Israel Trip 2013 Tag

We traveled north from Tel Aviv today to several Kibbutzim on our way to exploring the Golan Heights on Monday. First we stopped at Kibbutz Ein Shemer about mid-way between Tel Aviv and Haifa, not far form the large Israeli Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm. [caption id="attachment_60503" align="alignnone" width="480"] (Kibbutz Ein Shemer, Israel, map location)[/caption] Founded in 1927, Ein Shemer is a fairly typical Kibbutz, about 650 people, with a variety of agriculture (dairy, cotton, etc.) as well as factories. Facing pressures facing many Kibbutzim, Ein Shemer voted a couple of years ago to allow limited “inequality” of income (up to 2.5 times what the Kibbutz pays members) for those with outside jobs in order to retain and attract younger residents. [caption id="attachment_60501" align="alignnone" width="545"] (Kibbutz Ein Shemer residential courtyard)[/caption] We then went on to climb towards the Golan, stoping at the Mount Barkan lookout point, near Mount Gilboa, which has a tremendous view of the Galilee region of northern Israel. [caption id="attachment_60506" align="alignnone" width="523"] (Mount Barkan Lookout Point, Israel, map location)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_60505" align="alignnone" width="552"] (Mount Barkan Lookout, Israel, view)[/caption]

Another in my ongoing posts from Israel: Today we reunited with a family I was close to while a student in Moscow in 1980, and had not seen since 1984 in Moscow.  It was great, and very satisfying.  The parents, now in their early 80's, have a life story about which history books should be written.  To see their son (my age) and his beautiful family in Israel was beyond anything I could have expected in those horrible days in which they were subjected to retribution and imprisonment. Most of the day was spent touring the central "West Bank" area including Itamar, Barkan and Ariel in the Shomrom hills.  This represents only a small slice of the "settlements." For background on the legality of the settlements and the popular misconceptions and deceptions, see:

• The Legal Case for Israel
• The historical fiction of Israel’s “occupation”

Itamar

The longest part of the trip was the drive to Itamar, which is located on top of a high ridge overlooking Nablus in the distance with views towards the Jordan Valley. [caption id="attachment_60307" align="alignnone" width="550"] (Itamar map, Samaria, Israel)[/caption] Itamar, founded in 1985, is an rambling agricultural community of 175 families spread over quite a distance, with a dairy, goats, chickens and vineyards (which looked to me to have been recently planted).  The products are "organic" and apparently sell for quite a high price in the main Israeli cities.  We had some fresh yogurt at the small public café. Unlike Barkan and Ariel, discussed below, many (but not all) of the homes were nothing more than simple trailers or small block houses: [caption id="attachment_60297" align="alignnone" width="513"] (Itamar, Samaria, Israel)[/caption] In this photo of my wife taking a photo of me, you can see how Itamar towers over the surrounding landscape (our "guide" for the day -- my friend from Moscow days -- is to the left): [caption id="attachment_60298" align="alignnone" width="545"] (me at Itamar)[/caption] Itamar has a long history of being attacked by Arabs from neighboring villages, the most infamous of which was the stabbing murder of the Fogel family, including a baby in its crib.  We covered that event extensively:

Another in my ongoing posts from Israel: Today I toured areas of the Western Wall in Jerusalem I had not previously seen. First, the part of the wall to the right of the Kotel (live webcam here) beyond the Mugrabi Bridge, where there are fallen stones from...

Jet lag finally caught up with us. Three days of running on adrenaline stopped cold. But the day was not lost. I had a chance to spend some time with reader Israel Pickholtz, better known as Jerusalem Genealogist. I didn't recognize him without his beard. [caption id="attachment_60032" align="alignnone" width="476"] (me and Israel Pickholtz aka Jerusalem Genealogist)[/caption] Later, we visited the cemetery on Mount Herzl, where many of Israel's founders and political leaders are buried, including Golda Meir:

Another in my ongoing posts from Israel: We previously covered the failed Palestinian attempt to get a French court to stop the Jerusalem light rail project which was being constructed in part by French contractors.  It's a part of the continuing lawfare against Israel. Commenter Vince suggested that I check out the light rail project, and bemoaned the fact that he had not yet been on it:

If you get a chance when you’re in Jerusalem take a ride on their light rail system.  It’s a relatively modern overhead line system with 23 stops that runs approximately 14 km long. I have all of the stops geocoded if you would like that? I’m a bit of a light rail buff.. my goal is to ride all of them!  Haven’t made it to Israel yet

I can't make your wish come true, Vince, so here's the best I can do: [caption id="attachment_59896" align="alignnone" width="512"] (Jerusalem Light Rail)[/caption] I also had the pleasure of meeting the famous Carl in Jerusalem, of Israel Matzav, with whom my wife and I shared a (soft) drink around noon today: [caption id="attachment_59892" align="alignnone" width="491"] (Me and Carl in Jerusalem, in Jerusalem)[/caption]

Today, I had the great pleasure to meet three of the Israeli bloggers we link to and write about, on my road to Jerusalem. We took the ride from Tel Aviv to Petah Tikva, one of the earliest Jewish towns, where we met Anne from ... (take a guess).  Anne lives on a nice, quiet street. [caption id="attachment_59868" align="alignnone" width="491"] (Petah Tikva, Israel)[/caption] We lunched at a nice restaurant near the Intel center in Petah Tikva: [caption id="attachment_59824" align="alignnone" width="493"] (Me and Anne in Petah Tikva)[/caption] We then headed on the road to Jerusalem, stopping in to see Adam Levick of CiF Watch, a blog devoted to taking The Guardian newspaper to task for its frequently distorted coverage of Israel.

We landed late on Saturday in a very uneventful overnight trip non-stop from JFK. The first day or two are going to be time adjustment days, since Israel is 7 hours ahead now. We walked around Tel Aviv from the central area (near the Hadima Theater) where we are staying past the Carmel market.  Some vendor told me that he had the best dates and figs in all of Israel, and I believed him! [caption id="attachment_59646" align="alignnone" width="422"] (Carmel Market Tel Aviv)[/caption] We then walked through some of the older sections, but you can't escape the contrast with old and new, as skyscrapers are in the distance and construction (both new skyscrapers and renovations of older sections) are everywhere. [caption id="attachment_59647" align="alignnone" width="466"] (Old section of Tel Aviv with skyscraper construction in background)[/caption]

Off to Israel late tonight. My itinerary is something along the lines of Tel Aviv-Jerusalem-Tiberias-Golan Heights/TheNorth. I'm scheduled to meet some really interesting people, so there likely will be some posts from me while I'm away.  (In addition to some prescheduled posts, and well, I do have...