ble past on wooden wagons pulled by donkeys. There is the occasional affluent villa. Lots of mosques. The Israeli Army is also a highly-visible presence. There are jeeps laden with troops patrolling the road; army camps commanding the hill- tops; a systematic network of roadblocks presaged by coils of barbed wire. These roadblocks have now become targets for Gaza's "drive-in" gunmen. One day last month, a motorist pulled up at one such checkpoint, shot a soldier dead at point- blank range and drove off. Gaza, in short, looks like trouble. A tiny thumb of land that runs down the Mediterranean coast for some 20 miles before disappearing into the wastes of the Sinai Desert, Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas on earth. Crammed into its 140 square miles is a stateless population of 634,000 — 4,500 per square mile — with 59 per cent under the age of 19. Compounding the problem of endemic overcrowding and poverty is the fact that fully 182,000 Gaza residents — more than one in four — are second- and third-generation refugees living in squalid camps and shanty towns. Attempts by the Israeli military administration to resettle the refugees — at a rate of 615 families a year have hardly scratched the surface of the problem; in- deed, demographers predict that by the year 2000 the population will have reached one million. By then, according to a report published in Israel last week, the camps and slums will have become advanced breeding grounds for "serious social deviations" — crime, drugs, delinquency, unem- ployment and radical politics — problems that will be fur- ther aggravated by an acute shortage of land and water. Added to these combustible ingredients are 2,500 Jewish settlers, who have been assigned half the available State lands, and official plans to settle a total of 30,000 Jews in Gaza by the turn of the cen- tury. Given such conditions, the growth of religious fanaticism among the Palesti- nians of Gaza seemed almost preordained. The irony is that the Israeli military authorities, in a disastrous miscalculation, ac- tually encouraged the phenomenon, believing that religious fundamentalism would undermine the in- fluence of the PLO. They were clearly not counting on the willingness of Gaza's religious leaders — who belong to the pragmatic Sunni stream of Islam — to borrow the techniques and philosophy of the revolu- tionary Shi'ite Muslims of Iran and Lebanon. _ Indeed, according to reports in the Israeli media last week, Iranian money is now financing the activities of Islamic Jihad not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank. Over the years, Islamic organizations, under the guise of establishing youth clubs, kindergartens and self- help projects, were allowed to receive money from abroad (particularly from Egypt and Saudi Arabia) and were per- mitted to build mosques, whose number has grown from 70 to 180 over the past 20 years. The Islamic College, estab- lished with the blessing of the Israeli authorities in 1978, now has 4,600 students and has become the focus of radical religious activism, precisely as West Bank universities have provided the seedbed for nationalist activity. Religious revival is evident throughout Gaza. Increasing- ly, young men and women have taken to wearing tradi- tional robes and head cover- ings, and there is growing pressure on the rest of the Palestinian population to con- form to the strict code of Islamic law. Those who open- ly defy such pressure are sub- ject to harassment from the Islamic zealots: shop owners who sell liquor or cassette tapes of modern music are beaten up; Western-style wed- ding feasts are broken up by chanting demonstrators. Gaza residents are also be- ing vigorously "encouraged" to attend the traditional Fri- day prayers, where they are exposed to anti-Israel diatribes by local religious leaders. Nor is the influence of Islamic extremism likely to be contained in Gaza. The great fear among Israelis is that the ideology of Holy War will spread to the 750,000 Palestinians of the West Bank, many of whom have grown cynical of the empty PLO hype over the past 20 years. The way Chef Boyardee prepares cheese ravioli and macaroni shells, you'd think he was a Jewish mother. He uses only the finest ingredients: rich, ripe tomatoes, aged cheese and enriched wheat flour. So his pasta is not only delicious, it's also 95% fat-free, contains complex carbohydrates and has no preservatives. So for cheese ravioli and macaroni shells with all the good things your mother would use, you can thank good- ness for Chef Boyardee. Macaroni Shells Foo d Prod c is Inc No one mothers pasta like Chef Boyardee Thank Goodness for Chef Boyardee Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results Place Your Ad Today. Call 354-6060 A HEALTHY IDEA FROM • FISH FILLET CREOLE 3 tablespoons FLEISCHMANN'S Regular Margarine 1/2 cup chopped green pepper cup chopped onion 1 clove garlic. crushed 1 ( 1 0- ounce) can low sodium tomatoes. cut up Sweet UNSALTED Fleischmann's corn oil In medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt 1 table- spoon FLEISCHMANN'S Regular Margarine. Add green pepper, onion and garlic: cook. stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in tomatoes, basil and blackpepper. immer uncovered. for 20 minutes. Coat fillets with flour S In large skillet, over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon margarine. Add 3 fillets: cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily: remove and keep warm. Repeat with remain- ing margarine and fish. To serve. arrange spinach on serving platter; top with fish fillets. Spoon tomato mixture over fish: garnish with lemon wedges. Makes 6 servings. Margarine Kosher co The next time you want to make something special, try this delicious recipe for Fish Fillet Creole. Its made with Fleischmann's , Margarine so it not only tastes great, it's low in cholesterol. Fleischmann's Margarine is made from 100% corn:oil, has 0% cholesterol and is low in saturated fat. One bite and you'll agree: There s never been a better time for the great taste of Fleischmann's. FLEISCHMANN'S GIVES EVERY MEAL A HOLIDAY FLAVOR. '2 teaspoon basil leaves : teaspoon ground black Pepper 6 flounder or sole fillets (about 11/2 pounds) 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3 cups fresh leaf spinach steamed lemon wedges . ' 15C ) I MANUFACTURER COUPON I EXPIRES NOVEMBER 30. 1988 1-1 PlelsZm mann 6 1eischreene'; ': m"4" SAVE 15 When you buy any package of Fleischmann's Margarine 836816 RETAILER: One coupon per purchase of prod- uct indicated Any other use constitutes fraud Consumer to pay sales tax Void it copied. transferred. prohibited. taxed or restricted Good only in U.S.A.. A.P as and FPO s We will reimburse you for the face value plus SC handling. provided you and the consumer have complied with the otter terms Cash value 1 20c. NABISCO BRANDS. INC DEPT. 5921 L PASO. TEXAS 79966 5 L 29000 41015 LI THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 101