My Trip to Israel

"Come join me in Israel"

"WTF, no way I am not going to Israel"

"Come on, be more open minded...it's not like Palestinians are angels"

"I guess you have a point"

"Also, there is a really good party happening on the dead sea"

"Ok, I am coming"

This is the conversation that went down between me and my Moroccan friend from Paris while I was living in Dubai in 2022. I met him as part of a group of Moroccan boys at a party in Paris and we bonded right away. These boys were monumental in my Parisian experience. They were so kind and made me feel included and introduced me to new music and the coolest parties around Paris. Parties on museum rooftops, in dingy underground clubs at the outskirts of the city, and in cool circus tents. Just to name a few. We met again in London, obviously to party, and that's where I showed him a picture of a desert I traveled to in Northern Brazil called Lencois Maranhenses. After some time, he messaged me to say that he was so blown away by seeing the picture of that place, it inspired him to change his life and he quit his job in Paris and went on a world tour.

So I did a little bit of research to see if travel is permitted from the UAE to Israel. I usually don't give a fuck about anything or anyone but this was seriously wild so I stayed mum about my plans. At the airport before boarding the gate, Israel had an extra layer of security so they took me aside and searched everything in my handbag. They took everything out including my lipstick and left me with an empty handbag with just some cash and my passport and made me put everything in my carry on luggage and checked it in. I carry a Canadian passport but it still says that my birthplace is Iraq and technically, Iraqis are actually banned from entering Israel, at least when I went.

Upon arrival in Tel Aviv, I spoke with the officer at the immigration counter who surprisingly, was very pleasant. When he saw the Lebanese stamp on my passport, he expressed polite sentiments about their bad political situation and moved on. No further comments. I was again asked to sit in the waiting area where I met a friendly Bulgarian guy who gave me a tuna sandwich before being taken into a questioning room.

"Why are you visiting Israel"

For tourism.

"Do you know anyone in Jordan?

No.

"Have you ever been to Iran"

No.

"Why would an Iraqi plan to visit Israel alone"

I'm here to meet my friend.

"What do you both have planned for your trip in Israel"

We're here to party.

That piqued her interest and I went on to tell her about the cool rave happening on the dead sea in a few days. She quite literally searched it on her phone and thanked me for telling her. She seemed young, perhaps even younger than me, and not intimidating whatsoever. Quite gentle and kind actually. I left room and was asked back in again until they were finally satisfied. I waved back "hope to see you at the party". Then I took a taxi to Tel Aviv.

At first glance, Tel Aviv reminded me very much of Beirut. Some of the buildings and the vibe of the city as you walk on the streets had a similar feel. Also, it felt quite safe. Our mission in Tel Aviv was to party and that's where I saw the vast differences between how the Israelis party and the Lebanese. The latter like to show off and the former had more of an underground vibe, a vibe that somehow reminded me of Montreal. For someone who has partied extensively all over the world, I wasn't really blown away by Tel Aviv nightlife scene. It's just ok.

And so we journeyed together to Jerusalem.

I was beyond curious to see this historical place, so mystical and mysterious. You hear so much about it in history books and religious tales but now I was actually physically going there. And by the way, Jerusalem has an association with my name so it's actually a special place for me. My name caused me such headache growing up because other Arabs had never heard of it and they would always mistake it for other similar words in Arabic like picture and chapter which made me quite angry and upset.

The story goes that Prophet Mohammed rode on a horse that doesn't run but glides and it took him on a journey by night from Mecca to Jerusalem and that is the meaning of Sura. The journey by night. So going to Jerusalem meant something special to me.

The city surprised me a bit...it was quite a large city which looked ordinary like any other city and I wasn't really curious to explore it. I stayed close to old Jerusalem which had an eerie feel and only explored that area. The first morning, my friend woke me up early and insisted that we go to the Al-Aqsa Mosque for morning prayers so I put my scarf around my head and went along. This is where Prophet Mohammed prayed on the journey that takes on my name so it was definitely exciting but I was overwhelmed to say the least. The area surrounding the mosque was not well taken care of in terms of gardens and much trash left around the mosque by visitors and left uncleaned by management. The Mosque dome is beautiful but the interior of the mosque was not grand and magnificent, and that is alright too. It was more simple.

Being inside Al-Aqsa mosque didn't evoke any strong emotions in me, in fact, I felt nothing. I wandered and searched for answers for many years about my identity and association with God, but that day at the mosque, I didn't feel anything.

For a few days after that, I continued exploring the old city. Taking walks through all four quarters as it was split into : Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian. The Jewish quarter was the cutest, the nicest and most quaint architecture, the most calm, and the most clean. The Christian quarter had the most life, the most bustling, and most interesting. Many shops and restaurants and people to talk to. The Muslim quarter was my least favourite because it was quite dirty and just in general, I found nothing interesting to see other than the mosque.

The Jewish people I encountered were mostly lovely. So kind and helpful. Some stubborn attitudes but no issues whatsoever. They were quite curious how an Iraqi girl was able to enter Israel and told me that most of the Iraqi immigrants in Israel were working in finance.

While in Jerusalem, I decided to take a bus and cross over to Bethlehem for a day visit.

My experience in Bethlehem left me with a bruised heart because saying a broken heart would be an exaggeration so let's keep it realistic. The city was surrounded everywhere by a wall. I felt the pain of the people, it was like living inside a cage.

The local Palestinians were quite excited to meet an Iraqi girl and I had some friendly chats with people here and there. Then I chose a nice restaurant on a cliff to have some food before heading back through the gated entrance to the city and back to Jerusalem. I left Bethlehem feeling saddened because it was a reminder of the harsh realities of conflict happening in that country. I was only there as a tourist and only visited fairly normal places but seeing people trapped behind a wall was disturbing.

Now the serious part was over and it was time to have some fun!

The drive to the dead sea was interesting as along the way you passed through some parts that were part of the Palestinian territories and families were gathered bbq'ing and enjoying life. I also tried McDonald's which was the worst and most expensive Mcdonald's I ever tried in my life. If you are in Israel, avoid it for your own good!

The highly anticipated rave started at around 10/11 pm along the dead sea and gathered quite a large crowd. I was very excited as any party excites me. We danced and chatted with the locals who were mostly very sweet young people and they seemed to not care too much for politics, all they wanted was peace or at least that's what they said.

Following that, I took a tour to some historical sites which I don't even remember now and bathed in some dead sea mud!

‍

The tour guide actually informed us that the dead sea has shrunk in size and swimming in it was so strange. It felt oily and it was so easy to float. wow wow wow. Very cool experience! We also went to a bar that was at the lowest point of elevation on earth. The story of this low point in earth is very interesting in islamic history, I am not sure if the same story is repeated across other Abrahamic religions but I prefer not to elaborate on it here, it is much too heavy,

I ended my trip with spending one more day in Tel Aviv exploring the old souk and of course, the beach which was amazing and full of attractive people.

While I arrived in Israel feeling alarmed and nervous, I left feeling happy and satisfied that I had decided to go on this adventure. It opened my eyes to exploring the unknown and reminded me that sometimes our assumptions can be challenged—and we might be surprised. The Jewish people I personally encountered were kind, helpful and peaceful. However, Israel is one hell of an expensive place!

After I came back from Israel, I brought with me a small souvenir that caused a miracle but that's a story for another time.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

#MyTripToIsrael #TelAviv #Jerusalem #Bethlehem #DeadSea #MiddleEastTravel #TravelMemoir #BeyondAssumptions #UnfilteredTravel #SuraTravels