THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS fTiday, - September 13, 1985 155
1111 DTI 111113 711t13`2
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
Arabs and Jews Are Living
gabs
Neighbors High In The Galilee
;
BY JEFF BLACK
of the moment
— The story
among the taxi-drivers of Tel
,Aviv is that of the oleh chadash
new
. . immigrant) who, after ar-
/0 wing at Ben-Gurion Airport
..; ate one evening, wanted to go
Kibbutz Tuval in the Upper
*Galilee. The driver had no idea
where this four-year-old kibbutz
vas, while the oleh only knew
3 ,hat
it was on a hill above the
!Arab village of Dir Al-Assad, a
tew
. kilometers away from Car-
!mei.
ii Getting to the village was no
'roblem, but finding the road up
>,o the kibbutz was. After an
our of trying every road, the
driver was ready to give up.
Dawn had still not broken, and
'there seemed to be no possibility
of reaching Tuval until, by
:'chance, a passing truck driver
,:,offered to guide the taxi. To the
:;taxi driver's astonishment, what
(
2 1nitially, the joint
,,„meetings between
the kibbutznikim
and villagers
consisted of about
'415 people from
either place just
talking to one
,:another, swapping
tlife stories and
experiences in order
I to enable people to
'become acquainted.
ad seemed to be a dead end
as in fact a steep dip in the
oad which led, after many up-
ill twists and turns, to an un-
tarmacked dirt track with a
wind-battered, homemade look-
ng sign, pointing the way to
Kibbutz Tuval.
What was the journey of the
year for the taxi driver is the
daily journey for the chaverim
of Tuval. For them to get any-
where, they have to drive
through this Arab village of
5,000 people, a daily reminder of
the very reason for Tuval's es-
tablishment; Tuval is part of the
Tefen project to settle the Upper
Galilee. This is an attempt to
ensure a Jewish majority within
the region which has the high-
est Arab population outside that
of the administered territories.
This close proximity to, and
daily contact with Dir Al-Assad,
has led some members of Tuval
to search for a deeper relation-
ship with the villagers than that
of just driving past their houses.
As Susan Landy, an American
graduate of the Hebrew Univer-
sity and the 'maskira' (secre-
tary) of Tuval says: "At first it
was s shock driving through Dir
Al-Assad, knowing that I was
living in an area populated by
Arabs, and I had to decide how
to deal with this. I feel we live
in a community of Jews and
Arabs, not just Jews."
Developing this feeling of a
community takes time, certainly
more than the brief four years of
Tuval's existence, but already
there are signs that positive co-
existence, rather than mere
tolerance, is no pipe-dream.
Ahmed Na'ameh Assadi, the
`rosh moatza' (council head) of
Dir Al-Assad, stresses that "Ac-
cording to our traditions and
customs, we as Arabs like to
have good relations, especially
with our neighbors. The nearest
neighbor is, for us, preferable to
the furthest brother." He notices
that "people from Tuval behave
very well with people from Dir
al-Assad, giving them lifts up
the hill when they see people
are tired or carrying heavy
bags," and his hope is to see a
joint project between the young
kibbutz and the old village, per-
haps the inter-linking of the two
places' sewerage system, thus
ending the daily flow of refuse
through the streets of Dir Al-
Assad.
Such a project is, of course,
beyond the direct control of the
kibbutz, but a joint letter from a
previous mayor and Tuval's
`merakez meshek' (farm man-
ager), did succeed in persuading
the authorities to widen the
junction at the entrance of the
village which leads to the major
Acco-Safed road.
Na'ameh Assadi has no doubts
that friendship will develop, al-
though gradually, and his feel-
ing is shared by David Nirens,
an Australian member of Tuval,
who is one of the prime movers
for instigating joint activities
between the kibbutz and the vil-
lage. Nirens accepts that things
are moving slowly but remarks,
"creating neighbors takes a
lifetime and we want to make
the relationship last and not
spoil it by over-enthusiasm.
The counterpart to Dave Ni-
rens within Dir Al-Assad is
Mamoun Al Assadi, an English
teacher, who has been the con-
tact person for the kibbutz
members. Initially, the joint
meetings between the kib-
butznikim and villiagers con-
sisted of about 15 people from
either place, just talking to one
another, swapping life stories
and experiences in order to en-
able people to become ac-
quainted. The kibbutznikim, for
example, learned that half of
Dir Al-Assad is one family, the
Assadi family, whose ancestor,
Sheik Mohammed Al Assadi,
founded the village over 600
years ago. Legend has it that
there was once a Christian
monastery on the site of the vil-
lage until the monks saw the
Sheik, who was traveling from
Lebanon, riding a lion. This so
frightened them, that they left
their home immediately, leaving
the Sheik to found the village
whose name means "Monastery
of the Lion.'
The most rewarding contacts,
though, do not necessarily stem
from organized activities but
from social activities or chance
meetings on the road. Weddings,
for example, are always joyous
occasions, and one of the high-
lights of last summer's marriage
ceremony of the first 'maskir'
(secretary) of Tuval, was the re-
citing of an Arabic blessing by
friends from the village over the
newly-wed couple.
Hillel Eschur, whose one-time
job on the kibbutz led him to
drive through Dir Al-Assad six
or seven times a day, has made
many friends in the village,
most of whom he first met by
giving them a lift. Quite often
on Tuval, Arabs can be seen
making their way to his room;
these are people who a few
years ago had no idea of what
the settlement above their vil-
lage was about, and even har-
bored suspicions.
The question worrying people
on Tuval is how much further
the relationship between them-
selves and Dir Al-Assad can de-
velop. Susan Landy is insistent
that, "the more we get, so must
Dir Al-Assad. We must close the
gap between our standard of liv-
ing and theirs" because, as Ma-
moun Al Assadi asserts, "We
still feel discriminated against,
not by people, but by the eco-
nomic situation of our village as
compared to the Jewish settle-
ments."
It remains to be seen whether
by themselves Tuval and Dir
Al-Assad are able to do any-
thing to balance this situation,
but Dave Nirens for one is op-
timistic. "We're in a good situa-
tion, for this past year, the real
beginning of any contact with
Dir Al-Assad on a regular basis
has provided the foundations for
increased involvement."
The hope is that eventually
the relationship between Dir
Al-Assad and Tuval will become
the example for other kibbutzim
and settlements to follow, enabl-
ing Jews and Arabs to co-exist
and enjoy the mutual benefits.
World Zionist Press Service
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
The Kushner's
Larry, Eileen,
Laura, Debbie & Elyse
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
Hy & Beverly Weinman
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to all
our friends
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& Family
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happy, healthy
New Year
to all
our friends
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Danny Tuchklaper
Mr. & Mrs.
Murray A. Chess
North Miami Beach, Fla.
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happy, healthy
New Year
May
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Elizabeth Kideckel
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the coming
year be filled
with health and
happiness for
to all
our friends
and relatives
all our family
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& Their Children
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and friends
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New Year
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We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
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We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
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very healthy, happy and prosperoA
New Year
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Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
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Al, Steve, Joel & Debbie
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May the coming year be
one filled with health,
happiness and
prosperity for all our
friends and family.
Fred & Pat Erlich
Brian, Barbara & Stephanie