The second day of the Australian teachers’ delegation was spent in northern Israel. The day began at the border, in the upper Naftali Mountains, at Kibbutz Misgav Am. The delegation is traveling in Israel for ten days, embarking on educational tours and visiting projects founded and funded by friends of JNF Australia.
The group was greeted by kibbutz members Bezalel Lev Tov and Aryeh Ben Yaakov, who told them about life near the Lebanese border. “When I moved here everybody thought I was crazy”, said Lev Tov. “Life here isn’t easy, and our challenge is to attract more families, so that the kibbutz will grow”.
Misgav Am was founded in 1945, on land purchased by KKL-JNF. Currently, over 300 people live in the Kibbutz, most of them working in agriculture. Misgav Am was in the headlines in 1980, when terrorists took over a nursery school and held a group of children hostage. A Sayeret Matkal force burst into the nursery and killed the terrorists. Three Israelis were killed – a child, a kibbutz member and one of the soldiers.
“We don’t hate our neighbors, but we will do whatever it takes to protect ourselves”, said Ben Yaacov. “This is the only place where you can see Syria, Lebanon and the Mediterranean at the same time. We have a spectacular panoramic view here, that I guess you will have to imagine,” he commented as his guests laughed, since the mountains were covered with mist that morning.
25 years old Hili grew up in the kibbutz and after several years in Canada came back to live here with her husband and their baby. “I wanted my daughter to grow up with a sense of community, so I came back to the place that’s always been my home,” she says.
“I had visited Israel many times in the past, but coming here with this kind of delegation, and not with my family, it feels very different,” says Terry Aizen from Sidney. “It’s fascinating to go to places that an ordinary tourist doesn’t usually visit.”
Enjoying the Scenery with a Jeep Tour
The group then went on a jeep tour in the Golan Heights. Along the way their guides told them about the battles in this region during the War of Independence, the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War.
The route passed through an ancient Roman Road and reached Tel Azzaziat. The group observed the view from the hilltop and listened to an explanation about the place and its history. Until the Six Day War, it served as a Syrian army outpost, and remainders of old bunkers are still scattered on the hill.
As they were gazing upon the communities in the valley beneath them, the guests understood how difficult it would have been for the people living there to lead a normal life under the constant Syrian shelling.
“The 61 teachers from all over Australia who came here represent about 20,000 schoolchildren from 12 schools and educational institutions”, says Gabbie Budai, JNF News South Wales State Executive Director. “Coming here, they are learning about the history, the values, the culture and the landscape, and they will take the knowledge and they’ve acquired here as well as their experiences to their classrooms in Australia.”
Time Traveling in Ancient Katzrin
At the Ancient Katzrin Park, the group traveled 2000 years back in time, to the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, in order to learn about the ancient history of Jewish settlement in the Golan with their guide Abbie Rosenbaum.
The members of the delegation put on traditional clothes from that era, and walked among the remnants of old buildings, including a Talmudic synagogue and an olive oil press. They also got to press olives for oil and participate in a music workshop with replicas of ancient musical instruments. The unique sounds reverberated between the archaeological remnants and green landscape, creating an unforgettable ambience.
“This visit connected us to Israel’s history”, says Garron Forman from Sydney. “We get to see the amazing work Israelis are doing in all the fields and their love for their country.”
Birds at Hula Lake Park
The Hula Lake Park is Israel’s main birding site, and an internationally acclaimed bird watching park. This unique park is a model for bringing together nature, agriculture and tourism.
Ze’ev Kedem was the group’s guide at the park and told them how in the 1950’s, the state of Israel drained the Hula swamps so that it could cultivate the land for agriculture. Years later it turned out that draining the Hula damaged the soil and polluted the water in the Sea of Galilee, so in the early 1990’s KKL-JNF was asked to transform it back into a wetland habitat. Today it is a tourist attraction and KKL-JNF is developing the site with the help of its Friends from around the world.
The park’s most celebrated guests are, of course, its 40,000 cranes that are currently holidaying here on their migratory path from Europe to Africa for the cold winter months. Most of the cranes have already left, but many of them are enjoying the hospitality here and have chosen to stay until spring time. Every morning the cranes come to eat the corn and peanuts provided for them in the open fields, preventing them from feeding on the crops of the surrounding farms. At night time they return to sleep by the lake. According to Oded, the guide, “This is the biggest hotel in the world.”
The members of the delegation climbed into a Mystery Wagon hide and went to watch the cranes up close. They were very impressed by the sight of these big birds covering the skies and filling the fields and the lake. Their loud cries were just as impressive. It seems that in Israel, even the birds are a bit too loud.
Approximately 300 bird species and many mammal species live in the lake, so asides from the cranes, there’s much more to see. The group saw ducks swimming in the lake, flying ibises in search of food, nutria water rats swimming in the water and even a swamp cat - quite a rare sight.
“Today we saw different sides of Israel, both ancient and modern”, said Joseph Herschel, from Sydney. This was his first visit to Israel and he said that it’s definitely different from what he’d heard about it before coming. “I am now beginning to understand Israel’s story better, and am excited to see what still lays ahead of us here.”