International
Goodwill and Understanding
SI-Israel SI-Iceland
Members of the two clubs on tour in northern
There are few things in this world which are of greater importance than
friendship, love, goodwill and understanding.
If you apply yourself to a good task, you can be sure that you will be
rewarded. That is what makes being a
Soroptimist such a great privilege.
At SI/E Governors Meetings, Iceland and Israel have neighbouring tables. Because of this special relationship,
through the years, ties have been made
between our two countries. Here
is a story of "Friendhip without Borders".
Last year SI-Kopavogur received an invitation from SI-Rehovot, Union of
Israel, to come for a visit in
February/March 2010. For almost a year
many e-mails were transmitted between us..
The result was nine Sorores from SI-Kopavogur landed at Ben Gurion
Airport very early in the morning of February
27th. Four Sorores from SI-Rehovot
greeted us with flowers at the airport
and drove us to the host homes of our Rehovot sisters.
A nine days program had been extremely well prepared by our sisters in
Rehovot. They wanted us to see as much
as possible in Israel during our stay and we were enlightened with a history going
back four thousand years.
The day of our arrival we started by visiting Kibbutz Machon Ayalon which
had housed an illegal underground factory for munitions before the
establishment of the State of Israel. Even most of the kibbutz members did not
know what went on underneath their bakery and laundry.
In the evening we had a warm welcome and a wonderful meeting with the
Rehovot sisters.
The next day we went on a sight-seeing tour, despite the unexpected cold
and rain, we still managed to visit the Diaspora
Museum and the old city of Jaffa. In the evening we met with Soroptimists from SI-Givatayim and
SI-Ramat Gan which are the clubs in the Tel Aviv area. Each members told
something about herself and we started to feel closer to each other.
We travelled by mini-bus with some of the Rehovot-sisters south to the
Massada Fortress in the desert and from there we went down to the Dead Sea,
where we floated in the salty waters.
A three days tour to the north of Israel was next on the agenda. Six of our Rehovot-sisters travelled with us by
Mini-bus for three days to Northern Israel.
We started off by visiting the remains of Ceasarea, an ancient city from
the time of Herod the Great. After
having visited churches in Nazareth and the birthplace of Jesus, we were
invited to a home, where we met three friends of Aliya, who had worked with her
as social workers, one of whom is member of the Givatayim Sorop club. The fact
that we were invited to an Arab home, itself unusual, gave us an opportunity to
see how Christian Arabs live in Israel.
We spent the night in Nazareth in what had been a nunnery.
Next day we visited Yardenit on the Jordan River, where Jesus was
christened by John the Baptist.
From the Lake of Galilee we travelled to the home of a Druze girl and her
family in the village of Sajur where we were invited to a delicious Druze feast,
served by the women of the family.
The girl had survived a terrorist attack seven years ago and was a friend
of Aliya's. She told us her story which
is one of the most moving incidents on our tour.The feelings expressed by
Jihan:
|
""I, Jehan, want to share with you my very personal story,
one which is also the story of the special and cruel life of people in this
part of the world. My sister, Mison and I were caught up in a terrorist attack
by a suicide bomber which took place on the bus in which we were travelling
to the University in Safed. My sister was killed outright whereas I was badly
wounded. The incident was so traumatic that its memory will remain
with me all my life.I lost my dearly beloved sister and at that same moment,
I lost my belief in humanity and I also lost my joy in life. My life after
the terror attack will never be the same as it was before. It’s possible that I will recover from the physical trauma
(although I still suffer from the physical effects and they will always be
with me) but I do know that I will never recover from the mental trauma as it
affects me every moment of my life; no matter where I am - at home or in the
street, whether I am alone or in company; when I am awake and even in sleep;
day and night it is with me; morning, noon and evening. I keep reliving
moments of the incident even in the midst of my loving, supportive family or
when surrounded by friends.The tragedy changed my whole approach to life –
everyday happenings have been dwarfed or have disappeared from sight; |
my senses have
stopped absorbing outside stimulii. I have lost the ability to feel emotions;
I have become apathetic to my surroundings and have become an unsociable
human being.I have also become individualistic, retreating from outside society,
whether friends or strangers. Time passes unnoticed; yesterday, today and tomorrow are no
longer differentiated. At every waking moment I relive the sights, sounds and
smells of the incident; they reverberate in my mind and flash before my eyes.
I don’t even have the ability to apportion blame or to complain; I don’t want
pity. I have paid a heavy price; they have taken almost everything from me.I
only hope and pray that perhaps in the future I will become, once more, an
ordinary person, like all others and our life here becomes as normal as it is
in other parts of the world. |
Next stop was Rosh Ha Nikra grottoes, a geologic formation located on the
coast of the Mediterranean Sea near the Lebanese border. It is a white chalk cliff face which opens up
into spectacular caves. Breathtaking!
In the evening we met at supper with Sorores from the Nahariya-club. We had a delightful evening and as before, we
experienced friendship, kindness and a feeling that we were meeting old family members.
We spent the night there
Each of us received from the
Nahariya club a scarf in Sorop colors
.
Early next morning we visited Acre (Akko) in the Haifa Bay, which is one
of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in Israel with a fascinating 5000
years of history. It was a city known to the Crusaders and Napoleon. Then on to Haifa where we visited the Baha´i Shrine and
Gardens. At a restaurant on the
Carmel-beach we met 2 Sorores from the Neve Shaanan-club in Haifa.
When we came back to Rehovoth, we got ready for our trip to Jerusalem.
Our Sorop sisters drove us to Jerusalem and Aliya took us to the
Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum) and we saw evidence of the terrible things that were
done to the Jewish People in the Second World War. It is so hard to put into
words what a deep effect it had on all of us.. We will always remember what we
saw there and will never forget.
We spent three days in Jerusalem
during which we also visited Bethlehem.
We saw the Church of Nativity there,
walked through the Via Dolorosa in the old city of Jerusalem, and stood in
front of the Wailing Wall, continuing up to the Mount of Olives and to Gethsemane. A visit to the Israel Museum followed, where
we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls, and then the
Knesset, the Parliament of Israel. We experienced
three days of an immensely varied and dramatic history.
The last day of our visit in Israel was in Rehovot itself. It started by
visiting the Misholot Club for Ethiopian women immigrants, run by the Rehovot
Soroptimists. Most of the women are illiterate
and still do not speak Hebrew. They
learn social skills and have exercise classes, giving them increased
self-confidence which is inestimable. The Ethiopians made us welcome by offering us
strong coffee and traditional exotic dishes.
Afterwards we danced and sang together. This was followed by a visit to
the Weizmann Scientific Institute and to the home of the first President of
Israel.
The last item on the agenda was a Farewell Supper at Nili´s home. All the Rehovot sisters were present and
there was a lecture in English on "Marriage customs in the different religions". We all enjoyed a delightful evening with
delicious food in the company of our dear sisters of the Rehovot club. We were
presented by a certificate for a tree planted in the Israeli Soroptimist Grove
signed by all the club members. There
was a lot of singing, both in Hebrew and Icelandic. It was difficult to say good bye to our dear
hostesses, but all good things must come to an end.
This was all a wonderful experience for us, especially to perceive all
the friendship, affection, helpfulness and understanding all around us. We will never forget the nine days we spent in
Israel. Many pictures were taken during
our visit and we have already been to different clubs in Iceland talking about
the warm friendship we enjoyed, and showing pictures from a beautiful,
astonishing country trying to describe our unforgettable nine days in Israel.
Prepared for the Link jointly by
Hildur Hálfdanardóttir, SI-Kopavogur and Sylvia Flowers and
Aliya Kedem, SI-Rehovoth