Army Trip: ”Battalion Race”

This past Thursday, the day after the short holiday of Shavuot, a good chunk of our battalion, 6910 “Northern Knights”, was treated to a day of sports and activities. The main feature of the day was a “battalion race” where all five companies in the battalion got different coloured t-shirts and participated in a big race. The destination was the Ramat HaNadiv park just outside of Zichron Ya’akov. The morning started off quite cool and refreshing, a gentle breeze in the air.

Perfect day for a run

Before the run, when all the battalion was gathered around, the base commander (a lieutenant colonel) and the commander of all three truck driving bases (a colonel) gave little speeches, two army photographers snapping away on the sidelines. Before long, my green-shirted company (active-service truck drivers) was called up and we gathered at the starting line:

The starting line

The signal was given and off we went, running the marathon. Here are some photos of other people running, the black-shirted “Command” company here:

Runners

Runners up the hill

Before too long, a friend and I stopped at some ruins we were passing at the side of the trail. We decided to ditch the race and explore the antiquities. It was a wise decision, nothing like a good look at the past. This particular building, known as the Mansur El-Aqab ruins, was basically a Byzantine-era farmhouse belonging to Jews with some other bits and pieces from the Crusader times. It’s a pretty extravagant farmhouse, I’d say.

Mansur El-Aqab ruins

We first headed to what we saw was an observation area, the Mediterranean Sea and the coastal plains clearly visible from far away. The view was incredible. My two favourite parts were the train passing by far below (it made me want to film a western movie) and watching a hovering kestrel hunt (raptors are amazing to watch, especially when they are flying so close by).

Observation cliff

Here is a panoramic photo of some of the view, those dark patches are cloud shadows:

Panoramic of the view

And here am I, enjoying the incredibly serene view:

Enjoying the view

After a good, long break we hit the trail again, heading back to the finish line (which was the start line as well, the route being a looped one). On the way I snapped a photo of this little clearing area. The delicate lace flowers of the Queen Anne’s lace combined with the bold pines, clouds and blue sky made for a very interesting look.

Field of Queen Anne’s lace

We made it back to where the rest of the battalion was lounging, having basically missed the rest of the race. The soldiers were waiting for the BBQ to finish up, and in the meantime little cereal bars were available, and then when the wait got longer, out came boxes of popsicles. But we waited patiently, a dozen or so soldiers putting on tefillin while they waited – which was nice to see. Eventually the food was ready and an extensive buffet was opened up. We helped ourselves and upon completion of lunch, engaged in some activities with park staff. After the activities we were hustled into the gardens of the park, where we spent the bulk of our time last army trip to this particular park:

Walk through the gardens

As we walked the sun seemed to get more and more fierce, and as I sit here now typing, a nasty sunburn adorns the back of my neck. We were led to a grassy area where a darbouka drumming session was being held, presumably for us yet I saw civilians chiming in as well so it could have been the park’s idea. I seized up a fancy darbouka and made semi-rhythmic noises to accompany the wall of darbouka thumps that filled the air. Next we kind of milled about and then escaped to sit in the shade in peace. Some time later we headed onto the buses from which we came and were driven to a gym where a little battalion ceremony was held. The most interesting part of the ceremony was two Israeli Arab soldiers from my company who went up to the mics to deliver a custom Hebrew rap about our base, and our company in particular. The interesting part was when my company commander, a major, hopped on the “stage” and joined in on the rap… that was interesting to see.

That’s all for now, folks. Until the next adventure, whenever it may be!

Castra & the Atlit ”Illegal” Immigration Camp

On the second day of Chol HaMoed, somewhat well-rested from the previous day’s trip to Tel Dan, we headed out in the very opposite direction, destination: Castra and Atlit (just south of Haifa). First site, coming out of the Carmel Tunnels (which feel way longer in a car than in a bus) was the Castra museums. Located within a mall, there are two “museums”: a Doll Museum which, in many display cases, recite the history of the Jewish people, and the Archaeological Museum which showcases the finds of Khirbet Castra’s excavations. Khirbet Castra lays on the western slopes of Mount Carmel and was an important settlement during the Byzantine period. Artefacts found in the area can be traced back to all different periods, due to the great location of the area.

Old ceramic piece from Castra

Rather small museums, but free of charge, there isn’t too much to share but here is a nice scene from the Doll Museum – the 1967 recapture of the Kotel, a great time in recent Jewish history:

Doll depiction of the 1967 recapture of the Kotel

After the Castra Mall museums we continued south and took a little stop at my base. We weren’t allowed in, well I was, but it gave my family a glimpse of what some of the army life is like – a glimpse. After the base, we continued on south to Atlit, on a road that I’ve driven on so many times. At the entrance to Atlit, just across from the gas station we fill our trucks up at, is the Atlit “Illegal” Immigration Camp. Being that I pass it so often while army driving, I’ve been waiting and waiting to get inside. With the tour starting shortly, we hopped on in. The first site on the tour, a prisoner transport bus with a British army guard:

Transport bus and guard

To relay a brief overview of the site, the Atlit camp was built in the late 1930s by the British to hold the refugees flooding in from Europe, before, during and especially after the war. After stopping the clandestine immigration ships out at sea, the British would often detain the wannabe immigrants and so the camp at Atlit began its years of service. With new people continuously coming, the British would let people go from time to time. Here is a aerial model of the camp and the train tracks, with the guard towers on the low sandy hill in between:

Model of the camp

One famous incident took place at the camp. One night, after two days deliberation, the Palmach sent fighters into the camp to release everyone. Yitzhak Rabin, the prime minister who was assassinated, was one of the commanders of the Palmach strike force that liberated the camp. With the operation a success, the British devised a detaining method out of the Palmach’s reach – detainment camps in Cyprus. An island off the coast of Turkey and Syria, the British opened up camps and brought the wannabe immigrants in by the thousands. But before the opening of the Cyprus camps, the Jewish immigrants were brought, often by train, to the camp at Atlit. Here is a photograph of children who survived the Holocaust being “transferred” from German camps to British camps in 1945:

Children who survived the Holocaust…

First thing first when entering the camp. Segregation, showering and delousing with DDT in the shower house:

The shower house

An interesting fact, which I learned on Wikipedia, is that some of the German Templars from Haifa (from the German Colony), who supported the Nazis, were detained in the Atlit camp before being deported. I cannot imagine it was very nice for the Templars and the immigrant Jews living together in the camp. Speaking of living, here is one of the surviving buildings from the living quarters:

Exterior of the living quarters

And inside the living quarters. In the photo, the restoration attempts, there are just 20 beds, usually there were about 40 and in times of maximum capacity there were 70 beds per building!

Living quarters

And in the corner of the living quarters, an area dedicated to teaching. Mostly there were impromptu instructors teaching the Hebrew language to the immigrants but I’m sure other subjects were thrown in as well.

The teaching corner

The tour guide took us next to a room with a screen. We all sat down and she stood at a podium and asked us as a group if we knew anyone that spent time in the camp. A woman, sitting beside my mother, spoke up and told the guide to search for a “Shimon Gelles” on the computer. When the search was complete, and Gelles’ face was staring down at us from the screen, the woman announced that Shimon Gelles was none other than her father. There was a murmur in the air and she told us a little bit about his trip, adding that she hadn’t known what month he arrived on the shores of the Holy Land, but now did due to the scraps of info beside Shimon’s face on the screen. When she was done the guide told us the story of one man, a book illustrator, who drew scenes from his trip across Europe, down to the bottom of Italy and onto a clandestine immigration ship. Then there were drawings of the British warships stopping them and then being sent off to be detained. Next site on the tour, the “Galina”, a small ship carrying “illegal” immigrants:

The ”Galina”

The rescue story of the ship, if I understood it correctly, was a tale unto its own. In the late 90s the ship was brought from Latvia to England, where it sat for some time doing restorations to make it seaworthy again. Then, in 2006, the “Galina” was towed by a Dutch fishing ship all the way from England to the coast of Israel. It sat in the Tel Aviv port area for a while whilst the Second Lebanon War broke out. A missile struck the factory commissioned to turn the old ship into what we see today and therefore work was delayed. Finally, a few years ago, the finished ship was laid to rest in the Atlit camp. The insides of the ship have been reconstructed into a display piece including screens, models and effects – with very special attention to detail! Here are two nice rooms, the communications room and the bridge:

Communications room on the ”Galina”

The bridge on the ”Galina”

At the end of the tour I broke free from the group and took photographs of the guard towers and train cars. Here is one beautiful pictorial representation of both tower and train:

Guard tower and train

After leaving the site we drove to the coast, attempting to visit the Atlit Fortress (also known as Chateau Perelin). We got as close as the Shayetet 13 base entrance, where the guards told us that the fortress was inside the base and that we were not allowed in. Being that Shayetet 13 is the Israeli version of Navy SEALs, that makes sense – if we weren’t all allowed into my base, all the more so… So, we stopped at the beach area and spent a few minutes in the chilling winds and the waning sun, the Atlit Fortress silhouetted in the background:

Sunset at the coast in Atlit

Well, this may be my last post for a spell. Vacation ends when Pesach does, so it’s in the hands of the army to provide me with blogging content!

Tel Dan

On Wednesday, the first day of Pesach Chol HaMoed, we took a (partial) family trip to Tel Dan, an ancient city on a nature reserve way up in the Upper Golan. Belonging to the Tribe of Dan, this northern city was known under a variety of names throughout the generations: Laish, Leshem and Dan. Located beside Banias, the Dan River park is quite lush and green, coupling it nicely with the ancient ruins.

Excavated ruins of Tel Dan

Melted ice flowing down from Mount Hermon, together with gushing cold water from underground springs, the Dan River joins two other small streams to form the Jordan River. Within the park itself one sees a trickling spring transform into a rushing stream, perfect for rafting and kayaking.

The Dan River

We took the long trail, which included stops at the Israelite Gate and the “High Place” where idol worship went on during the kingship of Jeroboam ben Navat, who ruled the first Israelite Kingdom of Israel for 22 years, following the split between Israel and Judah. Bringing along a new camera, this one featuring 21x optical zoom, I was keen on photographing plants and animals which come out great with a DSLR camera. Being that I was in a nature park, the opportunities were abound.

Close-up of a bee on a flower

I also played with zoom and focus, using the great landscape to capture deep photographs. Here, a lichen-covered rock, belonging to an ancient wall in the Israelite Gate, and the rolling levels of trees in the background:

Lichen-covered rock and the green beyond

When we approached the High Place, a man came up to us and asked us if we knew the history. We chimed in as he began to tell over the despicable tale of the Israelite king introducing idols into the area, slaughtering animals to the idols just feet away from where we stood. He was royally miffed and was pleased to know that we too knew the tragic Biblical tale. Here is a cistern from beside the altar which may have been used to hold blood (from the sacrifices) or wine (from the libations):

Stone and plaster cistern

In more modern times, the area was used by the IDF to secure the northern area of the Golan. Here is a shot of the nearby Lebanese town of Arab el-Luweize (I wonder whose cows those are…):

Lebanese town of Arab el-Luweize

With the Lebanese to the north-west and the Syrians to the north-east, a bunker was built into the hill beside the “High Place”.  Here the trenches can be seen, with odd frame pieces every few feet. The peak in the distance is Mitzpe Ramta, with Mount Hermon on the far side (not visible):

Greenery, trenches and Mitzpe Ramta

And here, thanks to the 21x optical zoom, a rusted Syrian tank from the Six Day War in 1967 can be seen, way off in the distance:

A rusted Syrian tank

Descending into the trench, I entered the bunker and crouched behind the mount for the .50-calibre machine gun, looking out at the lush green fields:

The view from the bunker

After a nice picnic beside the alter, we continued on with the hike, turning back to the Dan River. But first, a shot of the Israelite Gate area, not too far away from a stone throne:

Walls from the Israelite Gate area

Back at the parking lot, I found a large ant which became my model for macro-photography. This ant was very elusive and nary a good photo was taken of the minuscule beast. This is the best shot, I hope to capture better and more in upcoming adventures.

Elusive ant

Day 2 of Chol HaMoed (next post): Castra and the Atlit “Illegal” Immigration Camp!