At Yad Vashem, there are hundreds of trees that were planted in honor of righteous gentiles who helped save European Jews during the Second World War. One of the participants of our seminar, Gila, was hidden from the Nazis as a child in Holland. The family who saved her has a tree at Yad Vashem. We were able to locate the tree, and Gila told us her story.
After Yad Vashem, we went a short distance to Mount Herzl, Israel’s national cemetery. We visited the tomb of Theodore Herzl, founder of the modern Zionist movement. We also saw the graves of Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir, and other former leaders and members of the Kenesset.
On Wednesday evening, we traveled to Jonoton’s home in Efrat for dinner. Jonotan lives inside the Green Line, so we were required to travel by an armored bus with bulletproof glass, just as a precaution, though there have been no incidents there for a few years. At Jonotan's we had two other guests who came to present opposing points of view regarding land for peace. We were joined by a Colonel in the Israeli Army Reserves and an activist from the Peace Now movement, also a soldier in the Reserves. Both men serve in the Tank Corps, and they both said that they would be willing to give up land for real peace. They differed on their impression of the Arab’s willingness to make peace. We had a nice dinner and an interesting question and answer session regarding the prospect for peace.
All in all, it was a very sobering day. Below are pictures from Yad Vashem and Har Herzl.
