Wilderness of Judeah  (more local history here)

Warning: Old trip, ancient photographs with ancient camera

A region between Israel and the West Bank composed of various “wadis” (dry valleys, sometimes empty riverbeds). Historically, the Judean Desert was a great hiding place for rebels because of its geology (tall canyons, nooks and crannies). In Biblical notes, King David fled to this area after King Saul had ordered his death.

Around two thousand years ago during the First Roman and Jewish Wars, the Judean Desert was the place to go for your wide collection of forts! Most famously Masada. My biggest regret was being unable to visit the site … but there were lectures to attend. I will probably never get the chance to go back, at this point.

I rarely talk about my own personal experiences since I prefer to focus on the location rather than myself, but …

I had a weird time here. I was supposed to hear a lecture by a farmer but by the time I got there, I just passed out on a mat he had outside. Zzz. Sorry bub … I must have come off so rude. I had to use the restroom and went to some abandoned building when kids pelted rocks at me. I don’t know why. I don’t look like your stereotypical Yank.

Whatever their reasoning was, I was deliriously tired so I took a random pipe and started waving it while laughing and they got scared and realize I was a deranged hamburger and took off. I was dead tired ‘cause I had been averaging 2 – 3 hours of sleep.

I camped later, but suffered some serious problems with insomnia so around 2 AM I just wandered off into the Judean Desert, stumbling over large rocks. I felt down at the time, so I just sat alone humming until three peers also woke up and joined me.

I haven’t seen stars shine so vividly in a long time. My eyes drifted towards a mountain range until I saw a strange bright point – I thought A.) It’s a plane! B.) I’m insane!

A few seconds later, I realized the point was the rising crescent moon … I never saw anything like it before. I stood in awe until I heard some wild carnivores slaughtering an animal far away a scampered back to the tent before they smelled a Big Mac nearby … Nooo!

Jenin, West Bank (more local history here)

Warning: Very old photos from two years ago. I went on a trip with some professors.

Located in the northern parts of the West Bank in the Samarian Hills. Jenin (once known as Ginae by the Romans) was built on the ruins of the biblical En-Gannim (derived from Ein Ganim). 

Jenin was conquered by the Crusaders in 1103, followed the Salah Din Al-Ayyoubi in 1187, then by Mamluks in the 13th century, Ottomans 16th century, British, Jordians, Israelis and now Palestinians. More history in this area that I can cover in a single post.

More modern history … in accordance to the Oslo Agreements, Israel agreed to yield the city to Palestinian National Authorities in 1996. The city was the site of the “Battle of Jenin” in 2002 during the Second Intifada that caused massive structural damage that can be seen today. 

We weren’t allowed to bring our cars past the security check point from Israel, so we rode a taxi. The windows were blown out, and the seats were gone. I couldn’t communicate with the driver since my Arabic is so terrible, but everything went smoothly. My professor arranged a meeting with Musa Qadora, the govenor of Jenin, who showed us the city and stuffed very uncomfortable photos of the Second Intifada.  

A peer of mine had brought some stuffed animals and started giving them to some kids at a refugee camp. The third photo is a large horse sculpture created from the wreckage of the battle.

Ein Gedi (more local history here)

Warning: took these photos years ago with an battered up point-n-shoot camera. mind.

An oasis west of the Dead Sea near the site of Masada and the Qumran (which hid the Dead Sea scrolls). En-gedi, meaning “kid springs” hosted a number of civilizations since 4,000 BC. Despite the scorching heat of the region, nomadic tribes made residence here, such as Judah’s tribe.

Though I shrivel here, plants thrive. Throughout its history, the area was known for its agricultural fertility and its two fresh water springs. In fact!

Solomon compared his lover to “a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi,” an indication of the beauty and fertility of the site.

 To this day, it is still used for farming. 

The hike to the actual springs is pretty short. No more than a mile, but the heat just kills you. It didn’t help that I went during late Summer. Typically, heat in Israel, Lebanon, West Bank, etc. are more humidity based, but that day the sun was really out to get me.

Old City Jerusalem ( more local history here)

Notes: Photo with a bad camera. Took these on an old trip with professor and a few cohorts.

The recorded history of this place is a little too long for me to write about within a paragraph. Not my fondest place in Israel, maybe because I hated the tourists and the street merchants were very rude. I took a photo of some kid’ pimp ride while trying to capture the scenery behind it and he demanded I pay him. I just sputtered a lot of gibberish until he gave up. 

The city was settled during the 4th millennium by the Canaanites. From there, it was either occupied or turned into a vassal kingdom by all sorts of folks, from Egyptians, Macedonians, various Caliphates and the list goes on. The poor city has been besieged, attacked and captured at least one-hundred times since its creation. I had the luck of being able to go underneath the Old City into some ruins below the Western Wall and saw remnants of the past that was buried and built over. Unfortunately, I was unable to take photographs since it was too dark and it would damage the old structures. The current Old City has four quarters: Jewish, Christian, Armenian and Muslim. I was there for a few days so I was able enough to venture around all three of them and managed to get inside Temple Mount, a sacred site to both Jewish and Muslim traditions. There are two points of entry to the site, each owned by their respective religion. My cohorts entered through the latter and some ladies were bundled up quite extensively. Why, I am not sure, because the locals didn’t dress that way. Ran across a similar issue over the Western Wall. I’m assuming the extra emphasis on modesty is because we arrived on holy days.

I had the luck of coming here during the year 2009 when Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah ended around the same day (September 21st). I remember getting hopelessly lost in the crowd, but the festivities were worth it. My fondest memories were celebrating Shabbat on the rooftops with the entire view of Old City Jerusalem and watching the Ramadan firework. I guess another thing I liked about the Old City were all the alleyways and crannies. My fondest memories was jumping around the rooftops, heheh. 

I remember getting lost in an alleyway and a group of wooers were coming onto me, probably because I looked exotic. I thought, “Wow, heh, Josiah you are a pimp.” Then they asked me if I was Japanese, and I replied, “Nah, I am American.” Their reaction was : ( My reaction was : (

Fail.

Haifa, Israel

Warning: I took these photos with my broken camera. Heh, sorry for the bad quality. These are a bit old. It was from a trip I went with a professor for academic reasons.

I’ve been from the toe of Lebanon, to the tip of Egypt, the rear of Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. I can safely say Haifa is the most beautiful city in Israel … at least in my opinion.

Jeez, there is so much history behind this location; a paragraph won’t do it justice. Haifa was first mentioned around 300 C.E. as a tiny fishing town. It grew in terms of importance, but was always overshadowed because of the large city of Acre. During the Industrial Revolution, the city became a major economic center.

What I like the most about Haifa is it reminds me of an Israeli San Francisco. Lots of diversity and intermingling of people. The large structure in the photos was constructed by Baha’is (who are also responsible for lovely, lovely architecture around the world). It was a nice mental break for me after being in stressful locles like Hebron and around Gaza.