This page is being written by a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, who has already served one tour on the Golan Heights, at Camp Ziouani, as a peacekeeper. To view a map of the area press HERE and for close up press HERE. This page contains a journal that will be updated as often as I am able. I have access to the web and can receive mail with your comments so please take the time to write me at Cpl. Johnmark Adams ([email protected]) and I'll add you to my mailing list for special updates. The latest updates are first as you scroll down and they get older as you go further down.
After you've read the latest update, come back to HERE to view my main Military Adventures page. New...Photos
Dec. 22, 98
I am not putting up any updates on this page until someone writes me and tells me they are actually going to read them.
Sep. 8, 98
I woke early on Saturday morning August 29,98 and was
able to have my bus ready early and
at the mess hall parking lot
in time to get a good breakfast. Half of
the new draft was slated for the Saturday tour with the
remaining going on Sunday. The two
buses, one a bluebird school bus with working airconditioning
and the other, a Toyota without,
were loaded by 0700 and we headed out the
gate. As anyone leaves
the camp they must turn in their white cards.
This allows the camp to know who's off the camp
at any given time. I reached through the window of my
Bluebird at the gate and handed the gate
guard 25 of them.
We drove around the base of spy hill and along
some orchards for about 15 minutes and
then started climbing a steep hill. I had to drive
all the way up in first gear and it took
a while. By 0730 we were at the top of Mt. Bental.
This is a volcanic Mt. from long ago.
There is now a piblic observation platform here from
which you can see every thing. If you
look to the north west you see Mt. Herman and the Austrian
position at the top. Behind us is
both our camp and spy hill.
In front is Syria ,including the
abandonded town of Kuneitra.
This town was evacuated because of the
advancing Israeli army and the inhabitants resettled in
a new town of the same name. Needless
to say that the view is simply awesome. We can see
orchards with apples, oranges, watermelons
etc.
We left Mt. Bental and headed for our next stop.
On the way we drove through an Arab
town inhabited by Druze. These are a religious sect
branched off from Islam. They are not
very strict about their beliefs.
We arrived at Metulla and drove by the Canada
Centre recreation facility. This is a
huge recreation centre built by Toronto Jews. It has
2 pools, gymnasium, shooting range,
etc. We arrived at The Good Fence at 0830. This is one
of two gates into Lebanon. The area
of Lebanon we see with its towns and fields is in the
Security Zone established by Israel
in southern Lebanon. This is the area where most of the
problems with the Hizbullah happen.
These radicals periodically sneak into the security zone
and harrass Israel with shelling.
3000 lebanese citizens come through this gate every day
to work in Northern Israel and
return every night.
We left here and drove through Qiryat Shimona, a
town that get's shelled regularly
from Lebanon, and arrived at the Archeological Museum
at Qazrin. The museum is dedicated
to digs on the Golan. we watched a presentation on a
place called Gamla. After Janet and
I visit Gamla, I'll explain all about it. We then went
to an ancient
synagogue dig. I stayed outside in my airconditioned bus.
It was already getting very warm
and as it was now almost lunch time, I ate mine in the cool bus.
At 1200 we arrived at a Kibutz on the eastern shore of
the
Sea of Galillee. Kibutz En Gev was the first kibutz on
the eastern shore. It's main
function is orchards of bananas, Dairy cows ( 3 million
litres of milk a year) and fishing.
They also raise Ostriches and do train tours through the
kibutz. Kibutz life style is best
described as a commune with some sort of industry. They
started by imigrants getting together
in collectives to help start a new society in Israel.
Each one has its own rules and industry,
some in agriculture while others manufacture stuff.
From here we drove back around the lake to Tabga.
We passed the spot where Jesus
commanded the legion of demons from the man to enter
the pigs which then ran off the cliff
into the lake and drowned. Tabga is the spot where Jesus
walked on the water, fed the
multitude with 5 loaves and 2 fish, told the disciples to
fish on the other side, and
appeared to the disciples and told Peter to "feed my flock."
We also just drove past Capernaum, the centre of Jesus'
ministry. This is where Peter,
James and John were from.
After Tagba, we drove to the spot where Jesus gave the
Sermon on the Mount. All these
religious sites are now run by different churches and are
considered Holy sites.
We arrived back at the camp at 1600 hot and wet. The
temperature was well over 35
near the lake but was cooler near our camp. The Sea of
Galillee or Lake Kinneret as it's
called is 300 metres or more below sea level, and in the
heat the humidity is about 100%.
That ends our first familiarization tour. Next weekend is
our tour to Syria. I'll finish
this update after that one.
The date is now 6 September, 98. It's a Sunday morning
and once again I'm parked at
the kitchen parking lot. We, again,
have two buses and I am driving
the big bluebird. We are out the
maingate at 7 am. This time we
turn right, heading for Syria.
We have to stop almost imediately at the Israeli check
point or Alpha gate. The Israeli
soldiers check our ID cards and make sure that our names are
on a crossing list. I have an
orange card that allows me to cross any time during the day,
every day. Next, about 200 metres,
we come to Charlie gate. This is managed by the UN military
police. Here they ask us if we have
any items that are not allowed into Syria, like Hebrew
markings etc. Again our ID cards are
checked against the crossing list. Another 200 metres or so
we come to Bravo gate. This gate is
run by Syrian soldiers. We are greeted by a Syriam Liason
Officer or LO as we call them. He
checks our cards against the crossing list as well, then
scans through the vehicles and any
bags. He's looking for forbidden items. As a driver, I get
to know the LO's pretty good
during my tour.
We are met here by our tour guides into Damascus. As we
leave the Syrian gate we are
imediately in a destroyed town. Kuneitra was a Syrian town
that was abandoned and then destroyed.
There are still a few buildings
still standing, but the rest are ruble.
We still go through a couple of Army gates that don't involve
us, they just slow us down for a
few seconds. The road to Damascus is in
pretty rough shape but we travel
at around 80 km/h. We travel through many arab towns and the
first thing that you notice about
this new country is all the volcano rock. The whole area is
blanketed in lava rock. The locals
use it for building sheds, fences and even houses. One of the
towns we travel through is called
Khan Arnabie and is the main centre for the UN to by stuff.
Any thing that we can buy in
Damascus is available here. I'll describe the things that we
buy, later.
The traffic moves quickly. There are brightly colored
minivans that are actually
taxis and they stop often to pick up passengers. They don't
use signal lights, brake lights
seldom work. So a driver has to be aware of his conditions.
I love driving in the middle east
and already I'm getting remarks about how crazy it would be
for the others to drive. That's
why they give us, the professional drivers, the big vehicles.
We enter Damascus and pick up our Syrian tour guide.
Silver Mike has a shop that sells...
silver. He has been selling to the UN for many years. He guides
us up past one of the three
presidential palaces to a lookout over the city. The city has a
population of 4 million at night
and swells to 6 million during the day. We notice that it's very
crowded and dirty, but somehow
it's a beautiful site. We can see the Omayyad
Mosque in the distance
and are told that's where we are going to be later.
We leave the lookout and return to the city centre. We park
near a garbage dump and as we
step out of the bus, the smell is horendous. We walk a short
distance and find a garage that is
actually a glass making factory. We watch a display of the
craftsmanship and then get back on
the bus. Our next stop is outside the old city walls or
Citadel. We walk
past the 4000 year old walls and into one of the oldest,
continually inhabited cities in the
world. It seem like a giant yard sale. The smells and sounds,
combined with the sights are
incredible. We walk up the street to Silver Mikes store and get
a glimpse of his wares. Then we
head to our restaurant. It's entrance is hidden between stores
and we actually walk through the
kitchen and up three flights of stairs to get to the dinning area.
We are given huge table cloth
size peices of pita bread, and an assortment of humous and dips.
Then when we are filled, they
bring out idividual meals. Bread with hot sauce, chicken, more
bread and french fries.
After lunch we head to the Mosque entrance. The Mosque is
huge. 1000 people can fit inside
to pray. The Citadel is at one end of the Souk, and the mosque
is at the other end. Look at the
map. We are standing next to the
gate to the
Mosque. Just through the gate is the
courtyard. In the courtyard
is a little tower that is used to store the treasure. It's called
the dome
of treasure. There is also an indoor section of the mosque,
with beautiful
walls, and wonderful mosaics. The
Mosque was once a Roman temple.
Inside the indoor part is a shrine or site that is supposed
to contain the head of John the Baptist.
The indoor part is carpeted for
prayer too.
As we stand at the gate, we see the entrance. We walk into the
Souk which is just a big shopping mall.
Venders sell every thing
from womens underwear, socks, jewelry, carpets, Arab traditional
clothing, shoes, perfume
food, childrens clothing, and other Middle Eastern fare. We are
taken to a couple of the shops
that the UN has dealt with for years. Each shop gives us a
business card.
Mostly, the un people buy arab Ma Shaloms, the arab robes.
Carpets, T-shirts, ornate boxes are
popular fare too. After a rushed tour through the Souk, we head
back to the bus. We drive back through
the city and out the main road. We get back to Khan Arnabie and
have an hour to spend here.
Elias, the gold shop; Shizzars sells shirts, robes, towels
and so on; NAI is where you buy
music; and a few others that specialize in selling UN folks,
souvineers. I walk down to penguin
Mikes shop. He and I were good friends when I was here before.
He still has a copy of a story
I wrote when I was here before. Mike sells towels, lingerie,
t-shirts, soccer shirts, track pants,
boxes, baskets and makes the best tea. I get along with him great.
We leave here and go back through the 3 gates and into the camp.
As people were getting
off my bus, they thanked me. Most were glad they didn't have to do the
driving. After I fueled
my bus, I went for a refreshing dip in the camp
pool. The end of a great
day of driving. I'll update further when I have stuff to say.
Aug 27, 98
I arrived in Israel at 0600 in the morning on August 24. After a 2-hour wait we left Tel Aviv
and started making our way to The Golan Heights. Along the way I noticed a few changes. The
towns and cities have all expanded and that means more cars. The roads seem better but with
more drivers out there it was hard to tell. We stopped at Macdonald's for a few minutes and
found out how expensive things are. It cost $8.00 US for a burger and fries and coke. We
arrived at the camp at 12:30 PM and were met by the rest of the camp. There are about 200
Canadians at this Camp. Camp Ziouani is right next to the UN established border. I'll now
give you a brief history and explanation of what our mission is. Well in 1973 after the
Arab nations of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon threatened to attack Israel, Israel attacked
first. During this war, all the countries fighting Israel were trying to take land from Israel.
Instead Israel got land from them. Where we are is on the border with Syria. The border used to
be at the Jordan River which meant that before 1973, Syria owned the Golan Heights. During the
war, Israel pushed the Syrian army almost all the way back to Damascus. But because Israel
claimed to have started the fight to protect it self, it stopped and moved back a little bit.
Now, the Israelis occupy and have built towns all over the Golan Heights. It also signed a peace
treaty with Jordan and Egypt, but not with Syria. So there is now an area of separation that the
UN put between Israel's occupied lands and Syria. This area is out of bounds to both sides and
is patrolled by the UN. The northern part is patrolled by the Austrian army who are stationed in
Syria at Camp Foauar (Foo-ar) and the south part is patrolled by the Polish Army who are in
Israel at Camp Ziouani (Zee-oo-any). The Canadians provide radio links for the patrolling
soldiers and do supply runs and help with other things. The Canadians are running this base just
like a base at home. We have a HQ with clerks, a hospital, post office, mess hall, transport,
vehicle mechanics, supply people and even a Canex. There are the same jobs here as there are in
Comox. The UN has called this mission, United Nations Disengagement (to separate) Observer
(to watch) Force (group) because that's what we are doing. We are watching the Israelis and the
Syrians to make sure that they stay separated. Kinda like when my girls, Victoria and Katie
fight, we separate them and then watch to make sure that they don't go near each other. Of
course the bad thing is that the two countries are still at war. Oh great Mark, you're in a
war zone? Well, yes and no. The two countries have had the UNDOF soldiers standing in the
middle for 25 years now and we have done a pretty good job. What this means, my friends, is that
we are stopping 2 countries from continuing there very deadly war. I'm here for a good reason.
I'm a soldier, even if my job is usually just to watch Jerry Springer like Janet thinks.I'll
give more info in a future letter. This morning we had our Camp Services briefing which told
us all the things that are available for our enjoyment. There are clubs, computer, scuba, photo,
fitness, music etc. There is a gym, pool, volleyball court, bikes, rollerblades etc. that can be
signed out or used. There is a library, video rentals, and theatre. There are trips to a golf
course, beach, sports center, shopping in Damascus, dinner runs to Tiberius. There are tours of
1, 2, 3, 4 days to Eilat, Syria, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan. There is money that is
given on receipts, free money for holidays and even subsidies on trips. In other words, the UN
and more specifically Canada take great steps to ensure that our morale stays high. On the other
hand, being a driver means that most of the trips and tours will be done by us. So If I get the
chance to go on some of these tours as a driver for free, then not only do I get a chance to
scout out good places for Janet and me to go, but I'll be paid extra do so. Some of the money
available has to be used by me on my 60-hour leaves and can't be accumulated. The welfare office
is also responsible to arrange travel arrangements, car rentals and even acts as a travel agent
for info on personal holidaying. You can bet that I'll be looking into the best arrangements and
getting them, especially as the new welfare boss is from Comox with me. We also had our
Military Police briefing with the usually don't drink and drive, don't do drugs etc. They also
explained how the crossing works from Israel to Syria. I'll describe a crossing to you after I
do one. It's quite a neat experience, which I'm sure that Janet is going to love. I can just
imagine her looks when a Syrian guard asks her to dump out her purse while pointing a rifle at
her. After this we had our fire fighting training. We played with
fire extinguishers and put out fires. We then walked around the camp and saw where all the fire
hydrants and hoses are. Fire is a risk over here because of the heat. A few years ago a fire in
the Polish camp killed a young soldier while he slept. After lunch we'll be going to supply to
get the rest of our kit. I don't know where we are supposed to put it all, but I'll describe what
I get later. Tonight the transport crew is having a meet and greet and we'll be doing our road
test to familiarize ourselves with the busses. We have our first familiarization tours this
weekend and will be driving the busses for it. Half the new group goes on Saturday while the
other half goes on Sunday. It looks like it's going to be a hot day. I pity the group that is on
the rifle range this afternoon. My group shoots tomorrow morning so it should not be as hot. I
think that it's already 35 degrees and I've drunk 2 bottles of water already.
0830 Last night we drove to Tiberius for our road test. I drove
a school bus and as the sun sets at 1900 I got my first taste of Middle East Night driving in 3
years. I haven't lost anything. Tiberius is below sea level so even though it's cool up on the
Golan, it was hot and muggy. I'm going to be doing a familiarization tour this weekend and next.
After the second tour, I'll send out a new update. Thank you for supporting me over here and
feel free to write.
Aug 22, 98
I left Comox at 0730 on Aug 19, 98 and flew to Vancouver. At 0900 I got on board the DC 10 that
Canadian Airlines used in their ad on TV. It's the one that has all the signatures on it. On
arrival in Toronto, the 4 guys I was traveling with and me rented limos and travelled to CFB
Trenton. We were given rooms and told to report to our in clearance on Friday morning. This
means we had a whole day to do nothing. On the Friday morning at our in clearance we had
get some paper work checked. As I was at the begining of the line, I was finished and back to
my room by 1000.
We don't have to do any thing until we get picked up at 0445 on Sunday morning. We fly out at
0700. My point is, I'm here for three days to accomplish a 20 minute in clearance. What a
waste of time.
I'll update when I have more news.
July 30, 98
Yesterday I found out what some of my Itinerary will be for travel to the Middle East. I travel to Trenton, Ont. on the 19 August, 98. There we undergo a few days of administration and what not. Then we fly by Canadian Military Airbus to Tel Aviv, Israel, on the 23 August, 98. We are scheduled to land in Israel at 0600 on the 24 August, 98. It's a 3 hour trip to the camp so I expect we'll be there around lunch, allowing for the in clearance at the Tel Aviv Airport. I'll update this when more info is available.
July 19, 98
I have just returned from my two weeks in Kingston at the Peace Support Training Centre. This training consisted of briefings and lectures on many different areas of Peacekeeping. We covered history of Peacekeeping, mine awareness, stress, rules of engagement, cultural awareness and many other things that apply to those of us in the peacekeeping business.
I don't have my timings or dates for deployment yet but expect to know within two weeks. I'll update this when more info is available.
June 17, 98
I have just recieved my message which allows me to start preparing for this tour. I will be going to Kingston for Peacekeeping training from July 6 to July 19, 98. I will also be doing pre tour clearances and administration. Please continue to check back for further updates.
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