MANDATE PERIOD DURING GIVAT HAVIVA INTENSIVE ARABIC SEMESTER STUDENT FIELD TRIP
British university student Josh Davis visiting the Island of Peace at Naharayim having joined Intensive Arabic Semester students (Della and Becca in this photograph) for the day
Having completed his first year of history studies at Oxford University, holidaying in Israel British student Josh Davis jumped at the opportunity of joining MASA-Givat Haviva Intensive Arabic Semester students for a one-day field trip to the Jordan Valley and Golan.
When Josh was 8 years-old he visited Givat Haviva with his older sister and parents, relatives of an International Department staff member, and paid his first visit to the village of Barta’a. He again visited the village and Givat Haviva campus during Israel Tour with the Federation of Zionist Youth from Britain and again visited Barta’a village, as he did this visit when he joined a group of volunteers from kibbutzim on a tour of the region through the International Department before a few days later going venturing further north with the IAS students.
“Even though I have been a few times before there are always new developments to catch up on each visit to Barta’a,” commented Josh.
The first port of call for that day was the Old Courtyard at Kibbutz Gesher. Here Josh and the IAS students learned from kibbutz born and educated present day member Avraham Zohar (whose parents were founder members of the kibbutz) about the original Gesher, their bitter struggle to maintain the kibbutz during 1948 and much more. The students also viewed the Rutenberg Hydro-electric working model exhibit at that Old Courtyard site and shortly afterward actually visited the Naharayim Island of Peace at Ashdod Yaacov where they saw at close quarters the ruins of the Rutenberg electricity plant depicted in the exhibition at Gesher in an area that nowadays falls under the jurisdiction of the Jordanians.
To tour around that particular area with local guide Ro’ee Baron, students needed to hand over their passport details to be allowed through the security fence and on to the Jordanian army post on the other side – through which they passed to the Rutenberg and railway site.
Josh, a Londoner, emailed the International Department the following upon his arrival home:
“The visit to the Jordan Valley and the Naharayim power plant provided a fascinating insight into the pre-1948 history of the area, and the opportunity to view at first hand a piece of local history which would otherwise be somewhat inaccessible. The displays at the original site of Kibbutz Gesher provided excellent detail on Naharayim and also a sense of how it stood within the context of the pioneers and early kibbutz movement.
Another highlight was the chance to cross the Jordanian border and go to the Island of Peace which features remains of both the power plant and the Turkish built railway station (including some original graffiti on the walls).
Together, the two parts of the trip were hugely instructive in offering a window into the world of the British Mandate, and how the passage of time and course of events has impacted on the area.”
The remains of the Rutenberg hydro-electric plant and right: Jordanian army post and portrait of King Abdulla on the Island of Peace
