A delegation composed of representatives from both JNF South Africa and Jewish organizations active in the BeYachad Center in Johannesburg has arrived for a tour of Israel: ten days of visiting sites throughout the country in order to observe at first hand a wide variety of KKL-JNF projects in different areas. One special day was devoted to KKL-JNF projects in the Gaza Periphery, including the Southern Research and Development Station in the Besor region, the Tzabar garin at Kibbutz Saad, Kibbutz Kfar Aza and the Halutza communities.
“It’s important to us that people see the other side of Israel,” explained Isla Feldman, Chairperson of JNF South Africa. “We’ve come to observe everyday life in Israel and KKL-JNF’s profound involvement in all spheres of activity: trees, land, agriculture, community and water.”
“The delegation members have been toiling for years for Israel’s benefit, and it’s important for them to see what it is they’ve been working so hard for,” said Amber Cummins, Bureau Chief at JNF South Africa. “Even though I’ve visited Israel so many times, I see new sides to it every time, because it’s such a fascinating and varied country.”
Activists in Jewish organizations in South Africa have to cope with the harsh criticism leveled at Israel, sometimes by people who are unaware of the facts and have no deep understanding of the situation. “This visit gives us all better tools that will help us to represent Israel,” said Amber Cummins.
The Southern Research and Development Station: Farming in the desert
At the Besor region’s Southern Research and Development Station the delegates met Lianna Ganot, who is in charge of plant protection. She told them how the station is engaged in experiments designed to help farmers to save water, combat pests, improve profitability and cope with local climate and soil conditions.
Ganot, who is herself of South African extraction, told her guests: “Thanks to innovative growing methods and the unique crop varieties developed by the researchers, agriculture is flourishing in our area.”
During their tour of the station the delegates were impressed by the various crops they saw, and by the tomatoes in particular, as seventy per cent of Israel’s tomatoes come from the Besor region. Ganot proudly mentioned a remarkable innovation at the station: strawberries grown hanging in the air, to facilitate picking and make life harder for pests who try to reach them. “More and more places today are adopting this method of growing strawberries,” she said.
Another interesting experiment underway at the station involves the development of grapes that ripen from January until March, instead of in the summer months. Ganot explained the advantages: “When they pick the fruit out of season, farmers get a higher price for their produce.” This is true of all crops, including flowers. “We market our flowers through the Flower Exchange in the Netherlands. Of course, we can’t compete with locally-grown flowers that reach the market the same day. Our strategy, instead, is to pick flowers at a time when they are out of season elsewhere.”
Reducing the use of pesticides is another important objective at the station. One of the alternatives currently being examined is biological pest control, i.e., eliminating crop-destroying pests with the help of their natural enemies. In the pepper greenhousethe delegates saw how a special net prevents harmful insects from getting at the crops, and so reduces the need for pesticide sprays.
With regard to water, Ganot explained: “Because of the shortage of water in Israel, each farmer is allocated a quota. One of our objectives here at the station is to develop crop varieties and growing methods that produce a maximum yield with a minimum quantity of water.”
South Africa is dealing with a severe drought, and the delegates expressed their conviction that their country could greatly benefit from increased cooperation with Israel and from the advanced water technologies Israel is in the process of developing.
Among the delegates were two people who do not work for Jewish organizations: Alan Klotnick and his wife Shulamith, who decided to join the excursion privately, as they did last year. “I would like to encourage stronger ties between South Africa and Israel, especially where water technology is concerned,” said Alan Klotnick. “Israel has developed a great deal of expertise, which it offers to anyone who expresses an interest.”
Naveh: Settling the Negev
The next stop was the community of Naveh in the Halutza Sands, where Israel’s border meets those of Egypt and Gaza. There the visitors met Aharon Tzohar, a teacher in the Otzem Pre-Military Program. “Until seven years ago, there was nothing here at all but sand,” said Tzohar. “Every miracle is founded upon two things: faith and cooperation. We’ve established this community and made our dream reality with the help of KKL-JNF and its Friends all over the world.”
KKL-JNF, together with its friends around the world, helped with a variety of projects related to the establishment of Naveh: it prepared the land for settlement and agriculture and provided the green landscaping around the area used by the Otzem program. Today over one hundred families live in the community, and building continues constantly.
Tzohar moved his listeners when he spoke about one of the students in the program, a youngster who, despite having been born without fingers, insisted on enlisting in a combat unit and served as a sharpshooter in the infantry before being injured in the war in Gaza. Since then he has undergone rehabilitation and has recovered.
Dallas Khumbalo, a driver at BeYachad for the past five years, told us that, although he had heard a great deal about Israel, this is his first visit to the country.
“We’ve seen a lot of beautiful places and heard about the important work KKL-JNF does here,” he said, before adding: “In South Africa we hear bad things about Israel all the time, as if it’s an apartheid state. But when you visit here you can see at once that everyone lives together – Jews, Muslims and Christians. This has been an eye-opening experience for me. When I get back home I’ll tell everyone what Israel’s really like and I’ll tell them not to believe everything they see in the media. I regard myself as an ambassador for Israel now.”
Kfar Aza: Life on the border
How do people in the Gaza Periphery cope with the complex security situation and life on the border? The delegates visited Kibbutz Kfar Aza, met with local residents, looked upon Israel's border with the Gaza Strip and toured the beautiful green kibbutz.
Kibbutz member Shai Hermesh, a former head of the regional council who was also a member of the Knesset in the past, began his talk by recalling some of the most important projects that KKL-JNF has developed in the community, with the help of its Friends worldwide. Among them are a floodwater reservoir for crop irrigation, agricultural infrastructure and the "life-saving trees" project, a line of tall, fast growing trees along the border that conceal the community from the eyes of terrorists who attempt to shell it from the Palestinian side. “When there’s a problem and I don’t know whom to turn to, I get in touch with KKL-JNF,” he said.
Today 750 people live in Kfar Aza, 250 of who are children. “Our main purpose is to attract young families to the area and continue to bring up our children here,” said Hermesh. “Having lots of children is the best indicator of our faith in the future, despite the difficulties that beset us.”
Hermesh explained that when the alert sounds, the local people have fifteen seconds to take cover. “From the age of two the children already know what they have to do, because they grow up with this situation. If there’s no time to get to a protected area, the parents lie on top of the children to protect them. If you have a number of children, you have to decide which one to cover with your body. When mortars are fired, there’s no alarm at all, and you just have to lie on the floor and hope for the best,” he said.
He also addressed one of the most problematic issues troubling residents of the border area and of the country as a whole: the terrorists’ underground tunnels. “We may have got used to the shelling, but now we have to deal with a new threat,” he told the visitors.
While coping with the security situation, the local people strive to maintain a normal kibbutz routine based upon work, high quality education for the children, social and cultural activities and a lively community life. “Despite all the problems, we and all other communities in the area have a waiting list of young families who want to come and live here,” declared Hermesh with pride, and added in conclusion: “Israel can’t survive without its border settlements. It’s not enough for the army to defend the border: we need farmers to work the fields and families to bring up children.”
Kibbutz Saad: A warm home for lone soldiers
On the other side of the road, directly opposite Kfar Aza, is Kibbutz Saad. Residents of Kfar Aza joke that Saad is considered completely safe, as it lies another few hundred meters further from the border. Ronit Bart, who teaches English at the local school, led the visitors on a brief tour and told them about life on this religious kibbutz.
Saad is home to a special center for lone soldiers who have immigrated to Israel without their families as part of the Scout Movement’s Garin Tzabar (“Sabra Core Group”), which has established similar communal living centers in kibbutzim and cities all over Israel. Today 1,200 soldiers participate in the program nationwide, with another 400 joining every year.
“The soldiers come here on weekends when they’re on leave from the army, and we try to provide them with a warm and supportive home,” explained Ronit Bart.
These Zionist youngsters have immigrated to Israel from countries all over the world, including South Africa, leaving their families and former lives behind in order to serve in the IDF. Most of them enlist in combat units, and around 70% of them opt to remain in Israel after their military service.
Kibbutz member Ram Ador was a “kibbutz father” to Aharon Cooper, a young man who made aliyah from the USA in 2011 and served as a combat soldier in a paratroop unit. “As these soldiers are far away from their biological families, we try to provide them with an alternative family – parents, brothers, sisters and all the rest,” said Ador. “It’s been exciting to watch him grow up and learn to work together with others.”
“It’s not easy to serve in the army and it’s no fun to come back to an empty apartment, and that’s why this project is especially important,” said Aharon Cooper. “Thanks to Garin Tzabar I had a family to come home to, and that helped me a great deal.”
The day concluded with a brief visit to Kibbutz Saad’s Daat School, which is completely armored against rocket fire. It was established around four years ago, and Friends of JNF Australia have helped to provide it with a beautiful green yard that includes lawns, a well cared for garden, seating areas and play equipment.
The day after their trip south, the delegates traveled to northern Israel. One of the highlights of the excursion was a tree-planting ceremony in Lavie Forest, which was developed with the help of Friends of JNF South Africa. The young trees will no doubt grow, flourish and strike deep roots, as the Israelis themselves have done thanks to their determination, talents and hard work – and thanks, too, of course, to the support of their Friends worldwide.