Welcome to this digital driving tour of the western Negev and the Gaza border region (Gaza Envelope), following the events of October 7, 2023. My name is Avi Shalev. I am a Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves, having served for 24 years in the Israel Defense Forces, including positions in military intelligence and the Civil Administration in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. I am also the author of The Only Jew in the Room, a memoir documenting my experience as the first Jew to enroll in an Arab Islamic college in Israel — a book now being adapted for the stage at the Haifa Theater. This tour is a journey through places that became symbols of trauma, courage, loss, and memory after the deadliest terrorist massacre against Jews since the Holocaust. On October 7, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis were murdered and around 250 people were abducted into Gaza. As we drive through this landscape, we will encounter communities that were attacked, roads on which civilians were hunted and killed, and memorial sites that preserve the stories of those who lost their lives. Our tour is a driving tour. It begins at Yad Mordechai Junction and ends in the city of Sderot. Along the way, we will visit Netiv HaAsara, the Observation Point of the Female Lookouts, travel along Route 232 — known today by many as the “Road of Blood” — stop at the protected shelter near Sha’ar HaNegev Junction, continue to the Nova Festival memorial site and the burnt vehicles installation, and conclude in Sderot, at the site of the battle over the city’s police station. At the end of the tour, we will also stop at a local vegetarian restaurant in Sderot, known for its excellent hummus — a small but meaningful reminder that even in places marked by pain, life continues, communities endure, and hospitality remains. This is not only a geographical journey. It is also a journey into the events of that day, into the human stories behind the headlines, and into the resilience of the people of the western Negev.

Welcome to the audio walking tour of the German Colony in Jerusalem. My name is Avi Shalev. I am a licensed tour guide, a lieutenant colonel in the IDF reserves, retired after a rich military career, and the author of The Only Jew in the Room, a book that documents my experience as the first Jewish student in an Arab-Islamic college in Baqa al-Gharbiyye. This audio walking tour takes us into one of Jerusalem’s most beautiful and fascinating neighborhoods: the German Colony. Today, it is known for its elegant stone houses, cafés, gardens, cultural institutions, and lively streets. But behind this pleasant urban scenery stands a remarkable historical story. The German Colony was built in the second half of the 19th century by the Templers, a German Protestant religious community from Württemberg. They came to the Holy Land with a powerful spiritual vision. They believed that by settling in the Land of Israel, working the land, building modern communities, and living a disciplined Christian life, they could help prepare the way for redemption. Here in Jerusalem, the Templers created a carefully planned colony outside the walls of the Old City. They built solid stone houses, public buildings, schools, workshops, guesthouses, and later cultural institutions. Their architecture combined European order and craftsmanship with local Jerusalem stone and Middle Eastern conditions. As we walk through the neighborhood, we can still see their imprint in the façades, inscriptions, gardens, balconies, courtyards, and quiet village-like atmosphere that survives within the modern city. But the story of the German Colony is not only architectural. It is also the story of a community: its religious ideals, daily life, businesses, schools, internal tensions, relations with Jews and Arabs, and eventual decline. During the tour, we will meet some of the people who lived here — architects, craftsmen, hoteliers, artists, families, and later Jewish and Arab residents who shaped the neighborhood after the Templer period. The history of the colony also has a painful ending. In the 1930s, many members of the German Templer community identified with Nazi Germany. During the Second World War, the British Mandate authorities regarded them as enemy nationals, interned many of them in camps such as Atlit, and after the war many were deported, especially to Australia. Their homes remained, but the original German community disappeared from Jerusalem. This tour is therefore an opportunity to understand a unique chapter in the history of the city: the rise, life, transformation, and disappearance of the German Templer community in Jerusalem. Their colony is gone, but the mark they left on the city is still visible — in stone, streets, memory, and architecture. Before we begin, please remember to stay safe during the tour: cross streets only at marked crosswalks, be careful while walking on the sidewalks, and always follow the local traffic rules. Please also note that there will be no official restroom stop during the tour. If you need to use the restroom before we begin, please take the opportunity to use the hotel toilets. So – lets go!!!