members of the Knesset, that are working to intimidate such couples, with insults, humiliations and violent threats. Such a couple will never be able to get married inside Israel, as only religious marriages are possible.
And while we’re on the subject I’ll add a word about lack of equality against non-Palestinians. I’m living in a religious state, in which as a woman, I can never get equal status. I’m living in a state in which state-funded buses operate, on which women are boarding from the back, and men are boarding from the front, to cater for an orthodox community, whose equality, seems to be more important than my own. I’m living in a state in which there’s a religious court system in which only men can serve as judges, and these men decide on every matter of marriage and divorce, according to laws set more than 2000 years ago. I’m also living in a state that as we speak, rounds up African refugees into an enormous prison, for the sole crime, of seeking asylum.
Dear Cyndi, we both believe in equality, we believe in freedom, in peace, in justice, and I hope that some day, we can celebrate them together. But you can’t find freedom, where there is occupation, you can’t find justice under apartheid, you can’t find equality in the state of Israel.
Leehee Rothschild
If you want to perform for your fans in Israel condition it on making sure all residents get equal access including the residents of the West Bank. Then we will see just how much they want to see you Israel. Simple test for all performers….will all of my fans who want to attend be able to attend regardless of where they live? Israelis and Arabs?
That’s one side of the picture.
On the Arab side, there are forced marriages, temporary marriages, honor killings and of course the hijab and burqa. Women being completely invisible is the Islamic notion of sexual equality.
Granted, things for women aren’t perfect in Israel but they are improving. And women have high profile positions there in various aspects of public life, unimaginable in the male-dominated Palestinian Arab and the larger Arab World.
So if you want to say Israel has its flaws that’s fine but the other side has a long way to go before it achieves true equality. Until then, Cyndi Lauper need feel no regrets about entertaining in Israel.
Aw, girls just wanna have fun. She’s never had another big hit. She not gonna turn down $ from an Israeli performance. I bet she will never answer anybody who tries to wake her up. Like most Americans, Jews or otherwise, she just wants to make money at any opportunity because those opportunities keep getting rarer.
Hey Cindy,
Palestinians wanna have fun too!
Dear Cindy,
Welcome to Israel!!! You are going to visit the only democracy in the Middle East, a country that provides freedom to its citizens, regardless race or gender. The state of Israel was established by the Jewish people who returned to his homeland from all around the world after hundreds years of pogroms, blood libels and persecutions, including my parents that escaped from persecutions in Iraq. Unfortunately, our neighbors do not accept this fact and do all efforts to fight us in all means they can, in battle field, by incitement, terror attacks, boycotts and more. As a result of this long conflict in which they tried to prevent us building our homeland, we had to defend it, resulted in unwanted consequences for all peoples living in this tiny land, Palestinians and Israelis. Since many evil terror attacks, aimed against innocent Jewish civilians, my state had to take measures to protect its citizens. These measures are necessary but also affect innocent Palestinians. Few years ago, Israel had to build a wall after years of random terror attacks in our buses, restaurants, hotels and streets in which few hundreds innocent Israelis, men, women and children, were killed. Indeed, the wall saves lives and the level of the attacks was decreased, but, unfortunately, this wall also causes injustice to innocent Palestinians. My country makes all efforts to minimize these damages. Indeed, Palestinians live in the WB won’t come to your show, since my country must be careful in order to allow you and others to perform your show without fear of terror attack.
My country withdrew from Gaza strip completely. After the withdrawal, instead of building their piece of land, they attack our civilians in the Negev by long range missiles which they build by themselves or smuggle from Arab countries to the strip. My country had to force blockade in order to restrict entry of supply that can be used to build weapon like iron and fuel, but there is no shortage of food or medicines. Unfortunately again, the innocent Palestinians civilians suffer from this blockade living with a shortage of fuel and electricity.
The Palestinians, who are citizens of the state of Israel, enjoy excellent medical treatment, education in high level colleges and universities and high standards of living the same as the Jewish citizens. They enjoy freedom and democracy like all other citizens, many of them serving in senior positions in Israel like members of parliament, judges, journalists, scientists, police and army officers, business men etc. I invite you to visit in several Palestinian villages in Israel to realize by yourself.
As for romantic relationships between Palestinians and Israelis Jews, I don’t think that your show will be visited by even not one couple consists of Muslim woman and Jewish man since the Arab society doesn’t allow such romantic relationships to exist. In contrary, there are several hundreds, if not thousands, of mixed couples consist of Jewish woman and Muslim man. They are living their lives without fear and getting all their rights. I hope some of them enjoy your show in Israel.
In my country there is a religious system for orthodox Jews who decided to live their lives in their way, one of the basis rights in Israel. Secular people also free to live their lives in their way and no one forces them to follow the religious laws. They can marry, bury their dead relatives and raise their children in their own way.
Dear Cyndi, my country started a peace process with the Palestinians. A process that most of us, the Israeli civilians, support and hope will succeed and resulted in two independent states, living together in peace and respects each other. A process that we hope will put an end to the sufferings of my children and my Palestinian neighbor children, the innocent victims of our cruel conflict. By visiting Israel, you will strengthen the peace and reconciliation supporters in Israel. Welcome to Israel.
ברוכים הבאים
Mahane Yehuda
Jerusalem, Israel