page_title: The Ballad of Yoel Moshe Salomon
section_title: Yaari's account of the Umlabes inspection
hierarchical_section_title: The Ballad of Yoel Moshe Salomon / Yaari's account of the Umlabes inspection
caption_attribution_description: English: Sepia photo of Yoel Moshe Salomon. Image processing by Tamar Hayardeni (תמר הירדני). עברית: עיבוד לצילום ישן של יואל משה סלומון
context_page_description: "The Ballad of Yoel Moshe Salomon" is a 1970 Israeli popular song by Arik Einstein, with lyrics by Yoram Taharlev and music by Shalom Hanoch. In whimsical fashion, the lyrics tell of a trip by the founders of the Petah Tikva moshava to inspect the land around the village of Umm Labes in the Yarkon Valley on which the colony was subsequently established. The song helped fuel a controversy amongst descendants of the founders of Petah Tikva regarding the relative roles of their ancestors in establishing the colony. It is an example of how popular song is used in Israel in constructing historical myths.
context_section_description: Yoram Taharlev was inspired to write The Ballad of Yoel Moshe Salomon after reading the account of the founding of Petah Tikva in Avraham Yaari's Memories of the Land of Israel (1947). That account was grounded in the version of events provided by Yoel Moshe Salomon's son Tuviah for the Petah Tikva 50th Anniversary Commemorative volume of 1929.
  In Yaari's account, in the summer of 1878 four of the future purchasers—Gutmann, Salomon, Stampfer, and Barnett–go out from Jaffa to inspect the land around Umlabes, the future site of Petah Tikva. They spend the day there, and are favourably impressed, but have worries regarding the unhealthy physical appearance of the tenant farmers. Gutmann, Stampfer, and Barnett return to Jaffa in the evening, but Salomon, an Arabic speaker, stays behind to make more enquiries about the health of the fellahin. He learns that their ill health is attributed locally to the swampy conditions of the Yarkon Valley.
  Salomon returns to his companions and advises that they purchase the parcel of land further to the south, near the village of Yahudiyah and away from the Yarkon itself. To allay their doubts regarding whether to proceed, the group engage a Greek doctor to advise them on the suitability of the land on offer for  settlement. From atop a ruined house, the doctor surveys the area. He notices the absence of birds, despite there being ample food for them, and concludes that the area is unhealthy and unfit for humans. Despite the doctor's advice, Salomon, Gutmann, and Stampfer–Barnett not being mentioned as present on this second visit–decide to proceed. Initially they purchase only Qassar's land, away from the river.
caption: Yoel Moshe Salomon
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