Well group, I have de-planed from my sojourn in the Middle east..Jet Lag was abated somewhat with the help of Air France who kindly offered me an extra day in Paris if I would only give up seat for a VIP ' Must Return ' ..decided to sell out and collect free hotel and meals and a ' settlement' of 800 Euros for my dissappointment in having to stay behind an extra day..

Got to witness the practise for the funeral of France's last WWI vet among other things...

Dumped 17 rolls of film at Walmart for printing [ no digital crap for this luddite ]

Gunny, sadly, no sexy slinky Israeli babes in bikinis.. they were all in hiding so as not to compete with pasty skinned fat Europeans and other 'furriners' who swamped the beaches where I was [ Tel Aviv & Dead Sea Resorts ] able to lounge..

Did get to hobnob and smooze with a number of Israeli soldier types [ male and female ] and they made me feel ancient as they were all 18-21 but looked like 12year olds playing 'dress-up '..

Was in Bethelehem-behind-the-wall, day of the funeral for the 4 terrorist/freedom fighters..ahem - interesting 'atmosphere and dynamic '

'Guide ' was a former combat-medic, Israeli army, whose kibbutz was bombed during the latest 'Lebanese troubles' and who took part in Gulf War I among other incidents.. made for enlightening trip..

after I've sifted through the brochures, post cards and seen the photos I'll relate a tale or two I picked up along the way...

right now I've got to find some extra-strength aspirin to counteract the after-effects of free French wine, compliments of the airline...

While you were gone, the CBC reported a sudden and unexpected drop in booze sales in Canada and they were worried about the long-term effects on the Canadian economy. There must have been a half-dozen economists blathering away about it.

I am sure that all will be well in the not-too-near future.

Funny..in Israel stock in Macabee Beer went up and in France there was an uptick in Heineken sales......

Welcome back!

And who's this Lafayette character you brought with you?

Glad you're back...even though it must be difficult to leave the Holy Lands so close to the Easter season.

I'll live that trip through you as I've always wished to visit those places.

My GrandFather often spoke of his better times in France (out of the trenches).

Perhaps someday...

"CUR NON?"

Rocketeer

That was fast. Don't know you from squid, but hope you had a good time. I like to read up on whats going on over there for once ( from an actual person ).

patoloco:

you don't know who Lafayette is? shame on you, boy!.. ask George Washington about his pal.. and then check out US Airmen in WWI..Eddie Rickenbacker.


Typhoon..

will write a synopsis shortly.. all I can say is don't beleive what you read in the papers. couple of times I was wondering if I should have packed kevlar undies and other times when I read the news accounts of what' happened' where I was standing I was thinking what were those reporters smoking 'cause what I saw and what they said I saw sure didn't match up any..


Weatherman:

Don't know what gods you prayed to but the weather was fantastic... 25-30 C all the time with bright sunshine..even my pasty snow fried face got turned a lovely shade of pink..walking about the biblical spots and the ancient Roman ruins was quite a treat..Jerusalem was ' interesting' and the West Bank a revelation...[ thought we demolished the Berlin Wall? felt like I was going into prison for the duration - shudder-making fur shur ]

and...chez Paree [ without the Good Padre holding the purse strings as she had to return home and couldn't partake of the Air France offer ] was - [ DESCRIPTION BLOCKED DUE TO POSSIBILITY THAT MINORS MAY BE READING THIS ACCOUNT ] - and that wasn't all!..

blab later.. sadly, the missus and I are heading out this morning to a memorial service for my aunt who died suddenly from pancreatic cancer [ which kinda puts things all into a new perspective ]

Au revoir....a bientot

Very cool, I look foreword to it.

Okay, here's the ' dope' on the state [ sic] of Israel - A precis/overview of ' security ' and not a slideshow of my ' vacation ' -a Rocketeer perspective:

Left on the first leg from the Centre of the Universe - Canada Edition ] just ahead of an advancing snowstorm [ got to go through the de-icing chamber - way cool - like a giant car wash only with more coloured soaps splashing about - neat ] -

prior to that I have my first taste of ' security' in action. Arrived the requisite 3 hours before flight time for ' clearance '

[ all a crock really to get you trapped in the ' duty-free section ' and bored into shopping in overpriced stores for ' gifts' you can't take on the plane anyway - learned that buying booze here and taking it into France en route to somewhere else- the Frenchies ' confiscate the bottles for' security reasons ' ahem - not allowed bigger than 100 ml's donchaknow - but, really so you'll have to ' restock 'at their high priced duty-free transit stop ' in the secured area at their airport -oh, the intricacies of international commerce- but, I digress ]..

Seems there was a ' glitch' in my ticket.. My name on the forms and my passport didn't match the Air France ' manifest' list [ some low-paid flunkie typed the name wrong - happens regularly - illiterates who think they know how my name should be spelled and when I tell them the ' right' way - they ask " Are You Sure? " - cretins all ]

Anyway.. took a battery of people to squint at me fiercely, three phone calls and two scans of my passport to ' verify' the error and issue me a new boarding pass...which used up about 45 minutes of my 3 hour time - after that it was on prob until we hit Gharles De Gaulle airport in transit to the Holy Land..

Arrive at CDG and are processed through from arrivals to departures through various scans and inspections and x-rays and shakedowns, level of competence seemed to vary from station to station with overly zealous types to staff who couldn't care less - usually at adjacent workstations- luck of the draw which passengers got the evil eye and which were waved through - friend of the Missus had a knee brace which triggered the metal detectors each time.. most times a simple hand feel and wand scan was enough, but on two stops she had to step aside, remove the brace and have it passed through the luggage/carry-on scanners - no provision for modesty or support - "here, lean against the wall, don't fall down while we scrutinize this device not on our list of things to let go unchallenged." [ hate to think what they would have done for someone with a neck brace or back brace - "here, fella, collapse and be paralyzed while we check out the tubing"..there are no longer parameters for ' common sense' to be factored into the search for terrorist bombers it seems ]

After being pulled aside and having my passport/boarding pass scanned and ' verified' a second time [ seems the next leg of the trip had the same dyslexic typist ] got ready for Tel Aviv - did feel somewhat mollified to watch the ground crew loading my plane with baggage and supplies had to be scanned and ' wanded' by a security type on the tarmac before they could board the plane to do anything - don't know if this was just for planes heading to Israel or SOP all flights.

Arrive in Tel Aviv - Ben Gurion Airport - much upgrades and ' new' terminal - nice, cultural and efficient - notice right away lack of any armed presence - military or police - long walk from arrivals bay to passport control and baggage pick-up - might have been time and day, but quiet and non-crowded - ' security' hardly looked up from the desk - scanned my passport, thumped the stamp half -heartedly and didn't even say Welcome to Isael just waved my along the queue..

Drove into town.. passed the Israeli Defense HQ - IDF's version of the Pentagon -snazzy building, big heliport on the roof - right smack dab in the heart of the city -stratetic target surrounded by potential collateral damage - was informed that when it was built it was 'outside' the city well into the 'burbs' but Tel Aviv has' grown some '..high cost of potentially moving to new-less high-profile target area is huge government debate so it remains ' downtown '..

Next day started ' tour' and, again, no visible ' deployments' though did see young soldiers lounging about smoking, waiting for buses, etc.. seems they can live' off base, at home with mom, or in apartments, while doing their three-year compulsory service, if convenient, [ none were carrying guns - rifles or sidearms ] They looked a bit slack and idle- one guy's shirt tails were hanging out of his pants at the back ..

visited a few local sites/historic centres - again no visible guards -though , at one location there were police in flac vests and carrying short-barreled M-16/C-7 types...

After touring in the ' north' headed south toward Jersusalem..expected level of security to pick up and this was verified - somewhat -..

Stopped at one of the roadside markets - lunchtime - place was teeming with elementary kids on a ' education excursion '.. noted right away that two of the chaperones were wearing red T-shirts with words ' security ' in English, Hebrew and Arabic on them.. tatty combat pants, sneakers, unshaven, long-haired, didn't look much older than the students.. They each carried an M1 carbine [ antique collector's items by the state of 'repair/maintenance ] with two magazines in web pouches duct taped to the butt.

Learned that all school trips must have armed guards - can't say I was impressed with the calibre of their kit or demeanor - if anyone attacked, by the time they tossed their cigs and cokes, pulled out a magazine, locked and loaded, drew the bolt and actually returned fire, a hell of a lot of their charges would be ready for body bags, as, no doubt, would they..

The mall security guy looked far more professional in a crisp white shirt, black pants, hand gun in a holster and a clip-on walkie talkie. He also held a leather-wrapped ' wand' that had some buttons on it - some kind of taser/prod I figured -..
high and low on the ' safe-o-metre '..

Arriving at Jeusalem on the ' new highway ' we had to pass through a security gate [ and toll booths ] to enter the city.. toll-keepers had sidearms but there were also blue jumpsuit-clad guys in vests and rifles walking between lanes, etc[ outsourced private security 'rent-a-cops' but quality and trained - most likely former serving types ]..

nice..

Made a stop at one site to be confronted by tiny-tot girlies in khaki.. thought they were military school types or, what we call ' up here' cadets - kids 12 to 17 - Big Oopsie for ol' Rocketeer - saved from total embarrassment by her Majorship, the Good Padre - turns out that these babies in green were actually serving females of the IDF!!!- Damn did I feel old - they were all 18 and legal and being ' culturally enlightened' as part of their two-year compulsory military training.. Big laugh at my expense but conversation developed once they learned that missus was high-ranking CF type and that there were no restrictions on Canadian women as to job opportunities and MOC's[ as we call'em ].. the young LT. in charge [ looked about 13 ] was 'discreetly' armed with snub-nosed little jobbie in her ' combat purse ' - no other weapons as they were ' off-duty' at the moment..

As expected at major sites- Holocaust Museum and certainly at all the gates to the Old City there were both soldiers in full gear and kit, partnered with equally equipped police [ they patrol in tandem ] and the places such as the Wailing Wall were crawling with troops, on duty and on cultural tours - again, usually two jeeps and civie police car travelled about the city ' on-patrol' ...

contrast this with what has to be the most ludicrous sight I've ever seen - one that would ' instill confidence' in anyone worried about personal safety '..
Visited the Shrine of the Book - the Museum for the Dead Sea Scrolls..

Go in and pass through airport type scanners.. there's a glass door to one side with small lockers, floor to ceiling, for storing hand bags and other carry-on stuff.. big sign in usual three languages - " Check Weapons Here " [ noted that at ' holy places' signs saying no smoking, no pets, no shorts, no guns.]

Museum Security passes me --again the requisite 13 year old anorexic girlie type who you could take down with a thick guide book upside the head if you weren't inclined to give her a spanking for chewing gum on duty .. She's ' wearing' a uniform.. blue open-necked shirt, not tucked in but with the tails flapping about - reason its not stored neatly in her pants is that her pants are the urban street-gansta type.. ass hanging down at her knees, excess fabric bunched over her sneakers! and.. this is the best part.. through the belt loops just above the back of the knee is 'hung' [ literally ] a holster with an ammo pouch, portable phone, mini-flash and a Glock ' held in place' by a thin strap/hammer stall..

Wild west quick draw??? watched in terror as she walked figuring that the weight of the piece would drop her trous to the floor at the next step.. the gun swinging about below her scrawny butt with every step.. any felon hoping to wreak havoc at the site would have no problems in taking out the protection as she couldn't pull her piece to save her life, let alone anyone elses. Keystone Kops time [ you younguns reading this just Google "silent movies" for the reference ]..

Actually, the only place I saw proper military protocols, efficient and confidence-building security/troops was at Masada [ for obvious reasons if you know Jewish history ]..

well, enough on this for now..
I'll tell you about my time behind the wall in the West Bank later.


Shalom - as they say...

Welcome back

Good to have you with us again.

A very nice read.

Don't encourage him, chapters 2, 3, and 4 are coming along shortly! But honestly, Rocketeer knows how to tell a good story!

thegunny

Thats true. He must be on the Strunk & White " A " list.

Before I comment on the serious stuff, I should mention that the ' variety of uniformity ' among the Israeli forces was a bit jarring. Seems that open-toed sandals, sneakers and other soft shoes are acceptable in place of expected combat boots for most duty stations [ only those on patrol require ' proper' footware' it seems..] Some sported brown boots as opposed to standard black.. These, I learned, were 'para-trained' types.

Much more variety in headgear as well.. Seems that beyond the usual red/green/maroon/black beret the IDF has teal, blue, 'cam',brown,and other shades which reflect trade or unit..cap badges aren't much help, you got to look at the shoulder flash which hangs down the sleeve like a little tongue with the unit cypher/badge displayed on it. Didn't see any of the soldiers actually wearing their headgear, even those patrolling with weapons, they all had them rolled and tucked under the left epaulettes ...interesting

Well, At one point we were travelling down the West side of the country toward the Dead Sea and had to pass a checkpoint where the road veers off into the P.A.R. [ West Bank ] - Palestinian Autonomous Region..this is 'guarded ' by Palestinians of the Fatah stripe..they are in little ' toll booths' and up in a observation tower spanning the road.
Wanted to get a covert photo but missed the chance to immortalize on Youtube the dedication of these young men on point/stag..

The chap in the tower had his feet up on the sandbags, his head leaning against the machine gun ammofeed sleeping off a big lunch no doubt, the others on the ground looked pretty slack and idle as well with their M-16's slung loosley over shoulders, barrel down..could be just the fact that they were not in any discernable uniform that gave the impression that this was less than a tough assignment.

Later witnessed some excellent low level precision flying by a quartet of Israeli blackhawk choppers skimming the surface of the Dead Sea on patrol [ Jordan just across the way ] no more than 50/75 feet above the water...

But the seriouness of the situation was brought home in trying to arrange a visit to Bethlehem.

We didn't know it at the time but plans were changing on the fly as our time slot at the Wall was coming up. Seems that Israeli commandos had conducted some 'retalitory action' and 'removed' 4 Palestinian ' terrorists'.. The funerals for these 4 ' freedom fighters' was taking place not far from our crossing point.. tense..

The Israli guides couldn't cross over into the West Bank, nor could our vehicles.

We had to exit, cross on foot and pick up Palestinian escorts and transport on the other side.

The Barrier is quite intimidating.. 25 feet high or more, made up of giant slabs of concrete set into a metal frame,a road parallels the wall on the Israeli side and a clear field of fire is maintained for a series of watch towers regularly spaced along the route. the wall top is ' enhanced' with razorwire and electrified.

The whole thing looks like a Prison Wall and flashbacks to the Berlin Wall are inevitable.
to enter the other side one must go through a double gate and turnstyle that limits passage to single file, the corridor is high metal fencing, topped with wire and spikes with signs posted warning not to touch the sides...coming out is the reverse with the added bonus of passport inspection to make sure that those exiting are ' legit'...

Was informed that Palestinians holding valid work visas face up to two hour delays in morning and night transiting the wall at ' rush hour'.. those, that is, who have jobs on the Jerusalem/Israel side.. If you have no job, you are not allowed through to look for one and must rely on ' help' from friends on the outside to secure a position, the papers and then you may be ' cleared' to come through to work.. otherwise...

On the Palestinian side there is much visible poverty and an air of desperation.. could see all sorts of construction that was stopped mid job with upper floors incomplete and already deteriorating from ' neglect'..

I have no solution to the variety of problems that face these two peoples but something's got to give.

Found it incredibly disturbing to be standing on a promontory overlooking Jerusalem with a large decorative wall facing me on which is inscribed well over a hundred names of people [ mostly Americans ] who were being acknowledged for having given over $ 1 million to the benefit of the city. Lots of cash being spent/sent by wealthy Jewish families who want to support Israel but don't want to live there and from rich Christians [ mostly fundamental/evangelical types ] devoted to saving/restoring the Holy Land and yet, the Palestinian side and Bethlehem in particular are also Sacred/Holy ground [ Birthplace of Christ fergawdsakes] yet the same amount of money isn't being spent/donated to preserve those environs or see that the locals benefit from the interest in the birthplace of one of the world's largest faiths/religion.

The Greek Orthodox Basilica of the Nativity looked like it could use a good scrub and polish, though the adjacent RC Cathedral of St. Catherine where they broadcast the Christmas Mass was tarted up [ can't have the tacky look on TV for millions to see] but the wealth didn't trickle down very far and certainly not outside to the folks on the street... all very depressing..

Even from my short time there the depression, desperation and animosity was palpable...

Actually as we were leaving the site the locals were massing in protest to the ' assassinations' and a general strike had been called so the public areas were filling up rapidly with angry types.. our escorts made sure we were hustled out of range right smartly... Upon our return to the Israeli side out regular escort/guides were visibly relieved.. Had to watch CNN/BBC World to get the big picture later that night as the local news/TV didn't cover the 'unrest' or downplayed it -not sure would have recommended crossing if we had known in advance the SITREP but was glad we went just the same as first hand knowledge and ' man-on-the-street' scouting brought the issue into a clearer perspective for me...

I'll post a final installment later...