After Nazareth our next stop was our half-way point of Afula where we took another 15-minute break. While here a rather interesting thing happened. I walked across the railroad track to get a picture of Mt. Moriah which was off in the distance, and as I went by the station, a Palestinian military policeman with a big black triangular shaped hat and carrying a rifle yelled out, "What part of the States are you from, Buddy?" I told him, and he answered in perfect English, "Im from Chester, Pa. Just came over here about six years ago. I still have a sister and some other relatives living in Philadelphia." So I stopped and talked with him awhile.
Saturday was a quiet day. We decided not to take any tours, instead to spend the day in Tel Aviv and on the beach. We walked around the town in the morning, but since Saturday is the Jewish "Sunday," we found no stores open. We did find one place open called the American Milk Bar, and there we indulged in a peach sundae and a banana split. The ice cream didn't measure up to the good old American stuff, but it was the nearest to it that we'd had in a long time, so we really enjoyed it.
Saturday night we ate in the hotel--Wiley, Mrs. Chas. G. Walker (American Red Cross) from Texas, and myself. We had met Mr. Walker a day or two before, and enjoyed his company a lot. He was a very friendly easy going man, with lots of vitality, and he talked like a Texan. After dinner, we listened to some after-dinner music at the hotel for a while, and then made our way to the American Milk Bar again for some ice cream before going to bed.
Sunday morning we spent around town again, buying a few souvenirs, and looking without success for a place to buy film. Then in the afternoon we took a tour to the Jewish Communal Farm (near Tel Aviv), called "Givath Brenner." It was founded in 1928 on the area of land which was actually desert that had on it not even a blade of grass, so they claim. All the water had to be hauled in on donkeys. Finally the soil responded, and by 1933 the Settlement was ready to receive refugees from Nazi-persecuted territory. Today the people (numbering 1400) living on the farm come from all European countries. The land is owned by the Jewish national Fund, which buys land with funds provided by Jews all over the world, and thus the land becomes the property of the Jewish people. The Jewish National Fund leases the land to settlers--in this case, to the settlement as a whole. The land, buildings, machinery, livestock, in fact all the property is owned by the settlement. No individual owns anything. It is governed by general meetings of all members, during which committees are appointed to organize every branch of the life of the community. All clothing, housing, food, medical care, schooling, entertainment, etc., is provided at communal expense, and each person is given 20 pounds (approximately $80) spending money each year. There are now 100 of these collective settlements in Palestine, with a total population of 28,000. Membership is voluntary, and also a person may leave when he chooses.
On this particular farm the main crops are citrus fruits, tomatoes, dairy products, and marmalade made in the settlement factory from oranges and lemons. All in all they've done a good job and have come a long way toward changing the land from desert to land that will produce something. And the people seem to thrive on it, especially the children, who are raised by the settlement sort of in the same way that children in the States are sometimes raised "scientifically." The ones we saw on this farm were all very healthy, lively, and well-fed. However, I wouldn't like living that way myself, and I think the rest of the gang on the tour felt the same way. There seemed to be a lack of individual initiative for one thing. There was really no reason for anyone to take any pride in his work, and we noticed around the farm that, although they seemed to be producing quite well, they didn't care much about how the place looked. The buildings looked run down and there were piles of trash lying around here and there, and the roads through the settlement hadn't been improved very much. Their children seemed to be their biggest pride and they really did seem to be doing a fine job in that respect--though again I wouldn't care to be brought up that way myself.
I met an interesting fellow on the way to the farm that day. He was an enlisted man sitting next to me in the truck, and I had noticed that he knew something about the farm. So I struck up an acquaintance with him. when I asked him where he lived, he replied that he had no home in the States, but that his folks were running a dairy farm outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. From then on we had quite a field day discussing the relative merits and demerits of Alaska.
Sunday night a 22-piece army band from Casablanca played at the Garden, and the Red Cross furnished dinner and dancing partners for those who wanted to go. Wily and I accepted and escorted two of the local belles to the affair. We had an enjoyable evening, and were in bed by midnight. Chaplain Phinney, who was a great lover of classical music but couldn't stand this "modern noise" had rather a hard time of it trying to sleep in his third floor room. The band was outside on the terrace, and "that noise" carried perfectly to the third floor.
Monday morning we were up again bright and early for our second trip to the Holy City, Jerusalem. Again Chaplain Phinney, Wily and I stuck together. When we arrived in Jerusalem, Phinney, Wily and I took off by ourselves to see the native sections of the old city, and a very interesting time we had browsing through the narrow streets and looking in the bazaars and shops. In one particular shop we saw a curious thing. Right in the middle of a showcase, among some Oriental bracelets and rings, was one bar of American Lux soap. We took several pictures, bought a few souvenirs, and then went back to the YMCA for lunch.
After lunch Wily and I took a cab to Bethlehem. I wanted to get a color shot of the valley of Bethlehem and also one of Rachel's tomb. We drove into the town first and bought some Crusaders' crosses and some miniature Psalm books, and then went back out for the pictures. Rachel's tomb is (I believe) around 3,000 years old. It stands alongside the road running from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and looks just like it's pictures. Inside I bought a Jewish prayer book and a Jewish "Mazuzza" for souvenirs. The Jewish man in charge (may have been a rabbi) autographed the book in Hebrew...Then back to the "Y" to sit around until time for the trucks to go back to Tel Aviv.
Monday night we spent at the Yarden. The next day we packed, paid our bill, caught the bus to camp Tel Litwinsky, and then to the Lydda airport. Again we had that well-known wait, but finally we got off the ground. Wily was riding back as an extra crew member so was sitting with me, and during the trip gave me several interesting pointers about airplanes.
We landed in Cairo about 12:45, and then after checking in at the terminal, another interesting coincidence took place. I went over to the finance building to exchange my Palestinian money for Egyptian money, and was just leaving when a sargeant walked up and asked where he'd seen me before. It was none other than Sgt. Rutledge who used to be with me in Company B of the 30th Battalion at Crowder. I hadn't seen him since early March, '43 when I left Company B for the prep school area in Crowder. He looked just the same.
As far as the leave was concerned, it was about over. Wily happened to be coming into town so we caught a ride with a laundry truck and about 30 minutes later I was again at the Elite Pension, in Cairo. At 4:00 p.m. I went to work.
We both agreed the trip was well worth while, that we felt better on returning than we did when we left, that we had met a lot of swell people, and that we had learned a lot. We also agreed that for the first time we had an idea of relative distances in regard to the Holy Land. We realized for the first time in just how small an area all the stories of the Bible took place.
But to both of us the most impressive thing about Palestine, other than its religious interests, was its cleanliness, its invigorating climate, its fresh air, its cleaner and more colorful natives, and its rich farming country...After Egypt, it was almost like a trip back to the States.
(The end.)