A TRIP TO PALESTINE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 117, 16 June 1941, Page 2

A TRIP TO PALESTINE

LOCAL SOLDIER'S OBSERVATIONS WEALTH OF HISTORICAL INTEREST The following is a continuation of a letter received from a local soldier who while in the Middle Eas! made a trip through Palestine and took an exceptionally- keen interest in the Holy Land. On Tuesday we' started at 7 a.m. on an all-day motor tour over Palestine up north and visited the Sea of Gallilee. Leaving Jerusalem we passed, on the way Mt. Scopes which is said to be the burial place of Saul and it is around this Mt. also that the battle was fought between the British and the Turkish troops during the last Avar and nearby is the place where the prophet Samuel was born. Farther on we came to a place called Bethel which borders the Biblical Kingdoms of Judea and Israel and it was here that Jacob was supposed to have seen the angels going up and down a ladder to Heaven and the place is now pointed out as Jacob's ladder. Passing onward Ave came to the tomb of Joseph and Javob's well. Here is where, Jesus asked for a drink from a Samaritan woman. Underneath the church is the well and it is about 100 ft deep. The well was built by Jacob and his sons to supply water for their crops and cattle. From herci we passed through the town of Shecken, which is mentioned in the Bible several times ns Nablus. Passing through the town we emerge along a valley where j there is plenty of evidence of the. works of the Romans and the Crusades for we passed old aquaducts and forts and then through little valleys of olive trees till Ave came to the ruins of Samaria. From here avc drove over the fer-t tile plans of Armageddon, this is where the Bible says the last battle on earth Avill be fought. The Jews are making a very good job of cultivating the country. As Ave approached the hills avc could see, right on tHe top the old city of Nazaretb where Jesus spent his early days. The toAvn is about 1500 ft above sea level. The most important place here is the Church of the Annunciation, built over the spot Avhcre the A„ngel Gabriel appeared before the Virgin Mary. This church is built over a cave, but as there Avas a service in session we could not visit it. However avo did visit the cave Avhere the Holy Family resided, and is knoAvn as the* carpenters shop. The Church of Annunciation (that is the present one) Avas built in 1730 upon an tuicient foundation and here are sonvi most Avonderful paintings. The chuv. ches here are beautiful inside and the ceilings are covored Avith pictures rich in colour and history, each depicting a happening relative to the locality of the church. We did not spend very le,ng in Nazareth, and I might mention that there is a big hospital there, s'o after seeing things of interest w« passed on our AA 7 ay to the Oi Gallilee ("Marys Well") hut as tliia place is not very attractive avc did not stop. Shortly avc passed fields upon fields of beautiful red poppies and they made a magnificent picture as they SAvayed in the AA r ind. Gallileo is only about 20 miles from Nazaretn so it did not take long to get there. From the top of the hills Ave could look doAvn into the sea and close to us was the Mt. of the Beautitudes and farther back Ave passed the little A r illag,c of Cana, where Jesus made the first miracle by turning water into Avinc and near there is the birth place of Jonah the Prophet Avho Avas supposed to have been swalloAved by a Avhale.

The road winds clown over the liillb" to Gnllilec, Avliich is GOO ft below sew level. To the north of Gallilee is Syria. The capital of Gallilee is Tiberius, which was partly destroyed a few years ago by a deluge which raised the sea 15 feet and washed away a good part of the town; the damage can be seen to this day. The Jordan river drains the Sea of Gallilee down the Jordan valley and (lows into the Dead Sea. Well, after spending half an hour in Tiberius wc returned to Nazareth and branched oft' and made our way down the valley to Haifa which is one of the most northern ports of Palestine. We arrived in Haifa at 2.30 p.m. and had a walk round the bazaars and afterwards motored up to the summit of Mt. Carmel. Here is a beautiful church and monastry managed, by the Franciscan Fathers. The original church was erected to the memory of Elii.ah the Prophet. In ancient times this hill (Continued in next column)

was covered with vineyards and Carmel means "The Vineyard of God." In this church are also beautiful paintings and it is a treat really just to see them. A lovely view of the; surrounding country is also obtainable from here. After having a good look round we started on our journey a£ain, motoring down the coast and through Jewish villages which I must say are a credit to any conn try. We passed through miles after miles of orang: groves and the fragrance of orange blossom hangs heavily in the air and it smells very similar to daffodils. Here we bought some huge beautiful oranges, wei got 81 for a piastre, which is equal to 2V 2 d in our own money, and didn't we enjoy them. Later we camc to Tel Aviv, a city which has just been built since the last war and is wholly a Jewish settlement. It is the most modern city that I have seen and there are some absolutely wonderful buildings there and the physique of the people is all that could be wished. From Tel Aviv we passed through more and mory orange groves and on through the small town of Ramie from where one sees the mountains of Judea, and farther on we passed the Valley of Ayalnn which is a time honoured battle field of Palestine. It was here that Joshua cried in the sight of Israel for the sun to stand, still upon Gideon and the moon in the valley of Ayalon. Round tliis way also were fought many bitter fights between thei Turks and the British. We are now climbing) the hilltops of Judea and in th? neighbouring hills we see the city of Jerusalem; around here also are ancient ruins and forts of the Knight Temple who protected the pilgrim" from the bandits when they wished to visit the Holy CiLy. Well we arrived back at Jerusalem at sir. o'clock and after travelling for 11 hours and travelling about 260 miles we felt as though we could do with a rest. The trip for that day alone cost us 125 piastres or 25/ t so we considered that that was quite rea sonable. To be continued.