the Negev

This weekend I went on a camping trip in the Negev desert in the south of Israel. I was one of fifty students who went on the trip, which was arranged by the Overseas Department. On our way to the Negev we made several stops, the first of which was at a huge outdoor market in Be’er Sheva. Then we visited a remote, irrigated vineyard which is part of a developing agricultural enclave in the desert. We stopped at the graves of David Ben-Gurion (the first Prime Minister of Israel) and his wife, Paula Ben-Gurion. We walked along the edge of a development town called Mitzpe Ramon, from where we had incredible views of the Ramon crater.

We spent the night in a huge, communal, Bedouin-style tent at a campsite in the middle of the desert. The following day we went hiking in the Negev, which is absolutely beautiful. The desert is strangely similar to the ocean in that both seem endlessly expansive. The weather was lovely. It’s amazing to be able to wear a t-shirt outside in November.

On our way to the Negev we drove along sections of the “security barrier” which separates Israel and the West Bank. The barrier has been an extremely controversial issue in world politics, and Israel has taken a lot of heat for constructing it. I don’t mean to minimize the controversy, but I was shocked to see how minor the barrier appeared. I was expecting to see a hulking, formidable structure, yet the fence sections were barely visible, and I would have thought the wall section was just a regular highway barrier if I hadn’t been informed otherwise.

click on the link below to view my photos of Jerusalem (you will need to log in. username: deborahhemel@yahoo.com, password: deborahhemel).

http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=31812302/t_=34757088