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Off the beaten track
Ashqelon: ‘Onion’by another name
by R.Y. Lion
Brussels has given us its sprouts,
Chantilly tops desserts with its
cream, and Ashqelon appears on
menus and in cookbooks in the
form of scallions, those little
onions also called shallots.
For some seven centuries those
delicate little scallions had to
perpetuate the name of their
hometown all by themselves, and it
cannot be said that they did a very
good job of it, but in the 20th
century the town re-emerged from
the sands that had buried it.
It was immigrant Jews from
South Africa who, shortly after the
re-establishment of Israel in 1948,
took the initiative of building
“dwellings and cottages...on the
sea coast (that) shall be for the
remnant of Judah," mindful of the
words of the prophet Zephania.
Zephania envisioned these
dwellings for shepherds, who were
to take the place of the
“belligerent” Philistines, while the
South Africans had a more
professionally integrated
population in mind, which they
proceeded to attract to their new
town.
It was the first town in Israel that
was planned from scratch,
ignoring Philistine temples,
Roman forums and Byzantine
churches, which were too far gone to
make a functional contribution to
(There is also a Delila beach.)
There are enough attractions of
a different kind, however, to make
tourism one of the economic
mainstays of Ashqelon. There's the
climate for one thing It’s an
unusual combination of sea
breezes and dry desert air, lots of
sun and even in Israel’s winter,
short and mild as it is, little rain.
And of course the beach! Eight
kilometers of gleaming white
Mediterranean sand, and if that’s
not long enough, it continues
both north and southwards, but
there without such amenities as
showers, dressing rooms and life
guards.
• Lasogno
• Spaghetti
• Salads
• Sandwiches
• Deer & Wine
• Homemode Dough
• Sicillian or Thin Crust
BELLA
PIZZA
Visitors to Ashqelon's
unearthed by archeologists.
Antiquities Park inspect statues
the town plan anyway. An
exception was the Crusader town
wall, which now encircles a lovely
park with picnic grounds, a
camping site, ancient pillars and
sculpture. Here and there
throughout the town a Roman
tomb or sarcophagus, a remnant
from a Byzantine church or mosaic
recalls some of Ashqelon’s
previous incarnations.
In a country like Israel, where
COME VISIT! TRY THE BEST.
A NE W Chinese Mandarin
Style Restaurant has opened
in the Dunwoody Village Shopping Center.
Oja ^uen
■il ®
5499 ( humbler Dunwoody Rd., Dunwoody Village
Atlanta, Ga. 30338 393-8674/393-8678
HOI'RS
lues.-Fri 11:30-3,5-10
Sat. noon-11 p.m
Sun noon-10 p.m
Closed Monday
BUFFET: Sat. I Sun. 12-2:30
Adults $2 95 (children under 8 - $1.50)
(including Is*)
S SEAFOOD CO.
N ATLANTA'S FINEST
SINCE 1934"
m SPECIAL
N MON. thru THURS.
2 MAINE
' LOBSTERS
Boiled to Perfec
"They're Running"
OCEAN TROUT
ALL YOU CAN EAT
Broiled or Fried
OPEN FOR LUNCH & DINNER
MON THRU SAT
Doriv l u nth eon Spe* toh
RAW OYSTER BAR
VISIT (XIR ADJACENT SEAFOOO
MARHtT
6125 Roswell Road
(m Sandy Springs)
255-8218
IN
EDUCATIONAL CENTER
TEST PREPARATION SPECIALISTS
SINCE 1938
2964 Peachtree Rd., N.W.
Suite 654
Atlanta, Ga. 30305
404-262-7582
Centers in Maior U S Cities
For Other Locationt Call
900-233-1782
whole buildings and towns dating
back hundreds and even thousands
of years are all over, the remains of
ancient Ashqelon may seem
decidedly puny, and the town’s
administrators are the first to face
up to this. They do not even
capitalize on the fact that their
town is the birthplace of King
Herod. Only Samson, whose
country this was, appears in the
name of a beach and a hotel.
Many of the tourists visiting
Ashqelon are campers, both from
Israel and from overseas They are
attracted by one of Israel’s most Y
beautiful and unusual camping/
sites, situated in a national park. I
with plenty of green underfoot and ^ T
overhead, a historic backdrop of j
Crusader walls, Roman and Greek
statues scattered around, and the
blue Mediterranean at the bottom
of the cliff.
The type of visitor for whom
Ashqelon would seem to be just the
thing is the one who has been to
Israel before, and this time wants
to do some leisurely off-the-beaten
track touring and a lot of relaxing
in the sun.
6435 Roswell Rd.
255-9122
WEDDINGS/BRUNCHES/PARTIES
BRAT
TOWER PLACE HOTEL
3340 Peachtree Rd., N.E./Atlanta, Ga. 30326
(404) 2311234/ 1(8001 241-7078
In Buekhead . . .where Piedmont crosses Peachtree Road.
P»gt 15 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE August 17, 1979