Day 12 - Haifa and Akko
Trip Start
Mar 21, 2008
1
12
15
Trip End
Apr 05, 2008
Haifa,
Haifa,
Israel
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Our travel today would lead us north along the coast all the way to the Lebanese border atop the "white cliffs of Israel" at Rosh Hanikra. The cliffs themselves aren't all that stunning, the border security is very imposing, though, and the fact that only 2 years ago there were rockets whizzing over it, bombarding northern Israeli settlements, adds a certain bite to the region.
The other two destinations along Israel's largely industrial northern Mediterranean coast were certainly more interesting. Our first stop was Haifa, an ancient port town at the foot of the holy Mt Carmel. Haifa, too, is very industrialised, yet it can boast a few splendid spots. Foremost of these are the Baha'i gardens. For those who haven't come across the Baha'i here's a quick surface skimming explanation: they are a globe spanning fairly new religion (founded mid 19th century) stating essentially that all monotheistic religions can be seen as a succession of messengers conveying the will of God in a manner suitable to their time. They see Moses, Abraham, Jesus, Mohammed, etc. as some of the prophets along the way, with the two most recent being the founding spirits of the Baha'i religion, namely the so-called Bab and Baha'u'llah, enshrined in Haifa and Akko, respectively. The Baha'i are not necessarily a temple-based faith, do not have specifically educated priests, but rather vote members into their local, national and international committees. Worship mostly takes place in individuals' homes.
Shrine of the Bab, Bahai Gardens, Haifa
The Baha'i fund themselves solely by contributions from their own ranks and refuse any donations from outsiders/visitors. Their manifesto, if you can call it that, is very humanistic and was pretty progressive considering it's foundation in the 19th century. Baha'i e.g. call for unification of mankind and world peace, abolition of all class differences, mutual respect of all cultures and the abolition of all prejudices, gender equality, mandatory schooling for all children, harmony of religion and science, a universal auxiliary language, etc. Sounds very sensible to me! There are around 6 millions Baha'i in virtually every region of the world and their international centre is in Haifa. The leadership, library and educational facilities are housed in neo-classical buildings above the shrine of the Bab which in turn is the centrepiece of a mile-long succession of meticulously kept terraces and gardens up the flank of Mt Carmel extending an axis laid by the main street of the former German colony at the foot of the mountain. I don't think I've ever seen gardens this splendid. They are tended to by a constant stream of volunteers from around the world (useful work is seen as a form of worship).
As visitors to the gardens we were allowed to cast a glimpse into the very simple interior of the domed shrine of the Bab and wander through the diverse gardens, enjoying the views down to the Mediterranean and watching the gardeners at work.
The next stop was the crusader town of Akko with its rich history of occupation going back before ancient times. The usual succession of Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arabic, Crusader, Ottoman, British and Iraeli occupation applies here as well. Akko was such an impenetrable fortress that even Napoleon bit his teeth out and failed trying to take it. It now maintains it's flair as a Muslimic fishing town with a beautiful mosque at its centre and various caravanserais demonstrating its former importance as a merchant town on the Mediterranean coast. We had some lovely fish by the harbour watching the fishermen repairing their nets and the kingfishers hovering above waiting to plunge for some juicy catches.
