Arad, September 16, 2009- continuation of "Elah and Eilat"

The coincidences on my way back were even more striking.
With a taxi I reached the northern outskirts of Eilat and paid 17 NIS.
From there I walked and walked and walked, no car stopped.
I knew, of course, that "God" had something important in store.
At a place opposite the Botanic Gardens of Eilat (see above) I rested,
before marching up a long, long stretch.
A truck with construction garbage took me to Beer-Ora, only 17 km further north.
"Now you'll get plenty of cars!" the driver said, obviously comforting himself.
I said "Yes", though I saw, that what I had ahead of me toward the north,
was a one-way passage – because of repairs on the road,
with a man opening and closing the track.

How on earth would a car – when directed north – stop for me.
Not only was there no space next to the track - I had to walk beyond a separating rope,
but the cars, which had been waiting for those from the opposite direction,
came in a row,
and usually, when cars come in a row, nobody stops,
obviously the drivers are afraid to disturb the car behind them
and the last car in the row obviously fears to be "aberrant" and also rolls on.

So while lifting my hand, I walked close to the track, on the right,
beyond the separating rope.
Then a huge truck came along.
The driver gave me a sign with his hand
and moved out of the row of some 12 cars – to the left.
I had to wait, until all the cars had passed , jumped across the rope and the track
and met – Makram from Tur'aan in the Galilee,
who drove SALT !!! from the Red Sea to Atlit at the Mediterrenean Sea.
It is rare that a huge truck stops at all, and in this situation? Unbelievable!

Makram from Tur'an , 7 km north of Nazareth, is a man of 42, Christian,
with a wife who called him twice during the following 2 hours , and 5 children,
3 with Muslim (!) names, while the two younger ones are called:
Eden and Adam….
Four were born in Eilat (!!!)
because at that time he worked on a shuffle-dozer with a construction company,
perhaps the one which built the "Herod's" hotel at my time.
It was only during the last part of our interaction – after the "Aravah-Junction -
while climbing up from the Dead Sea slowly because of the overload of salt,
that I told him about my own experience with my bus, a 15 ton truck
(which was overloaded, when I had filled my two water tanks – together 1500 l – to the brim
– "what do you think, I also have 5 t more than allowed, this is usual, not only for me!")
As I explained more about my bus, his eyes opened in surprise:
"I knew it! I knew it from the beginning, that we met before!
I sat in your bus, there at the beach of Eilat", i.e. in December 1997.

I was the more surprised, after I had met Haim Falk on my way to Eilat.
Now again – I meet my past!
But much more important was this coincidence for Haim.
During those 2 hours it became clear even to him,
that I had been casted by him into his drama
in order to let go of his personal and national victimhood
and become sovereign, responsible for his personal and national destiny.
Not by chance
– after I had listened to his long laments about what the Israeli Government does to Arabs -
he got a phone-call from someone (according to his accent – a Sephardic Jew) also called Haim.
It became a very long conversation between the two and I understood,
that Akram – bitter about the low salary from his present boss –
had negotiated with Haim concerning a truck-driving job,
for which he would not only get more money,
but would have less to sleep outside his house and family.
"Today I'll send my letter of resignation,
it's exactly 2 weeks till next month, the time demanded ."
Following this talk I could use this step of Akram as an example of ribbonut.

And I did so time and again, but also added, that this step was not enough.
"You can do more than being a truck-driver!
And now – don't say, that your hands are tied because this and that and that and this!
For instance, you could initiate the building of pool in Tur'aan!
Why do you need your neighboring Kibbutz
for doing something for your body and for your family?
Why do you Arabs always need the pools of Jews instead of having your own pools?"
Of course, he wanted to counter me by saying, why and why and why it can't be done,
but he stopped himself in the middle and said: "You are right".

Well – with the two coincidences (our meeting 1997 and 2009)
and his decision to switch to a better job during our driving together -
and the symbolic names of Eden, his daughter, and Adam, his youngest son -
I am sure, that not all was lost on Akram.
I am sure, that I was led to change my original plan –
- to leave Elah and Eilat already early in the morning –
also in order to meet Akram
and encourage him to believe in his greatness.

[a pity I forgot to take a photo, but there is a photo of the Shoham-Tur'an friendship tree on K.i.s.s.-log]

continuation of "Elah and Eilat" 2009