Shouting Hill
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The Shouting Hill is a hill within the Golan Heights, the heights whose control is now divided between Syria and Israel. After the Six Days War Israel gained control of the west-southern parts of the heights. The Shouting Hill is located just close to the border in the Syrian controlled part, facing the Druze village of Majdal Shams that is located in the Israeli controlled part.
The Druze community members of the Golan Heights were separated after the war. Many families were separated by the new border, the parents in one side, the sons and daughters in the other side, the brother on one side and the sister on the other. Very little visits were allowed between the families from both sites. Israel and Syria are still in an official state of war. There is also no telecommunications allowed between the two countries. There is no mail, either. Thus, some families started to come to this hill from both sides of the border to see and talk (actually shout) to their relatives on the other side. The families usually use a megaphone in their shouting.
However, with the advent of mobile phones, people don't do this as much, except on special occasions like weddings or when they want to see each other and they use binoculars.
The hill is close to Majdal Shams, at the foot of Mount Hermon, separated from the village by a valley. On the Israeli side there is security zone that stretches over the vally next to the village, then there is the Syrian side with a UN observation post. It is 1100 meters high. The shouting point is 3 km away from the nearest homes of Majdal Shams and 2.5 km away from the border line.
"Every day, regardless of the weather, groups of Druze families begin to gather on both sides in the early morning. They shout across the valley to their brothers, their sisters, their growing children. Sometimes only a few members of the family come. On momentous occasions—birthdays, new births, weddings, deaths—the entire clan will gather." [1]
"Sometimes a group of people will come early in the morning, only to wait for hours for their relatives to arrive on the other side. Sometimes they don't show up at all, and there is no way to explain. Sometimes the wind carries away everyone's voice, even with the megaphones some families use. Sometimes the Golan's thick mists obscure everything, and they can hear each other but not see who they are talking to. And sometimes the news is terrible, and they cannot get close enough to comfort each other the way families should. The shouts from the other side can barely be heard, but the air is thick with the emotions they cause. ... The first time I saw this, I wanted to cry. It was the first time I understood what closed borders really meant, and what a terrible, muddled emotional mess the Middle East really is."[2]
The Shouting Hill has become a minor tourist attraction. It has also became a pilgirimage site for people wanting to come in touch with the harsh reality of the Midlle East Conflict.
