To Jerusalem, but first a moving detour--May 11, 2006
To Jerusalem, but first a moving detour--May 11th
After having negotiated the traffic along the sea in both Haifa and Tel Aviv on the way up to the Galil, and having wasted the better part of an hour in traffic in doing so, I opted to take a more inland, desert road that hugged the Jordanian border in order to get to Jerusalem. We made a short stop at a beautiful little spot called Neharyim that is part of the Kibbutz Ashdod Ya'akov. (Coincidentally, this kibbutz or communal village was where my wife Pam had spent her early months after making aliyah in 1971. Aliyah is the process whereby a Jew leaves his/her country of birth or residence and becomes a full-time citizen of Israel.) The history of Neharyim is quite tragic. 7 school girls (middle-schoolers in our parlance) were killed, over 20 years ago, by a Jordanian soldier who, without any provocation at all by anyone, starting shooting at the busload of students who had been cleared by the authorities to be on the Joradanian side of the border. The girls' bodies were brought back to the Israeli side after the Jordanian soldier had been killed and the carnage scene investigated. Since the attack took place across the border, the monument to the girls was established on the Israeli side. It consists of 7 small covered mounds, each capped with a white gravel oval to create a stark effect, and that were planted with flowering bushes that have been pruned in such a way as to represent each child's name in Hebrew (obviously). The idea came for the monument came from one of the mother's whose daughter had been killed, and the monument is cared for by both family members and volunteers from the kibbutz. 2 covered viewing areas look down upon the 7 mounds; they give visitors a chance to observe the nearby Jordanian border patrol station on the other side of the double barbed-wire fence, situated as it were in midst of lush green fields that might otherwise be full of fruit trees or vegetables. Though decades have passed since the attack, the photos of the girls killed show only young faces frozen in time. The melancholy music playing over the loud-speakers and the quiet of the place make for a very powerful experience.
After having negotiated the traffic along the sea in both Haifa and Tel Aviv on the way up to the Galil, and having wasted the better part of an hour in traffic in doing so, I opted to take a more inland, desert road that hugged the Jordanian border in order to get to Jerusalem. We made a short stop at a beautiful little spot called Neharyim that is part of the Kibbutz Ashdod Ya'akov. (Coincidentally, this kibbutz or communal village was where my wife Pam had spent her early months after making aliyah in 1971. Aliyah is the process whereby a Jew leaves his/her country of birth or residence and becomes a full-time citizen of Israel.) The history of Neharyim is quite tragic. 7 school girls (middle-schoolers in our parlance) were killed, over 20 years ago, by a Jordanian soldier who, without any provocation at all by anyone, starting shooting at the busload of students who had been cleared by the authorities to be on the Joradanian side of the border. The girls' bodies were brought back to the Israeli side after the Jordanian soldier had been killed and the carnage scene investigated. Since the attack took place across the border, the monument to the girls was established on the Israeli side. It consists of 7 small covered mounds, each capped with a white gravel oval to create a stark effect, and that were planted with flowering bushes that have been pruned in such a way as to represent each child's name in Hebrew (obviously). The idea came for the monument came from one of the mother's whose daughter had been killed, and the monument is cared for by both family members and volunteers from the kibbutz. 2 covered viewing areas look down upon the 7 mounds; they give visitors a chance to observe the nearby Jordanian border patrol station on the other side of the double barbed-wire fence, situated as it were in midst of lush green fields that might otherwise be full of fruit trees or vegetables. Though decades have passed since the attack, the photos of the girls killed show only young faces frozen in time. The melancholy music playing over the loud-speakers and the quiet of the place make for a very powerful experience.
posted by Scottland at 6:05 PM
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