54 Friday, September 2, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Israeli Moshav Prohibits Jews to Avoid Charge of Missionary Role By GIL SEDAN (Copyright 1977. JTA. Inc. NES AMMIM, Western Galilee—The only moshav in Israel which will not ac- cept Jews as members is Nes Ammim, a cooperative settlement half-way be- tween Acre and Nahariya. Paradoxically, it was the fear of Jewish reaction that made this village closed to Jews. When Nes Ammim was launched as a Christian vil- lage in Israel in the fall of 1962, Premier Levi Eshkol came under attack by the religious parties "for giving aid to the establishment of a missionary village." Jewish sensitivity to mis- sionary activities caused a public storm, at the end of which the Christian settlers committed themselves—in writing—not to ask for Is- raeli citizenship and not to accept Jews as members. Nes Ammim was to remain Alex Segal Dies, Noted Director LOS ANGELES—Award- winning stage, film and tele- vision director Alex Segal died Aug. 22 at age 62. Segal won two Emmys for the Celanese Theater in 1952 and the U.S. Steel Hour in 1954, two Peabody Awards for television direc- tion of the Actors' Studio in 1949 and the Celanese Thea- ter in 1952 and two Direc- tors Guild of America Awards for "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "Death of a Salesman." His Broadway credits in- cluded "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Com- pulsion," "Who Was That Lady?" and "Porcelain Years." He directed the following TV films: "The Lie" in 1973, "M57 Father's House" in 1975 and "David and Saul" in 1976. Minnie Krugel, 83 Minnie Krugel. owner of the Modern Delicatessen at 3900 Fenkell in Detroit from 1929 to 1968. died Aug. 25 at age 83. Born in Austria. Mrs. Kru- gel lived 50 years in De- troit. She was a member.of the senior citizens group of the .Jewish Community Cen- ter and the National Associ- ation for Retired Persons. She also was a life member of Hadassah. Mrs. Krugel is survived by grandchildren and great- grandchildren. In Loving Memory Of Our Dear Husband. Father and Grandfather LOUIS RASKIN W'ho passed a ,,,a ∎ Sep- tember 3. 1919. I(I day, in Elul. Sadly missed by hi, N fife. Minnie: sons Nlar% in and Danny: daughter, NIrs. Lillian Rosen and 'fir-. Belle Weingarden: grand- children and great-grand- children. a purely Christian village, so that no suspicion will rise as to its motives. Indeed, the motives of Nes Ammim are the exact opposite of the so-called missionary activities. Nes Ammim was established, in the words of its founders, "to promote greater Chris- tian-Jewish understanding and cooperation through a continuing interfaith dia- logue." The original settlers, most of them Dutch, de- voted themselves to living together with the Jewish people in their own land and promoting a dialogue between Jews and Chris- tians in the state of Israel— "based on mutual respect for each other's identity." Today, 15 years after the village was officially found- ed, it is a prosperous settle- ment, hardly different from the many kibutzim and moshavim surrounding it. Some 120 members, the ma- jority of them still Dutch, with a representation of Swiss, Germans, English and Americans, earn their livelihood by exporting avo- cados and flowers. During the winter months Nes Ammim exports roses to Holland, and business is booming. In the years 1956 to 1960, the Synod of the Dutch Re- formed • Church issued a booklet urging a "theologi- cal rethinking" of Jewish- Christian relations. in the wake of the extermination of six million Jews and the establishment of the state of Israel. The booklet said that "missions io the Jews should be replaced by a dia- logue." Following the publication of the booklet, a series of discussions were held by a group of Dutch workers at the Scottish Hospital in Ti- berias. The result was a conference in Holland in 1960 in which the idea of a Christian settlement in Is- rael was porposed. Its pur- pose would be to demon- strate solidarity with Israel by active participation in the upbuilding of the new Jewish state. By the end of 1964, follow- ing a bitter struggle to con- vince the Jewish public that there were no intentions for missionary proselytism, the first settlers made their home in Nes Ammim. One of the first families to settle was that of Christ- ine and Joahn Jacob Pilon. The Pilons arrived in Israel in 1950. Johan Pilon, a phy- sician, was invited to work in the Scottish Hospital in Tiberias. He planned to stay two years—but he stayed for six years and both he and his wife devel- oped during that period a greater involvement with Is- rael. The Pilons went back. to Holland and helped to or- ganize Nes Ammim. They came back in 1966 with their five children. There wasn't much to come for, except for 275 acres of land and a room that was hardly Histadrut Angry With Likud, Internal Labor Party Conflict NEW YORK JTA)— Yeruham Meshel. secretary general of Histadrut. sharp- ly criticized the economic policy of the "right-wing" Likud government and warned that this policy may lead to a confrontation with Histadrut. Addressing a press confer- ence at the New York Hil- ton Hotel. Meshel. whose Labor Party won the recent Histadrut election. said that the labor federation "does not seek a confrontation with the government." but if Menahem Begin's govern- ment will pursue its policy of compulsory arbitration and will introduce legisla- tion calling for the nation- alization of Kupat Holim- the Histadrut sick fund— and the Histadrut pension funds. "we will face it squarely and fight back." leaders are devoting more efforts to attacking former Defense Minister Shimon Peres. the leader of the Labor Alignment. than the Likud government. Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan. who was elected to the Knesset on the Labor Alignment ticket. said he agreed to join the Likud government because the Labor Party was moving away from the viewpoint which he had always held and which was the majority belief. to a view closer to that of Mapam. its partner in the Alignment. In an interview with Ye- diot Achronot. Dayan said another reason for his join- ing the Likud government was the negative attitude of the Labor Party toward him which continued even after Peres was elected chairman of the party. But Meshel said the con- frontation will not take the form of a general strike. "We will try to fight it in the Knesset and will initiate a public campaign against it," he said at the press conference sponsored by the National Committee for Labor Israel. Peres. meanwhile, has also come under attack from former Premier Yitz- hak Rabin and former For- eign Minister Yigal Allon. Rabin told Davar that he does not accept Peres as the party's leader. Allon blames Peres for the Labor defeat, saying it was not caused by the scandals in the Labor government but because the Alignment's platform was not suffi- ciently different from Likud. Meanwhile, the Labor Party which led the country for 29 years has not yet— three months after it lost power to Likud—been able to emerge as an effective oppostion party go the gov- ernment of Premier Men- achem Begin. Instead. leading Labor In a reply to his critics. Peres said that the opposi- tion to him was personal and not based on ideology. enough for the family. "It wasn't the material diffi- culties that bothered me, - said Christine, "but the un- certainty." The two older children, Peter, now 28, and Ellert, 26, went back to Hol- land to study. The others were enrolled in regular local schools. go. His argument was that this can be interpreted as the result of a missionary activity. "Next thing, the Jews will suspect us of con- verting Jews outside and then admitting them to the village. This will stop the di- alogue with the Jews," he said. The difficulties in the vil- lage continued. Two con- verted Jews wanted to join the village. There was a dis- cussion, and Pilon said—no For this reason, the set- tlers did not ask for an Is- raeli citizenship, although. Pilon says, -Today, this is my home. I don't feel home- sick for Holland." The children want to stay. Peter is the only one who now lives in South Af- rica. Ellert, and Biene, 23, have decided to stay. Rich- ard, 22, is studying in Hol- land to be a veterinarian and wants to practice in Is- rael. The youngest one, Christina, who calls herself Michal, is completing her studies at the Gesher Haziv regional secondary school and is considering serving in the army. Aid Cut for UNRWA Is Sought By I.L. KENEN Editor Emeritus. Near East Report Ira Hirschman, who once served in the Middle East as the representative of the War Refugee Board in the attempt to rescue refugees from the Nazis, has written a useful paperback entitled "Questions and Answers About Arabs and Jews" (Bantam Books). Hirschman's most em- phatic recommendation is that the United States dis- continue its support for UNRWA, which has served as the staging center for ter- rorist onslaught. He calls on the oli-rich states to foot the bill of resettling the Pa- lestinian refugees within the Arab world. Hirschman's views carry weight because he made an extensive tour of UNRWA camps and reported his find- ings to the Department of State. UNRWA lost control of the camps in 1969, when, its Commissioner General later disclosed, it ceased to administer the camps and merely provided services. The 1975 UNRWA report shows that U.S. contribu- tions to UNRWA over the years have totaled $619.2 Long Island 'Y' Hinges on Vote NEW YORK (JTA)—A va- cateh elementary school in Plainview has been pur- chased by the United Jew- ish Ys of Long Island to serve an area with more than 100,000 Jews. The plan for the Y hinges on approval from the Oys- ter Bay Town Board, which rejected a similar plan in April because of increased traffic and neighborhood dis- ruption. Healthiest Hearts TEL AVIV—A five-year research project at Tel Aviv University which ex- amined 10,000 Jews of Yemenite origin has con- cluded that they possess both a unique structure of the coronary blood vessels and a genetic immunity to coronary heart disease, which result in a low fre- quency of heart attacks i n Yemenites. even after pr longed residence in Israel. Tourist Officer NEW YORK—Arie Som- mer. 31. has been appointed deputy director for the Southern Region of the Is- rael Government Tourist Of- fice. based in Atlanta. million, about 60 percent of UNRWA's total income of $1.095 billion. All Arab states donated only $42.2 million; Israel's $6.7 million was exceeded only by Saudi Arabia's $16.8 million. Time, on July 18, report- ed that the PLO has "what is probably the richest, best financed revolutionary ter- rorist organization in his- troy"—an estimated $90 mil- lion last year from contribu- tions, as well as in- vestments. Clearly. UNRWA has be- come totally obsolete and, in fact, an obstacle to peace settlement. Yet, pe_ missive Western democrac- ies continue to contribute, presumably because they do not want to provoke vio- lent _Arab outcries. Hirschman warns that millions of "have-not" Arabs have every reason to expect to share in prodi- gious Arab oil money, and their being denied has stir- red up an underground of unrest, abetted by Commun- ist infiltration. Tel Aviv U. Scientists Restore Vegetation to Barren Desert NEW YORK—A research project undertaken by Tel Aviv University scientists transformed a sparsely- vegetaged area of the North- ern Sinai desert into an area of natural vegetation within three years. The desert vegetation had been over-grazed by Bed- ouin flocks and became bar- ren, but by fencing off an area of 51/2x51/2 kilometers, the scientists were able to NY Law Will Aid Jewish Students NEW YORK (JTA)—A Hebrew day school expert said the law signed by Gov- ernor Hugh Carey. making available $5 per pupil from the New'York State lottery fund to school districts to buy textbooks for loan to non-public school students, means an estimated $250,000 worth of textbooks for loan to Jewish day school students in New York State. Housing for Aged NEW YORK — With the percentage of the elderly in Israel's population increas- ing rapidly, housing has be- come a major problem. Women's Social Service for Israel (WSSI) is construct- ing special housing for the aged. Since 1943. WSSI has built 18 senior citizen complexes containing more than 500 self-contained apartments with medical and social services readily available. NN, ZO Official Plans to Retire NEW YORK—Dr. Abra- ham P. Gannes is retiring after almost 10 years as di- rector of the department of education and culture of the World Zionist Organization- American Section. analyze the climatic changes that take place when over-grazing does not occur. A report on the proj- ect was presented to the In- ternational Conference on Spach Research in July by Prof. Joseph Otterman of Tel Aviv University. On April 26, 1977, the sat- ellite LANDSAT deviated slightly from its ._ regular orbit in order to phOtograph the fenced area in Sinai, and the first photographs from this mission have al- ready been received. They indicate- a dark patch in the formerly light area, which demonstrates the restora- tion of vegetation. The nu- merical data is still being prepared and Prof. Otter- man is analyzing it this summer in the United States. Knesseters Donate Blood in Drive NEW YORK—Setting an example to the citizens of Israel, Knesset members and personnel took time out between parliamentary ses- sions to take part in the blood donation drive organ- ized by Magen David Adorn on Knesset premises. The Magen David Adorn Blood Services. headed by Prof. Bracha Ramot, r- - nowned hetalogist con: of three departments; re cruitment. blood banking and blood fractionation. Through its Central Blood Bank and Fractionation In- stiaite in Jaffa and assisted by its nationwide regional blood banks located at MDA First Aid Stations, Magen David Adorn sup- plies all hospitals with 85 percent of their required blood and blood by-prod- ucts. It is responsible for 10 percent of the blood needs Of the Israel Defense Forces.