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AGE 6 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE March 28, 1986
Focus on Campaign
Federation dollars make miracles happen in Negev towns
bv Bill Clark
l J A Press Service
PITHAT SH ALOM. ISRAEL —
Fruits of peace now grow inside
Eddi Peretz's greenhouses. They
blossom and ripen beneath the 400
dunams (four million square feet)
of glass roofing scattered at the
kibbutzim and moshavim here in
the Pithat Shalom region of the
northwest Negev Desert.
Pithat Shalom, which means
Gateway to Peace, is the wedge of
Israel squeezed between the Gaza
Strip and the Egyptian Sinai. Since
the 1979 peace accords with Egypt
this region has become even more
important for Israeli planning.
Moshavim here (within Israel’s
pre-1967 borders) are financed by
the Jewish Agency with funds
mainly from American Jews through
the United Jewish Appeal Federa
tion Campaign. They are one of
Israel’s and the Jewish Agency’s
high priorities.
To keep a thriving rural popula
tion in this part of the desert, a
sophisticated type of agriculture is
necessary—thus the greenhouses.
Functioning with a number of
other high-tech agricultural a-
chievements such as computerized
drip irrigation, the greenhouses
represent an impressive saving of
the desert’s most vital commodi
ty—water.
Prior to all these innovations,
the average farm family in this part
of the Negev required 40,000 cubic-
meters of irrigation water per year
to produce enough crops to sup
port itself. Now, with all the im-
Squeezed between the Gaza Strip and the Egyptian Sinai is Pithat Shalom. Moshavim in the area, within
Israel's pre-1967 borders, are making miracles happen by aid of American Jews who contribute through
Federation campaigns.
provements, a family needs only
1,000 cubic meters of water to pro
duce the same quantity of crops.
This means that the region's water
allocation makes it possible to set
tle 40 times the number of people
in Pithat Shalom than had been
previously thought possible.
And just in time. Before the
Camp David Accords, this part of
Israel had been a remote and dusty
wilderness with only a few scat
tered settlements. But the new
peace brought a substantial influx
of settlers, many of them Jews who
had newiy settled in the Sinai.
People in communities such as
Kibbutz Sufa simply packed up the
entire village, moved it back across
the border into Israel, and set in
new roots. Others, such as Moshav
Peri Gan are entirely new and were
built to help accelerate the popula
tion of this vital region. Today
there are 24 settlements in Pithat
Shalom, with more under construc
tion.
Generally, this new Israeli sal
ient finds peace along the Egyptian
border a great blessing. “Ah! The
peace is excellent.” said Meir Sha-
ham of Moshav Talmei Yosef, one
of the settlements which had been
evacuated from Sinai and rebuilt
in Pithat Shalom. “But it could be
even more excellent!”
Talmei Yosef earns its living by
growing vegetables and flowers in
the greenhouses introduced by
Eddi Peretz. Most of its families
are “mixed” marriages—one part
ner a native Israeli, and one an
immigrant. “There are some diffi
culties with export marketing these
days,” Shaham admits, “but we’re
making a living here. But we do
suffer from this ‘cold peace’ with
Egypt. Things could be better.”
Similar sentiments are found at
Kibbutz Sufa where the entire
community voted in 1979 to accept
the peace and then move quietly
back into the Negev. The original
Sufa, just two miles from the Sinai
coastal town of Yamit, was razed
and a new village built five miles
within Israel’s pre-1967 borders.
“We’ve accepted the situation
well enough,” said kibbutz secre
tary Udi Vulichman. “We had two
years in which to evacuate Sinai
and build our new settlement. Ev
eryone was involved in the effort
and, by working together, it was
much easier to accept psychologi
cally.” Today, normalcy has re
turned to the kibbutz. A few years
have helped ease the frustrated
expectat ions of a prosperous peace
with Egypt.
Settlers here are still uneasy a-
bout the future. Is this truly the
“Gateway to Peace” with Egypt, or
Israel’s new frontier bulwark fac
ing Egypt? Either way, settlers
agree, Federation campaign sup
port is extremely valuable in help
ing maintain their presence.
And while politicians decide the
fate of nations, these desert settle
ments are busy beneath their glass
roofs growing all manner of fruits,
vegetables and flowers. The best
business comes from the flower
export market—and particularly
roses. So they fulfill an ancient
prophecy: “The wilderness and the
solitary place shall be glad; and the
desert shall rejoice, and blossom as
the rose (Isaiah 35:1).”
Celebrating the miracles
The Miracles of Campaign ’86 will be celebrated at a Campaign
Closing Event on Thursday, April 3, 7:30 p.m., at the Standard
Club. All campaign workers and spouses/ guests are invited to join
in the festivities.
Leonid Feldman, the first Soviet emigre to be ordained at the
Jewish I heologica! Seminary, will be the guest speaker for the
event. Feldman is returning to Atlanta for the second time this
year, by popular demand, after his presentation to the Women’s
Division earlier in the campaign received rave reviews.
I he evening will mark the official close of the Atlanta Jewish
Federation 1986 Campaign. Campaign results will be announced,
and campaign volunteers will be recognized for their ability to
Make Miracles Happen. i
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