Am a poor lonesome cowboy, far away from home

More and more I come to believe that we are in the Wild Wild West. The red Indians have turned into Bedouins, the pioneers wore similar dresses to the Orthodox Jews here, and the overall motto is: everyone for himself, and God for everyone.

A: One last question: why are you wearing a gun? I mean, in Holland nobody wears one, so am just curious...

B: You ever forgot your phone somewhere? Yes. You wouldn't want to loose your gun somewhere would you? No. Imagine loosing your gun around your children. Don't want that to happen do you? So I have it with me 24/7. It's my duty to do that. My work requires that I have one. It's kinda dangerous around here you see.



"You see this vineyard? Few weeks ago some Bedouin youth took all the sticks out. Just for vandalism. Their parents told us to give them a good beating if we wanted to. We haven't done so. But next time I see them around I know what to do."

As we drop off the little kid at Kindergarten another father is kissing his girl goodbye. His gun behind the elastic of his underwear. He makes sweet noises to reassure her that she don't need to cry. All is safe."

In the bus next to me an 18 year old in green uniform. M16 on his lap, heavy on his legs. He is texting his girlfriend, falls asleep later until the bus stops, drops him off at the army base.

In your opinion, what is the role of tourism in the development of the Makhteshim area? Why?

And so we are working again... Running from one interview to the other, rewriting our questionnaire after every talk, redefining our final outcome and scope twice a day.

What we do until now: Finding support in the Makhtesh area for the idea that eco tourism has potential here. Finding out why this place isn't the most popular destination for tourists in Israel when it is so beautiful and relaxing. Finding out how these things are related to the communities that are here.



We speak with Bedouins, Hebrew Israelites, Moroccans, Yemenites, Russians, French and many others that all came to this area for different reasons. Their world views, their ideas about tourism, their ideas of what their responsibility is, how they connect to other communities, business ideas, dreams for the future all these topics are in one way or the other covered in our questionnaire.

My world view changes a little with every interview that we do. The stories of all these people slowly give me a 360 degrees idea of this society. Almost too big to encompass. Too complex. Too much history in it. From the interview with one of the Hebrew Israelites today: "We have to untangle the big knot that the world is. Take the complexity out of it, make it straight, so that we can use it for its purpose." This is what we do. See the connections between the dots. Or what we try to at least.

In the desert..

At one of the world's most beautiful places is a town. Less than a town it is a village. Ugly apartments and a gas station are in strong contrast with the biggest Maktesh crater in the world. In the middle of the Negev is where you find Mitzpe Ramon. 4000 people from all over the world live together in this forgotten place.

I am here for a project. And as the days pass by I discover the treasures. In big hangars, in small side streets, behind the second hill is where there is a chocolate bar, and a dance school, huts for retreat, an alpaca farm, a soap factory and more. Strong and visionary people that were attracted to the emptiness, the silence and the challenge of the area. Every morning again they wake up, clean their place to wait for customers.

Others came here involuntary. When they arrived to Israel they were put on a bus and dropped in Mitzpe Ramon in the middle of the night. They came from Russia and Chicago and didn't find anything to appreciate in the desert. No culture, no jobs, nothing for the future of their children. They would leave yesterday if they had the money for it.

Around the village are other houses, sheds sometimes. Bedouins live there in between their traditional nomad way of living and the modern life with TV's, houses and jobs. In search for their new identity they have been in a struggle with the government for the past 60 years. They hold the secrets of nature and survival but are a threat to the system.

My job is to go round and interview all these different people about their visions. How can eco tourism and social tourism contribute to a better life for all? How can a sleepy desert town realize its potential and become attractive for tourists again?

Mitzpe Ramon