Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

Nearly in prison at Metulla – got caught walking along the Lebanon-
Israeli border and spoke with Arab on other side ploughing the field
along the border. At Police station advised because of 7 day War [6 Day
War] there is danger of spying activity but I’m from Australia and
harmless and studying philosophy in Germany. Now in Tiberias – off to
Jerusalem by bus. Now I know why there are Schlamper in this world –
this place is one big schlamp. They talk of culture but where is the nonintellectual
culture?
Hello from Jericho! No sign of any battle at the moment. The Allenby
Bridge is sealed off. I walked four km in very warm weather to find that
out. On way saw a few large farms using conventional irrigation method.
No wonder- plenty of fellows to do the work for them.
Until the 6-Day War all the Arabs here were Jordanian who still brood
over their loss. I asked Jericho Postmaster how he was taking the
occupation: ‘Jericho is Jericho, thousands of years old, occupiers come
and go but Jericho is Jericho!’
In town radios were blaring oriental music. There were people walking
& talking, playing cards and so forth. It’s no wonder that Israel
succeeded in the war – the Arabs need inspiration before they do
anything for someone else because they are too damn emotional. No
wonder Lawrence of Arabia was so successful. – Tonight I am back to
Jerusalem.
This commentary indicates how little I then knew about the deeper impulses
driving Middle East politics. Hence, my reference to ‘Arabs’ which I did even
when looking into Gaza. In this respect the Palestinians have made progress,
but that is not so much their doing as the failure of the Jewish state to stabilize
and mature, and to continue to follow the madness of Eretz Israel, which
necessitates an extermination policy of the original inhabitants in the land the
Jews now occupy. We saw this in full swing in December 2008–January 2009
when Israel again attacked the Palestinians in Gaza.
I was disappointed to see that Israel was not glossy but quite untidy. Even
the kibbutz system at that time, began to break down because the sordid
night life in Tel Aviv, held more appeal to young men and women than the
ideal of a money-free communal/utopian/communist farming life-style.
The trouble with a reliance on the young for such a source of energy is that
if there is no community to nurture them through this Sturm-und-Drang
period, society then disintegrates. No society can stand an unbridled
atmosphere of self-seeking as it currently expresses itself in our global
international financial predatory life style gurus, such as Bernie Maddoff.
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