Visiting Dubai

I am glad that I joined Dan to "see" Dubai for a few days back in March, but I wouldn't want to live there.  And I don't have any particular need to go back.  It impressed me as a screaming example of what is wrong with the world.

Shortly after my visit, I saw this article - UAE minister reveals that Dubai is amongst the top producers of waste in the world .  I noticed a lot of wasted water to create green grass around highways, A/C cranking with doors open, and what appeared to be a culture based entirely on consumerism.

Dubai is steel and pavement plopped down in the middle of a totally dry, arid desert.  The road noise makes the outdoors unpleasant (as does the heat). 

All the beaches are private (this made me appreciate the fact that the entire shoreline of Tel Aviv is designated public, so the hotels and rich can not prohibit the rest of us). 

There were a few remnants of the traditional culture that we saw, including building design with an open steeple that draws airflow into the building and acts like natural air conditioning.  We could learn from that.

We went up to the observation level of the Burj Khalifa (the building I am standing in front of).  From there I took the photo of the city from the sky.  The air quality was never clear while we were there.

The malls are bigger than the entire town that I spent my childhood in, LaConner.  We walked through to see the indoor ski area (see photo with Dan).  Otherwise it was too much, at least for me, as I do not enjoy shopping in general, and this was definitely shopping on crack.

Dubai is probably the most liberal Muslim place in the middle east.  But even here, practicing Muslim women are usually covered head to toe, sometimes including face masks, and accompanied by a man to go out of the home.  The reason for this, as I understand it, is that men can't control themselves, so women need to hide.  This sounds incredibly disrespectful to both genders.  It doesn't give any credit to either's ability to act as mature adults.  I want to have an open mind, but any culture where the rights of women are less than those of men feels too unjust for me to accept. 

As I said, it was interesting to see once.  I wouldn't have made a separate trip for it though.  There are MANY more interesting and meaningful places in the world.

 

Another unusual day at Ulpan

Last Wednesday, April 6, Ulpan Gordon held a "mini" Passover Seder all morning.  I say mini, not because it was small (see picture at right) because all the classes were there, easily 200+ students and teachers.  It was also not shortened.  It still took at least an hour and a half of songs and readings before we ate.  It was "mini," because it only included the boiled egg, boiled potato, matza cracker and gifilta fish ball. 

I'd like to say it was interesting, but it was hard to follow.  We read the Passover story in class before hand, so I understand the holiday is about the Jew's exodus from Egypt, which included avoiding eight plagues.  I understand that the appetizers each represent something as well, and the readings and songs correspond to these.  But I couldn't really follow it. 

Still, I stuck it out until the end. 

Afterwards, upon leaving class and turning the corner onto Ben Yehuda a block north of Ben Gurion, we were haulted by the police.  They had cleared the intersection to check a suspicious "package" (I never saw it, so I don't know what it was).  The bomb squad hooked up some lines to it, went back about 50 feet, and tugged.  Nothing happened, so I guess they were sufficiently comfortable that it was a false alarm.  They packed up and left, and we were able to go on our way too.  

It reminded me of the NYC campaign in the subways - "If you see something, say something."  Obviously, somebody said something.

Religion at work

On a networking/job board I read in Israel, the below question was recently posted which fueled a hot debate as to the interpretation/intent of both the question and the employer in question:

I have a question. A friend's place of employment is requiring workers to sign a declaration that they are "religious/shabat observant" and for that reason can not work Shabat. If at any time, someone that has signed the declaration is "caught" not observing the Sabbath, they can possibly lose their job.
The management has not answered the following:
1 - who decides what is Shabat observant?
2 - who is checking?
3 - how is it documented?
4 - Can this be legal?
 
The responses posted ranged from a comparison of Israel to Iran (which not surprisingly made some readers defensive), to the belief that this company is probably observant and just wants to be sure their employees don't do any work on their behalf during the holiday. 
 
As a citizen of a country that separates church and state (well, is supposed to), this obviously wouldn't fly.  But in a country where the religion is central to it's very existence, I can see where this must become an issue on a regular basis.  For instance, I wonder if all government / corporate cafeteria's have to abide by kosher laws?  There is strong pressure for businesses that serve/sell food to observe. But some have done a cost-benefit analysis and decided to pay the penalty fees levied by local and state goverment because they still come out ahead by being open on Shabat, and/or offering non-kosher options. 
 
I can't imagine working anywhere that would impose their religious beliefs on me.  I've seen job postings that I would be an excellent candidate for here in non-profit, but most have a religious purpose or tone, thus taking me out of the running. 

I know Israel is not the only country in which church and state are intertwined, but I wonder whether there are any others where religion equals culture and it can't be separated from the fundamental establishment of the state?  There are many Israeli's who don't believe it should be this way, but there are not enough of them in positions of power.  Interestingly, statistical models show that Israel's Jewish population will become a minority within the next decade.  If the country wants to hold onto it's claim of of democracy, will this lead to a shift in leadership to represent the new mix?