I Rolled out the Red Carpet for Steve .. seriously I did !

Today I visited the Knesset – The Israeli Parliament located in West Jerusalem. I’d been meaning to do so for some time and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s state visit and address to the Knesset tomorrow was what prompted me to go today .. and I’m jolly glad I did  ……

Sign over the entrance to the Knesset welcoming Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Laureen Harper

I wanted to make sure everything was tickety-boo for ‘Steve’s’ visit . First off  we were shown the Chagall tapestries – they are absolutely magnificent — they are woven not painted ( took 8 years). The poor artist’s fingers must have been raw from the needlework!

We had a lovely young woman as our guide — slender as a reed with a mellifluous upper class English accent. She painted a picture of Israel as a perfect country from its beginning to the present. She sang its praises from a narrative she must have repeated hundreds of times. The security guy that tagged along with us was either a Druze or a disenchanted Mizrahi Jew , who kept making sotte voche counter comments. ( I call him the Druze guy)

As our guide interpreted the modernist tapestries two men came along with a large roll of red carpet in a trolley that looked like a bed frame. . They were trying to roll out the carpet but the trolley thing just would not cooperate – it was locked solid . I took a closer look and saw there was a safety catch on the side – I suggested to the fellow that unlatching it might solve the problem – and it did ! Hey Presto!  the red carpet rolled out – yards and yards of it. I helped them straighten it out and made sure there were no rucks or bumps in it — we wouldn’t want the PM to slip up ! – would we ?  and say something negative about Israel’s denial of basic human rights to over five million Palestinians.

The Druze guy was just delighted to hear I came from Canada. He told me his brother was one of the senior officers in the  security detail for the PM’s visit. He said the Canadians were sending a big security contingent — but they were just getting in the way ! – he went on – “they cant even protect their own “president” when he’s in Canada “–

I’m nobody’s  lackey !

“a few years ago a burglar got in and got as far as the bedroom and luckily his wife woke up and beat off the intruder with a broom” !  — I think he was confusing  Aline Chrétien  with the Queen — Aline would never do that – she hates violence.! 

We then visited the Committee Rooms and our guide explained the Committee system for proposing and amending bills — to my surprise she told us that lobbyists can be present during Committee proceedings and can tag Members of  Knesset  ( MK’s) –  but the lobbyists have to wear an orange badge — Parliament hill could take a few tips from these guys!

Our guide explained the Israeli proportional electoral system –  in Israel electors do not vote for a person — they vote for a party which fields a slate of approved candidates – the result she said is that we have a parliament that represents the whole society – Jews , Arabs and Christians — at which the Druze guy whispered – the Arabs have 20 % of the people and only 10 MK’s ( I checked this out and he was not quite accurate – there are 11 Arab MK’s – and 1 Christian MK . ) – but he made his point – Arabs are underrepresented by 50%.

We then passed the display cabinets showing the priceless gifts bequeathed  to the Knesset by visiting dignitaries  — some were really exquisite.  Apparently our Canadian PM gave the Israeli PM   Benjamin Netanyahu ( “Bibi” to his close friends — which includes ‘Steve’) an Inuit carving from Cape Dorset , which makes a convenient door stop at one of Bibi’s palatial homes. What he did with the cowboy gear is anybody’s guess !

Our guide continued to interpret for us the background and symbolism of the many works of art and monuments in the winding hallways. The olive tree Menorah — represented the root of the Jewish people cut off  from their land halfway through their  history only to rise again as the nine branches of the bronze Menorah to bear a different fruit on each branch – it was a powerful symbol and a beautiful work of art , but it also made me think of  the more than one million Palestinian  olive trees cut down by the IDF, the expanding illegal Israeli Settlements, and the National Religious Settlers in the Occupied Territories in the past 2 years ( UNOCHA) 

Next we passed the Attendance Board — now this is a good idea that I hope ‘Steve’ brings back to Canada! . It has pictures of all 120 MK’s on it and the picture lights up when they are present in the house (of course they could be playing cards in one of the lounges – but they are in the building!) .

 

It also records the amount of time each MK spends in the Knesset buildings  and this information is available through Israeli freedom if information laws. Our guide also explained Israel does not have a Constitution – it has the Declaration of Independence signed on May 14 1948 which is a kind of a constitution and it has laws – many laws. But not all laws are have equal status Constitutionally – some have a higher status – 13 at the moment and eventually these will become the Constitution. 

The guide continued with her patter of a glowing, virtuous , and wonderfully democratic State of Israel – but of course in her version of the history there was no mention of the the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians in 1947/48 or the present Occupation of the oPt.

We past the ground floor cafeteria – our guide told us that although the MK’s have a very plush Dining Hall , some prefer to use the ground floor Cafeteria — they like to meet the people and mingle with the ordinary folk, she said , at which the Druze guy mumbled “trying to pick up chicks”.

As I left the Knesset Building and crossed the plaza towards the exit two men were attaching a Canadian Flag to a flag pole — but it was upside down!!…  Again fate had brought me to that place at that time and a disastrous embarrassment was avoided. “What is that thing in the middle anyway” one of the men asked — “it’s a maple leaf” I said ” Oh , he said we thought it must be some sort of ancient fighting thing which the Indians had  – you should get a real emblem like the Star of David” , and I thought sadly  our First Nations are not represented on the Canadian flag — as for his other suggestion I thought – please don’t give Stephen Harper any ideas – he is so enamored of Israel – he might go for it !.

A nine pointed arrow head used by the Harpernacta’patukklet  Tribe

 

MAE