Page 10 - Holyland Magazine - 2019 Edition

Coffee Anan cafe. Photos: Amit Shaal
To the left (north) is arguably one of the most for more than 35 years, but in Hebrew anan
glorious views in Israel, Mount Hermon, over
7,000 feet high and covered in snow from
November to March. South of “the Sheikh,”
as Mount Hermon is called in Druze folklore,
you can see the mountains of Lebanon over
the western border and the Hula Valley to
the south. Just below you is Kibbutz Merom
Golan, the first community to be established
in the Golan Heights after the Six Day War.
Like many of Israel’s famed kibbutzim, Merom
Golan has recently undergone privatization;
its members now pursue independent
livelihoods while preserving the collective’s
social framework.
If you ever get enough of the view, step into
the log-cabin Coffee Anan cafe. Hebrew
speakers enjoy the pun in this name – not
only is it a nod to former UN chief Kofi Annan,
whose organization has sent a steady stream
of cease-fire observers to the camp below
The bunker on the mountain The bunker on
the mountain
102
means “cloud,” - a presence at Mount Bental
in winter which gives the site a decidedly
alpine flavor.
There is also a gift shop with a great selection that poured out here eons ago created not
of locally produced foods such as teas and
jams, and in season the famous cherries and
apples of the Golan. One of the shop’s special
offerings is a line of hats, ponchos and baby
blankets made by Kibbutz Merom Golan
member Drorit Kaufman. A former teacher of
fashion and crafts, she found herself having to
seek both an outlet for her creative energies
and a new way of making a living after the
kibbutz cut back its education budget. Don’t
miss her veritable rainbow of wearable items
made from very soft artificial fleece produced
in Japan out of recycled plastic bottles.
Although the Golan Heights have several
extinct volcanoes, they are all occupied by
Signs for
places in
Israel and
around the
world
the IDF, keeping the Syrian border secure.
Only Mount Bental is open to the public and
as such has the honor of being Israel’s only
volcanic geological park. On the way up the
mountain are signs explaining how the lava
only the excellent soil that is such a boon to
farmers, but a clear pattern in the rock that
is almost as good as a guidebook to another
of Israel’s unexpected geological wonders.
Visitors to Mount Bental may arrive by tour
bus or car. However, a different experience
is taking a guided jeep ride from the kibbutz
below, passing the minefields and old Syrian
bunkers to the outskirts of Quneitra. Driving
through the orchards you can get a glimpse
not only of the military presence, but also
of gazelles, wild boar, foxes and jackals
crossing the basalt fields, and if you look up,
you may just see one of the many eagles
soaring through the sky.
Sculpture created by Joop De Jong