FEATURE
Visiting Israel had been a dream of ours ever since childhood, growing up blind and trying to achieve success and independence. We related to the struggle of people in this new country striving to survive and to make a harsh land bloom again. We had also read several books about Israel, including “Exodus” by Leon Uris. The trials and triumphs in these books motivated us to keep working to succeed, to break down the barriers to acceptance, as we grew into adults.
We decided to make our dream come alive. Chris asked Eli Meiri, an Israeli tour operator specializing in travel for persons with disabilities, to help us organize our trip. Eli worked hard for days, booking hotels close to beaches and relieving areas for our two guide dogs, and instructing hotel staff and tour operators on how to provide barrier-free service to people who are blind.
Stereotypes and Accessibility
One problem came up when Eli was trying to arrange a tour of the country for us. Tour operators thought that people who were blind and travelling by themselves would not be able to follow others on the tour independently, and refused our business. In the end, Eli won the day for us with his gentle persuasion. With his help, United Tours accepted us and went to the dogs for us for a week as they took us from the north to the south of that beautiful country.
Finally, on a sunny day in November, the two of us with our guide dogs — Zena, who is three years old, and Quincey, the old dude at ten — stepped off the plane in Israel after an 11-hour flight. It was wonderful to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport and be met by staff from the Canadian Embassy. The first thing they did was to show us to a patch of grass for the guide dogs to relieve themselves before going in through security. The dogs were the only passengers on the plane who had not been able to go to the washroom for the past 11 hours. They were very happy to see the grass of the Holy Land!
During our visit, we never felt unsafe. The people welcomed us warmly and help was always near at hand. The accessibility amenities we were accustomed to often were not available, but people trying to help made the difference. For example, our first night at the hotel, Abraham, one of the duty managers, showed us the positions of the unmarked buttons on the elevator panel so we could identify them in order to get to the correct destination throughout the hotel. Then, he walked with us to the place we could use to relieve our guide dogs. He also chose our room with ease of access in mind.
As in most countries around the world, the level of accessibility was inconsistent. The newer museums, sites and places of interest seemed to have some accessibility amenities like ramp access. Even most of the older sites, including those in the old city of Jerusalem, could be reached, although often by circuitous routes. We were told that the country’s passenger train service was not accessible by persons who use wheelchairs and there weren’t any accessible tour or city buses in regular use for all citizens. The tendency seemed to be to make “special” arrangements rather than integrated service. It was rare to encounter tactile signage in commercial establishments, or accessible washroom stalls in public places.
Diversity Gone Wild
Israel is a patchwork of differences. The diversity is striking. Hot desert sands and cool green forests thrive. The contrasts create a dazzling beauty. There is a unique harmony of ancient ruins, irrigated high-yielding crops grown in greenhouses, abandoned tanks painted red, green and yellow in children’s playgrounds, a popular fragrant garden of delightful smells and a modern high-tech industry.
The people are just as diverse. We met citizens who came from all parts of the world to make a new home in Israel. There was a long discussion in Russian between the maintenance man and Alice, another hotel duty manager, about how to fix the broken harness handle of Chris’s guide dog, Quincey. Another day, a South African diamond store manager came out and invited us in off the street in the old city of Jerusalem to sit and chat. We sipped a complementary fresh orange juice as we waited for our tour party to return. One of the store clerks asked what our astrological signs were. A couple of minutes later, she handed each of us a silver medal with our astrological sign on it.
Tour ’till You Drop
Israel seemed like a never-ending sightseeing journey of discovery. The tour guides were the finest and most knowledgeable we have ever encountered. They must complete a two-year course to be licensed. Walking through an artists’ quarter in Safed, feeling the markings at a station of the cross on the Via Dolorosa, being guided into the darkness to hear the names and ages of children killed in concentration camps, and traipsing around the ruins of Masada were memorable experiences.
For five days we were up at dawn, ready for the next 12 hours’ discoveries. The tours were cannily crafted into a mix of driving, walking and relaxing, which maximized our ability to absorb the delights of this wonderful land. Thanks to the tour guides, we were freed from the hassles of getting lost, of missing information because we could not read the exhibit descriptions, and of finding washrooms. It was a fantastic experience. The guides loved to talk, and that was the major accommodation we needed to make the tours accessible.
We slept on a kibbutz, walked in the Dan Nature Reserve, learned about Syrian rock rabbits with short ears, visited the Jordan River baptismal site, saw modern art (including the hundreds of coffins Yoko Ono has turned into art at the park of the Dead Sea scrolls), walked through the park at Herzel’s Tomb, where we felt the little stones placed on the tomb as a mark of respect by passersby, and listened to the echo of singing in a Roman amphitheatre.
The companionship of fellow travellers made our days a blur of pleasure. There was a Belgian citizen who worked for an Israeli firm in Brazil setting up irrigation systems for farming. He negotiated a good price for a fez for us. An investment counsellor from Panama, who was visiting Israel to attend a financial conference, told us of many interesting sights as we passed them, like the abandoned army truck monuments along the highway to the 1948 campaign to break the siege of Jerusalem, and the Bedouin with his camel walking near the road. An Italian veterinary surgeon, Philippo, and his wife, Debbie, had lunch with us in the Old City. Trixie, a young Austrian nanny on a break from caring for the children of an Israeli family, chatted with us over supper at the kibbutz.
A retired orthodox Jew walked with us through King David’s castle and helped answer a question for us that stumped the tour guide: If work is not allowed during the Sabbath, is sex considered work and prohibited? As the tour guide stumbled, the retired man indicated that sex was a blessing and thus was a great Friday evening Mitzvah tradition which should always be observed.
Three Vacations in One
The first third of our vacation was spent touring, the second third relaxing in Eilat and the third part in Tel Aviv socializing with new acquaintances.
We met Peggy and Graham from England, who took us on a walking tour of Eilat on our first evening there. From this orientation walk, we learned where the money-changer daily parked his gaily coloured caravan near the entrance of the amusement park. We passed the docks, where the sea dogs barked a greeting to their Canadian cousins.
While in Eilat, we took a six-hour cruise of the Red Sea on the Orionia. We sailed to Egypt and visited a remote coral island where the water was so clear, people could see fish swimming by and told us of the beautiful colours. A crew member volunteered to guide one of us around the coral island after an exciting ride to shore in a small boat.
The beaches changed from the reddish brown sand of the Red Sea to the fine, powdery, white sand carried to the shores of Tel Aviv from the Sahara down the Nile and along the Mediterranean Sea. We met Israeli citizens who came to have their daily swim. One older gentleman told us of good restaurants which we were able to find on our own and try at night for dinner.
In Search of a Bagel
Still groggy from the jet lag, we entered the dining room for our first of the famous Israeli breakfasts the guide books spoke about. Our North American concept of what to expect for breakfast was all wrong. We were asked what kind of salads we would like; there were large quantities of vegetables, olives, fish, cream cheese and yogurt awaiting the hungry guests. This was not what we expected and it took us a while to get used to this wholesome, but different, cuisine. When eating kosher, it is not permitted to serve milk products with meat.
We also had to learn about the changes in menu necessitated by the Shabbat (Sabbath). Toast was not available because buttons could not be pushed during Shabbat. Hot coffee was served from urns with levers. Some people travelled to and from breakfast on the Shabbat elevator, which ran automatically and stopped at each floor so that people wouldn’t have to push the buttons. A new acquaintance was surprised to learn that there were no Shabbat elevators in Canada.
The cuisine was varied and tasty. It was difficult, however, to cope with the buffet style of serving. Communicating with the foreign workers in the hotels’ dining rooms was often hard. Finding the right name for unfamiliar foods was challenging. One resourceful server would place a small morsel of unknown fruit or vegetable in our hands to help us decide if we wanted to eat it.
Before leaving for Israel, we had been advised never to talk about politics or religion. However, the local radio news we listened to was full of both. There were several items about pig farming in Israel and the selling of pork in some stores. We were surprised to find pork dishes on the menu at several restaurants.
We expected to find bagels on every table. As it turned out, we had to make a special effort on our last full day in Israel to find our first bagel. Noach Braun, Director of the Israel Guide Dog Centre for the Blind, took us in search of a bagel shop where there was a delicious selection to choose from. (If we ever go to China, we will probably never find an egg roll.)
Come on in!
Canadians working in Israel made us feel welcome. We spent a very pleasant afternoon with staff from the Canadian Embassy. We had an interesting meeting with the ambassador and delivered a disability awareness training session to staff for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Just before returning to Canada, some staff members invited us to their homes to dine on stuffed eggplant and sip wine while the guide dogs romped with their pets and unwound from three weeks of work in an unfamiliar land.
We were privileged to be invited to the homes of several residents of Israel. Spending time with Noach Braun, his wife and trainers at the guide dog centre was enjoyable. We were permitted to enter the dog run and socialize with 24 guide dogs in training. We had our picture taken with Canuck and Maple, two dogs donated to the Israeli program by British Columbia Guide Dogs for the Blind. These dogs were very professional, responding appropriately to all of the Hebrew commands for guiding. There were over 200 guide dog teams at work in Israel and a new class of four students was beginning the next week. We had a delightful chat with Moshe, an Israeli guide dog user, who shared his experiences about working with a guide dog in Israel, particularly the challenges of 40-degree heat and cars parked on the sidewalks.
On another day, Eli Meiri and his wife Anat invited us into their home in the town of Binyamina for a delicious supper of chicken and rice. We drank lemonade made with fresh lemons and, for dessert, we had fresh, star-shaped karambula fruit, both fruits having been picked from the trees in their yard. Our dogs enjoyed running free and playing with Hith, a retired guide dog they had adopted into their family.
With Eli and Anat, we climbed to the top of Mount Carmel near the Bahai faith temple, walked along the Mediterranean shore among the ruins of Caesarea at sunset and spent a delightful two hours in the Ramat Hanadiv Memorial Gardens. This was an excellent opportunity to learn about the lush vegetation of Israel. We did not expect it to be so green. Millions of trees have been planted throughout the country in an effort to reclaim the land from the deforestation that occurred during the last century when it was scoured for wood to power the trains of the Turkish Empire. It was Hanukkah, and many children were visiting the gardens to smell the roses, pick leaves of spices to capture their aromas and walk among the gardens. We were able to feel the outline of Israel on a raised map carved in Jerusalem stone.
We also visited the Israel National Museum of Science, which has an active program to make its exhibits more accessible to visitors who are blind. It was here that we got to feel and climb into an Israeli tank and a fighter plane.
Seas and Much More
During our visit, we had the opportunity to bob in the Dead Sea, sail on the Red Sea, swim in the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea and take a delightful boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, where we fed bread to the hundreds of birds of hope that flew around the small vessel. We were surprised to sleep serenely only two miles from the Lebanese border, routinely drive through uncleared mine fields, experience just how high the Golan Heights are, and pass near the Canadian peacekeepers’ camp. We routinely crossed in and out of the borders of Israel and the Palestinian sectors. While driving through Jericho, the tour guide pointed out the new Austrian/Palestinian joint-venture casino that reportedly made a million dollars a day from Israeli citizens who are not allowed to gamble within the state of Israel.
Need for a Modern Crusade
Despite all of the wonderful experiences of Israel, we were never far away from access barriers and the pain of intolerance. It was shocking for us to be refused admission to several Christian churches because we are persons who are blind and assisted by guide dogs. The individuals who police these sites treated us as if we were breaking the law and refused to even read the copy of the “Israel Guide Dog Access Law” we asked them to look at. One of us stood outside with the two dogs for over an hour, vulnerable and unprotected on the crowded street, while the other one of us took the arm of the tour guide and went with the rest of the tour to visit the church.
In the midst of this negativity, we encountered one of the most uplifting and enriching experiences of our entire trip. Again, it was a Canadian, Annette, working at the Hadassah Medical Centre, who warmly greeted us and invited us to come right in. We sat through a video presentation about the work of Hadassah. Helping persons with disabilities achieve and be the best they can be was proudly and tastefully presented as a major theme of the presentation. We were amazed to hear about sight-restoration projects, liver and heart transplant work, rehabilitation programs to help soldiers disabled in the war to resume active lives and work to develop new prostheses and aids to daily living. We learned that today a number of persons who are blind make contributions both as members of the police and armed forces.
Our spiritual rejuvenation was not over yet. Annette then escorted us and our two professionally working guide dogs into the synagogue under the stained glass windows. We sat enthralled for the next half hour as she vividly described glass after glass, image after image and meaning after meaning to everyone in our tour. She even told us of the damage done when the medical centre was one of the first targets bombed in the six-day war and pointed out the one bullet hole in the glass kept after the repairs, as a reminder of this event. The tour guide said she had never heard such a good presentation and other tour members were impressed with what they had learned. We said a sad farewell to Annette, happy in the knowledge that everyone in our tour party benefited because persons who are blind were along for the ride. It helped to soften the pain of the inconvenience caused to all the tour members who had to take several long detours because of church officials barring the way, even through the courtyards, because of our guide dogs.
Paw Prints in the Desert Sand
This was the longest trip we had attempted with guide dogs. Zena and Quincey seemed to enjoy the nomadic life of a tourist. They took the constant change in stride. They travelled 11 hours from Montreal to Tel Aviv in the cabin of the aircraft, quietly lying at our feet, unable to go to the washroom, and 12 hours on the trip back. For the journey on the way over to Israel, we followed advice and skipped the dogs’ meal, but this seemed to cause them some hardship. On the way back, we kept their routine and fed them at the regular time. They were able to take the long return trip better. After all, no one likes to work on an empty stomach!
The guide dogs loved the climate of cool breezes and endless sun. We visited during the Israeli winter when temperatures were in the low-20s most days. The water was fine for them to drink and, even at the Dead Sea, heat was not the problem we had feared. The dogs rode calmly in the cable car to the top of Masada. They enjoyed their roll in the grass at a kibbutz in the Upper Galilee. Sleeping on the deck of the Orionia after climbing the ship’s ladder was worth the effort as the coasts of Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt hove into view.
Taxis, which are frequently a problem for guide dog users, accepted us warmly. It became routine to pile into a cab with two dogs and a roof rack full of suitcases and roar off to some destination.
We carried three weeks of dog food with us, so we had lots of luggage to be examined and checked. Once we were asked if the dog food was kosher. We brought the dogs’ favourite tug rope and other toys to relax with in the hotel rooms.
We took several internal airline flights within Israel. The guide dogs were warmly welcomed. On one flight, after we were seated, a crew member informed us that guide dogs could not be seated at the same end of the aircraft. We were required to sit apart — one at the front and one at the back of the aircraft. Nothing was said about this on the next flight.
With the exception of religious zealots, everyone welcomed the guide dogs. One person who sold religious souvenirs outside of one of the churches that refused entrance said, “I am not going to sell you anything because I don’t like the dogs.” There is always a good side to everything — perhaps this is why we were never pestered to buy things from street vendors while in Israel.
There was a lot of interest in the guide dogs and how they work. Concern for their comfort and well-being was common. When checking into a new hotel one evening, we were met by the manager of housekeeping who wanted to go to our room with us to see how the dogs would go to the bathroom so he could arrange for the proper cleaning of our room during our stay. We took him outside the hotel and showed how the dogs relieved upon command for us.
On another occasion, when we asked to be taken to the dining room at the kibbutz, our request was politely refused because the gentleman said he was really eager to see the dogs work. So, we compromised. He walked behind us and gave directions as we worked the dogs into the dining room. The dogs’ work in Israel for three weeks was impressive.
Well Worth the Money
Israel is a dynamic and fun place to visit. However, there are accessibility challenges. It really helps to have expert advice available and we would recommend making contacts in Israel and obtaining accessibility advice before finalizing plans to visit.
We already miss some of the helpful features from Israel, like the different sizes of currency bills, which helped in identifying the denominations, as well as the phone cards with notches on the right edge for identification and to indicate the correct side to insert the cards in the phones. We wish we had the benefit of these accommodations in Canada as well.
If you are planning to travel to Israel, you can contact Eli Meiri by e-mail at meieli@zahav.net.il, by phone at 972-6-6288059, by fax at 972-6-6289247 or by regular mail at 19, Hacharoshet Street, P.O. Box 2176, Keidar Center, Ranana, 43656 Israel.
(Marie Laporte-Stark and Chris Stark are freelance writers living in Ottawa, Ontario.)