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 1111011 111115 111‘11`2 to all our friends and relatives Mr. & Mrs. Seymour Zack & Family Bernard & Betty Blase & Family Best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year to all our friends and relatives Marvin, Susie & Danny Tuchklaper Mr. & Mrs. Murray A. Chess North Miami Beach, Fla. Best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year May Cheryl, Burt & Elizabeth Kideckel 1111= naV2 the coming year be filled with health and happiness for to all our friends and relatives all our family Izzy & Helen Youngworth & Their Children Sheldon & Blanche Roth and friends Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results Place Your Ad Today. Call 354-6060 We wish our family and friends a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year Sol & Annie Kleinman & Family We wish our family and friends a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year The Marofsky's We wish our family and friends a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year Sam & Mickie Orechkin, Mark & Lisa We wish our family and friends a, very healthy, happy and prosperoA New Year Mr. & Mrs. Harry Weiss Wishing all our family and friends a year of health and happiness Marvin & Naomi Katz Al, Steve, Joel & Debbie 111111116PFKITIMIll May the coming year be one filled with health, happiness and prosperity for all our friends and family. Fred & Pat Erlich Brian, Barbara & Stephanie