Jordan Valley & Galilee

March 1--(continued)  Our Aluna bus headed north on the road from which you can see Jordan to the east.  It was amazing to see the agriculture of the Jordan Valley.  But the sad thing was to realize that in spite of the fact that this is entirely Palestinian territory, virtually all of the land in the valley has been claimed by the Israelis.  They use various means to do this.  They have designated some of it as military zones and they have allowed many settlements to be established who claim virtually all the farmland in the valley.  Our trip leader from Sabeel said that it is the unspoken Israeli policy that Palestinians not have any land that adjoins the Jordan River.

The entire length of the valley on the west side of the Jordan River consists of incredibly rich farmland, which through irrigation, yields a vast wealth of products, from dates to bananas and from farm produce to orchards. Spotted throughout the valley are Palestinian villages.  Since they are denied access to their land all that they can do to support themselves is to work as laborers for the Israelis.  How ironic it is to be forced to be farm laborers for those who have confiscated their land.  But unless they did this they would have no means to support themselves financially.

As we neared the northern end of the valley, the land became much richer.  And, as to be expected, this more abundant land was where we crossed though a checkpoint and entered Israeli territory. Soon we spotted the beautiful Sea of Galilee.  

Looking At Galilee From the Hill of the Beautitudes

We stopped at several sites, among them where Jesus preached the Beatitudes, where Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep, and where Mary Magdalene lived in Capernaum.  We passed through Cana on our way to Nazareth.  It was funny to see a shop advertising “The First Wedding Wine.”  We finally came to Nazareth where we visited the sites of the Annunciation of Mary.

Father Farah Teaches us about the Annunciation of Mary

We were led through the old section of Nazareth by Kamal Farah, an Eastern Rite Anglican priest, who was absolutely wonderful in his explanation of its history.  We were shown the developments on the hills east of Nazareth built by the Israelis housing about 60,000 new citizens, mostly Jewish.  It is given the name of Nazareth Elite.  We stayed in the St. Margarit’s Guesthouse, overlooking the city of Nazareth. 

View of Nazareth From St. Margarit's Guesthouse

It was a wonderful experience to walk were Jesus walked and to experience the hospitality of those who explained the history of this unique area.

Obed