"God Dammit, I was Spat on by The Chosen People"

Brooke Dean
"I had been chased around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for the last few weeks getting gleeked on by the entire Felix family. Gleeking isn't a serious offense and it is often laughed off but for how silly this annoyance, spitting is no laughing matter.

I've had it in my head that during these nine months of traveling, I will probably be disrespected in one way or another. We are getting into some heavy topics and have already been involved in some pretty intense discussions regarding religion, war, peace and progressive thinking and I can only assume that this sort of tension can bring out violence, harsh words and the occasionally spitting. In many cultures spitting is a means to degrade another, and I've heard stories of such action in developing countries.

I DID NOT, however, think in a million years that I would be spat on by a religious Jew in Israel."

"I was still standing under my streetlight of safety as lines of Hasidic and Sephardic men and boys started to flee the scene. Still boisterous and high on adrenaline, a man came barreling by me and spit a gigantic loogie at me. I turned away in shock and disbelief; I ran my hand over my freshly saturated hair. As my gaze returned to the crowd, two young boys no older than ten, raced by me not 20 feet behind their father. Each one looked me in the eyes, shouted words in Hebrew, and spit on me just as their father had."

The Huffington Post
Brooke Dean is an activist and global volunteer, blogger and co-founder of ThisIsTheWorldWeLiveIn.com