Jonah's Hill (Givat Yona)

On Wednesday, I had some things to do in the city- port of Ashdod. I thought I'd go afterwards to visit Jonah's  Hill which , they say, offers great panoramic views of the city , the sea, the harbour, and the Lachish river. 

Well, the weather was not cooperative. It changed every hour or so from clear and pleasant to rainy and windy, and vice versa.   Not a very suitable day for climbing a hill.

at first,clear sky, calm sea ; (me with a thin head cover)

Nevertheless, I decided to reach the hill with the intention to, at least, learn about its interesting location - in a residential area, close to the promenade, overlooking the sea and city.

Before approaching the hill, I stopped at two spots on the promenade:  the monument in memory of the sunken ships Struma and Mefkure, and the open market near Lido beach and the Sundial tower.

Struma and Mefkure monument

Struma and Mefkure were two ships carrying over a thousand romanian- born jews on their way to, then, British Mandate Palestine, The british refused their entrance; the ships turned back and got torpedoed, probably by  a russian submarine in the Black Sea (Mefkure in 1942, Struma in 1944).

I'm of romanian descent,born and raised in Romania, and I've known  this story all my life, so I felt I had to stay for a while in silence near the memorial, and think about those tragically lost innocent lives.

Sundial Tower near Lido beach

The Wednesday market on Ashdod's promenade, under the shadow of the Sundial Tower is quite a big, versatile  known flea market, but not on this wednesday. Because of the weather, the vendors closed their stalls earlier , and what was left were vegetable/fruit stalls only. People have to eat .

fresh strawberries - I bought some.

Fruit and veggies

vegetables

preserved olives

herbs

Now, back to Jonah's Hill.  There's a lighthouse on the top of the hill. It is clearly seen from the street and the surrounding area. To get to the top one has to climb stairs. For the locals, so I'm told, the hill is a perfect leisure place;it has  a park, picnic spots, a nice cafe-restaurant, and... gorgeous panoramic views. Well, God willing , I'll visit it some other time, in better weather.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse - closer view

This hill is named after the prophet Jonah who, according to the Bible, was swallowed by a whale (or some other sort of sea creature) and released from its belly only after three days and three nights of praying to God. The prophet is said to be buried on the hill, and some excavations done in the area seem to confirm that.

Jonah, was a disobedient prophet. He was told by God to go to Nineve, one of the largest (and wickedest) cities at that time (Mosul in modern day Iraq), to preach, and foretell its destruction.

Well, some sources claim he tried to escape the mission and that's why he got punished ; other sources say he did what he was told to do, but he was angry with God for saving the wicked city from destruction, after all.  Either way he was disobedient.

"Nothing new under the sun": corruption, violence, destruction, disobedience; and a case of "History repeats itself". Nineve was bad, Mosul (especially under the late ISIS occupation) was bad as well. This part of the world, I'm afraid,  will always be bad.

Mosul, Raqqah, Allepo

Memorize the above names! World War3  might emerge from the area that leads to, fro, and around these places. 

Mosul is a city in northern Iraq;  it's located on the banks of the Tigris river. It's rich in historical buildings. It has a university (closed now) and a medical college.The population is diverse ethnically and religiously, with the majority being Arabs, and the dominant religion - suuni Islam.

Raqqah is a city in Syria; it is situated on the northeast bank of the Euphrates river not far from the largest syrian dam Al Tabqa which has enabled electricity and irrigation to rural parts of Syria. The city has many archeological remains and a museum.
Its main agricultural product is cotton.

Both places were conqured by Daesh (ISIS) in 2014 ; at present. there's a military offensive going on against the ISIS people.  The involved parties are: Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, USA ( in coalition with its western allies), and Russia.

It seems that Daesh with all the atrocities done by it, is only a secondary target, the main target being Syria's president, Assad. The americans want him out (as part of their "arab spring" goals), the russians want him in. Putin acts on Syria's soil upon invitation from Assad. The other forces that go after Daesh into syrian territory are sort of invasive, and this fact also adds fuel to the fire.

Aleppo (Halab in arabic) once Syria's largest city, is close to the turkish border. It has always had a strategic position as a trading center between central Asia and  middle-eastern Asia. It's currently divided between the West part (held by the syrian government) and the East part (held by the rebels who are backed by the USA and its allies in the region - Turkey and Jordan) ;  fight between the two sides has been going on  there for several years. 

I don't think Putin is interested in  a world war now as his country is in a bad economic situation, and wars cost lots and lots of money. But who knows, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the americans and their interference in Ukraine matters, have greatly offended and affected his ego and he might take the wrong decisions.

Anyway the world is quite the orphan now. May God help us!