Hey everyone! I’m back this week with another blog to continue telling about my journey through the Golan Heights in Israel. Previously, I wrote about the Ghetto Fighters Museum and told a little about the history behind the Golan Heights. A brief history of the area includes Israeli rule from 2,000 BCE to 800 BCE, when the Assyrians took over, followed by back-and-fourth conflict between groups until 1967, when Israel gained control of the land once again.
We arrived in the Golan Heights at around noon on June 28th, 2016 (the only reason I remember the exact date and time is because I have a timestamp on my phone). Upon arriving in the Golan Heights, an Israeli catering company set up a small picnic for our group. They laid out large blankets over grass, where we sat down and indulged in traditional Israeli cuisines, which included falafel, pita, and hummus.
We spent about 45 minutes to an hour eating before we began our tour of the Golan Heights. This tour, however, was not a typical driving tour through the desert. To our surprise, our tour would be given in old Jeeps! We were all so thrilled to find this out and we all ran over to the different vehicles, trying to call “shotgun” first and take the front seat or a great seat otherwise. To my luck, I had the experience of sitting in the front seat during our tour, which was truly a phenomenal experience. Attached is a video of the ride.
As the video above shows, we drove on a road throughout the Golan Heights and were able to see the incredible landscape and breath-taking views. After about 10-15 minutes of driving, we went off-road and the jeep began trekking up massive hills in the desert. After a little bit longer, we hit our first destination on our tour throughout the Golan Heights: an independence war tank. My grandfather, an independence war fighter, actually fought in a tank like the one that we saw. The fact that these were the tanks that my grandfather fought in truly struck meand helped me gain more respect for what he has gone through. Today, my grandfather wears hearing aids, which can most likely be attributed to the fact that he fought in tanks and loud explosions went off right next to his ear for entire wars.
After we entered the Jeeps again, we made our way to the top of a mountain, where there sat a relatively small bunker. The view atop the bunker was extraordinary. You could see a small town in Syria, where the rebel soldiers had taken over recently, the border between Israel and Lebanon, and giant bodies of water amidst the desert. We entered the bunker and walked down steep sloping stairs until we were about 25-50 feet underground, which truly surprised me because I did not believe that it was actually that deep as we walked down.
Soon after, we arrived at a giant room at the bottommost part of the bunker. Our tour guide began telling us a story. He said that three years prior (2013), there was a member of Al Qaeda passed out, dehydrated on the floor of the bunker, exactly where we were standing. Apparently, this member of Al Qaeda, in exchange for his freedom, let the United States and other anti-terrorism countries know about several secrets of the terrorist group. Countless thoughts ran through my mind when I heard this, including, “what if there’s someone right behind that corner, ready to come out and shoot us all?”, but I think I was just being dramatic.
After the bunker, we headed to an abandoned hospital in the middle of desert, which had an incredible amount of graffiti on it and seemed extremely run down.
Then, as we began our journey back to the base where the jeeps left from, our tour guide told us, “Yeah, that’s the Syrian border… We are about 40 meters away from there and there are Syrian rebel snipers with their guns aimed at you in this very moment… so don’t make any moves”. While I would think that I would freak out at a statement such as this one, I actually felt relatively calm. I thought it was really interesting and progressive that the rebels were not completely against Israel. Maybe if the rebels win the war, peace can ensue between these two countries. Below is a picture of the road that sat 40 meters from the Syrian border.
On our way back, we drove through an apple farm in the middle of the desert. At one point, I turned to the driver and said “Can you get me an apple”, and without hesitation he answers, ‘You want apple? I get you apple”. After a United Nations vehicle passes to our left, our driver swings around a tree and the next thing you know, a branch with an apple is cut by the window and lands in my lap. I was astonished at how he did this. The apple was sour and wasn’t ripe yet, but I was stunned at how he managed to get me the apple and I still, to this day, believe that he has practiced that more than once.
I loved reading this blog! I was very intrigued and invested from the first sentence to the last one. Your title of the blog was super intriguing because it sounded scary so I was excited to see what that meant. I loved how you were able to connect this experience to your grandpa and how it gave you more respect for him, that is such a cool connection. I also really liked how you added a video of your jeep ride, it made me want to hop into a jeep and go on a ride through the desert. I also enjoyed how, when you were talking about the Syrian rebels, you were able to connect it back to your feelings about peace in these countries. You did not only talk about your experiences, but your feelings about them which allowed a reader to understand you even more. Awesome, awesome job!
I think it is so amazing that you got to experience all of this. I think going on any trip outside the country is amazing but this one is definitely something that you’ll remember forever. It was so interesting reading all about your experiences and connections you made to your grandfather and even to yourself. The passion you have for Israel and its sights is definitely evident in your writing. Hopefully one day I have the opportunity to travel to Israel and experience some of its wonders! Great job!
Your recollection of your visit to Golan Heights is absolutely spectacular; while reading, I could envision your experiences in my mind. It is even more intriguing to hear your instantaneous reactions to your surroundings and experiences. Although I can (in absolutely no way) feel the precise emotions you experienced in those moments, you did a fantastic job of portraying those sentiments and sharing the primary thoughts that were in your mind.
Your relation to the Freedom Wars is also quite intimate by way of your grandfather’s experiences and I feel it is very healthy and just that you be able to connect with his experiences by seeing the tracks left by the wars first-hand. Were I to be in a similar position, I would undoubtedly jump on an opportunity to share a connection at that level.
How effortless your guide’s actions to get you the apple is rather duel-edged, as well. It was super kind of him to pluck the branch for you, but your description and comment that you felt as though he had done it before is disheartening. It is so easy to overlook the conditions of our fellow humans when we cannot see them with our own eyes, but hearing about situations such as this really bring them into stark relief.
I so hope you enjoyed your trip to Israel and I hope to read more about your journeys!