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REPORT FROM ISRAEL

Friday, Nov. 8, 1957—THE
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS—Z

Farm-Paradise
Drainage Project
Nearly Completed

Philip Slomovitz, editor of the Detroit Jewish
News, and Mrs. Slomovitz have been visiting in Israel.
This is another of his special reports for the Free
Press.
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor, The Jewish News

SAFED, Israel — Within' a month, an engineering
task which had created one of the most serious United
Nations controversies 'between Israelis and Arabs, will
be completed, and an area that was a marshland that
bred malarial disease will become another agricultural
paradise for new settlers in
Israel.
can become accessible only

The Huleh drainage project
is now nearing its final stages.
The Jewish National Fund, Is-
rael's land-reclamation agency,
began the first .stages of the
project of
draining this
marshland i n
1951.
Twice Syria
objected,
elaimingit
would give
Israel a
. strategic a d -
vantage. Twice
Slomovitz
the UN Secur-
ity. Council rejected the objec-
tions.
Now this area will be avail-
able'for the settlement' of more
new immigrants, who are arriv-
ing in Israel at the rate of as
many as 10,000 a month from
lands of appression behind the
Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe.
and in Moslem countries.

THE DRAINING of the Huleh
marshland of 60,000 dunams
(15,000 acres) was accomplished
virtually under Syrian gunfire.
The purpose of this develop-
ment, financed with funds
raised by the Jewish National
Fund, is fourfold:
1—By draining the swamps, to
make this area available for in-
tensive agricultural cultivation.
2—To make available to the
rest of the country thousands of
cubic feet of water which hither- •
to was lost through swamp veg-
etation and evaporation.
3—To exploit the rich layers of
peat, layers of which . are be-
fieath the swamps and which

through drainage operations.
4—To rescue the entire neigh-
boring area . from the malarial
threats.
* * *
THE JEWISH National Fund
Council of Detroit was one of
the first American groups to
provide funds for the drainage
'project.
Israeli leaders have sent word
to the Detroit group that "in
the course of a few years the
new lands put under highly in-
tensive agricultural cultivation
will give a return of a consider-
able part of the huge invest-
ments put into the drainage
scheme."
Lake Huleh and the Huleh
swamps, now completely drained
and almost ready for cultivation
as a new agricultural area, were
the results of lava streams from
volcanic eruptions.
There was no outlet for the
waters that went into the Huleh
Basin when a barrier was set up
for the original Jordan River
bed about -a million years ago.

THE ENGINEERS who now
are completing the drainage
process explain that in the
course of time a new river bed
opened up, but it was too nar-
row and too shallow to hold the'
storm waters.
The drying up of the swamps
was the first move in the direc-
tion of removing the disease-
breeding condition. Jewish Na-
tional Fund directors now say
that Syria will benefit from the
new health conditions brought
to the area.

BAS-RELIEF
By Arieh Merzer
*
*

Modern Saied
an Artists' Colony

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

SAFED — This city became
famous as the home of the best
known Jewish mystics. In modern
Israel, it also is known for its

artists.

There is an artists' colony here,
and many tourists who love art
make it a point to visit the nu-

merous exhibits.

The best known artist here,
Moshe Cartel, has had exhibitions

in the United States.

A local sculptor, Sonia Sachs, is
now visiting in the United States.
Her niece, Alice, is married to
Marty. Green, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Julius Green of Detroit.

Mrs. Sachs also paints on ena-
mel, ceramics, wood and marble.

An artist 'whose works have at-
tracted very wide attention is
Arieh Merzer. He has perfected
the art of metal-hammering and
his copper and silver reliefs fas-
cinate the observers. •

The accompanying photograph
of one of his works indicates the
power of his hammered metal bas
reliefs. This one was presented to
the International Labor Office by
the Israel government. It portrays
the prophecy of Isaiah—"And
they shall beat their swords into
plowshares."

