Despite the fact that its been quite quiet in the West Bank, getting into the car and cruising out to  Samaria is not something that most Israelis living within the green line will do. But I have a neighbor who works with an organization based in Kedumim that encourages people to buy  land in the territories for $20000 a dunam.  And despite my own political beliefs, I was quite curious to see the area firsthand, so when he invited me to accompany his local group for a day of local touring, I tagged along.

Tour Leader Ari Briggs lecturing at the Kedumim archaeology museum

Israel is at its narrowist in the central part of the country, around Netanya. Only10 miles separate the Mediterranean Sea on the west with the Palestinian Territories on the eastern border. Within 15 minutes of departing Ra'ananna, a major Israeli suburb just 10 kilometers north of Tel Aviv, we had already crossed into the Palestinian Territories west of Kfar Saba. The area we entered was in what is called Area C - Palestinian Territory area that is controlled by Israel. We passed the large Arab city of Qalqilya and continued to travel east until we reached Aloni Hefetz, a religious Jewish settlement established in the1970's. From there w

The Prat riverbed flows approximately 28 kilometers across the northern Judean Desert from Jerusalem to Jericho, beginning from approximately 770 meters above sea level to the Jordan River, at 395 meters below sea level. En Prat is the largest of the three most important springs that comprise this stream. The stream flows strongly year round but during the winter months travelers do need to be cautious and should check with the Nature Parks Authority to make sure that there are no flood warnings in the forecast.

People have inhabited the areas of the Prat Stream since antiquity. Walking through the riverbed with our family last weekend, we saw remnants of settlements, monasteries and palaces all along the stream, evidence that the area has seenn life for thousands of years. A number of aqueducts can be seen along the stream as well as several still functioning monasteries. The short walk we did took us by the Faran Monastery, a monastery built over Byzantine ruins by the Russian Orthodox Church. Though abandoned in the 1980's, a monk named Anaopheri came there from Belarus and slowly restored the site and now monks have taken up residence once again. Visits to the monastery are permitted by calling ahead at 0