Taking 443

June 2, 2010 - 10:55 AM by Jessica · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Life, Politics, War

Friends of ours from Modi’in drove into Jerusalem to meet us for dinner last night, of course taking Route 443, the controversial road that until last Friday was not open to cars with Palestinian license plates, and is the most direct route to Jerusalem, if you want a 30-minute drive.

Our Modi’in friends didn’t have much of a choice, just like everyone else in Modi’in who regularly drives into Jerusalem, unless they want to take a crazy roundabout route that would take twice as long. And as long as things remain quiet on the road, most people will shrug, like our friends did, when asked if they were concerned. The thinking being, you need to get where you want to go, and you’d rather get there easily and quickly, which is what Route 443 provides.

The opening of the road to Palestinians was a two-year battle waged by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and yet very few Palestinians have actually been driving on the road, primarily because the new traffic plan set up by the IDF curtails Palestinian drivers from easily reaching Ramallah, the nearest Arab city with stores and services, which was always the purpose of 443 for those living in Arab villages along the road.

It’s incredibly frustrating, I get that. Before 2002 — and the repeated attacks on 443 that killed and injured Israeli travelers during the intifada — travel time from 443-area Palestinian villages to Ramallah was roughly 20 to 30 minutes. Without 443, it takes an hour to arrive at Ramallah. That’s a long way for a trip to the mall.

So now Israeli soldiers are sitting around at the new checkpoints along Route 443, waiting for Palestinians who aren’t going to be arriving since they can’t reach Ramallah. Meanwhile, the rest of us, aiming to get to Jerusalem, or to Modi’in, or any of the Israeli cities beyond Modi’in, pretty much sail through the checkpoints with a wave and a smile at the soldiers manning — or womanning — their posts. After all, they could be our kids. They’re certainly someone else’s kids.

I’m not bemoaning the measures taken to protect the safety of Israeli drivers on the road. I also want to continue driving on 443 without worrying about whether something could happen. But it would be nice to know that the road could benefit Palestinians as well, without worrying about the possible dangers of doing so. Unfortunately, nothing is ever that simple around here.

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Tags: ACRI, modi'in, Ramallah, Route 443 Israel

443 Eats

September 2, 2008 - 8:35 PM by Jessica · 1 Comment
Filed under: Food, General

Like many drivers in this country, I often have the opportunity to drive on Route 443, the road that connects Modiin with Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and extends from the end of Jerusalem’s Begin (as in Menachem Begin) Highway, past Modiin and its satellite towns, and ends in Highway 1, which leads back to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

Most of the time, I use it as an efficient byway to get to Tel Aviv, or Highway 6, because unlike Highway 1, it doesn’t wind its way toward the center of the country, but is a fairly straightforward road for getting farther north. But once in a while, I’ll stop at one of the roadside kiosks, for a mighty tasty shakshuka and some fresh lemonade, or, when I’m really hankering for something sweet, for a quick malabi treat. I’ve tried most of the places along the road, and can vouch for all of them — although I haven’t eaten bourekas along those parts, so you’ll have to check that particular tidbit for yourselves.

Today, however, I was making my way to Rosh Ha’ayin for a meeting, and didn’t have time on the way there for any roadside stops. But, they were serving lunch at the meeting and one person brought her own malabi, served in small plastic cups and with all the necessary toppings. I’ve always thought of malabi as one of those complicated Middle Eastern desserts that requires too much patckeing for the likes of me. Turns out that it really isn’t that hard at all, and many of the steps can be shortened with some smart purchases.

Malabi Pudding (or Almond Pudding)

5 cups milk
75 gr.(2-1/2 oz.) sugar
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. ground rice (just grind some rice at your blender)
75 gr.(2-1/2 oz.) blanched ground almonds
1 tsp. almonds essence

Bring milk to a slow boil with sugar and salt.
Stir cornstarch and ground rice with 4 tablespoons water to a smooth mixture. Stir mixture into milk while stirring to prevent clumps. Continue to cook while stirring until it thickens. Then, remove pot to the lowest flame, and go on cooking for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in ground almonds and cook 15 minutes more. Stir in almond essence and remove from heat. Pour into a serving bowl or personal bowls.
Serve chilled.

Garnish with (one or more from the list):
Mint leaves
Rosewater syrup
Ground coconut
Ground almonds
Ground peanuts

Rosewater syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 drops rose water extract

Pour water and sugar into a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves. When it boils, lower the heat and cook for another 20 minutes.

Toward the end of cooking, add the food coloring, allow to cool, add lemon juice and rose water extract.

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