Meeting the President

Each year, as a part of the Sukkot (the biblical Feast of Tabernacles) celebration here in Israel, the president of Israel opens up his house to greet visitors (meaning his yard is filled with displays and he comes out and makes a speech to the crowd). The week of Sukkot is like a great big party in Israel, as most people have a break from work and school. The first and last days of Sukkot are "holy" holidays, meaning they are like Shabbat (no work, no transportation, etc), but the middle days are filled with fun events. Museums are packed, there are concerts and special displays everywhere, and people stay out until the early hours of the morning partying in the streets (or going to synagogue, for the super religious ones). This makes it the perfect time for the president of Israel to host a "party" and promote a certain initiative.

Naturally, I didn't want to miss out on a chance to meet the president of Israel!

This year the president (Shimon Peres) was promoting a "green" initiative, so the decorations and displays were pulsing with the "friendly to the environment" vibe.

People were walking around dressed like kohlrabi and strawberries, you could take pictures with cardboard cutouts of recycling trucks, and there was a random satellite display (?) 

Oh, and don't forget the random missile in the middle of the yard (green initiative = promote the military?)

I was laughing with my friend about the amount of "propaganda" that permeated the event, showing Israel as a happy, family-friendly place that supports recycling and is friendly to the environment (and ignoring the bigger issues and problems currently facing this country). I decided that when it's your country, it's patriotism, but when it's another country, it's propaganda!

The pictures below were some sort of "recycled art."

And you better believe that I got a picture of the famous room! This is where the president of Israel often receives visiting dignitaries and politicians.

My fellow Arabic-speaking friends Sabra, Greg, and Beverli (taking the picture) went with me.

These stunning fruit-vegetable-flower displays served to promote the idea of a "green Israel."

And this random and slightly awkward picture of Beverli was really just an excuse to take a picture of Elvis. Bet you didn't know he's really in Israel, did you? (I think he had a part in the program, but we left before he sang...)

My favorite part of the whole event was the random people who kept walking around with plates of cookies. I guess whoever was in charge of the event decided that after we got through all that security, the best way to keep a restless crowd happy while waiting for the president to speak was with an endless supply of cookies!

Shimon Peres only spoke for about 10-15 minutes, but it was enough time for him to promote the prosperity and environmental friendliness of Israel--and for protestors to stand up and start shouting about the ridiculous costs of housing in Israel (protests have been going on for several weeks now because the cost of living in Israel is skyrocketing out of control) and for security to drag said protestors out.

I have to say that it was somewhat less of an ordeal than "meeting" President Obama this summer (which event I have yet to blog about!), but really, how many people can say they've "met" the president of Israel?