By David Amos
SAN DIEGO –Every trip to Israel is an adventure, a revelation. No two trips are the same, and our recent ten day visit was no exception.
Yes, we had the usual encounters with family and Israeli musicians, but after not being in Israel for years, we were treated to the country’s phenomenal growth, rising sophistication, and artistic maturity. We saw in person what many of us know: The country’s astounding involvement in the high-tech disciplines, medicine, business, industry, and overall efficiency.s
As usual, we talked in depth with friends and family from both ends of the political spectrum. The far-left, dovish ones, and the hard-line rightists, whose views have not changed much through the years. What saddened me, however, is that in all of our various conversations, I did not sense much hope for a quick peace treaty or cessation of hostilities. If we did not bring up the subject, it was unlikely to be initiated by others; just sadness with a sprinkling of pessimism.
We were delighted to meet many of our family’s “next generation”, who have now become adults. In different disciplines, they are a brilliant and dynamic group of young people
But, interestingly, the sense we perceived was one of progress, dynamism, and the Israeli “ruach” for which the country is known. The overall feeling in the streets, museums, hotels, and stores was one of energy, good humor, and the feeling of tranquility and a sense of moving forward.
This is a place where children are the kings and queens, and the younger adult generations are the prominent “spark plugs”, and the older generations are revered..
We received a wonderful tour of the Jerusalem Music Center, which I discovered has the renowned pianist Murray Perahia listed as its music director. I am proud to see his name displayed; he is one of few Sephardic Jews in the classical music world. We met with the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, where we heard valuable insights. We also visited The Israel Museum, Yad Vashem, and the Palmach Museum in Ramat Aviv, next to the university.
We also enjoyed a wonderful visit with San Diego Jewish World’s Jerusalem correspondent Dorothea Shefer-Vanson and her husband Yigal.
But what made this trip different from all other trips was our entry into Jordan and seeing in person the magnificent ruins of Petra. We were accompanied by a personal Jordanian tour guide for our thirty hours there, and the experience was truly spectacular. Although there is a peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, and everything seemed calm and friendly during our time there, I understand that not too many Israelis have ventured to take this journey.
This is how we did it: All arranged by our superb travel agent in San Diego, we flew from Tel Aviv to the southern port of Eilat, where we were met by an Israeli representing the touring company; he took us to the Arava border checkpoint, only a few minutes away, and passed us on to another coordinator who helped us with the Israeli security, customs and immigration. Then, with our suitcases, which thankfully have wheels, we walked alone across a “no-man’s land”, a paved quarter of a mile, into the Jordanian side, where we were met by the tour company’s counterpart, who helped us with the visas and other paperwork. Once that was done, he guided us to the air-conditioned taxi, where we met our private tour guide.
Our guide, a Muslim Arab from Amman, was eloquent in his historical and geographical explanations of what we were seeing, and once we felt comfortable with him, he was not shy about giving us his opinions of the Israeli-Arab conflict. He showed us photos of his three daughters, all college graduates, and actively working in their professions. He also proudly showed us the picture of his wife, a very attractive lady in Western dress.
His comments can be summarized thusly: He has been to Israel repeated times, speaks a bit of Hebrew, and has Israeli friends. He is a devout Muslim, but gives little credence to the so-called “Arab Spring”, which he labeled as nonsense. He admitted that among the Muslims, there is around 10% who are fundamentalists and trouble makers, who have no desire for peace with Israel. Also, that the extremists are not reading the Koran thoroughly and correctly, mis-interpreting its message of peace and tolerance.
He described the entire Middle East as a world economic power, once peace is made between Israel and its Arab neighbors. But, he cautioned, this can not happen as long as both the Israeli and other Arab governments are controlled by religious parties. He envisioned two leaders from both sides, with courage and vision, and without religious roadblocks to step forward some day.
Most of our time was traveling in a four wheeled drive vehicle through a portion of the Arabian Desert, where Lawrence of Arabia galloped a century ago. In places there were no roads, no car tracks, no people; just sand dunes and mountains, as far as the eye can see, in all directions. We stropped at an oasis called Wadi Ram, and proceeded to the town of Wadi Musa, (Musa is “Moses”) next to the magnificent excavations of Petra, which is inhabited by Bedouins and Arabs most of them being descendants of the ancient Nabateans. I took hundreds of pictures!
In Petra, we covered a lot of ground by foot; we estimate about eight miles in 24 hours. The sights and memories we collected are too many for this article, but they were truly memorable. The hotel at the entry to Petra is part of a five-star European chain. It lacked nothing.
The next day, around noon, we were taken back to the southern check point where we entered, and reversed our footsteps back into Israel.
When we related our adventure to our Israeli friends and family, we were met with fascination, but also a good bit of skepticism as to the idealistic hopes of our wonderful guide.
*
Amos is conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO) and has guest conducted professional orchestras around the world.