Assignment: A slogan and a land: Part two

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2024

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this second part of his journey from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, across the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel, reporter Tim Whewell continues his exploration of the physical and human reality behind the slogan “From the River to the Sea”, a phrase which creates intense controversy. In this podcast he descends from the high ridge of the West Bank hills to the Israeli Mediterranean coast at Herzlia, known for its beaches and high-tech industry – and then continues along the sea, to end his journey at the ruined ancient city of Caesarea. Along the way, on the West Bank, he encounters a Palestinian dry stone waller and an Israeli hairdresser – and then, crossing into Israel, he talks to Jewish Israelis including teachers, activists and a journalist – and to Palestinian citizens of Israel. Finally, he meets a group of young Israelis who have recently finished their military service. Some of them have been fighting in Gaza. What future do all these people hope for, in the 90 kilometres between the River and the Sea? Presenter/producer: Tim Whewell Sound mixing: Neil Churchill Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Penny Murphy

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Tim Huell. Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service and a two-part
0:06.5	journey to explore a slogan and a land.
0:11.2	The hardest thing always to find the right stone and if you don't you just have
0:20.0	to find the closest stone and shape it and use the chisel and hammer.
0:25.8	So the dry stone wall will last for 500 years minimum.
0:31.2	That's what we hope. Yeah, it's always good to listen to the stone. Sometimes the stones will talk and tell you where that stone should be. I believe that.
0:47.0	So that stone will sing for them.
0:50.0	My name is Salih Tota and and you're here at Masja Judur,
0:55.8	Roots Arboretum.
0:57.8	Judu means roots.
0:59.5	Why we named it roots because the Palestinians need to go back to their roots to learn from their
1:05.2	ancestors.
1:06.2	I just want, because it's radio, I just want to exactly describe.
1:09.6	We're on a hillside, outside Ramaela and the whole of the West Bank I mean it's
1:17.6	slightly hard to emphasize quite how hilly it is all the agriculture
1:22.0	effectively is on terraces and when you say a terrace you mean a
1:25.8	dry stone wall. Dry stone walls kind of shape everything. It's this kind of grey limestone here.
1:33.0	Mostly it's limestone.
1:35.0	What a beautiful rustic start.
1:38.0	To this, the second half of a journey I'm making from the river Jordan to the
1:42.0	Mediterranean Sea, between two bodies of water, the first, frankly,
1:46.7	pathetic, the second magnificent, that are referred to in a certain slogan that's been heard ever louder since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
	...

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