Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-05-15
ISRAEL
Continued From First Page

In the middle Of a large field,
you spot your first ARABIA bend
ing, turbaned figure, picking at
the earth with an ancient-look-
ing hoe-an incongruous Stran-
ger in q modern setting.
Small villages flash by with
an impression of cubical white
stone houses. open squares, NOV
lie posters, dark, handsome faces
and used car lots. The cars are
American for the most part and
very well used. The road signs.
like the money, are printed in
Hebrew. Arabic and English.
Language. in this country. is
no problem. At every crossroad,
the signs point four ways. And
the fourth-the one pointing
casts always a simple ITO the
Frontier"
Troops Look Rugged
At one of these intersections,
you come upon a piece of the
Israeli Army. Rugged-looking
young men in red berets and
khaki uniforms, in the British
style, with sleeves rolled up.
Young women, deep bosomed and
broad-hipped. almost as formid-
able looking as their male com
rades-in-arms. They are on
their way home for the week
end, their thumbs raised in a
universal appeal. AS you slow
down. however. it's a civilian
a girl in a red dress-who reaches
the door first. and with q brief
"Shalom" (peace) pumps stol-
idly into the vacant seat in the
car.
A land of history. too. pointed
out with casual familiarity as
you start the slow climb that
leads to the capital. History,
you expected. It's the scale that
comes as q surprise-battleS be-
tween nations squeezed into
football field proportions - and
the abruptness of the shift Of
time involved.
Avalon" says your friend,
nodding in the direction Of a
small valley strewn with white
limestone boulders. Where
Joshua defeated the Canaanites
and made the sun stand still.
He was one Of the early Hebrew
generals
Sampson country" murmurs
the driver as you top a small
rise Of land. Just down this
road to the right here was where
David fought Goliath"
Roman Encampment
A cluster of deserted stone
houses is pointed out on hill
side.
That's Colona," you are told.
Where a group Of Roman le-
sionaires settled down after their
tour Of duty. Later is was taken
over by the Arabs, who kept the
old name. It was abandoned only
O few years ago.
And then, quickly, monuments
of a more modern kind. Rusting.
burned-out hulks of trucks, ar
mored cars and jeeps overturned
in the roadside bitches. spaced at
intervals of less than 100 yards.
They held the heights over
there" your guide explains. 1T
took us a while to drive them off
and in the meantime, they made
things a bit difficult"
Then, for a moment you feel
it-this sense of harshness and
tension that the Israeli Tourist
ONCE is so UNDERSTANDABLE and
so successfully trying to elimi-
nate from the landscape of
Israel. Suddenly, they" come to
life as a tangible menace. just
over the eastern hills. where the
signs point to the frontier.
Plushy Hotel
The impression is fleeing. AS
you enter the outskirts of Jeru-
salem, it is lost in the hustle OF
this almost proSaically modern
city. 1t is gone entirely by the
time you are checked in at the
King David Hotel, where the
lobby is filled with the plushiest
of the plush. where a string
quartet is served up with after
noon tea and a familiar blue
sign informs you that THE
Rotary international meets here
Wednesday at lis pm"
But the feeling returns at I'M
expected times and places. At
your first view of the Old City
from your hotel window-austere
gray walls rising abruptly from
desolate strip of no-man's land
Enemy Territory" Or late at
night when the crack Of a rifle
sets off n furious barking of dogs