Day 8: Emuas & Jaffa

Campers gathered on campus at 8 AM and picked up some freshly baked Mana’esh and snacks for the long trip ahead. We then headed towards Qalandia checkpoint, where it’s been a theme this summer for us to face obstacles . Despite the delays, we finally made it to the highway and began our trek. We arrived at the destroyed villages in 1967 as part of the ongoing Nakba, called Imwas, Yalo, Beit Nuba. We met our guide, Umar Al Ghubairi, from an organization called Zakirat. We began our tour by gathering in the remains of the village. Umar explained to the campers the different intimidation and violent tactics employed by the Zionist terror militias to ethnically cleanse our villages. Today, their villages are barely recognizable amid more than five million trees have been planted over the years as part of Ayalon Canada Park, a popular picnicking spot for Israelis that was subsidized by Canadian taxpayers, including the construction of a wildflower trail as recently as 2015. Umar then talked about The Jewish National Fund (JNF), a fund that was founded in 1901 to create a Jewish state in Palestine. It bought and developed land in Ottoman-era Palestine exclusively for Jews, and after achieving its goal in 1948, JNF expanded branches worldwide. It now has charitable status in 50 countries, including Canada. It presents itself as “Israel’s largest green organization.”

We then began our journey towards Jaffa. We arrived in Jaffa and were immediately captivated by the city's beauty . We arrived at the beach , rented umbrellas and chairs, and the kids began swimming . The kids had a great time in the sea with the cool water and hot weather , and smiles and laughing could be heard all around us . After the beach, we reached one of Jaffa’s landmark restaurants, The Old Man and the Sea where we enjoyed our lunch that started with a huge selection of mezzes. The students had the following options for food: fish, calamari and shrimp, mussels, schnitzel, chicken and meat kabab or a burger. We then spent an hour and a half with a personalized tour of the old city with Palestinian Abed Abu Shehadeh. Abed talked about the difference between old and new Jaffa and gave the campers a tour of all the different landmarks in Jaffa. We finally ended our day with a delicious treat of freshly baked cupcakes.