1. Young Judea
Correction to the last report: The name of the ninth grade girl from Arad who participated in the Young Judea summer program in Israel was reported incorrectly as Hilly Hirt. In fact it was Avigail Aravna. Shmuel reports that she has written an article describing her experiences. We will publicize the article in the near future.
2. Education Subcommittee
Mayor Bezalel Tabib, Israeli chairman of P2K, has made new appointments to the Education and Community Subcommittee. The committee has begun to discuss project ideas for 2000. The membership now consists of:
Haim Straze Arad resident, Chairman
Hanna Gur Arad Education Dept.
Yehudit Glantz Arad Welfare Dept.
_________* Arad Community Center
Rachel Abramson Arad Jr. High School Principal
Ayal Kedar Arad Jr. High School teacher
Bracha Pistarov Arad Pedagogic Center
Yehoyakim Gavish Arad resident
Ofir Cohen Arad resident
Yaakov Akrish Tamar Regional Council
Rafi Ayalon Tamar Community Center
Yehudit Tamir Tamar Ein Gedi School
Ofra Schwartz Tamar Neot Hakikar School
* Oren Sher has resigned as the community center director. A new director has not yet been named.
3. Maccabia Games in Cherry Hill
Ten youths from the region traveled to Cherry Hill NJ to participate in the Maccabia games there. The young athletes, swimmers and tennis players, will be hosted in Cherry Hill by families as part of the ongoing partnership. Iris Kozlovich accompanied the group. Iris reports that as of today the Arad swimmers have won 9 medals and a number of tennis players are moving towards the finals.
Training suits, hats and other equipment for the participants were donated by the local authorities and local businesses in Arad-Tamar. Our thanks go to: Mei Arad Water Bottling Co., Dead Sea Sheraton Hotel, Telma Shefa Foods Inc., Yossi Avrahami Contractors Ltd., Mister Sprinkler Inc., Maccabi Sports Association, Tamar Regional Council, Arad Municipality. The group's departure for NJ was covered by the local newspaper in Arad and the Negev-wide regional newspaper.
4. Counselor from Ein Tamar in Monmouth Co.
Adi Schwartz of Moshav Neot Hakikar traveled to Monmouth Co. this summer to be an Israeli counselor/shlicha at the Deal JCC. She was chosen by the Jewish Agency for its annual emissary program to summer camps in the US and she requested a camp in the NJD Cluster because of the partnership.
Some may remember Adi’s father, Ron Schwartz, from when he accompanied Bezalel and Yoav on their first trip to the cluster a few years back. Ron is a fine singer and he performed with another woman from the Tamar region while they were in the cluster communities.
5. New Otzma participants from NJD
I have been invited to an opening dinner on Aug. 22, for the this year’s Otzma program where I will meet the three new Otzmaniks from the cluster. They are: Shiri Berger (North NJ), Jessica Goldstein (South NJ) and David Schwartz (South NJ).
6. Congressman Frank LoBiondo visits the Tamar region
US Congressman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), who is on a private tour of Israel with Vineland, NJ community leaders David Kotok and Jay Greenblatt, visited the Tamar region on Monday, August 16. Congressman LoBiondo’s congressional district includes the Atlantic and Cape May area. The three guests toured the botanical gardens at Kibbutz Ein Gedi, Massada, and the Dead Sea Works complex.
Yoav Givati, Yuval Shachaf, Monica Zelingher and myself joined the three for lunch at the Grand Nirvana Hotel, where they were briefed on P2K. Also in attendance were Dov Litvinoff, the Tourism director for the Tamar Regional Council, and Tzippy Eisenman from JAFI’s Israel Department.
The congressman offered his assistance in brokering additional ties between the region and NJ. Possible areas of cooperation that were discussed included: commerce and economic development, the chemical industry, the fish farming industry, joint R&D projects with Rutgers University, and tourism issues related to casino development.
Many thanks to Danny Abramovich of the Dead Sea Hotel Association, and Paul Milwidsky (General Manager) and Iris Solomon (Public Relations Director) of the Grand Nirvana Hotel for hosting the lunch meeting.
7. Highway #80
The "Kol Hair" newspaper in Jerusalem printed a long article about the new highway being planned that will link Maalei Adumim directly to Arad via the Judean Desert (route #80). While the planned highway would certainly be advantageous for Arad residents, and help to attract tourism to Arad and Tel Arad, it has its down side. The article is highly critical of the highway because environmentalists claim that it will wreck havoc on the delicate ecosystem of the desert. I left a photocopy of the article with Monica, if anyone wishes to read it. Here is a synopsis of the article:
The road is expected to be 4 lanes wide, a continuation of the existing Alon Highway from the Gilboa Mountain to Mishor Adumim. It is of strategic-political importance as marking the eastern border of the Palestinian entity. The Israeli cabinet approved construction of the road immediately following the Wye accords. It is meant to be used as the major connecting route for Azza-Hebron-Bethlehem-Ramallah-Nablus traffic without entering Jerusalem.
An environmental impact study is being conducted at present. The north-south road must cross the east-west wadis (ravines) that drain rainwater to the Dead Sea. The planned budget of 200 million NIS for the road will not allow for the construction of bridges and tunnels, so the road construction will involve “shaving” mountainsides and dumping the soil into the ravines.
Environmental groups claim that by redirecting the flow of rainwater many Acacia trees will die. The Acacia tree’s fruit is a major food source in the desert food chain; thus the entire animal population will be put in danger.
The Council of Settlements in Judea and Samaria has also come out against the road. The settlers fear that once constructed, the Palestinian Authority will force them to use the new road instead of the present roads, thereby substantially increasing the travel time needed from the Judean Hills settlements to Jerusalem.
Environmental groups propose an alternative that includes widening the present Jerusalem-Jericho-Massada highway to 4 lanes and using the planned Eastern Ring Road around Jerusalem as the Bethlehem-Ramallah link route for Palestinian traffic. However, they themselves are doubtful that they can stop the construction of a road that the defense establishment in Israel regards as necessary for security reasons.
8. 400 Below Sea Level CD
The Dead Sea Hotel Association has produced an interactive CD in English to be used as a marketing tool. It has been distributed as part of an informational package to travel agents, along with two very impressive full color promotional brochures. There is also a web site that you can visit at www.deadsea.co.il. These materials were funded in part by P2K, in conjunction with the Hotel Assoc., the Tamar R.C., and the Ministry of Tourism.
9. South NJ Family Mission visits Arad
On August 9 the Family Mission of the south NJ federation visited Arad for 2 hours on their way from Mitzpe Ramon to the Dead Sea. The group visited the Hotel Management School’s course for kitchen chefs where the kids learned how to prepare burekas and fruit salad with the student chefs (80% of whom are immigrants from the FSU).
The group then visited the Ethiopian olim club and met the community’s rabbi, some kids and mothers and the club coordinator. The group spontaneously took out their "shaliach mitzvah" money and added some dollars of their own and presented it to the club coordinator to buy more toys and games for the kids. The coordinator was moved to tears by the gesture.
10. Nitzan Committee Report
The ad hoc committee that was mandated to evaluate the projects funded by P2K and make recommendations regarding which projects should be continued has finished its task. The report has been forwarded to Meir Nitzan, Director General of the Israel Dept. and the English translation is expected to reach Gerry Flanzbaum by the beginning of September.
August 1999