Catch up from Jerusalem
Trip Start
Nov 13, 2008
1
5
22
Trip End
Dec 15, 2008
Jerusalem,
Israel
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Interesting facts about Israel: It is a small country, less than the size of the state of New Jersey with a population of about 3 million i believe. Jerusalem in the largest city, 675,000, Tel aviv next at 350,000 and Haifa next at about 200,000. Jewish settlers originally began to come to israel in the early 1900s with the zionist movement (theodore hertlz - spelling? - was a jewish reporter in the US who is considered the father of zionism. He first started writing about the jews having a country of their own based on the biblical promise of a homeland for the promised people (zionism). This gained popularity all over the world for jews (diaspora is the name for jews scattered all over the world) and groups began to emigrate. Israel was then palestine. In 1917, the Balfour declaration was made, supporting in the idea of a Jewish national home in Palestine. A
bout 20% of the population of israel is from Russia but there are communities from most other countries as well. We went to an Ethiopian synagogue in Jerusalem where they were having a service - everyone dressed totally in white robes but obviously African in origin. Many Germans came over in the early 1900s so many cities have a German section. The United Nations voted in 1947 to separate Palestine into 2 parts, Jewish and Arab. The British had a mandate to rule palestine from the 1920 until 1948 when they left and israel declared independence. David Ben Gurion was the first president of israel and really originated the govt. system. There was a terrible war in 1948 after the British left as the surrounding arabs attacked the settlers. There was no official israeli army, only an underground, Haganah, Palmach, etc. so it was a very difficult time and many people were killed but the israelis won that war (Leon Uris wrote the book Exodus about this time period).
In 1967, Israel won the 6 day war against Egypt and Syria and occupied the Sinai peninsula (since has been returned to Egypt in a treaty), Golan heights, West Bank (now under Palestine Authority control from a treaty) and Gaza. In 1973, Egypt and Syria attacked at the same time (Yom Kippur War) but were defeated. The Golan heights are in a very important strategic position - they border one side of the sea of galilee which is vital because it is the only source of fresh ("sweet") water in israel for drinking, irrigation, etc. Before 1967, it was part of syria and overlooked all of the israeli settlements below which were constantly shelled. The syrians tried to block the streams that feed the sea of galilee before the 1967 war but were unsuccessful.
The Druze family in the druze village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights where we had lunch do not have israeli identification cards. The daughter who spoke english said that they are syrian, not israeli. Our guide said that they are afraid that if they become israeli citizens and syria takes back the Golan Heights, they will be severely punished/ This whole pattern of parts of the country changing back and forth from palestine, syria, egypt, israel is very confusing and hard for us to follow.
We stayed at Kibbutz Kfar Haruv (Peace Lodge) on the Golan Heights (GH) for 2 nights. Fascinating. This kibbutz (K from now on) was founded by a group of young single people from all around the world in 1975 (many from the US) , 2 years after the Yom Kippur war. We met with a family from the K - parents were from San Diego and Colorado. They emigrated in their early 20s to form a kibbutz and raised a family there. They met us for a discussion and then had dinner with us in the restaurant owned by the K but leased out to someone else. Apparently, there was absolutely nothing there when they arrived except sand and rocks. The K is formed on socialist principles - everyone works and shares, nothing is privately owned. They said that when they arrived, every day they would report to the work detail to find out where they were needed and that is what they did that day - LOTS of very hard manual labor clearing rocks, etc. I sat next to the wife, Noa, who was blond and freckled faced, originally from San Diego, and she talked about the early days. It was very hard work but they were all young and idealistic. They spent all day working the fields and then most of the night in committees to set up the structure of the K. Everything is decided by majority rule so each K may have slightly different rules.
She said that it had been very hard to leave her family in San Diego. She is the oldest of 5 children and has a very close family there. In the beginning, the K voted that one could only go back to your original country for a visit every 5 years!!! She said that was the hardest part. Now, the rules have changed since it is mostly families now so she visits her family in the US every year. There are no salaries in the K - food, electricity, homes, cars, education, child care are provided for all. Some have outside jobs but their salary goes to the K to be shared on the basis of need - those with more children get more supplies.
The original K and this one also were all agricultural because the land was just sand and rocks. Now, that the agriculture is stabilized, many K have gone into factories, tourism, etc. to provide more income. Ours had about 20 guest homes, beautiful small individual cottages overlooking the Sea of galilee, lined with pine inside, kitchens, jacuzzi tubs, A-frames with lofts inside - we did not need the loft. They also have an industrial plant that manufactures plastic gizmos for pipes.
Noa, the wife, said that this K now allows jews to come in and buy houses and live on the K but they are not business partners. They participate in the social and religious life there (required) but have private incomes which they do not share. This is getting to be a popular alternative for younger israelis who want the social advantages of communal living but not the strict financial commitment. There is a maximum age to move into a K - they foresee a potential problem in the future with more retired seniors and not enough younger workers to provide for the K (sort of like our social security problem). 48 is now the oldest age to move into the K. You have to be voted in to stay permanently. One can come and move in for about one year i think but then the members of the K vote you in or out.
The other living alternative is called the moshev (spelling?) which is just a community where everything is privately owned, just like in our country. You have your own house, apt, salary, car, etc. Our guide, Betty, lives in a moshev.
More later. It is now 7 am - today we have a real break - we dont leave until 9:30 - which feels like the middle of the day now.
Kibbutz Shirley
