Sing-song naïveté comes to the most misunderstood country on earth…
Yesterday, those fabulous Californians, the Gudauskas brothers, dropped their latest Down Days clip into the world. Down Days is a travel series by the swinging threesome and, so far, Pat, Dane and Tanner have brought their Endless Summer smiles and hucks to Iceland, Germany and, lately, Israel.
In this episode, the brothers fly into Tel Aviv, play smash ball, surf wedges at Hilton Beach, get boozed, eat at a local’s restaurant (“It’s Baba Ganoush, baby!”) and, it is suggested, unless I’m missing something, that they even play dirty with some pretty local gals. It’s a gas!
But watch it fall to pieces when they hit the divided city of Jerusalem. If you ain’t hip to the history of the joint, it’s not a good idea to paint it as a conflict confected by politicians.
The brothers see the Israeli West Bank barrier, that divides Jew from Muslim, and Dane says, “It changes your perspective on a lot of different things.”
“It’s gnarly!” they agree.
In the West Bank (i.e. Palestinian) town of Bethlehem, where they’ve been advised to bring bodyguards, they interview a Christian, Claire Anastas, whose home is surrounded on three sides by the wall.
Anastas is is the dial-a-quote every media organisation from Al-Jareeza to 60 minutes calls when they want to talk about the wall.
Yeah, she don’t like it.
“We believe in peace, we have inner peace, we hope that the others will have the same and work for having peace for all people,” she says.
It’s so easy!
“The aura was going off!” yelps Pat afterwards.
You want to know why it exists, boys?
Because the Palestinians sure do like killing Jews.
Between 2000 and 2003, 73 suicide attacks came from the West Bank. Over the next few years, and in the shadow of the barrier, 12 attacks happened. Last year, Palestinians who live or work in Israel re-started their habit of stabbing and running over random Israeli citizens, including babies.
If America had faced the suicide bombings that confronted Israel, she would’ve bombed hell out of the joint. Instead, the Israelis built a wall.
Why no mention of the reasons behind its build instead of some sing-song bullshit about brotherhood? Why didn’t you ask Claire Anastas why the Christian population has gone from 70 per cent in Bethlehem to around 15% in just 50 years? Or why Christians don’t even think about living in Gaza? It ain’t the Jews doing the persecuting on that side.
As for the barrier, no wall equals dead Jews. Talk about that.
(Click here for an easy-to-read history of Israel)
(And click here if you want to find out why Iz is such a rad surf trip.)
Are you seriously suggesting that the Palestinians are the primary perpetrators of violence and hatred in this conflict? Do your homework dude. I realize journalism isn’t held to a high standard here on beach grit, but c’mon. Do some real research. Don’t just watch some of the American propaganda apparatuses (Fox, cnn, ect.), read some peer reviewed articles. Look into the extent to which Israel has persecuted and oppressed the Palestinians over the last few decades. It is horrifying and evil. So ya, “the Palestinians sure do like killing Jews.” Most of that violence is reactionary. If you think the Israeli death toll is even close to the Palestinian death toll in this conflict, you’re insane.
If only they’d packed more Positive Vibe Warrior patches to hand out. By all accounts it was the closest the two sides had come to a solution since “Miranda’ Blair gave Bibi a hand job in the non-gender specific washrooms at the UN Plaza in ’98.
A little one sided are we Derek
Even an anti-racist pastry as magnificent and filled with the cream of human kindness as Down Days, needs a little righting. Without a coherent explanation for the barrier, the viewer is left to presume the open air prison is an unprovoked kink of the Jews. Is it?
Come now.. If that was the motivation, this little blog post would have balance.
Was this written from the toilet?
talk About oversimplification!! haha what a perfect example he has made of himself, Aloha.
very well said derek. missed opportunity by all involved. rad indeed.
Like the time you missed the opportunity when you designed Magic Seaweed’s logo?
Well, it was a fucking Vans ad. Maybe not the place to look for nuanced geopolitical analysis, ya think?
Wow, more of the same thinking that Palestenians are somehow sub humans and deserving of their fate to live in Apertheid conditions in their own land. How many Palestenians do you actually know Derek? My guess is none or you wouldn’t spout such hateful dehumanizing rhetoric.
One can go back a little further and ask why are the Palestenians so pissed in the first place? Maybe because foreigners from Europe came and demolished their homes, many while families still were living in them, and stomped the skulls of babies sleeping in their own cribs. Now they live as refugees in their own country under complete economic blockade and are referred to as “animals” by their oppressors and Derek Rielly. You would think the Israeli people that suffered so much for so long would have a little perspective themselves of what they are doing to these proud people instead of turning into the tea party.
I admire Israel and their resilience and even empathize with their situation as the only real adults in the room but the level of discourse has turned real ugly and ultra-nationalistic. The better analogy would be how would Americans react to Native Americans if they were to act as the Palestenians have. Not some mythical sovereign neighboring nation that doesn’t at all equate.
what a one-sided piece. at least have the journalistic integrity to offer some balance. you think Israel hasn’t kllled Palestinian babies? there’s plenty of blame to pass around on both sides. in fact, how can you even choose a side between apartheid/embargo/oppression-mongering Israel and its nutso fundamentalist settlers and the stone-age, acid-throwing, blame-the-rape-victim, honor-killing Palestinians? the fundamentalists on one side say they’re god’s chosen people and the fundamentalists on the other side want global sharia law and death to infidels.
it’s time to stop backing any country that bases its right to territory on the bible, Koran, or any other religious screed. talk about that.
I believe the balance was provided in the episode, with the Claire Anastas interview. When you moon and mug over the wall’s apparent cruelty without identifying the reason for its existence, it needs explanation.
couldnt agree more david. thank you for some balance to this piece of shit article above. shame on you derek for taking sides in this horrific situation. there is no right here…..only wrongful hate.
This is probably the most accurate assessment of the situation but it’s a hard truth that no one wants to listen to on either side.
Thank Derek you for being real.
This is what happens when a radical leftist organization directing the brothers trip.
The brothers are not aware that the are leads them be wrong About the truth and real perspective.
Thanks again
There you go, you dont even have to “waste your time” studying about the subject before spouting Israeli propaganda.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
The Youtube name given to the video is stupid, but so was your article.
…Chomsky? The “comic doom-monger”? The same man who supported Mao, who denied the Cambodian genocide and supported Pol Pot, who claimed the Soviet dictatorship was equivalent, morally, to American democracy? And what did he say about the Holocaust?
“I see no anti-Semitic implications in denial of the existence of gas chambers, or even denial of the holocaust. Nor would there be anti-Semitic implications, per se, in the claim that the holocaust (whether one believes it took place or not) is being exploited, viciously so, by apologists for Israeli repression and violence.”
A horrible schmuck.
you haven’t actually read chomsky, have you?.
beware quotes out of context. he is discussing how anti-semitism is thrown around carelessly by to block discussion (however misguided) and does not deny the holocaust. nor did he advocate pol pot. and the actions of the us government have been morally reprehensible and this is what he is pointing it.
No, Chomsky is, in fact, a horrible schmuck.
Sounds like you work for the government…Wake up white people, the war machine is coming home ( Just ask the black population in some of the mainland states)…I would list all war crimes you probably supported but it will take too long….