A little tif in the Middle East

Hello Everyone,

Laurel has received a few worried emails regarding the situation in Southern Israel with our Neighbor to the East. We in Jerusalem are very safe. I am not sure what the news is saying in America, but Israel is finally retaliating against the attacks from Gaza. A quick update for everyone:

For seven years Israel has endured rockets falling on her from Gaza. Even during the recent ceasefire Hamas pelted Israel with Kasam Rockets, dug tunnels under the boarder, and shot at boarder crossings. Whenever a crossing was hit, Israel would close the boarder temporarily. This was then used against Israel to show the world that Israel was starving the people of Gaza by not allowing food to cross the boarder.

The IDF method of fighting is not one directed at hurting civilians. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Before the attacks, Israel dropped leaflets letting the people of Gaza know that there would be bombs falling on Hamas targets. This has reduced the amount of civilian. The news being broadcast from Gaza may depict otherwise, because the news is filmed by Hamas supporters. When the news shows homes being destroyed it is because Hamas uses civilian shields to hid behind as they shoot at Israel from houses, schools, and are currently hiding in hospitals.

Recently Gordon Johndroe, Deputy Assistant to President Bush said,"We don't want a cease-fire agreement that isn't worth the piece of paper it's written on. We want something that's lasting and, most importantly, respected by Hamas." It is horrible that there is fighting again, yet the fighting may scare Hamas into a real ceasefire agreement. This would mean that children of Sderot wouldn't have to play in their playground made out of bomb shelters.

This is my view on the situation, from living in Israel and taking classes on the Arab Israeli conflict for the past 4 months. to get more information please read Haaretz at www.haaretz.com, and the Jerusalem Post at www.jpost.com.

http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk shows Israel's humanitarian efforts, as well as Israel hitting Hamas launch pads from civilian homes.

As I mentioned, we are very safe. We were told to stay out of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Jewish quarter is fine, but the Christian and Muslim quarters have had some acts of violence against Jews by the Arab citizens. There is a little tension in the air, but life goes on as usual.

Wandering the desert.. for 3 days

When any group goes hiking in Israel they have a guide, and a medic. The medic walks in the back and carries a post WWI gun. The guide does his job, guides. On our latest trip we had two medics, one walked with us and the other stayed up all night and watch the campsite for Bedouins.

 Bedouins are nomadic tribes that wander the desert, and having no governing body often steal from campers or travelers. Our guide told us (after the hike) that the week before, he led a trip and everything was stolen in the middle of the night.

 Three weeks ago we went to the desert. I am not sure what you think of when you hear the word desert, but I always pictured wandering through sand dunes. Unlike the Sahara Desert, the Judean Desert and the Negev are both rocky, steep terrain. Day one we walked through the Negev, for 5 hours. The bus dropped ups off in what looked like the middle of nowhere, and left. Lucky for us the scorching summer heat was something of the past, and we hiked through bearable weather. We were also lucky enough to see a rare specimen outside its natural habitat. Israeli high school students, hiking in tight jeans, leggings, and carrying ipods blocked the path for an hour. We couldn’t go around them, because there was only one small trail or the possibility of falling off the cliff. So we waited. For some reason Israeli teens, no matter where they are hiking, wear tight jeans, leggings, and carry ipods. At the end of the trail our bus picked us up, and drove us to our campsite. It took us longer to get everyone on the bus at the end of the trail then it took for us to get to the campsite. I don’t think we were in the bus for more then 7 minutes. There was nothing there to identify this area of the side of the road from any other area, and nothing to say it was a campsite. The bus drove off, and there we were, in the desert, with the sun setting, and nothing of a campsite anywhere. The man who was supposed to bring the food for us to cook, and the tents for us to sleep in was lost/his car broke down/information chain broke down. I wasn’t sure what happened, but we waited for a few more hours. It grew dark, and still we waited. FINALLY, after 2 hours the campsite man arrived. Laurel helped get ready for dinner, while I sat and watched for fox. I wasn’t sure what I would do when I saw one, but I was nervous that one would run off with me and I didn’t wanted to be caught off guard.

That night we had hotdogs, salad, bread, hummus, and marshmallows. The Marshmallows were for roasting around the campfire after we ate. As I am sure you are worried and sitting at the edge of your seat, I wasn’t taken away by a fox. I did see a fox darting in between the tents, though it never came close enough to get me. When everyone went to bed, except the medic. Laurel slept on a rock. Not just any rock, but a rock that relocated to another annoying spot every time she tried to move. I slept great. Laurel left me close to her bag outside the tent, which was great because I could continue to look for fox until I fell asleep. 

Day two we walked through the Judean Desert. This desert hike did not have as many steep cliffs to climb, but was a lot of slow, steady hills. When looking out at the horizon it looks like small hills, yet the depth perception is so off that small hills are really very tall, mountain like hills. Camels grazing dotted the area as we trudged through the desert. We got to the end of a cliff, and over the edge was the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth. A winding trail led to a freshwater pool. Where hundreds of High School students has yet again flocked. After about ½ an hour of splashing in the water we continued to the end of the hike, where our bus was waiting to take us to our campsite on the Dead Sea.

Tired yet content we set up camp on the shore of the Dead Sea. After dinner a group of people went down to the beach, and Laurel went to sleep. She, Jesse, and Sareet all opted to sleep outside under the stars. I chose to sleep in the tent, because I was not going to risk getting rained on. In the middle of the night I was woken not by rain, but by a fighter jet flying directly over the trees. Laurel told me the next day that the jet looked like it was brushing the treetops, and the thundering was directly above her.

The sun rising woke Laurel, who after getting morning coffee, went done to the beach for a morning… float. I was too nervous I would float away to Jordan, so I watched from the shore. If you have never floated in the Dead Sea, Laurel tells me it is an almost unreal experience. You can’t dive into the water, because the intense mineral and salt concentration would burn your eyes. Instead you sit back… and float!