After several cold rainy February's weekends, this Saturday was the first warm blue sky sunny bright day, with high temperature at the 20C (66F) .
Thus our darling daughter Inbal suggested that all the Navehs ladies take a hike at a near-by forest, where dazzling late winter flower bloom , can be already enjoyed.
Rosh Haayin - Fountain/ Spring - Head)
Roash Haayin - an Israeli town which is about 20 minuted drive East from Tel Aviv,, and the eastern edge of Israel’s coastal Sharon plain and across of the Samaria Mountains..
It is where the 1st BC ancient Antipatris -city was built, by Herod the Great, who named it in honour of his father, Antipater,
It is also where a Byzantine settlement, a 16th C Ottoman Fortress- Binar Bashi and a Palestinian Arab village (abandoned in 1920s) had historically stood in the same location, and were referred to as Ras Al-Ayn, (same meaning as the Hebrew name)
The site was actually inhabited from the Chalcolithic Period
Situated at the source of at the strong perennial springs of the Yarkon River, the River's water strategic importance also served as an obstacle for armies to pass.
Rosh HaAyin was founded as a settlement in the 1949 and declared a city in 1994 .
Its eastern neighborhoods borders the Green Line, and the Judea/Samaria districts
Many of the early residents were religious Yemenite Jews airlifted to Israel in 1949 and 1950 in Operation Magic Carpet who resided (35,000) in what was one of the Israel Ma'abarot (transit -tents camps) in the 1950s.
In the 1990, affordable housing development attracted young couple, IDF veterans and Russian immigrants which contributed to the face -lifted changes of the town.
It is one of the cities with the highest growth's rate (6% annually) and its current population is above 73,000, of whom many now reside in beautiful either renovated or brand new free standing villas, surrounded by gardens and fruit trees.(More in Hebrew)
Communal Park/Forest
There is an entrance to the park from 51 Keshet St , just across from Park Keshet
The forested park is situated in the foothills of the Samaria Mountains
and it provides a rocky green belt of trees and wildflowers.
Stretches on the northern fringes of the town adjacent to its new neighborhoods. thanks to KKL-JNF who began planting the forest,in 1976, the forest
was rehabilitated and developed with the help of Rosh HaAyin Municipality and the local residents, and thanks to contributions from Friends of KKL-JNF worldwide including Canada.
In spring and autumn, these points are excellent locations for observing migratory birds, whose flight path passes just overhead.
The forest is marked with a special Wildflower Trail that loops around and along which a wonderful carpets of cyclamen (Rakaput) anemone (Calaniut) and Iris and other clusters of beautiful plants werre encountered in full blum
At the top of the rocky hill , in the ruins of Deir, there is a Scenic spot overlooking the Samaria mountains and settlements, in commemoration of a fallen officer of the ICT Corps, named Ilan Meir Raiz , from Elkana, , who fell on November 8, 2008 while performing his duty
KKL-JNF has provided a number of recreational, picnic and observation sites all along the main trails.
are remains of an ancient Bzantine settlement, which overlooks an extensive landscape.
It includes also a fenced water hall and remains of
Also the forest includes a number of archeological sites also surrounded by rich carpets of wild flowers, especially in its eastern section, and observation points overlooking the Coastal Plain and Samaria.
Even Haezer (here)
The most important of these sites is identified as the Biblical site of Even HaEzer, a location that is mentioned by the Books of Samuel as the scene of battles between the Israelites and Philistines
Archaeologists also discovered in 2015,a large ancient farmhouse. ,silver coins from the 4th BC that bear the goddess Athena and the Owl of Athena. a monastery dating to the Byzantine period was discovered on one of the hills in the area and included a church, an oil press, (Beit) Bad ,residential quarters, and stables equipped with mangers & troughs,
The 7th weekend of large protests
In contrast to the day's pastoral carpets of colorful wildflowers, the spectacular tapestry of human protestors swarm, that David , Inbal, Amit and I joined in Tel-Aviv,
was very effervescent, but very united and determined in its demand of not less than 100% Democracy!!!
Healthcare staff for healing democracy
Doctors and Physiotherapists
"Quarter of million Israeli protester took to the street of Tel Aviv and to other 50 locations across Israel, a head of the judicial crush.
Women Rights & Voice will not be silenced, but the voice of the alleged 'liberal" ministers from the Gov. far Right party, shamefully is mute - Silence of the Lams
Almost 135,000 protestors marched in Tel Aviv from Dizengoff center to Kaplan St, on Saturday night in the seventh consecutive weekend of demonstrations since the "reforms" more of a revolution,were proposed.
Shared by Iris
In response to the ethnically hateful & divisive "Rolex Watch" speech by Amsalem - a Boorish minister in the
Department of Justice office.
18,000 people were reported to be rallying in Haifa, and 22,000 in Kfar Saba, where former justice minister Tzipi Livni and State Camp MK Benny Gantz spoke, respectively.
Response to the "fettered" Netanyahoo
Shame, Shame Shame - Busha
Toward the end of the formal protest, we witnessed a Police hold up of all dressed black, a boorish hoodlum agitator, a pro far Right Likud supporter, who infiltrated the peaceful demonstration, who unprovoked, attacked few participating protestors.
It took 3 policemen to hand-calf him, and to shove him into a police car, while protestors reported that he has showed up and agitated, also in other previous demonstrations, and despite the complains, of the enraged impacted protestors, that the police just paid only "lips service" and released him each time.
The phone number of the infamous Simcha Rothman - Member of Knesset. and of the Judicial Selection Committee, who systematically assists in promoting Yariv Levin, crush of Israel's democracy, with its alleged " reforms", was posted on the protest -screen 052-374 3868, so text protest can starts bombarding, him directly.
The Chaos Gov
Monday Feb 20/2023 will be a crucial day, should the satanic "reform" aimed at altering the composition of the judge selection committee. is passed, in its first round at the parliament, bringing about a judiciary chaos, and the nation's split destiny, even most likely a civil disobedience/struggle, despite of outspoken national and international, protests and loud warnings to put it into an halt.
For the sake of all, lets hope that sense and sense and sensibility will win!
Response I got to this post:
From: Lucyna Date: Sun, Feb 19, 2023 at 6:42 PM Subject: Re: Story: Rosh-Haayin Forest & more Protests. Israel. Feb. 18/2023 Hi Lili, Thank you very much for your report on the 7th week of Israeli protests. To be honest with you, I'm very upset about what is going on in Israel right now. I have always considered Israelis as very smart people and the current situation boggles my mind! Israel is following very closely in the footsteps of the current Polish government. The judicial system in Poland was dismantled and that happened despite a lot of protests, so I'm very concerned and pessimistic about the future of the Israeli judicial system. Sorry for this sad statement....