Geography of present and past

I still don’t completely understand the geography of the murder of 3 boys who were hitchhiking and killed, but I spent a good deal of time with google maps today.  As far as I can tell, from what I read in the Times of Israel, the boys were hoping to head down route 367, out of Gush Etzion and down to Aviezer, reaching route 375 and heading through Beit Shemesh to the center of the country.

I drove down route 367 once.  It’s a long, winding road.  It was daytime.  I was coming from the funeral of Avraham David Moses in 2008 after he and 7 other boys were shot at the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva.  I did not feel safe on this long winding road, passing by few towns, mostly all Arab towns, and finally a checkpoint, and then Neve Michael and Aviezer.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the familiar route 375 and headed home, and I promised myself if I travelled to the Gush again I would go up route 60 and the main road to Alon Shvut, through the more travelled area at the top of the hills.

Near Aviezer, at the base of route 367, is Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed Hey.  The village was established on 16 August 1949 by demobilised members of the Daled Company of the Palmach's Harel Brigade, and was initially named Peled (an acronym for Plugot Daled, lit. Daled Company). It was later renamed after the 35 Haganah soldiers killed in a convoy to resupply the Gush Etzion kibbutzim during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine (Lamed-Heh is 35 in Hebrew numerals).

We drive near here often to go to the pool at Beit Guvrin.  We go down route 375 to Tzomet HaEla (corner of routes 375 and 38) and down route 38 to route 35.  But if you head east on route 35 from Beit Guvrin, you’ll be in the West Bank in about 2 kilometers, and you’ll pass Tarkumiya.  That was the home of the men who killed Christine Logan when she was hiking with a friend in the woods near our house in 2010.  Near Beit Guvrin, the road (Route 35) heads into the hills west of Hebron. 

Further north, route 375 heads up to Tzur Hadassah where I live, past the Hanot mosaic (Roman, now destroyed by vandals).  The path from the mosaic (thought to be a Roman roadside shop), heads down to Mayan Mata, and the ruins of an Arab town, I believe called Hanot.  That town was probably abandoned/evacuated/destroyed in October 1948 when most of the Arab towns in this area were attacked/cleared/vacated.  On the path going down is where Christine was murdered.  Before you head up the hills of route 375 coming from Emek HaEla, you can also see Roman pillars, collapsed, on the right side of the road. 

Somewhere between routes 375 and route 35 is where the boys bodies were found yesterday.  From what I saw in pictures, it seemed it was a hilly area, but maybe towards the lower end of the hills.  One article said it was terraces.  If you look on the map, you’ll see between routes 375 and 35 a pretty big and hilly area, and route 367 cuts diagonally through it heading northwest.  The Green Line cuts pretty sharply West here, meaning that the wide area inside the Green Line near 375 (we live at the northeast edge of it), narrows to a much smaller western area within the green line as you go south.  I don’t know what happened here in 1948-49, or to what extent the Green Line is following the contour of the hills.  I do know there aren’t really any Jewish settlements on route 35 between Beit Guvrin and Kiryat Arba (next to Hevron).   But south of route 35, I had not realized, is Tapuah, a settlement known for radical views and Kahanist politics.

Karmei Tzur is also in this area, but pretty far East near Route 60 and closer to Hebron/Kiryat Arba.  It’s important historically because it’s on the site of Beit Tzur, which figures heavily in 1 Maccabees as a southern entry point to the area of Judea.

Looking at the map now, it’s striking to me how this southern West Bank area is isolated from other areas – for both Arab and Jewish populations.  This southwest corner looks both empty and cut off.  For the Arab population, it is at quite a distance from Jerusalem and Beit Lehem, and farther still from Ramallah and Jenin in the northern West Bank.  There would geographically be connections from here to the low lands, the Ekron plain and the places ruled by Philistines in the past along the lowlands and the coast, all the way to Gaza.  Trade routes of Nabateans cut across this far north I think.  Idumeans were pushed out of the south-eastern areas and made their capital Maresha, near Beit Guvrin, in the second Temple period.  Earlier, in the time of the prophet Micah, Assyrians came down the coast, attacked these same areas, and pushed eastwards toward Hebron, across but maybe just across what is now the Green Line.  At the same time, the hill culture will have been different from the coastal culture.  (See the Geopolitics of Israel, Stratfor.)

One last geographic point – Rav Steinsaltz recommended we read Psalm 142, which is linked by tradition to David’s flight from Saul into the caves of Adulam.  These also fall in this region.  The Adulam caves park is found just east of route 38, near Nehusha, within the Green Line, north of route 35 and south of route 375.

May the memories of Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach be blessed and their souls elevated, and may we all take time to learn more about the geography and history of the lands in which they lived and died.