On the Valley Train, on the route from Haifa to Beit She’an, I read the beautiful poem of Tuvya Reubner “Agadat Stav” (An Autumn Legend): “Who knows how much longer we will see / This beautiful valley / Ochre and orange and green and brown, azure / With white clouds and a few black ones too.”
The poem later describes the trip on the new Jezreel Valley Train “after a 70-year rest.” The trip this week was pleasant and the valley on the other side of the train window was incredibly beautiful. I only regretted that the grime, which always covers the windows and their worn glass, made it hard to discern the beauty of the valley.
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A wonderful view of the 130-meter-long Al-Hamma Bridge that was built in 1904 over a channel of the Yarmouk River. It was blown up by Palmach fighters on the Night of the Bridges.Credit: Gil Eliyahu
This prompts the big question: Why were the Ottoman Turks wise enough 120 years ago to build a train that continued on from Beit She’an north to Tzemah (historically called Samakh)? Why isn’t there a train that travels to the shores of the Sea of Galilee today, and from there to Tiberias? Why can’t a edtourist or pilgrim who came to
— source Jews For Justice For Palestinians | Moshe Gilad writes in Haaretz | Jun 4, 2022