My ten days in Israel

After ten days in Israel, I can sum up my impressions using two Semitic words, “Jannat” and “Jahannam,” heaven and hell. Both can be found in the Holy Land..What is interesting — if not strange — are that they are actual places. Jahannam is the name of a valley adjacent to Jerusalem. In Hebrew, it is the Valley of Hinnom, Romanised to Gehenna. Occurring in modern English, I remember it from the first book of Milton’s Paradise Lost. Most north Indian languages also have jehannum, derived from Arabic and Persian, as a word for hell. .In Biblical sources, Jehannam was the place of punishment, even worse, the site of human sacrifice and the killing of babies. Jeremiah cursed it. And Jannah or Jannat — heaven? In Islamic sources it is near Sidratul Muntaha, the lote tree located in the seventh heaven. But on earth its location, I think, is not known. I found its namesake purely by accident, south of the city of Jerusalem, on the West Bank. .Tekoa, a community of 4300, is adjacent to the older Palestinian village, Tuquʿ, in the Bethlehem Governorate. Just north of Tuqu’ is Jannatah. It derives its name from Wadi al-Jana’en or "Valley of Gardens.” The entire landscape, dominated by Herodian, the ancient fortress and acropolis, is indeed beautiful, with blue skies, a pleasant climate, lovely sunsets, and stars seemingly so close to the earth and clearly visible at night. But is this place anyone’s paradise? Not likely. Palestinian villages here are scruffy and impoverished, and their nearby Jewish settlements disputed territory. .Trump says Gaza would be ‘turned over’ to US by Israel.I spent an evening, night, and day in Tekoa during Shabbat. I learnt that it was set up in 1974 by a movement called Gush Emunim. Meaning “Bloc of the Faithful,” this was an orthodox religious group whose motto was “The Land of Israel, for the people of Israel.” Drawing their authority from the Torah, Gush Emunim took their inspiration from Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. .I met Hadassah Froman, the wife of the late Rabbi Menachem Froman, one of the founders of Gush Emunim and chief rabbi of the Tekoa community. Mrs Froman, who had borne ten children, was remarkably dignified, elegant, in addition, to being witty. She had a kindly smile and even, one might say, a twinkle in her eye. To my surprise, she was a pacifist and Gandhian. She said her husband had been a peacemaker, meeting with Palestinian leaders all his life. He knew not only Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Chairman, President Yasser Arafat, but also the Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. In fact, he had brokered a peace agreement with Hamas known as the Froman-Amayreh Agreement, but it had not received formal recognition from either side..Gaza ceasefire: Hamas-Israel complete fourth hostage-prisoner swap."Oct. 7 changed everything"She spoke mostly in Hebrew and my translator friend was so taken up by what she said that he transmitted only fractions and phrases to me. But one sentence ominously stuck in my mind from the over two-hour interaction: “The Hamas Oct. 7 raid has changed everything. Perhaps, forever.” Elsewhere in Israel, I found people hearkening back to the Holocaust, not so much to compare the Hamas attack with it, but viewing the latter as a sort of defining moment in their nation’s history.I went to the site of Nova festival, where the assault started, as also to a neighbouring Kibbutz. In both places, we met survivors and released hostages. Both groups had lost loved ones. The entire area on the border has become a giant commemoration and pilgrimage site to remind the nation, as well as interested visitors, of the horrific attack..Sharaka, the NGO who had arranged the Indo-Israeli friendship delegation, was committed to the Abraham Accords. Mrs Froman and French Jewish Rabbi Dan Be’eri, with whom I stayed inside the old city, Jerusalem, believed that a peace covenant between Arabs and Jews is important. The members of our group from India, a former member of parliament, two retired lieutenant generals, distinguished journalists, defence analysts, younger influencers, Hindus, Muslims, even an Indian Jew from Mumbai, deliberated on geostrategic and economic matters..Gandhi's relevanceWhat was the way forward? I thought immediately of Mahatma Gandhi, especially because on the 76th anniversary of his martyrdom, no one in the Indian delegation remembered, let alone mentioned, him. On the other hand, in Israel itself, there was still considerable interest in Gandhi, despite the latter’s opposition to Zionism as a political ideology or to the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine. Gandhi also made what appear today to be very insensitive statements on how the Jews could resist the Holocaust through principled self-sacrifice. .Despite all his faults and failures, it is to Gandhi that we must return, time and time again, when we wish to resist super force and military might through soul power and moral strength. Gandhi had advised the Jews to adopt satyagraha and ahimsa to attain their aims. Perhaps, the time has come for Palestinians to try this approach? And the Abraham Accords may yet be the most promising point to return to the peace process. .Makarand R. Paranjape is a noted academic, author and columnist