machine guns and soldiers. There was severe fighting and some of the colonists lost their lives. The Arab forces suc ceeded in gaining an entrance into the colony in a broad flank. But the Jews still held out. The oldest settler in the colony was encouraging the others to fight to the last man. Then a remarkable thing happened. As the enemy tanks began to come into the colony there was a young Jewish boy of 15 or 16, and a young Jewish girl, who were hidden in the bushes. They had crude hand-made weapons. They were just bottles of benzine and phosphorus that burst into flame when the bottles were broken. One of the young people threw a benzine bottle right into one of the enemy tanks. The bottle burst, the burning liquid ignited the petrol and the tank caught fire. It was quickly rendered useless and they could not move it. “ The enemy were so amazed at the loss of this tank, and the injury to three other tanks, that they turned and fled with their soldiers and machine guns and their other tanks; and the colony and Tiberias were saved.” The throwing of the bottle bomb into the enemy tank at Degania, and the flight of the Arab forces, reminds one of young David long ago slinging a stone into the forehead of armor-clad Goliath, and the consequent flight of the army of the Philistines. One morning, accompanied by our two Mount Carmel friends, we left Haifa for Tiberias and the Lake of Galilee. As we motored through the beautiful and fertile plain of Jezreel, we were delighted to see so many Jewish colonies dotting the landscape. We stopped for a visit at a kibbutz, a “ communal,” not “ communist” - colony. The young man who acted as our guide was very courteous, and gladly accepted a copy of the Hebrew New Testament. As we journeyed on, we saw Mount Tabor in the distance, and passed to the plain of Tabor. Strangely enough, just that morning Mrs. Davis and I, in our regular reading of the Bible, had read the story of Saul traveling through the plain of Tabor (1 Sam. 10:3). We also saw Mount Gilboa where Saul and his heroic son Jonathan lost their lives. At last we drew near to Tiberias, and there lay the'beau tiful lake of Galilee, 600 feet below sea level. It is a thriving and growing city near the southern end of the lake. For long centuries the city has been famous for its hot springs. People still come from far and near to get the benefit of the curative waters of the springs. During the afternoon of our first day in Tiberias we had a delightful ride along the western shore of the lake. We en joyed seeing the varicolored wild flowers along the roadside and the brilliant bugainvillaea in full bloom, climbing over the arbors and porches of the homes. At one point along the way we met six Jewish soldiers returning from guard duty. We stopped the car and had a few words with them through our friend as interpreter. When he asked whether they would like to have copies of the Hebrew New Testament, each one gladly accepted a copy. (Continued Next Month)
“When the Jews saw the Arab citizens leaving the city they tried to persuade, them to remain. An agreement had been reached between the Jews and the local Arab leaders that the Arabs should stay in Haifa. The relationship between the Jews and the Arabs in Haifa had been very good. But the leaders of the invading foreign forces, the Iraquis and others, compelled the Arabs to leave the city. They expected to bomb and conquer Haifa, and to drive the Jews into the Mediter ranean Sea. The invaders promised the Arabs that in two weeks the Jews would be cleared out of Haifa, and it would become an Arab town.” The story of the 400 shouting Jews, and their great noise and rifle firing at night, reminds one of Gideon and his band of 300 men as they shouted and broke their pitchers and blew their trumpets, and so routed their enemies long ago. The next story our friends told us concerned the battle for the colonies of northern Israel: “ Three northern armies of Arabs—Iraqui, Syrian and Transjordanian—came together to capture Northern Israel and to re-capture Haifa. It was at a Jewish colony near Megiddo that the decisive event of the battle took place. The combined Arab forces had surrounded the colony. The besieged Jews had very few arms, and had given up all hope of deliverance. Suddenly there was a gap in the Arab lines. To this day no one knows how it happened. The Jewish Haganah defense forces at once entered the colony through the gap to help their fellow Jews. When the Arabs saw this strange turn of events, they withdrew their forces! And that was the turning point of the fighting in the valley of Jezreel in Northern Israel.” Another remarkable incident, of which our friends told us, concerned an orthodox Jewish colony: “ In the plain under Mount Gilboa there was a small orthodox Jewish colony of about 100 persons. Large Arab forces came against the little colony with airplanes, machine guns and tanks. The Jews had few weapons, and mostly those they had made themselves. They decided that they would defend the colony to the last man. But suddenly the Arab forces withdrew! The Jews declared that the fear of the Lord of Hosts fell upon the enemy, and caused them to depart! As the victory at the Megiddo colony had saved the western part of the plains of Jezreel, so the victory at this orthodox colony saved the east ern part of the plains of Israel.” At the southern end of the Lake of Galilee, where the lake empties into the Jordan river, stands the oldest and largest colony in northern Israel, called Degania. Striking events turned the tide of battle and saved this colony. Our friends continued. “ There is a pass between Syria and Transjordan, on the east side of the Jordan river, where for long centuries the armies of the East have come against Israel. Through this pass the combined Arab forces came into the Jordan valley. They burned and destroyed a number of defenseless Jewish colonies along the border, and blew up a large part of the big Rutenberg power plant on the Jordan river. The aim of the Arab forces was to destroy the Degania colony, and to capture Tiberias and other parts of Galilee. “ The enemy came against Degania with their tanks and
Night and Day Scenes of Haifa, one of
the fastest grouting ports in the world.
S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 5 1
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