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(Continued from Page 14)
Minister David Ben-Gurion said,
“From the aspects of colonization,
economics and politics, the Med-
itterranean must be regarded not
only us a boundary but also as an
extension of the land.”
Israel needs the sea, for trade, for
food and as its only direct outlet to
the rest of the world.
The history of Israel and the sea
— though its traditions date back
to antiquity — is very short in
modern times. Only twelve years
ago, there were no facilities for
training seamen, no fishery devel
opment and few Jewish fishermen
and practically no Jewish shipping.
In 1936, during the Arab riots, the
port of Jaffa was closed to Jewish
shipping and Jewish leaders ap
pealed to the Mandatory Govern
ment for permission to build a port
at Tel Aviv.
Within a matter of months, with
the permission granted, the port of
Tel Aviv was opened and soon after
Jewish leaders met on board the
ship “Har Zion” to organize a
maritime program. Out of that
meeting came the formation of the
Israel Maritime League and the
founding of the Haifa Nautical
School, both of which are bene
ficiaries in this country of the
American Fund for Israel Institu
tions.
The Israel Maritime League con
cerns itself with all phases of mari
time development in Israel. It pro
motes and stimulates the following
activities: the Haifa Nautical
School, Seamen’s Homes in Haifa
and Tel Aviv, Nautical Instructors’
Summer Camps, swimming pools
and swimming instruction, publica
tion of nautical literature, “Yom
Ha’Yam,” and the Fisheries Re
search Station in Haifa.
In brief, it is the job of the Israel
Maritime League to make the peo
ple of Israel “sea-conscious,” to
free them from their history of
many centuries as a people confined
and bound to a limited number of
occupations.
Since 1936, maritime activity in
Israel has developed with the char
acteristic initiative that we have
come to associate with Israel. Sea
scout organizations, also stimulated
by the I.M.L., sprang up. The youth
have taken to seasports and mari
time training as if they came from
genei ations of people who worked
on the sea. The Haifa Nautical
School, organized by a British sail
or, Captain Miller, has graduated
about three hundred ships’ officers
and, when the time came during
the struggle for independence that
Israel had to organize a navy
quickly, it was these graduates and
members of the sea scout organiza
tions who formed the solid core of
the Israeli Navy that acquitted it
self so admirably.
Twelve years ago almost no Jew
ish fishermen were to be found in
Israel. The rich waters off Pales
tine were fished by Italian and
Arabic seamen who used the prim-
tive methods used by their ances
tors for generations. But now, with
up-to-date and improved equip
ment, with fishing settlements
established and developed by the
Jewish Agency, all along the coast
of Israel, with the creation of in
land artificially-stocked pools, fish
ing is rapidly becoming an impor
tant industry in Israel. For a coun
try that must import most of its
protein food — meat — this is vital
ly important.
Maritime trade is increasing with
a rapidly-growing nucleus of some
thirty odd ships ranging in weight
from 3,000 to 10,000 tons. Among
them are the famous refugee ships,
like the “Negba,” the “Exodus,”
and, more recently, the “Galila,”
interesting particularly for Ameri
cans because it used to be the “De
Witt Clinton” that used to sail as
part of the Hudson River Day Line.
“Yom Ha ‘Yam” (Maritime Day)
is a national holiday in Israel dedi
cated to the growth of Israel as a
maritime nation. The entire popu
lation turns out to celebrate the day
with sea sport contests, parades,
addresses by the leaders of the na
tion, boat races, swimming meets
— all in all, an inspirational cele
bration that serves to focus the
attention of the entire nation on
the necessity for developing mari-
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