Spent a day working locations in the Galilee before heading back to Jerusalem. Saw why the Israeli government has been talking about the possibility of water rationing. The grassy area in this picture should all be under water.
The fresh water lake Israelis call Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is the main water supply of Israel and the level of the lake has now receded below the “red line” (dangerously low). In fact, our guide told us that the water has actually gone below a “black line.” Said that it is now at a level where the quality of the water begins to deteriorate. The sun begins to penetrate the water too deeply, forming algae and threatening the lake’s ecology, fish, and commercial value.
The tires fastened to the dock show how high the water level used to be. I remember hearing an Israeli say years ago that the next major war in the Middle East would be fought over water rather than oil.
Reminds me of something the Lord told his people as he was about to lead them into their “promised land.” In Egypt, the Nile was a constant source of water that could be worked and channeled for irrigation into the fields. In Israel the people would be dependent on the early and late season rains which, according to the Bible, God would withhold if his people turned to other gods (Deut 11:8-17).
Also spent some time video taping along the Jordan River that flows into the North East corner of the lake. You’d think that with this much coming in from the north end that the lake level would remain up. But with evaporation and a large volume of water that is being channeled off by treaty agreement with Jordan, the river is falling behind.
Found some Russian immigrants camped overnight next to a military emergency bridge that can be pushed across the river if the regular bridges are blown up. Our guide said that since the ’70s (i.e. after Yom Kippur War) 27 of these emergency floating bridges have been positioned strategically along the river from the North to the Dead Sea.
Finding something like the fisherman and emergency bridge seem like a small detail, but when we are working to produce a video story that has the right elements, something like this can seem like a real and timely “provision.” This one was.
This happy fisherman wanted his picture taken with his Jordan river catch (carp). One of our cameramen caught the way these guys prop up their poles along the bank with bells tied to the tip of the pole to let them hear when they have a bite. Said he caught the ringing and the retrieve of a happy camper.
On our way back to Jerusalem, we drove the Jordan Valley back to the Jericho by-pass where we saw camels like this decked out along the road and waiting for someone to pay for a ride.
In the past, while working in this area we’ve seen a large herd of camels roaming the area. Now it looks like some of them have been conscripted for tourist duty.
Back in Jerusalem we did some taping on Ben Yehuda street in the center of New Jerusalem. This pedestrian mall draws a younger more secular crowd than the old city and is usually marked by the colorful presence of street musicians and artists who are playing or performing for a few shekels of appreciation.
Because of the crowds of people that come to Ben Yehuda this area has been hit in the past by suicide attacks. Saw this highly mobile Israeli security team watching the crowd.
Just outside the Zion Gate we found these huge piles of Israeli military backpacks.
A large group of soldiers left them here to walk into the Jewish quarter for educational training. In the past have heard that many young Israelis from all over Israel have no sense of their spiritual and religious past. So as part of their military training they are exposed to the religious history of their land and people.
Also recorded segments in the Rockefeller Museum. Founded in 1938 by a 2 million dollar contribution by John D Rockefeller, this archeological museum is committed to showing the part the people of the Holy Land have played in world history.
Prior to 1967, the museum was in Jordan. After the war, the museum East Jerusalem came under the control of Israel. Today the main offices of the Jewish Antiquity Authority are also here. They oversee the excavation of all new construction sites in Israel to make sure that no archeological treasures are inadvertently destroyed. Wish I could have spent a couple of days in there.
Also did some video taping as a stretch of the Israeli security wall. Our guide told us that the whole security fence runs about 500 miles with “the wall” running for about 7% of that distance. People on both sides of the fence are suffering. But since the wall was put up, suicide attacks have all but stopped in Jerusalem.
The wall is a reminder to me of the humanly unsolvable problems of a region claimed as ancestral homeland by both Palestinians and Israelis. Both sides have issues and deep grievances. Both sides have reason to fear and hate. Am more convinced than ever that only the God who suffered to pay for the sins of both sides, and us, has the answer for two people groups that talk constantly about peace (Shalom and Salaam), without yet seeing it.
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