Although its beach is one of the most beautiful and authentic in the country - Jisr a-Zarqa is not among the most beautiful fishing villages I have met in my life.
There is a lot of misery, rudeness and neglect in the poor village built on the beach in the early 20th century, and named after an ancient bridge built over the Crocodile River (in Arabic al-Wadi a-Zarqa - "the river with the blue water").
It should be noted that this is not the same bridge that was built on the beach for the chariot of Emperor Wilhelm II, when he visited Eretz Israel in 1898, and was recently renovated.
In fact, there is a stark contrast between the location of the village, in one of the most beautiful places in the country, on a kurkar strip at the foot of which flows the lower part of Nahal Taninim, north of Caesarea and south of Maagan Michael, and the great poverty and neglected appearance of the place.
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Fishing boats on the beach in the early morning (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
The pier and the lighthouse on Jisr Beach (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
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We arrived in the village in the early morning for a guided tour with the director of the youth education department, Muhammad Hamdan Amash.
Some fishermen returned from the sea, having collected the nets they had retired the night before.
We met them filling the crates with fish and arranging the nets.
They ignored our presence and were preoccupied with their own, as if accustomed to having a camera in the environment always documenting their lifestyles.
"Swamp Beans" or "Gem Towers" were the names of the villagers who lived around the Kabara swamp and were nomads who roamed the area for years, between summer and winter, depending on the seasons.
Following the drying up of the swamp in 1924 for agricultural lands and the eradication of malaria disease for the residents of Zichron Yaacov, the residents were offered alternative land to the village plus a fee for their help in drying the swamp and losing their source of livelihood.
Each family received 30 dunams in the village, and the residents built kurkar houses, which were later replaced by block houses and concrete.
Fishermen returning from fishing (Photo: photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
A fisherman unloads his wares (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
Jisr a-Zarqa is currently home to about 15,000 men and women who live in the village.
Three large families / clans make up the villagers.
Two of them - Amash and Jurban - make up about 70 percent of the population).
You will no longer find peasants, camel traders, beekeepers or farmers here - crafts that the villagers used to do.
In fact, upon arriving here, the village population has lost all of its heritage: traditional crafts such as pottery, weaving, weaving, or hunting have disappeared, and there are no longer any traditional crafts or occupations that existed in the past.
Today the only surviving industry is fishing, but most of the residents work outside the village.
The residents are no longer considered assigned among the Muslims in the country as in the past, and not only marry within the family but also manage to marry people outside the village.
In the past, marriage to relatives gave rise to many malformations and hereditary diseases, the result of which is evident to this day.
The only surviving branch.
Fishermen on Jesser Beach (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
The residents were busy with their own.
Fishing in action (Photo: photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
The streets were painted blue in the spirit of the fishing villages in Greece
In the center of the village is a large mosque visible from many corners of the village.
Ugly electrical wires, stretching from one side of the street to the other, are very typical throughout the village and also those that are no longer active, on some of them hung Chinese lanterns and colorful pennants that faded in the sun.
Most of the houses look neglected and unattractive from the outside, but sometimes a peek inside reveals beautiful, clean and special houses.
Chickens roam the streets freely and cleanliness is not the strong point in the village.
Some of the streets were painted blue - in the spirit of the Greek fishing villages against the evil eye - but there is not always maintenance and the paint peels off.
The humidity in the summer is almost unbearable - over 75 percent - and yet you can meet special people here, lots of colorful seniors, happy children as only children know how to be, in any environment.
Not just blue.
A yellow house in a village near the mosque (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
Some of the streets were painted blue against the evil eye (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
The children of the village are as happy as only children know how to be (Photo: photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
Freedom was born
We met Hammi at the waterfront cafe.
A tanned and strong muscular woman engaged in fishing, water sports and education.
She told us the story of her life, how from childhood she was attracted to boys' activities like football, kayaking and fishing.
Hammi is a young and powerful woman who managed, against all odds, to position her status in the village as an independent and warlike woman who inspires other women.
She is unmarried and lives in her own house on the edge of the village, on the seafront, and has set up an international women's club called Surfing 4 peace - "Surfers for Peace".
Managed, against all odds, to establish her status in the village as an independent and warlike woman.
Hammami (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
Warm up.
Striving for Peace (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
Daughter of the Mukhtar
We were wandering for a few hours through the alleys of the village, when we suddenly came across Jamila, a kind and hospitable 86-year-old woman who opened her humble and traditional home.
Jamila lives alone, but her children who live on the edge of the village come to visit from time to time.
Her father, whose picture and picture of her mother hung on one of the walls, along with other family pictures, was the last village crowned, and when he died, the leadership passed to elected village leaders.
A kind and welcoming old woman.
Jamila, daughter of the Mukhtar (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
Jamila's house (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
The alleys of the village were quite deserted on a hot Friday morning in August.
Here and there we met some children, playing in the alleys, elderly people sitting over a cup of tea in the yard or on the terrace, or a few passers-by on their way to the health fund, shopping or making arrangements in the village.
Most of them did not object to us photographing them, but in front of them the burden of life could be seen, and smiles were quite rare here.
On the streets of the village of Jisr a-Zarqa (Photo: Photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
Morning tea (Photo: photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
Amateur fishing (Photo: photos by surfers, Ortal Sabar)
In a village whose limited boundaries do not allow for new construction, a difficult housing density has been created over the years.
Only recently has a bright spot emerged for the residents, after a new plan was approved that will allow the construction of housing units and a holiday village that will provide a solution for young people and the homeless, and will attract tourists.
Perhaps this is where a positive turning point in Jisr a-Zarqa will begin.