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Published: November 13th 2008
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Oh Boy, where do I start? How can I put into words all we have seen and experienced? Today is November 11, 2008. We’ve arrived back at our starting point at the Mt. Zion Hotel after spending one night at the Dead Sea.
Yesterday we left Jerusalem ~ in bullet proof buses used for taking children to school. We were going to be crossing the Green Line into the “disputed territories” of the Shomron. The area slated to be given to the Arabs at some point for the “sake of peace”.
Most Jewish villages are surrounded with protective barbed wire fences with an electronic steel gate to enter. There are cement walls in strategic places to protect travelers passing by from thrown rocks, bullets etc. One village, Psagot (saa-goat), is directly across a large ravine from Ramallah, an Arab village. In the past the Arabs would fire upon the Jewish village at random times with bullets entering windows and walls. Our host from this village talked about a time before the bypass road was built when they had to pass by Ramallah to go shopping. They would ask themselves if they really needed to go to town or if
they could wait. Should they take the kids or the wife? Was this “the day”? Standing there on the hill overlooking the next hill where Ramallah stood seemed to make the whole thing very personal. Though they hate giving up their land in this “peace process”, gaining a safe entry and exit with the bypass road is a welcome relief.
Don’t believe all the reports you hear in America about how “peaceful” the Arabs are and how the Jews are the trouble makers. It’s mostly a lie. If an Arab decides he wants some of your grapes, he gets his donkey and a couple friends, enters your vineyard in the middle of the night and takes them. Seldom is anyone caught or punished.
There is a huge double standard here with regard to how building takes place. For the Jews, they must follow every rule and regulation to the letter when building any home or building, gas station, anything. For the Arabs, they are allowed to just decide that a certain piece of property belongs to them, hire a bunch of workers for $50/day and build a house. Usually they site it a little ways away from the
village proper, then over time, fill in the blanks. Many of these homes are built with international money and remain vacant. This is how they claim land ~ and no one stops them or even penalizes them. But, again, the Jews must follow every rule and regulation or suffer great penalties.
It’s very difficult to write about these things. There’s been so much to process. There are peaceful Arabs and there are Jewish and Arab villages that peacefully coexist. However, there is still quite an imbalance.
The exciting thing is that we have been warmly welcomed by our Jewish brothers and sisters. Though there are many sects of Jews, many of them recognize that we are Beit Ephraim, the House of Ephraim and they want us to come home. They’ve invited us here and love that we’ve come because they know we will stand with them, that our hearts are with them ~ and hopefully someday soon, our hands.
From Psagot in the north we traveled south through the Hills of Judea, the Ela Valley which is the Napa Valley of Israel. There are acres and acres, or dunams and dunams, (a dunam is a quarter of
an acre), of vineyards ~ wine and table grapes, in addition to olive trees and every kind of fruit and vegetable.
We visited an organic farm in the Negev. This farm was started three years ago by a family who was kicked off their land when the government of Israel gave it over to the Arabs for the “sake of peace”. When we got there we were in for a surprise. They had dug row upon row of holes in a brand new section of the farm for us to plant brand new olive trees. This farm is also near the Israeli military base where they train soldiers for the IDF. So here we were, on our hands and knees setting little olive trees in holes, scooping in the peachy-red clay soil and patting it around the roots while orange and white IDF jets roared overhead. The Jews believe that you don’t just reside in a place but that in order to take possession of it you walk upon it, place your feet upon it and traverse it, dig your hands into the soil, improve the land, make it beautiful and live upon it in a durable, stable, long-lasting
way. For them to prepare the ground so we could reap the blessing of digging our fingers into the soil, well, TII ~ This Is Israel. Amazing.
When we were ready to leave the farm our hosts generously gave us gifts of olive oil, mint, sage and a fruit preserve. This was the first fruits of their harvest and a Biblical offering. To receive such gifts was overwhelming. To receive such hospitality and warmth, humbling.
So off we went to visit another village that was settled by refugees from Gush Katif. These people live in caravillas ~ caravan/villa ~ basically a type of mobile home but more temporary. Most of the people kicked out of Gush Katif and the Gaza area are still living in temporary housing or have no home at all, others have had to find housing on their own because the government has given them no compensation for the land they owned in Gaza. Imagine the uproar in our day if our US government did this to any of our citizens.
We visited the studio of a wonderful artist. Most of the people kicked out of their homes also lost their source of income.
Little desert flower
They told us this little flower blooms just before it rains. We saw it on Sunday and yesterday in rained. This morning it poured. Everyone started over, the farmer in the Negev, this woman putting her talent to work as an artist.
So from the beautiful Hills of Judea we headed to the Dead Sea, Masada and Ein Gedi where we hiked up to see David’s waterfall. This is a beautiful green surprise in an otherwise hot, barren, dry, rocky land. This hike was horrendous, however, but so worth it.
This has been an amazing trip being with the people, going where few tour buses dare to tread. So much has transpired in such a short time there is no way I can tell you everything.
Until Next Time ~ Shalom from Jerusalem!
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Bob & Julie
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Wow!
What fun ... the Dead Sea ... planting Olive Trees ... walking through vineyards ... your pics are great! Sounds like you are having a great time ... miss you!