The Road to Damascus

June 7/07

Val here.

Picture this. Arieh, Susan Zimmerman, (who joined us for a couple of weeks), our guide Ilan, and I are standing high in the Golan which overlooks the intersection of the borders of Jordan, Syria, and Israel. It is stunning up here. As the sun begins to set, we see the golden hills that reflect in the Yaroun? River below as well as the organized orchards of the kibbutzim south of the Sea of Galilee. We leave the viewpoint to drive down a narrow road to yet another viewpoint. Our guide assures us that we need not heed the sign "Military zone: Keep out."


Arieh bravely manoevres down the narrow road. We stop to view the spectacular view of the meeting of the three borders I already mentioned. A white SUV drives up the hill - a long discussion in Hebrew ensues about 'locked gates'. Next, a khaki military hummer presses up the hill. Three soldiers in military fatigues, guns at the ready, make no attempt to tell us of danger as they drive on. A few minutes later, a white Mazda 3 speeds up - the window opens - a man shouts at us:
"Isn't this the most awesome country you've ever seen?", closes his window, and drives on.

It gets me thinking. Yes, this is the most awesome country I've ever seen! Why? Let me count the ways. Today in the Golan, we saw borders from 1948, 1967, 1973, and 1992. The people of Israel adjust and make bloom whatever is their space. Their determination, intelligence, sense of history and of the aesthetic has made this strip of desert into an oasis. If it sounds cliched - well - there is no better way to describe it.

But always are remembered the dead who fought or were martyred in this land. The Golan inhabitants, for instance, have made sure that the importance of the Golan to Israel will not be forgotten. Sights overlooking scenes of the 6- Day War and the Yom Kippur War assure we are aware of the young men who lost their lives protecting the Golan and hence the rest of Israel from Syrian invaders.* There is a memorial to 12 young soldiers who lost their lives in 2006 in the Second War in Lebanon - killed when a missile hit their gathering point. Photographs of vibrant young men are posted whose memorial signs read: died 10-08-06. I can only think of the grieving families who will return here this year on the day of their Yahrzeits.

The Golan dwellers haven't enough voters to hold a seat in parliament, our guide tells us, so they make sure to inform visitors of the importance of the Golan to Israel. They make excellent arguments for retaining the Golan.

* Suggested reading about the Yom Kippur War: Adjusting Sights by Haim Sabato. Read that and you won't think war is so organized. You also will wonder why the mistakes of 1973 were repeated in 2006.