Golan

Thanksgiving for the new Israelis from the United States at Ein Hashofet was sad and full of nostalgia. We told each other stories of food, family and football the entire morning. However, fortunately for us, there was a scheduled trip to the Golan that totally distracted us from realization that over the ocean people are celebrating Turkey Day. (Although once the cold schnitzel was brought out for lunch, the turkey popped into our heads again.)
Golan is beautiful. We started out by driving east and while on the bus we heard stories of Meggido, Nazareth, kibbutzim and anything else that our guides found interesting. Our first stop was a spot overlooking Kineret where we could see Tveria, Zfat and Lebanon. Who knew that our country was this small? Just climb 800 meters and everything is right there in front of you…

Then the trip took us to Gamla. Gamla was a castle that suffered a similarly tragic fate as Masada during the revolt against Rome. Its defenders fought off thousands of Roman legionnaires for over two months and when they saw that the walls were going to be broken through they chose death over life without freedom. Right now this national park also serves as a refuge for eagles and other birds. I took a lot of pictures but I also hope to go there sometime in the spring because the place is simply beautiful.
Next up was Mt. Bental. From it we looked at Syria and UN forces stationed on the border. The border itself is very visible simply because the Israeli side has countless farm fields and the Syrian side is completely empty. Interesting, isn’t it? Same land but different results. The mountain itself is a part of a sleeping volcano and we drove through the crater on the way up. Inside the crater is a vineyard. I’d be more enthusiastic about this fact but I think I’m getting used to this wonderful land because I expect amazing things like that wherever I go. I accepted the fact that everything in Israel is remarkable and I’m just enjoying casually pointing out these facts as if to say: “You mean to say that you don’t have hot springs an hour from where you live? Strange, we have some…”
That was our last stop, by the way: the hot springs of Hamat Gader. This place was used by Turks and Romans and was considered among the best in those empires. Water is coming out of the Golan mountains at an average temperature of 30°C and with a chemical composition that will make one’s skin silky soft and smooth and will relax their aching bones.
We got back to Ein Hashofet around 8pm with plenty of things to think about and absorb. For me what I got from the trip was a better understanding of that region. Just a couple of points that I want to make on that: Golan is beautiful and we should never give it back. For many years it served as a perfect place to rain down rockets and snipe Israeli civilians below and until the Six Day War the area around them was similar to living in current day Sderot. The inhabitants of kibbutzim in the area couldn’t go from house to house without danger of death. That’s why there are so many tall trees planted all around them – they served as an obstacle to Syrian snipers. Putting Hezbollah there is unacceptable. Also considering that a third of water in the Kineret is flowing from these mountains and that there was a precedent by Syria to divert that water from getting to Israel, why give them that opportunity again? Finally it’s just sad to see so much hard work go to waste. Golan is the way it is because of rivers of blood, sweat and tears. It’s green, alive, flowering and rich. Our history is there and it seems like our future might be determined there too.