יום שני, 17 ביוני 2013

The Giant is no longer asleep

I was born in a city that many foreigners consider "exotic". Sorry! Sorry for disappointing you, but the city where I was born, grew up and lived most of my life is a normal, chaotic metropolis just like any other. But I must tell you that you have never seen so much rain in your life before you have seen a summer storm there. You have never seen beautiful beaches before you have been there. This amazing city is Rio de Janeiro. And today I am writing to express all my pride not only of Rio, but also my pride of Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte and all the other cities throughout Brazil that chose to protest against the country's status quo.

It's not about 0,20 of the bus fare. It's about expressing how the Brazilian people is tired of what's going on in the country for years now. It's about the extremely high taxes, the ridiculous corruption that reaches all the country and almost everything there, the poor quality of public education and health services. Yes, it started due to the raise of 0,20 in the bus fare, but its roots lie much, much deeper in the Brazilian society. I was born in a country where nothing changed. I grew up in a country where people didn't protest on the streets, didn't strongly demand anything from their politicians. But the reality changed. Our giant is no longer asleep.

The country I left behind to pursue my dream of living in Eretz Israel is a work in progress. I can't express my love for all that cities. Despite my love for the Land of Israel which G'd promised to my people, to my forefathers, I keep Brazil in a very dear place in my heart. There, in Rio, I lived the most beautiful moments of my life. In Niteroi (RJ), I lived the best years of my life as a college student. In Sao Paulo, I dreamed higher and I must confess that despite I was born in Rio, I do love Sao Paulo. I didn't hide my joy and happiness when I saw people occupying Cinelandia (if you think that I didn't support the Occupy movements, you don't know me). The same feeling I got just recently when I saw Avenida Paulista (SP) packed with protesters, when Avenida Rio Branco was full of people wearing white shirts and protests spanned all over this giant country.

I'm proud of the changes in the mentality of Brayilian mentality. I'm proud of all my friends and the thousands and thousands of people who are out there on the streets, facing the strong repression from the police. What will change? It change  the idea of the Brazilian population as a herd of calm, pacific sheep. It makes clear to the citizens themselves that whenever they get together, whenever they make their voices heard, things will certainly change. The protests show that the idea of the brazilian citizen as passive onlooker of the ridiculous political situation is gone.

It's been some years that Brazil is changing. Economically the country changed a lot. Socially also. What should we expect then? I strongly oppose to the violent protests, I totally don't agree with protesters who destroy public places and buildings. But let's be honest... Who doesn't know the extremely violent attitudes of the police in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro? Who doesn't know how cruel the police in SP can be? It IS. It HAS ALWAYS BEEN. But people who live there show that old days of passivity are gone. And I'm eager to see the next chapter of this amazing and historical event.