Our extended family just spent two extraordinary, life-changing weeks touring around Israel. Eleven of us--my family of four, my husband's parents, and my husband's sister's family of five--all in a van (luckily, we all like each other!), guided by one of the most knowledgeable and personable tourguides on the planet, Shimon Alexander, and an expert driver with a playful sense of humor named Itamar Bar-Noy, who squeezed through the narrowest of old city streets and maneuvered multiple hairpin turns on mountain roads without incident. I've never been on a vacation where I've learned so much about a different country--the land, the people, the food, and the customs--experiencing it in such depth, from so many different angles. But as this is a green blog, I'm going to narrow the focus to the environmental aspects of Israel.
Israel is a relatively small country (about the size of New Jersey) and it's a hot country (during our two weeks there, there were a few days that sizzled in the low 100's), and those two factors dictate most of their environmental choices. Because land is at a premium, farmers have gotten harvesting down to a science, and it's not unusual for the same plot of land to be used for three or four different crops in one year.
Once they've harvested one crop, it's time to move on to the next planting. And they grow a LOT of food for their country, as importing and exporting with their neighbors isn't easy, given the political climate in the Middle East. During our travels, we saw growing grapes, apples, olives, mangoes, carob, corn, wheat, bananas, dates, figs, peanuts, almonds, prickly pears, and pomegranates. (Plus, rosemary is growing wild all over the place...the earthy scent was wonderful).
Because Israel is a desert nation, they (very wisely) use solar panels. We saw them everywhere we went, from the roofs of little houses to big corporations.
Even in poverty-stricken Bedouin communities, there were solar panels on the roofs of lean-to tin houses, alongside the prerequisite barrel of water on the roof.
Despite the extreme heat and the scarcity of rainfall, the country has done an astounding job with agricultural irrigation and water conservation. The Jewish National Fund (JNF) has constructed more than 200 reservoirs in Israel, and they also play a major role in the treatment of greywater for irrigation, which frees up drinking water.
We also saw CFL bulbs everywhere--in hotels, in homes, in caves and tunnels. I can't remember seeing even one incandescent bulb. This exotic and cavernous restaurant in Jaffa used CFL bulbs in their chandeliers:
Israel was the first nation in the world to partner with Better Place (betterplace.com) in building an electric car infrastructure. There are charge spots and battery switch stations located throughout the country for the fully electric, battery-powered cars.
I'm sad to say that it's not all green in Israel. In particular, there is a big problem with litter. We saw it frequently, in the cities and in the countryside. The only place that I remember being totally free of any trace of litter was Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, the grounds of which are respectfully pristine.
That beautiful picture of the grottoes at Rosh Hanikra, at the beginning of the post, has a contrasting view from the same location:
I struggled emotionally for a few days about whether to include photos of the garbage in Israel, because I feel a strong, sentimental attachment to the country and I don't want to negatively color anybody's view of it. But again, this is a green blog, and I feel like it would be dishonest for me to leave out that part of the environmental picture, because it is, indeed, a very visible part.
About a year ago, I was being interviewed by a local Jewish newspaper's reporter about our school's green initiatives, and we were talking about litter when she said, "There's so much litter in Israel!" Having never been there before, I naively replied, "That's a lesson I'm trying to teach my children--if we see litter, we pick it up and look for a place to throw it out." She was quiet for a moment, and now I understand why. If we had tried to pick up all of the litter that we saw in Israel, we would've had very little time for anything else. It's not like driving down the street and seeing a couple of plastic bottles in the gutter. Too often, it's like this:
So, whose responsibility is it to clean up the litter in Israel? The land is sacred to so many people--the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims. Even secular Israelis have a pride in their country that is fierce and determined. And yet, even in the most sacred of spots--litter. Along the Via Dolorosa (the route traveled by Jesus Christ as he carried his cross), we saw plastic bottles and discarded food wrappers in the street as pilgrimmage tours marched on past, literally carrying their own large crosses.
In the same area, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the tomb of Jesus lies, we came across this scene:
Notice the ladder at the second-story window? It's been there since about 1852, because nobody knows who put it there and nobody wants to touch it. Despite the fact that at least six different religious groups share custodial duties for the church (including the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church), nobody could ever decide whose responsibility it was to take down the ladder. And so it just sits there. Much like the litter scattered about the country, nobody can decide whose fault it is, or whose job it is to clean it up. Perhaps some don't even notice it anymore.
But I don't want to end on that note, because Israel is, first and foremost, a stunningly beautiful and endlessly fascinating country.
It's culturally rich and diverse, from the ultra-Orthodox at the Western Wall...
to the Bedouins and the Israeli soldiers...
to the Muslim women swimming in full garb in the Mediterranean.
It's a small country, but within its borders, you can visit mountains, beaches, bustling modern cities, ancient ruins, deserts, seas, nature reserves, and forests. And as for forests, thanks to the JNF's concerted efforts in forestation, Israel is one of only two countries in the world that started the 21st century with more trees than it had fifty years ago.
In Israel, you can descend into a cave and dig for artifacts from two thousand years ago...
or ascend the mighty Masada.
You can see an animal you've never even heard of (at least I hadn't), which is somehow, inexplicably, the closest relation to an elephant: the rock hyrax.
And I'll spare you the photo of me floating in the Dead Sea, but let me tell you, it was the most relaxed that I have EVER been. (I wish everybody could have the opportunity to float in the Dead Sea, but it's evaporating at an alarming rate--an average of three feet per year--and could essentially vanish within a few decades if it's not somehow replenished.)
Israel is a land of beautiful old views...
...and wonderful new friends, like Shimon Alexander (below), Tourguide Extraordinaire, who told me, "I know my country, I love my country, and I love people, so one day, I decided: This is what I want to do." We've been forever enriched by that decision.
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Contact information for tourguide Shimon Alexander: [email protected].
Contact information for van driver Itamar Bar-Noy: [email protected].
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© 2012 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com. All rights reserved. Photos and text digitally fingerprinted. Site licensed by Creative Commons.
What beautiful pictures, what a fabulous trip it was, and what a wonderful job you did capturing it here! Mostly what a truly amazing and inspiring place Israel is.
Posted by: Carli | 09/01/2012 at 11:42 AM
Wow Joy. How nice to read about your adventures. Your photos are stunning.
Posted by: Brenda | 09/04/2012 at 05:55 PM