2006 Israel Trip
Nov 12
We arrived at midnight EST, 7 am local time. Our hotel is first class.
We had an excellent breakfast on the plane so we slept for a couple
hours then walked the neighborhood. Everything is build with limestone
blocks many of the streets are cobblestone, Half the people are
15 year old kid soldiers with UZI the other half are black hated and
long black coated men with long beards. The Hareim (ultra orthodox
religious men) have threaten violence over a gay march scheduled for
today. Burt and I are a minority in a country of minorities. Everything
appears to be thousands of years old. Religion is everywhere. This
place is like no other I have ever visited. I am fascinated. We
returned to our room for another nap. Tonight we had dinner at a
local's home. Rafael is a movie maker and Rachael is a teacher. They
have nine children and nearly every Friday night and Saturday they have
guests for dinner. Their son is attending a school to become a Rabbi
and he brings 3 different fellow students with him each Friday nite.
Dinner was a feast of local items surrounded by Sabbath services. The
conversation was lively and informative. We discussed among other thing
Israel's cousins the Arabs. Our energy tank is empty.
We spent the quickest 3 and half hours visiting the Holocaust Museum
called Yad Vashem. It is situated on Har Hazikaron (the Mount of
Remembrance). The site covers 45 acres and includes the most extensive
Holocaust Library and Archive in the world, the Hall of Names, the Intl
School for Holocaust Studies, the Holocaust History Museum and Art
Museum etc. The most impressive experience was viewing the visual and
audio experiences of many of the survivors. As we left the emotionally
draining viewing, we walked out to a breathtaking view of Jerusalem
which partially uplifted our spirits.
Nov 13
We took a tour bus to Masada and the Dead Sea. The plateau of Masada is
located on the eastern fringe of the Judean Desert near the shore of
the Dead Sea. The plateau, 450 meters above the level of the Dead Sea
is approximately 650 meters long and 300 meters wide, aprx the size of
Old Jerusalem. The first fortress built at Masada was at least 75 years
BC. Following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD the last of
the rebels fled to the Masada. In 73 AD the Roman legion laid siege to
the mountain. The legion consisting of 8,000 troops built 8 camps
around the base, a siege wall, and a ramp made of earth and wooden
supports on a natural slope to the west. After a siege lasted a few
months, the Romans brought a tower with a battering ram up the ramp
with which they began to batter the wall. When the hope of the rebels
dwindled Eleazar Ben Yair their leader gave two speeches in which he
convinced the 960 people to sacrifice their lives then to live in
slavery. Ten people were chosen by lot, they executed of the others and
one killed the nine and then himself. Two women and five children hid
in a cistern and told the Romans what happened. A contemporary
historian Josephus Flavius wrote of this in his book, The War of the
Jews. We took a cable car to the fortress. We spent the balance of the
day at the Dead Sea. It is the lowest point on earth at 450 meters
below sea level. Its salt content is 10 times that of the oceans i.e.
30 % of the its water content. It has many minerals giving it healing
power. Our group of 31 floated, got mud baths, sulfur showers and
swam in the fresh water resort pool. The mountains are quite large here
contrary to Mt Olive. My day was made very pleasant and interesting by
my seat mate, Lynn.
Nov 14
We started the day with a typical Israeli breakfast. It is a feast.
There are several types of fish, many cheeses, many pastries, various
fruits nuts etc. We walked close by to the old city. It is walled in
and contains the Jewish, Muslin, Christian and Armenian Quarters. We
visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was built by Emperor
Constantine in 336 AD. Over the years it has been destroyed and rebuilt
several times. The current structure dates from 1810. Since the
4th Century it has been recognized as the site where Jesus died and was
buried. Parts of the church area are controlled by Greek, Roman,
Armenian and Copic churches. We visited the Arab Market. It winds up
and over, up and down. Thousands of people vie for every inch of space
to wander and market. Merchants try to out scream each other in Arabian
to catch the shopper's eye. I doubt there isn't anything sold in the
world that is not to be found in the market.
The Honest Reporting Mission, our purpose in being in Israel started
this afternoon. We were bused to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
(State Department) where we heard a discussion led by Ishmael KIhaldi
an Israeli Bedouin and a Muslin. He is an official in the MFA. He
speaks for the Ministry all over the world and especially in the US. He
was one of 11 children. They had no modern facilities and lived in a
tent. Bedouin are a nomadic tribe that in Israel live in the Judean
desert in the south and in Northern part of Israel. The tribe has been
pro Israel. He is the first in his family to be educated. Our next
speaker was the Deputy Public Affairs Officer. He placed particular
emphasis on being creditable. To do so Israel must admit their
mistakes. He said they don't have the luxury to make up things as
everyone is looking for examples of falsehoods. Our final speaker was
Natan Sharansky, of whom President Bush said: "If you want a glimpse of
how I think about foreign policy read Natan Sharansky's book, "The Case
for Democracy"... For government, for opinion makers, I would put it on
your recommended list ...(Sharansky) is an heroic figure. It's a great
book. Mr. Sharansky spent nine years as a Soviet political prisoner and
nine years as an Israeli politician. He says the the question is not
whether we have the power to change the world but whether we have the
will. Summoning that will demands that we move beyond Right and Left
and start thinking about right and wrong. He said the first step in
changing undemocratic countries is not elections but establishing a
belief in human rights. This he says is the reason for the failures in
Iraq and Palestine.
Nov 16
We started today hearing from Jessica Montell, Director of B'tselem the
Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied
Territories. Their mission is to monitor the Israeli govt to prevent
violations of human rights in violation of international law and UN
Charter etc. She examples of violations.Next we heard from well known
Middle East Commentator for Israel TV Channel 2, Associate of the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Columnist for Jerusalem
Report, named Ehud Yaari. He said the Palestinians don't want a two
state solution they want it all with the Jews gone. They don't care
where the Jews go except they don't want nearby. He said they do not
want war with the Jews their goal is to destroy the Jews morale and
bankrupt them and out populate them. For the immediate future they want
one state with two governments for some things. Next was Rabbi Eric
Coopersmith who listed the 7 main reason cited by those who hate Jews:
Economics, chosen people, scapegoat, zionism, Deicide (Christ
killers)outsiders. We heard from Khaled Abu Toameh, a Muslin Arab who
lives in the WestBank and is a correspondent for the Jerusalem Post
Newspaper and the US News and World Report. He loves living with the
Jews and would not like to live in any Arab country because of the many
freedoms granted everyone. He said there are inequities i.e. Arabs make
up 20% of the population of Israel but only 1 % of government
officials. That public services are not delivered equally to Jews and
Arabs in Israel. He warned of violence in the future from the 1 and
half million Israeli Arabs if things don't improve soon. We went to the
West Bank in the desert and ate with Abraham under a tent and the stars.
Nov 18
We had lunch today at the home of an Israeli. He is a retired school
teacher from New York. He has aprx 15 people for lunch every Sabbatt.
He didn't explain the absence of a women. He said his children are in
US. He loves living in Israel and has been here for 5 years. His
apartment was similar to one in US. He is a great cook and host. We
heard a presentation by Shannon Shibata the European and Israel
Director, of Stand with Us; an Israel Advocacy organization fighting
anti-Israel propaganda and anti-semitism. She is 25 and came originally
to Gasa 5 years ago and an activist on behalf of the Palestinans. She
changed her positions after living for a year with the Palestinans. Her
mother is US and father Japanese. He hated Jews and cut her off
financially. He now supports her cause. She speaks over over the world.
Her web sites are:
She was special in that she has passion and is very committed and
effective. We heard from Neil Lazarus, Director of AwesomeSeminars.com
on "How to Effectively Advocate for Israel". His message is on his web
site at www.awesomeseminars.com and www.trainme.org
Nov 19
Our day began at 7 am and ended back at the hotel at 11pm. We took a
bus to the border with Lebanon where much of the fighting took place
this summer. Our guide for the whole day was Major Elliot Chodoff,
retired of the Israeli Defense Force. He was fantastic. He still serves
100 plus days in the military but no longer in combat situations. We
viewed a knoll where tanks were located firing across the border. Major
Elliott was critical of the top leadership of the war effort on behalf
of Israel. He felt they act until too late. They in his opinion should
of done one of two things and both would have been better then what was
done. Either they should have done a lighting strike in a couple of
days and stopped or should have had a full force ground and air
campaign from the beginning. The drive to the border took us up the
main north south toll road then we took other highways to the border.
We visited a community Zefat( ) that was shelled alot. We observed
damage to one of the buildings and visited an underground bomb shelter.
It was aprx 20 x 20 feet where 70 people stayed for most of the 38 day
war. We saw much of the country side of Israel including lush field of
fruit, dates, vegtables, olives, grapes and livestock. We visited the
Carmel Winery and had a feast of wine and food.On the return trip we
viewed the DVD Obsession much of which was footage from Arab TV showing
the hatred of America.
Nov 20
This is the final day of the Better Reporting Mission. It has been most
informative and inspiring. First we heard Avshalom Vilon, member of the
Knesset (Congress) from the Meretz-Yahad Party a left wing group. He
heads the Peace Now organization, which advocates reaching an agreement
with the Palestinian Authority. He was very impressive a forceful and
pursuasive speaker. Currently Israel is a Jewish Democratic country. If
they continue to occupy the West Bank and would reoccupy the Gasa Strip
they would not be a true democracy if they deny citzenry rights to the
Palestinians. If they granted citzenship to those Palestinians Israel
would not be a Jewish country in 5-7 years because the Palestinians
would become the majority. He favors granting all of Gaza Strip and all
but 3 % of the West Bank to the Palestinians.
We next heard from Danny Seaman, Director of the Government Press
Office. He is a firebrand. He appears to be brilliant and articulate
but a "get in your face, tell it like it is" kind of guy. He needs to
play good cop bad cop stragegy and secure a good cop assistant to do
the person to person contact with foreign correspondents. He left us to
appear before a committee of the Knesset to explain his vulgarity with
a German correspondent reported in the media. I like him and think he
performs a vital role in the fight to get balanced media coverage for
Israel.
We visited a new Media Center just opened 15 minutes before we arrived
by Better Reporting. It will provide all needed services for foreign
correspondents. There has been a vacuum in that the only people
providing these services has been the Palestinians.
We then heard David Horovitz, Editor in Chief of the Jerusalem Post and
English language newspaper. He said listen to what the Radical Islam
spokesman are saying: "We will rule the world because we love death and
the West loves life." This is something that we in our hearts do not
believe the Radical Islam truly mean what they say, but he said this is
the key to the problem we in the rest of the world face. Radical Islam
has convinced many of their people that martyrdom is the truest path to
paradise.
Our final speaker was the best of the best. She is Miri Eisen,
spokeswoman for the Office of the Prime Minister. She reminds me of
Kadi Couric of CBS. She is young (42) a retired Colonel in the Israeli
Army Intelligence Force. She is articulate, forceful, diplomatic and
lovely in your face person. She could tell you what you don't want to
hear but like what she said. She says we need to reframe the issue. It
is not "the occupation of Palestine" it is terrorism, terrorism,
terrorism, etc. She uses the Palestinians own documents to prove their
terrorism. She uses their own words recorded on TV to prove their
terrorism. Watch for her on TV news.
Finally let me say this was the best run conference I have ever
attended. It was well organized, on time, excellent subject matters,
outstanding speakers and the people who ran it if you spent time with
them would become your best friends.
Nov 22
We are a 100 yards from the Mediterranean Sea. We We have a balcony
from which we can see both the sea and downtown Tel Aviv. We are aprx 1
hours drive from Jerusalem where we left this morning. Yesterday was a
recovery day. We were physically and mentally worn out from the
constant barrage of information, all very important. Today we walked
the surrounding downtown area. We took the local bus transportation
part of the way back to our hotel. Tel Aviv is a very modern city with
many skyscrapers. We visited the city market. The produce and
merchandise was just about every thing available in the world. The
biggest change from Jerusalem is the lessening of the religious factor.
In Jerusalem it seemed that half of the men had long beards dressed in
black had and black hats. Here there are very few of the ultra orthodox
Jews. This is a city of many beautiful women. As we consulted our map
we had offers of help. This is a friendly vibrant large cosmopolitan
city.
Nov 23
We had a free guide van tour provided by Israel Diamond Center. It was
3 hours in length and ended with a tour of the Diamond Center where we
saw how diamonds are mined, cut and polished etc. We had a tour of the
retail store with a very light touch. Our guide was very informed and
pleasant. We started in Old Jaffa taking a walking tour of beautiful
artist colony. We viewed Habima, Israel National Theater, the Mann
Auditorium, home of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Opera
House, the Tel Aviv Art Museum anf the Oppenheimer Diamond
Museum. We went to a large mall the went to Tel Aviv University also
home to the Museum of the Diaspora (scattering of the Jews). It is a
must see for anyone interested in the history of the Jews. Tel Aviv was
founded in 1909 and today it is the heart of Israeli commerce and
culture, and its restaurants, art galleries, museums, and beaches are
unmatched anywhere in the country. Jaffa was founded around 1600 BC. It
is on the southern edge of Tel Aviv. Jerusalem has an ancient aura and
the soul of Israel.
Nov 24
FOUR OFTEN ASKED QUESTIONS RE: ISRAEL
1. ISRAEL IS NOT INTERESTED IN LIVING PEACEFULLY WITH ITS NEIGHBORS
-In 1947, the Jewish people accepted the UNN Partition Plan although it
gave the Arabs 85 % of the land originally promised by the British. The
Arabs rejected the plan.
-Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula (2 1/22 times the size of Israel)
for peace with Egypt.
-At Camp David II (2000), Israel Prime Miniister Barak offered the
Palestinians:
A Palestinian state comprising 91-97% of the territories
(the remainder would be made up from Israel proper),
Military control of Eastern Jerusalem and parts of the Old City.
Repatriation of many Palestinian refugees and
compensation to those who couldn't return.
2. The Palestinians will embrace peace if Israeli "occupation" ends.
-Arab nations attacked Israel 2 times beforre there any "occupied
territories".
-The PLO was created in 1964, before there were any "occupied
territories".
-40% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza Strip, comprising 97% of the
Palestinian population, is under direct control of the Palestinian
Authority.
3. Israel is using excessive force in dealing with harmless Palestinian
protestors.
-Palestinian terrorists, using bombs, mortaars, and automatic weapons,
hide-out amongst civilians and put children on the front line.
-Israel has placed its own soldiers in morttal danger while batting
against terrorism, in order to minimize the damage to Palestinian
civilians.
-During "Black September" in the 1970s, 25000 Palestinian rioters were
killed by Jordan in 10 days. (at the current rate, it would take 4
years to reach this number)
4. Jews are a foreign people without connection to the Land of Israel.
-Jews first came to the land of Israel as aa nation, in the year 1272
BC, 1800 years before the birth of Islan.
-In the Jewish Bible, Jerusalem is mentioneed over 700 times. Jerusalem
is not mentioned in the Quran even once.
-Every time a Jew prays he faces Jerusalem.. Muslims face Mecca.
-Jews have maintained a continuous presencee in Israel since being
exiled in 70 AD.
We acquire a little culture today. We went to a matinee perform of the
Opera Armide. The Opera House doesn't equal The Sydney Opera but no
other Opera House does either. But Tel Aviv ranks near the top from the
outside view. The interior is spacious and the acoustics were excellent
as was the sight lines. Armide is a story of a female ruler who has
1000 lovers but rejects marriage because of her fear of loss of her
control. However she falls in love with the enemy commander and in the
end he says he loves the glory of winning battles over her although she
ranks second. The performance was as good as it gets. We continue to
walk downtown Tel Aviv with its skyscrapers, "Tel Aviv was named 'white
city" the world's only city dominated by the International Style of Le
Corbusier and Miles van der Rohe-aesthetic of functional forms, flat
roofs, and white washed exteriors that became known as Bauhaus. By the
1950s, many of these buildings fell into disrepair or were demolished.
But Tel Aviv still has the largest collection of Bauhaus buildings in
the world, which won it a place on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Nov 25
Our hotel (Dan Panorama) had a free two hour guided tour which we took
We spent most of the time in Neve Tzedek. "In 1887 a small group of
Jewish families concentrated their efforts to get out of crowded,
poverty-stricken Jaffa and began creating a community on the sand to
the north of the mainly Arab port town. Building a a rate of 10 houses
a year, they laid the cornerstone for Neveh Tzedek (dwellings of
justice) in 1890. This was the forebear of Tel Aviv. (Three blocks from
our hotel) The area is off the beatn path for most tourists, but as
time and money are invested in its restoration, it attracts renewed
interest. Today, Neveh Tzedek is the home of many of Tel Aviv's
artists, rich and poor; it also has a splendid dance and arts complex
(the Suzanne Dellal Center) and a growing number of small trendy
galleries,gift stores, and restaurants. Though bordered on three sides
by major thorough-fares this little quarter is very tranquil. Made up
of only about a dozen tiny streets stuffed with one and two story
dwellings in various stages of either depressing disrepair or
enthusiastic renovation, Neveh Tzedek is rich with tales of 100 years
ago." The community is a protected area in that any improvements must
leave the outside looking as it did 100 years ago. I hope to put all my
pictures on www.snapfish.com available for all to download.
I have created a site on www.snapfish.com that should allow you to view
my photos from Israel. Go to http://www1.snapfish.com/groups/leofamilyfriends
if it ask for Room Code it is 07021930. Let me know if you have any
problems.
Nov 26
Today we took a van and guide north along the coast. We visited
Netanya, Caesarea, Haifa, Acre, Nahariyya, and Rosh HaNigra. The latter
is on the border with Lebannon.
The prominent sites of Akko include ancient Hellenistic, Roman
remnants, the Crusade and Ottoman quarters: the El Jazzar mosque, the
Order of St John Buildings, the underground Crusader city, Khan
El-Omdan, the Turkish baths, the Bahai temple and more. Many nations
and religious movements have left their mark on Akko the Canaanites,
Jews, Greeks, Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the Crusaders, the
Mamelukes through to the Turks and the British. At Haifa we saw the
Bahai Gardens one of the most beautiful sights in the world. Caesarea
by turns ancient Roman port city, Byzantine capital and a Crusader
stronghold. King Herod added greatly to the city especially the stone
based theatre still in use. The city became known as Caesarea in
orderof Herod's benefactor, Caesar Augustus. I shall write more later.
Nov 27
I arrived home in Florida this morning. Due to a minor mixup regarding
bus transportation to the Villages I had to wait for Mona to drive to
the Orlando Airport to pick me up. The day home lasted 26 hours but I
woke up at my usual time 6 am this morning.
Dec 2
As promised I will expand on our last day's trip to the Lebanon border.
First let me inform you that all my photos on the Israel trip are on
Snapfish. I am working on placing identifying captions on each photo.
As I complete one section I will substitute the new (captions included)
for the old without captions and notify you.
We hired a private guide for very little more than the 40 passenger bus
trip. It was worth every penny. Our first stop was Acre. If you want
more information about any city in Israel go to www.google.com and it
will have many sources of information. Standing on the hill which still
bears his name a little over a mile east of present day Acre, Napoleon
had his eyes fixed on History as he directed his army's siege of the
walled city in 1799. Unknown to him, History was curled up beneath his
feet. some 4000 years waiting to be exposed.
Archaeologists in recent decades have been stripping back layers of the
past from the artificial mound known as Napoleon's Hill, and still more
from beneath the present Old City, to expose one of the oldest
settlements in this part of the world. Acre has attracted and repelled
many invaders throughout its chequered history. It was first mention in
papyri of the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III, and reappears in Assyrian
chronicles of the 8th century BC. In ancient times, Acre was a major
port of the eastern Mediterranean where spices of the East were
exchange for merchandise from the West. Here St Paul embarked to spread
Christianity in the lands beyond the sea and the Richard the Lionheart
returned a millennium later to recapture the Holy Land from the Moslems.
Acre appears in the Bible as Akko, the name by which it is still known
in Hebrew. The city was part of the territory designated to the tribe
of Asher, but as Judges 1:31 tell us 'Neither did Asher drive out the
inhabitants of Akko nor the inhabitants of Sidon'. Unable to win the
area by force of arms, the Israelites settled peacefully among the
inhabitants of the land. For additional information I recommend the
free on line encyclopedia www.en.wikipedia.org
Our next stop was Caesarea. The Phoenicians built Caesarea then called
Strato's Tower in the 4th century BC. Herod the Great in 22 BC created
a deep water port by sinking huge stone pilings to the sea bottom in
front of the city, creating two artificial breakwaters designed to be
impregnable to Mediterranean storms. He built a colossal hilltop Temple
to Caesar Augustus. He constructed a theater and a stadium. Two
aqueducts were built to convey water to the city, one containing a huge
double conduit. It was supported by arches for the most of its six mile
length but where necessary to conquer topographical obstacles, it
tunneled its way over 100 feet to the great springs flowing from the
southern foothills of Mount Carmel.
We then went to Haifa, the main city of northern Isael and third
largest city in the country with a population of 267,800. It is the
major industrial and oil refinery port in Israel. The most visited
tourist attraction is the Baha'i World Centre (comprising the Shrine of
the Bah, terraced gardens and administrative buildings on Mt. Carmel's
northern slope.