PALESTINE TOUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 April 1941, Page 8

PALESTINE TOUR

MASTERTON OFFICER’S VIVID STORY SCENES IN BIBLICAL LANDS. LIFE AS IT IS TODAY. An excellent description of a fourday tour in Palestine is given by Major C. J. Williams, of Masterton. who is a member of the New Zealand forces in the Middle East. Writing to his wife, he states: "From Cairo we took the Port Said express as far as Kantara on the Canal and crossed by ferry—in complete blackout —to Kantara East, where we had to change our money into Palestinian, took the Haifa express for the trip up as far as Lydda, where we changed trains for the branch line up to Palestine. The crowd at Kantara was the most cosmopolitan you could imagine—Egyptians, Greeks, Jews, Arabs from Palestine and Trans-Jor-dan. troops of all sorts. English, Scottish. Australian. New Zealand, Polish, police from Palestine and Trans-Jor-dan, money-changers, orange vendors, officials of all sorts, shapes and sizes —pien going on leave, others returning from leave—a most interesting collection, a cross-section of the Middle East. In view of the rush and limited time, we splashed an extra pound on a sleeper—which was much appreciated, both at the time (as we had had two early mornings—3.30 a.m. and 4.30 a.m.) and since. On the way up from Lydda we were fortunate enough to share a compartment with an English Medical Corps Colonel who has charge of one of the hospitals—previously a German sanatorium —in Jerusalem; he pointed out places of interest as we crossed the plain and climbed slowly up through the hills of Judea; he also told us places we should see on our short stay. MILES OF ORANGE GROVES. |

“Round Lydda and Ramleh were I miles of orange groves, trees laden with fruit, and much of it rotting as the European markets have gone, and Egypt will not import, and there is very little available shipping space to sen<L it to England or Australia, etc. That is a matter of great concern to both Arab and Jew communities in the coastal orange belt. It does seem a shame that these oranges, the largest and juiciest imaginable—Jaffa oranges —should not have a market. Just fancy them in New Zealand! Today near Jaffa we could'buy a'-basketfull • over a 100) for 2 piastres—about 5 pence, or a whole truck-load for 20 piastres—4s. Some of the small boys selling them on the roadside were even throwing them under the passing cars! “The whole coastal plain is most fertile; where the orange groves end, the fields of barley and wheat begin, broad fields, cultivated in strips as in Anglo-Saxon times, each man having his own strip of wheat, barley, and fallow land, no fences being seen. The soil everywhere is a rich, brownishred, and the fallow land and odd patches rich with red anemones. As the train gets into the hills, the ground becomes very stony; the hillsides are terraced with limestone outcrops, slabs of rock and built-up walls of loose rock. This is typical of all the interior of the country, with the exception 'of a few small plains. Wherever possible the wider terrains and bottoms of the valleys are again divided into strips of wheat, barley, etc., while the hillsides and narrow terraces provide room for the olive groves, with occasionally small terraces of vines, or almond trees —the latter being in blossom.

ARAS VILLAGES. “Nestling on the sides of the hills are the Arab villages, square stone buildings, looking very clean and neat as compared with the wog (Egyptian) ones, and merging gently into the grey landscape—the grey stone of the hills being the predominant colour, broken by the light green of crops, and the dark green of the olive trees —all a sight for sore, sand-tired eyes. The train wound its way up a gorge reminiscent of the Rimutakas, except that the stony bed of the stream was dry. and olives replaced scrub and fern. Every here and there the train slopped at a small wayside station, set among Cypress and poplar trees, where Arabs in long robes, baggy trousers and white head-dress took stock of the situation, or joined the train for the trip up; women in bright robes carrying huge baskets of vegetables on their heads taking them up to market. In the fields and valleys, men ploughed with old-fashioned ploughs drawn by oxen, an ox and a donkey, an ox and a horse, or camel; women tilled and weeded, children minded the flocks and herds of sheep, goats and cattle. A.ll this again is typical of all the country, especially in the Judaen and Samarian hills and round Nazareth and Galilee.

“Arrived in Jerusalem, we were surprised to find a modern city, with fine buildings, wide streets, with a clean, fresh look about it, quite different even from- the modern parts of Cairo. The two outstanding buildings first seen on one of the many hills were the King David Hotel, supposed to be one of the finest in the East, and the Y.M.C.A. The latter is particularly striking, being a large building with a tall tower, and domes at either end, a 3,000,000-dollar building presented to the Y.M.C.A. by a wealthy American; it is a magnificent place within and without, fine reading and writing rooms, recreation rooms, auditorium, as well as residential quarters; and it is always booked out months ahead. After signing-on at the military headquarters, we wont on to the Hotel Fast, a large, comfortable place taken over as a residential club by the Australian Comforts Club. It is very clean and cheap, tours are excellently organised, and is a most commendable as well as highly popular venture. MOTLEY THRONG. “After lunch the manager provided us with a very good Arab Christian guide, who took us through the Jaffa Gate into the old city, which is still surrounded by high walls dating from Roman times. Inside we passed David’s Tower, now only a shell, and into narrow crowded streets, past openair bazaars where Moslems, Jews. Armenians and Christians —a picturesque and motley throng—‘shopped and bargained. Down the narrow David Street we went, and along to the Church of the Holy Sepulche. This is a huge place, originally built by Queen Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, since destroyed and rebuilt several times, and covering what is supposed to be the hill of Calvary and the Sepulchre. The church is subdivided into several chapels and churches, all rather ornate and artificial; some belong to the Greek, some to tin? Roman, lhe Armenian and the Coptic churches. Al! hold their own services at their own times .in their own places and their own ways.

■'ln several places the original rock is still to be seen, openings being left in the floors or walls of the chapels—by the Sepulchre, the place where the Cross was raised, and the rock that was rent in twain. With the patter of various guides, and the ornateness of the chapels, all would be spoilt; it seemed unreal, but we were fortunate in hearing the beginning of the Friday afternoon service of the Franciscan monks prior to starting out on their weekly procession round the way of the Cross, and the sound of the organ, the singing and the chanting echoing through the whole building, gave it the necessary spiritual touch which matte one forget the material show around. One thing that rather amazed us was the fact that so much seemed to have taken place in so small a space—one had imagined large distances between the Sepulchre arid the hill of Calvary. Of course, the house of Caiaphes, the hall of Pontious Pilate, and the Garden of Gethsemane are much farther away. SCENE OF LAST SUPPER. ‘’From there we went outside the wall again to Zion Hill, past the scenes of the Last Supper and the Pentecost — now covered by a Moslem mosque; saw the house of Caiaphas, the high priest,

now a small church, and round to the Church of the Dormition (last sleep) of Mary. The present church is a beautiful place, very modern, and built on the site of one of the very first Christian churches, Hagia Sion. The modern church is the fourth built on the same site: underneath in the crypt we saw parts of the earlier ones. The new church is.most beautiful, with a wonderful mosaic floor, having the names of the four evangelists, the twelve prophets, and the twelve apostles worked in. niches round the walls with small altars dedicated to the apostles, the sides and roofs being marvellously inlaid —gifts of Spain. Italy, Austria, Hungary, etc —high dome not too ornate —high altar with stain-ed-glass windows behind. Again we were fortunate in that a service—Benediction —was in progress, and the voices (men) took on an unearthly beauty as they gently echoed round the columns and chapels.

"Then we drove out to Bethlehem, where we saw the Church of the Nativity, built by Queen Helena, and the oldest church in Christendom. Parts were rebuilt by the Crusaders, and other parts since. Underneath the church is the grotto where was the stable in which Christ is supposed to have been born—" Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus Natus Est” (Here, of the Virgin Mary, Christ Jesus Was Born). Some of the original rock dwelling can still be seen. Near Bethlehem and Rachel’s tomb, and the well wherein the Mogi again saw the Star after visiting Herod. There was not time to look round the. town.

‘‘The roads are very fine, asphalt highways, as good as the best roads in New Zealand. Just before reaching the city again we drove through a settlement of modern homes of Arab Christians. From one spot we caught a glimpse of the Dead Sea. thousands of feet below and about fifteen miles distant. Jerusalem is about 2000 ft above sea level and the Dead Sea 1300 ft below sea level. Across the far side were the mountains of Moab, lightly touched by the setting sun.” The following day Major Williams made a 300-mile round tour through Nablus and Nazareth, to Galilee, back to Haifa, down the coast to Tel Aviv and Jaffa and then up again to Jerusalem.