One hundred and forty-three earthquakes were registered here in Iceland at the end of the weekend. The strongest was in Lake Kleifarvatn, measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale. For a moment, there was a risk of another volcanic eruption. The information was given over the radio as part of the weather forecast.
This came in stark contrast to Israel, where the first rain of the season is reported in a more terrifying manner. Lava flows down a mountain in Iceland about once a decade. In 2010, an eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull ice cap created a cloud of volcanic ash that disrupted flights in northwestern Europe.
Icelanders aren’t jittery. No one is instilling unnecessary anxieties in them. No one is asking if Iceland will still be here in 50 years, like they do in Israel – even though Iceland’s future is far murkier, with its volcanic ash, demographic decline, and impending flooding by rising sea levels.
Citizens of Iceland number 580,000 people, 50,000 of whom live overseas. Another 50,000 foreigners live in Iceland, which isn’t discussed much. No one seems worried about the future of the Icelandic nation, a contrast to Israel, where people worry about the Jewish people’s future.
It’s a green island surrounded by an ocean, possibly the loveliest and most fascinating gem in the world. It’s four times larger than Israel and mostly empty of people. Those who live here seemed relaxed and content – hard for anxiety-ridden Israeli facing dangers, real and imaginary, to fathom.
They aren’t worried about the ground literally burning under their feet or about a “demographic threat.” No one worries about “assimilation,” and “mixed marriages” aren’t an issue here. Emigration isn’t, either. Familial ties and connectedness to nature are more vital than anything else. There are no intimidating campaigns against emigration – certainly not against marrying foreigners. Why on earth would there be?
Icelanders are citizens of one of the few countries without a military. That doesn’t faze them, either. The port of Reykjavik had one coast guard vessel present this week. That’s their only weapon. They make do with their membership in NATO, which has its opponents – such as Ogmundur Jonasson, an impressive leftist who, over 21 years, served as a member of parliament and justice minister, interior minister, health minister, and communications minister. He is currently an activist for Kurdish national rights.
In Israel, no politicians are working for the rights of other nations – not even after retirement. When the heads of European countries convened here a few weeks ago, the police hurried to equip themselves with 100 new rifles. Sometimes, years go by with no murders here.
The annual number of murders is lower than the number of murders in Israel’s Arab communities on one bad day. The country sits strategically in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Icelanders fear no one. Sweden, its bigger sister, fears Russia much more. Icelanders have turned their weakness into a strength and their small numbers into an advantage. Their modesty and simplicity are also a strength. There are almost no monstrous luxury cars of the type found in Israel; singer-songwriter Bjork lives in a modest yellow house by the sea.
Think of Israel, then imagine its opposite. That’s Iceland. It’s hard to think of two greater contrasts, even excluding the clichés about behavior on the country’s roads, the level of cleanliness, the quiet, and the knowledge of English. Its breathtaking nature, hard to describe, makes Israel’s nature reserves seem puny. Tourism keeps knocking at the island nation’s door. Numbers are growing alarmingly, with locals worried about being inundated like other places ruined and made ugly by hordes of tourists.
A country with no military and no anxieties over any threats maliciously seeded in the minds of its population, which is busy living its life and enjoying nature, the sea, and the sheep. A country with 150,000 horses in an endless sea of green, with not a single horse introduced from overseas in the last 1,000 years; a country where the hot water in its taps comes from underground; a country with no Itamar Ben-Gvir. Imagine that.