BY NICOLE SCHILIT
Maya Paley’s cell phone rings frequently but when she answers the call the person on the other line will immediately hang up. Instead of getting annoyed Maya calls the person right back. “It’s usually only the refugees who will hang up,” she says. The refugees are African asylum seekers, the majority of whom, for people have come from Sudan and Eritrea. They live in Israel after an arduous journey through Sudan and Egypt to cosmopolitan Tel Aviv.
Maya has suffered an increasing volume of anonymous callers as she meets more refugees through her work at ASSAF (Hebrew acronym for “Organization for Aiding Refugees”), an Israeli non-profit organization that runs programs to support and protect African refugees. “Most of them can only buy limited phone cards for their phones. They hang up so I will call them back because it is cheaper for them that way.” The refugees need help or advice, to someone who just wants to say hi or make plans to hang out soon.
Maya was born and raised in Los Angeles to an Israeli mother of Iraqi descent, and an American father. Her skin is dark olive like her mother’s and she has black curly hair that juts out of her head, creating what looks like a halo of curls. It’s easy to spot her ‘fro in a crowd. She often gets mistaken for being Hispanic. More distinct than even Maya’s hair though is her voice, which rises several decibels above the general volume level in a room when she gets excited.
At college in Berkeley, California Maya was the president of the Pro-Israel group, Israel Action Committee, on her college campus. During her last year at Berkeley in 2006 Maya organized a dialogue program for Arab and Jewish students to discuss the conflict in the Middle East. The experience changed her feelings toward Israel. Maya explained, “Many of the Arab students did not want to engage in the program, and even protested it. Many Jewish students did not participate either and expressed to me that there was nothing to talk about. This caused me to lose hope in the entire peace process, as I felt that if a bunch of students in the United States can’t even agree to have a conversation about the issues, how can we expect political leaders to do so?”
Maya said she gave up on Israel at that point. “I did not have any desire to come to the country for four years, which is a lot for a person who used to come here once a year or so growing up.” It was not until 2010 that Maya decided to return to Israel, this time to live in Tel Aviv and work at ASSAF for ten months with the underprivileged and according to Maya, misunderstood, African refugee community in Israel. “If I can come here and do work I believe in, advocating and supporting a marginalized group and being a part of the country in a way that may influence policy change, maybe I will feel differently,” She said.
Since moving to Israel Maya has made friends, can walk or take the bus anywhere, and lives only a few minutes away from the beach. Despite the nice quality of life it has been difficult for Maya to enjoy every moment knowing that many of the people she works with are still suffering from racial discrimination, hunger, and poverty in the country that has been such a part of her identity throughout her entire life.
Many of the frustrations Maya has faced since moving to Israel have to do with resolving where she fits in a country that she has many mixed feelings about. “Sometimes I feel like I am personally living on the fringes of Israeli society, along with the refugees I work with and that only those who knew me before can truly understand why I am doing what I’m doing here and why I care so much,” said Maya. Maya has encountered many Israelis who say the work she does for refugees undermines Israel.
“Out on dates men I’ve only just met have argued with me about the refugees, claiming that they are only here for money and that they do not belong in Israel.” Maya says that when these men have made general and false statements about the refugees that she feels it is her duty to respond and to explain who the refugees are. “Consequently, the conversation becomes very heavy and serious and usually ends with an awkward goodbye.” Maya has not been on many second dates.
She does not hesitate about having nothing to hide. “I’m proud of the work I’m doing here. It is often the case that the person I’m meeting will want to argue with me right away, like they’ve been waiting to argue with someone about this for a long time.” She gives one recent example: a newly introduced friend asked what she did for a living before even learning her name “He instantly started yelling at me that he is against the refugees, that it bothers him to see them, and that he doesn’t care about them and they don’t belong here.” This person told Maya he knew more than she did and that she was wrong about them.
“I know that at any point, even if a cab driver picks me up and sees me standing with someone from Sudan or Eritrea, I may have to deal with an uncomfortable conversation in which I’m told that they don’t belong here in Israel and that we should deport them.” But Maya has remained devoted to the cause that has finally given her an opportunity to return to Israel and do work she believes in. “I find it impossible to ignore these types of comments and to not respond.” Even when Maya tries to explain to Israelis that people’s lives are in severe danger if they are deported, she says they would rather ignore that. One of the most common lies she hears is “We have too many problems in Israel to deal with the Sudanese as well.”
Despite, and perhaps also in part due to the isolation Maya has experienced since coming to Israel, she have become very close with many of the Eritreans and Sudanese people she has interviewed or worked with. The refugees are as much her friends as the Israelis and internationals she has been able to meet in the last several months. “I don’t see my work as something that ends when I finish an interview with someone.” It’s a reflection of Maya’s personality and sincere investment in building relationships with people that allows her to gain the trust of the refugees who tell her their stories. This often means opening up about things that are not easy or fun to talk about.
It’s difficult for Maya to think about leaving Israel soon. She has created a new connection to the country, but is still conflicted because she feels closer to the refugees than she does to many Israelis she met. “I have enjoyed getting to know many of the refugees on a personal level. I enjoy having a beer on the beach or in Nave Shaanan with friends or visiting a friend for a tea or a dinner in their home. I think I will be very sad to leave Israel because of the deep friendships I have made here with many of the refugees.”
Maya hasn’t made up her mind yet about where she will go next. When her tenure at ASSAF ends she plans to go home to Los Angeles to spend time with her family, but she doesn’t know where she’ll go from there; San Francisco, New York, or possibly back to Israel. While Maya is not sure if she can continue living in a country where she feels alienated from so many people, it is not easy for her to walk away from the refugees she is friends with and who depend on her.