Shekem Electric and the German Ambassador

Today was the day! More challenging than immigration, separation from loved ones, the sea's dangerous currents and dealing with people who only speak Russian was the trip I made today with a friend to Shekem Electric. Of about eight items bought there in August, four did not work or broke straight away. The washing machine has broken down four times, necessitating three different workmen. One of the phones also did not work. The guy who had delivered the fridge broke my lamp en route to the kitchen and then said it was all my fault. The CD player swallowed the first CD I inserted inside.

We arrived early and had to wait for the shop to open. In the end, it was a bit of a damp squib, Israeli style. The phone apparently only needed batteries. The cost of replacing the lamp was not refunded by the shop, but the guy who had caused the damage in the first place was telephoned and told to bring the amount to the shop, where I will have to return to collect it. I will have to take the CD player to the LG outlet and Electra have promised, apparently, to phone me about the washing machine.

So it was a relief to attend a lecture by the German Ambassador tonight at Haifa University. He spoke about the reunification of Germany and Germany's ties with Israel. He also fielded questions. One was about Christians in Israel. His answer to that was simple. Christians are free to practise their religion(s) in Israel unimpeded. The only problem is for Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza. The reason many of them are emigrating (and he met some when he was ambassador in Saudi Arabia, as well as in Germany) is the same reason any people emigrate, he said, in order to find more conducive places to live. He said that this was not a question of religion, but of demographics. For instance, Lebanon is not a good place for Christians, because they tend to get murdered there.

He ended by reiterating his belief that Israel is a great place for Christians to practise their religion and that is one of the reasons that it is respected by Germany.

So that is two great talks in three months by representatives of their countries: the first being Janet from the British Embassy and now the German ambassador.

And both were excellent in their own way. Somehow I felt proud of the German ambassador. Don't know why. Possibly because he tells it how it is and was incredibly informal, almost British, in fact.