Well it’s been three weeks since we finished our first three days walking. A brief What’sApp exchange and everyone committed to continuing our tiyul and to the next leg from 5 to 7 November.
I’m not sure November is a perfect time of year (July wasn’t great either of course) and we would have preferred the third week in October when we could expect better, drier, weather, but it just didn’t work out for the three of us. The first week or so in November is usually a bit of a watershed weather-wise in the Galil, so we may get beautiful blue skies and pleasant walking – alternatively we could be hiking in a downpour. We’ll just have to see. At least we’ve booked a decent hotel in Safed for the two nights, the Ruth Rimon hotel. I love wandering the narrow alleyways of Safed, its ethereal atmosphere, the legacy of Kabbalah – and the fact that there are plenty of restaurants within easy walking distance.
Looking back, during the first three days we walked through what were the extreme northern limits of historic Israel, the territories allocated to the tribes of Dan and Naftali. There is evidence and stories of Jewish occupation going back millennia, in the Golan, Tel Dan, and in Kedesh near Malkiya, where we stayed. Yet, in more modern terms we were in fact on the French side of the old Sykes/Picot line – something I’d not realised before.
A little aside about this now I’ve done some research.
The Hula pan handle was to be part of French Lebanon, as far South as Safed. So, in 1919, the British relinquished the northern section of Upper Galilee containing Tel Hai, Metulla, Hamrah, and Kfar Giladi to French jurisdiction. The Yishuv was very unhappy with this, since it left the sources of the Jordan River outside the borders of British Mandatory Palestine, where the state envisaged in the Balfour Declaration was to be established. Therefore, the few isolated Jewish settlements in the Upper Galilee assumed great strategic value from the Yishuv’s point of view. Nevertheless, there was a fierce debate, some Jewish leaders advocating the retention of Tel Hai and the other outposts at all costs, while others regarded their situation as untenable and advocating withdrawal from them.
Arabs in this area at the time were not primarily involved in activities against the early Jewish settlements, but rather in strongly opposing the imposition of the French Mandate of Syria, which they regarded as betrayal of the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence made during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule. In a letter dated 24 October 1915, Sir Henry McMahon, then His Majesty’s High Commissioner in Egypt, promises the Sharif of Mecca, Husayn ibn Ali, to “recognize and support the independence of the Arabs within the territories proposed by him (Sharif of Mecca).” These territories included the Arabian peninsula, Syria (which then included Lebanon, Palestine, and Transjordan), and Iraq as “purely Arab” areas and part of a future Arab state or states in the region – although McMahon was clear Palestine was not included.
The settlers in Tel Hai, headed by the Russian-born Jewish commander Joseph Trumpeldor wanted the area to be restored to British control which they hoped would eventually lead to its becoming part of a future Jewish state. However, as newcomers to the area recently arrived from Europe, they were suspected of being pro-French, which ultimately led to armed clashes.
In one notable exchange, on 1 March 1920, Shiite Arabs from Jabal Amil in southern Lebanon sought to search Tel Hai, however the Jews called for reinforcements from kibbutz Kfar Giladi. Joseph Trumpeldor and ten men attempted to drive the Shi’ites militias away.
At the end of a verbal dispute, an armed confrontation broke out, in which six of the Tel Hai Jews were killed and the remaining Jews retreated, whereupon the place was burned. The total number of killed was 13 (5 Muslims and 8 Jews). Nevertheless the end result was that the Jews persuaded the British and the French to agree this area of Upper Galilee should be included in Mandatory Palestine. It was thus possible for Tel Hai to be resettled in 1921, though it did not become a viable independent community and in 1926 it was absorbed into kibbutz Kfar Giladi.
Now though we move South of the original Sykes/Picot line for three more days of walking.
We need to settle the itinerary in more detail, but broadly on our first day we aim to finish the stretch to Yesha Fort, and then to move on as far as Dishon, if we can. On the second day we hope to do Nahal Tsivon; and our final leg will be up Mount Meron, which will not be fun if the weather is bad. The autumn though will be much cooler and a better time to walk than the July heat of last time, and although we will still miss the spring flowers hopefully we can arrange a walking session next spring to see them then.
Overall, I’m really looking forward to resuming the INT. My ankle is easier, and the tendon, although occasionally sore, less swollen and recovers faster from stress, so I’m optimistic it will be much improved by the time we walk.
Bring it on!
Hiking the Israel National Trail 