David Ben-Gurion's Negev
In David Ben Gurion's bedroom, hangs a
portrait of Mahatma Gandhi (the only picture in the room),
under it is a plaque with Ben Gurion's words: "The moral strength of the East is
perhaps embodied most of all in the great Indian leader
Mahatma Gandhi, the outstanding man who is heading the war
for independence and the weapon of this commander is
non-violence."
David Ben-Gurion, considered the chief
architect of the state of Israel, said "The future of Israel
lies in the Negev." Why? Good question. The Negev was an
inhospitable desert, but it was also a large buffer between
the Arab world to the south and the inhabited parts of
Israel. I suspect that it also represented a challenge to
create something from nothing, which is a common theme for
the people who came to Israel.
a Bedouin Camp
They used to move with the sheep and
climate - grazing, now as a condition of Israeli law they
must stay in one place.
When travelers ask for a place to rest,
the custom is to offer three cups of coffee as a courtesy,
regardless of the traveler's tribe.
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