Cairo Time

The guy who makes the best pocket sandwiches in town is a Palestinian Christian with dual Israeli-American citizenship. He says it’s the perfect combination. Everyone hates him. He was born shortly after Palestine was occupied by the Jews. His mother was in the process of delivering one of her children and the family couldn’t flee. He’s educated, has a ready smile, and works at his own careful pace. His two sons are doctors and he’s very proud of them. His wife rules, though I don’t often see her in the deli these days. Now and then, he sits in back with a friend drinking tea. He has a loyal clientele, a devoted family, and enough money to live on. What more could a person want?

Yesterday I mentioned I had just seen a film called Cairo Time (featuring the wonderful Patricia Clarkson), and that in one of the scenes a bus headed toward Gaza was stopped by armed Israeli soldiers. I said it was scary even in film. He said his sons and other members of the family had been detained by the police in Israel, even though they were citizens, until the police were certain they were who they say they were. It sometimes took many calls and several hours until they were freed. One policeman suggested that no one could be an Israeli citizen without knowing Hebrew. My friend was sanguine about it. He made no judgments. It was how it was.

And so it goes. Around and round. Contention and struggle are facts of life. Nothing is ever settled. Nothing can be. Life is a zero-sum game in which there are winners and losers. Only the strong (those who are most vocal and armed) survive.

But like my friend, I have eschewed all of that. I am too old to care.