Gush Trip Part #2: Mitzpeh Avichai -- Hill 18

I'm in a bad mood today, so I'm glad I left the blogging of the other half of the trip for today. If I'm reminded about how nice it was, maybe I'll drop the grumpiness. But don't count on it.


After we watched the dog demo, we got back into our cars and drove another 15 min or so until we got to a little place called Ramat Mamrei, also another gated community over the green line. We drove through the town until we got to the edge of it where we hit a barbed wire fence and a dirt road. We drove down this narrow little dirt road (lots of rocks!) for about 5 minutes until the group stopped. We were on an outpost called Hill 18, and it was stunning. We were deep in the Judean Hills and everywhere we looked were more hills and nore mountains as far as the eye could see. Hill 18 is also known as Mitzpeh Avichai. I was going to Google Map it and show you a pic of where we were but two things are stopping me 1) Apparently those areas of Israel are not quite important enough to have detailed Satellite images 2) my mother would post probably kill me if she knew I drove out there with the kids. Shhhh! 


Mitzpeh Avichai is an "illegal" settlement and has been demolished more than once. Several of the dog handlers that we met are living here in one of the "houses" they have erected here. Not including these boys and men, there are 5 other families that live here. The tour guide took us to one family's house.  It is almost impossible to drive all the way up to their home, so we left the cars and walked the rest of the way. I can't explain to you what it was like to meet and talk to a woman who lives with her family out here. There are Arab houses almost 10 meters from their house. On the rocky walk up to the their little house are beautiful plants and flowers that have been very carefully planted; almost shocking among all the the rocks and dirt.


As we walked up to the house, my kids were astounded: "How do people live like this? What happens when it rains?" The house itself (and now I am kicking myself for not taking more pics) is quite literally made out of press board. Press board walls, ceiling, etc. The roof was tin sheets pounded together. The floors are dirt and covered in rugs. The furniture is sparse and mostly very warn. The house itself was originally one room (still some kids sleep in the living room, which is also the dining room, office and kitchen), but they managed to add on one bedroom in the back. The do not live like this because they are poor. They live like this because their home is often bulldozed to the ground, leaving them to start all over again.


The woman living here with her three children looks very much like you and me. She's in her early 30s was nicely dressed, had on beautiful jewelry and was very put together. She works in a museum nearby and her husband learns. She and her husband were the first ones to live on Hill 18, but since then another four families have joined her. She went on to tell us how she's lived there almost 3 years and how in that time her home has been demolished several times, and each time they pick up the pieces and they rebuild. She smiles a beautiful smile as she says that it's easy for the government to come and evict one family and kick them out of their home that is then bulldozed to the ground. "But now we are 5. Five strong families. It's a lot harder to displace 5 families."


When asked what we can do to help, so show that we care, she simply says, "Come. Come visit. Come see what we're doing. Come and spend time with us. 


I was blown away. I have been hearing about people like this for years, but I had a totally different picture in my mind. I hadn't imagined them to be so like you and me. To actually be there with her in her home was so inspirational. 


When I got home I did some research and here's what I found:


An excellent informative article on Mitzpeh Avichai's history here.


And a video showing the tenacity of this incredible crew:

It was amazing for me to meet these people and be there to see what exactly they are doing for the rest of us. But even more amazed were my kids. We had some very interesting talks on the way home. "Why don't we live here? Why can't we come and help them?" It was hard to admit to my kids that you have to be very, very brave to live here, and that maybe their parents are not so brave. "But you have all of us! That lady only has 3 little girls!!" 


It gave us all pause for a moment, and I let them digest all that we had seen on the way home. I am awed at how a trip to see some dogs turned into a tremendous inspiration as well as led us to have an appreciation for other factions of Am Yisrael and recognize how much they are doing on a daily basis.


Just another day in the life... :)

Awesome Gush Trip Part #1: Couch Potatoes Beware

RBS has an email list where people can post just about anything (appropriate, that is: it's well censored). In any given email you can hear about a lost dog, someone seeking a ride, houses for sale, or someone looking for a book. It's a great way for the greater BS and RBS communities to connect and it's a real life-saver for some. 


Thursday night I was browsing the list and saw a trip listed that caught my attention: A trip from RBS (you could join on the van or drive your own car with the convoy) to Elazar, one of the settlements in the Gush Etzion area. The tiyul was "marketed" as a demonstration by dog handlers showing how they train dogs as guard dogs for the yishuvim. There wasn't that much info given, but I figured it would be perfect; anything dog related is right up our alley. My kids have been having WAY too much "screen time" because of "vacation" and the fact that it's so hot that no one wants to go out.I took the five big kids and left TPH to fend for himself under the watchful eye of N. 


I haven't really been out that way at all since we made Aliyah last summer, and I was amazed at how much Efrat has grown. It seems to be spreading all through the mountains, and it's a beautiful thing to see. I've always been a fan of the Gush region, and we have discussed moving there several times, but because of family, friends and schools we're here in RBS for now. Elazar, like the rest of the Gush is gorgeous. Houses, apartments, you name it, it continues to grow as well. 


We got out of the car and were treated to a very impressive demonstration. We were introduced to several Belgian Shepherds and their handlers, one only 13 years old. The beginning was "fine-but-I'm- starving-when-can-we-eat-did-you-even-bring-food-how-much-longer-is-this-when-are-we-going-home-(presumably-to-play-computer-games)?" My kids have had dogs; big dogs, small dogs, male dogs, female dogs, big whoop.

The showed us "Ragli" (heel), "Shev" (sit) and shh! don't tell, but even I was itching for my iPhone. 

This was cute, but we couldn't really think of any actual practical applications when one might need to use this:

Then they introduced us to "Chubby", a (you guessed it) chubby chocolate lab that was being trained for an autistic child. Going rate? Around $25,000 - $30,000. I have to admit, he was cute, I'll take one, please.

But then they started talking about how these dogs are training to protect the families on the yishuvim (settlements). They introduced us to a puppy that was actually born to one of the Fogel's neighbors and has been given to this group of handlers to train and return to Itamar. Some dogs will be regular guard dogs, others will learn to be search and rescue dogs. And next up...attack dogs. 


There is something about boys and violence (ok, I'll admit, they had mine and J's full attention by now, too) that makes everyone perk up. Even more ominous, the guide kept asking us to stand behind the line, and not make any sudden movements. Oooooh. The head trainer put on arm guards, and showed us how these dogs are trained to attack when either a) their handler is in trouble or b) the are given a command. 


Hmm..suddenly this was quite interesting, and no one was complaining about hunger/thirst/heat/boredom any more. Out of the blue, the main trainer yelled "Allah Akbar!" and this dog came charging at him like nothing I've ever seen before.

Suddenly my computer game-brained zombies were alive! "Imma! Did you see that??? He could've killed him! Please, please can we see that again?? That was awesome! Can we get one? Can I join this group? Can I do this in the army? Please, Imma, please, please, please!!" I have to admit, it was pretty cool. 


They explained to us that it is quite easy to train a dog to attack an aggressive target. But what about a passive one, say a guy holding a hand grenade that might be standing quite still? That's harder. But look what we got on camera:

Notice how the "target" is kind of just minding his own business? And she comes out of nowhere on command of her handler, who by the way is all of 17 years old. 


The funniest thing was that after watching this type of thing for about half an hour, my kids kept asking when we were getting one. My answer? We have one dog and one handler at home, and frankly, that's more than enough for me: