This is the only video I took in Israel, except for a time lapse outside of our hotel window in Tel Aviv.
If I know an area I like to take shots that will be tomorrow's "then" to some future date's "now." but I can't really do that if I am in a strange location. My other option is to somehow tell a story with the video. I would have missed most of the tour if I tried to do that with the video camera. Sometimes it is easy to do with a still camera, as I did on our trip. I took several hundred still photos (thank goodness for digital cameras or I would have put my retirement off to age 119 just to pay for the processing).
This video is of a former Syrian emplacement in the Golan Heights. It is now part of Israel.
Although you can't see it in this video, the area was abuzz with IDF. We saw huge military vehicles and many troops on the road up to the Golan site.
ReplyDeleteWhen you went off to record this video I thought I had lost you. The group was ready to get back on the bus and you were nowhere to be seen.
ReplyDeleteYEs, but you can hear my wireless device so I knew what the group was up to. Honest!
DeleteNice video Matt; such a panoramic view! I'm glad the bus didn't toodle off without you!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I didn't wander on the other side of the fence!
DeleteNice, I hope to visit one day as I'd like to see the Banias. It's a very, very good thing that Israel imposed an actual loss on Syria; sometimes imposing a cost helps bring peace. I've read the histories of the wars very closely and it seems to me that given the aggression on the Syrian side, plus this location's ability to rain shells down on some of Israel's prime agricultural land, there was no way any proper Zionist state could allow it to revert to Arab control.
ReplyDelete"...plus this location's ability to rain shells down on some of Israel's prime agricultural land..."
DeleteYes Jourdan, this was key. It was fascinating to see the panorama and appreciate the magnitude of damage that could have rained down on Israeli land and tenants. It was (and is) crucial for Israel to maintain control of the Golan.
The terrain reminds me of the Sierra foothills... except instead of abandoned gold mines you got abandoned mine mines...
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the video Matt, it really gives a sense of the place.
We had an event today for the local Jewish community here in Tijuana. I found out a lot. It's about half Ashkenazi and half Sephardi. On the Sephardi side, the families are descended--get this--from Jews from the Ottoman Empire who are the descendants of Jews exiled from Spain, and who spoke Spanish for over 400 years in what is today Turkey. You should have seen the local students reacting to their ancient Spanish, which they still use at home. (They call it simply "Judeo" here, but apparently it's called more commonly "Ladrino"). It was like being a modern student in the U.S. and hearing families speaking Ye Olde Englishe.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to comment for ages but it doesn't work on Firefox or on IoS. So here I am on Chrome.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this is a great video Matt. The Golan is so beautiful in the spring, though in the summer it is all brown and dried out. In the winter parts of it are covered in snow which is a real treat for us Israelis who hardly get to see it otherwise.