5/1/98

Pushing for a kinder Israel

    Know how close we are to becoming the perfect society? We've narrowed it down to this: a Tel Aviv professor has launched a program to teach children how to wait in line.
    Whatever other problems there are to be solved will have to join the queue behind the National Menace: Israelis who just can't wait their turn.
    Prof. Shlomo Tzidkiyahu is a minor messiah, his sacred mission to -- once and for all -- lead this country down the golden path toward proper behavior. "Actually, what we teach is not only standing in line, but politeness, manners, respect for personal space. Many Israelis come from cultures that don't respect personal space: they touch each other, they're too close."
     Tzidkiyahu is doing something about it.
    Schoolchildren, starting from junior high (and possibly later in primary grades as well) will start learning this month a whole new set of ABC's. They'll be taught that considerate behavior is the basis of a loftier concept: democracy.
    "Democracy is not just the political structure of the country, not only parliament and law. It's also interpersonal. If we don't know how to behave toward each other, if I rob you of your place in line, democracy is meaningless," the good professor says.
    Funny that in a country that prides itself as the region's sole democracy, after 50 years the concept is only now being introduced at the most basic level.
    Tzidkiyahu is head of Levinsky's institute for education for democracy. The Tel Aviv school, a teacher's college with 5,000 students, is collaborating in the project with the Ministry of Education.
    "For many people [the idea of good manners is] quite new. I would say it's better than it used to be, mainly because of aliya from Western countries, and because people have been overseas and seen different ways of behavior. They're discovering, for the first time, the concept of personal space."
    Tzidkiyahu got a first-hand perspective of mutual respect in a vast, underpopulated country where personal space is not much of a problem. He spent some time in Canada, where, he marvels, people are polite to a fault.
    Could we ever attain that level?
    It's a ridiculous question. But we're inching in that direction.
    "You can see improvements, in the schools, supermarkets, at soccer games. Many institutions recognize the problem, they installed ropes, and now, people tend to abide by the system."
    He's had some interesting feedback. Tzidkiyahu chuckles. "Many people laugh at me. But behind that, they appreciate it very much. Children, though, they say, 'Look at ג€œPopolitika,ג€ the Knesset.'"
    It's hard to reeducate youngsters when such key influences are churning cauldrons of invective.
    The Knesset's most genteel members? "Benny Begin, Avraham Poraz, Uzi Landau. Even Yossi Sarid, though often what he says inflames people." The worst: "First of all, David Levy. And Haggai Merom. With some people, as soon as they open their mouths, I already know disaster is going to happen."
    What we really want to know is: what do you say to those cretins who push in front of you?
    To begin with, don't call 'em cretins.
    Tzidkiyahu counsels such words as: "Please go to the back of the queue, if we all stand in line it'll be much quicker. My time is also short.  
    "We teach children to be assertive, not aggressive. I've found that when I protest, suddenly all the other people join me. Well, why did they keep quiet?
    "Drivers who push in front are the worst -- and they're dangerous." Tzidkiyahu admonishes them, but concedes that without a policeman on the scene, there isn't much you can do.
    In the near future, there will be something else you can tell such boors: they're breaking the law. "The Knesset is about to pass a law, thanks to Poraz of Meretz, obliging people to stand in a queue. Someone who breaks the law could be charged a few hundred shekels. It will be in the same category as littering, and making noise."
    The most prickly question: how to deal with the classic "I was here before, I just went away for a minute, I only have one question."
   "No," Tzidkiyahu says firmly. "A queue is a queue. Only those who are there are there. You can't stand in a few queues at one time."
    And that includes people who park their supermarket carts by the cashier, reserving their place in line while they complete their shopping.
    "We also teach that clerks and cashiers should be told only to serve people who stood in line."
    It'll take time, but Israelis are going to become nicer people.
    Isn't this a story you've always dreamed of reading?