Written Marissa Wizig '14
Our day today was largely centered around the concept of borders. We started by meeting up with the Israeli soldiers who will be with the group for the next few days, and visiting Mitzudat Coach. This former army post now serves as a memorial to those who died there defending Israel from the Syrians. We then headed to the Banyas Spring for a hike and a view of the waterfall, and ate lunch in Kiriat Shmnona. In the afternoon, we went jeeping in the Golan Heights. While we were driving the jeeps around, the tour guides pointed out Lebanon and Syria in the distance. While Syria seemed a safe distance away, albeit ominously located past the valley between two mountains, Lebanon was much closer- we could even see some Lebanese towns. Our guides gave us the background on how these borders came to be solidified, and explained that part of the path we had been jeeping on was actually the pre-1967 Israeli border.
We finished the day by visiting the kibbutz at Misgav Am. For me this was the most significant part of the day, and perhaps of the entire trip thus far. Upon arrival at the kibbutz, which is located on top of a mountain, we all filed out of the bus and took some pictures of the beautiful sunset over the valley. While we all knew that we were somewhere near the Lebanese border, I don’t think many of us realized just how close we actually were. We were led inside to a meeting room that overlooked the valley, and introduced to Joseph, one of the leaders of the kibbutz. Joseph explained that he was originally from Holland, but had lived at Misgav Am for several decades. He ran us through the history of the kibbutz. Since its founding in 1945, the community has had a number of encounters with the Lebanese people, who reside in the valley directly below the kibbutz. It turns out that the fence around the kibbutz forms a section of the Israel-Lebanon border, and that the beautiful valley that we had eagerly photographed is almost entirely part of Lebanon. When the kibbutz was first founded, relations with the Lebanese village in the valley were not necessarily bad. Joseph described them as a “friendly enemy”. However, as the years went on, terrorists from Jordan came to Lebanon and began to establish themselves in the valley. They started to attack the kibbutz, using mortars and rockets and physical violence. In one devastating assault, terrorists kidnapped children from the Kibbutz and held them hostage until the Israeli army came to rescue them. One two year old boy was killed, simply because he was scared and couldn’t stop crying.
Eventually the Israeli army went into Lebanon to try to suppress the terrorists. When they retreated in 2000, Hezbollah filled in the areas that they had left, and now controls the valley. In the past twelve years, they have continued to terrorize the region, launching attacks on Misgav Am, and the larger city of Kiriat Shmona (where we ate lunch).While things are relatively quiet right now, it is only a matter of time before they could strike again. Misgav Am is really the first line of defense for Israel, and life there is hardly easy.
Experiencing Misgav Am really made me realize just how close the threat of terror and violence is to Israelis every single day. The stories you hear about Hezbollah on the news don’t seem as threatening when you’re thousands of miles away in America, but when you’re standing just a few hundred feet away from their strongholds, when you see their cars driving in the streets, and when you witness the destruction they have caused, it suddenly becomes a lot more scary. I really started to think about the threat that Hezbollah poses to Israel, to the innocent Lebanese civilians, and to the stability of the Middle East. As we left the Kibbutz, we heard the people in the valley, some of whom may very well be terrorists (and most of whom are at least sympathetic to Hezbollah), starting to pray. It was very eerie to hear their voices rising out of the valley, a constant reminder of their presence. Today reminded me what we are fighting for as Jews and as believers in a world free from terrorism.