30 December 2012
This morning, we started off with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, spending the better part of an hour sailing off towards the
Jesus Boat Museum. The Sea of Galilee is
only about five miles wide, and on the other side is the Golan Heights, Syrian
territory which has been occupied by the Israelis since the 1967 war. As with so many other places we have visited thus far, such as Haifa, it is mind-boggling to set foot, to actually be, in these places I have heard so much about since my young childhood.
Upon leaving the boat, we visited the Jesus Boat Museum, which is a bit of a misnomer: Nobody truly believes that the ancient vessel that is located in the museum is the actual boat upon which Jesus himself rode, but it is considered representative of what he would have been on.
We next visited a kibbutz, a community in which all property, including
cars, is considered communal. Even the children are regarded as communal, in that rather than living with the parents the children live in their own
community. The parents take them home and play with them for a few hours each evening, but the youngsters stay in their own communal nursery overnight.
As suggested earlier, many of us are finding this tour guide much more difficult
and challenging than the Jordan guide.
This guy is very directive in terms of things such as where we eat
lunch, wear the name tags, etc. Even
more telling for me, his facts leave a lot to be desired: Beyond some of the previous gaffes, he today stated that 210 countries in the world use a drip
irrigation system developed in Israel; that’s very impressive given that no source I can find lists more than 196 countries in the world. I could see being off, perhaps, by a couple, but not that much. (OK, truth be told, I am sure I am crossing over into the "unfair" territory at this point in terms of my evaluation, but he seems to be so consistently wrong, while presenting such hubris, that it is really annoying, not to mention that I cannot trust what I hear from him.)
Our next stops were at the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, then on to the ancient ruins of Capernaum. Both of these seem somewhat understated based on the significance and importance they have played in Biblical tradition, but then again it is difficult for these physical sites to compete with the history they represent. Perhaps, as simple and ancient as these sites and buildings are, and as plan as the countryside is, they don't adequately portray their true meaning. Jerusalem, in contrast, has the advantage of being relatively large, with the Old City covering the equivalent of 30 or so football fields, and it is crammed full of buildings, people, life and energy. Sites such as the Mount of the Beatitudes and Capenaum, however, seem too quiet and too quaint to convey their true significance.
What did seem palpable in today's world, however, was our subsequent journey into the Golan Heights!! This is Syrian territory which is occupied by the Israelis, meaning we, literally, were on the borderline between the true underlying tension in the Middle East.. Perhaps it is simply knowing how much of a powder keg this area is in today's world, but the tension, the energy, were palpable. One could almost imagine that with the next turn in the road their would be soldiers and conflict. Yes, as with Mount of the Beatitudes this area, too, was plain, but rather than quaint and peaceful this part of the day was alerting.
Our lunch at a roadside travel center, some relatively modern sandwich shop along with a large gas station, convenience market, etc. It's odd to be in an area where you can see ancient sites at one moment, then in less than an hour be in an area that seems very new, very modern, truly part of the 21st century.
As if the drive through the Golan Heights was not enough, the ensuing ride through the West Bank was equally exhilarating! Again, just as before lunch, the notion of being in a powder keg was mind boggling! These are not ancient, peaceful regions, but rather explosive areas that are often on the evening news. To be here, to be in a place where modern history is regularly produced, was one of the most mind boggling experiences of the whole trip. While the religious sites are peaceful, tranquil and sacred, the energy in the Golan Heights and West Bank was mind boggling! In one day, to see the peace of the Mount of the Beatitudes then to move on to these other high energy sites was incredible.
Any hint of greenery went away as our trip moved in to the veritable desert of the Dead
Sea. Suddenly, what had seemed sparse became utterly barren, with nothing but desolation in front of us. Fortunately, it was only a brief ride through this barren land before we were at our hotel for the evening, the Hod Hamidbar right on the
shores of the Dead Sea. Upon arrival, I quickly
changed in to my swimsuit as I very much wanted to float in the sea, but when I waded out in the water I could only get
up to my knees as the cold was too much for me. Instead of braving the cold water, wimp that I am I settled for the
indoor heated pool fed by the Dead Sea water (in other words, same experience,
but warm!). It was indeed truly
odd: When I bob in water, I normally
sink to my neck and have to use my hands a little bit to stay comfortably floated, but in this case I
bobbed at about my mid-chest level, without even paddling my hands, and I was actually so high in the water I
felt I would almost topple. When I tried
floating on my back, my entire front-side of my body from my knees on up to the top of my
head was above water, and it required a concerted effort to roll over so I
could stand up. Oddly, the water had a
very oily feel to it, which I can’t really describe other than to say it was not entirely pleasant for me. Somehow, the thought of floating in oil did not sit well with me.
After the water experience, I decided to look around the hotel itself. The Hod Hotel is rather tacky, the first bad hotel of
this trip. It is relatively large, about 200 rooms, but
older and showing wear and tear, and very Russian; the owners certainly were Russian, as were many of the guests.
As a way of summary of the three most explosive parts of Israel/Palestine, here is a brief cheat sheet:
- Gaza Strip: Israel withdrew a few years ago, and it is now in the hands and control of Hamas, universally regarded by the Western world as a bona-fide terrorist organization.
- Golan Heights: Syrian territory occupied by Israel.
- West Bank: Technically under PLO control, but Israel has about 350,000 settlers in it, which is condemned by the UN and other nations. Major cities such as Hebron and even Bethlehem are under PLO control and are essentially off limits to Israelis, but we as Americans or Australians can go to it.
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