PURELY COMMENTARY
mackenzie's
4
GOING
OUT OF
BUSINESS
On The Paths Toward
Amity In The Middle East
now becoming smoother.
Nothing could be more
heartening than remarkably
created aims adhered to by
Israel and proclaimed by
support for them in world
Jewish communities.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor Emeritus
T
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32
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1992
he commencement on
Dec. 17 of direct tele-
phone calls between
Israel and 11 Arab nations
may well be considered the
most exciting news about
peace making in the Middle
East.
Until last month, tele-
phone communication ex-
isted only between Israel
and Egypt. Now the Israel
National Telephone Com-
pany is the supervising
agency for the telephone
exchanges between Israel
and Algeria, Bahrain, Jor-
dan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Morocco, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, Tunisia, the United
Arab Emirates and Yemen.
According to Joseph Chen,
spokesman for the Israeli
Communications Ministry,
the exchanges are routed via
satellite and marine cables
through communications
equipment in the U.S.
Nothing could possibly
provide more effective en-
couragement to peace mak-
ing. Great enthusiasm has
been evidenced in the
fulfillment of Israel's , direct
talks with the Arabs in es-
tablishing an accord with
them. Now conversations
with the Arabs over tele-
phones could hopefully
strengthen the aspirations
for direct negotiation.
There is very much that
can be attained when people
converse amicably with each
other. Many canards have
been uprooted in the search
for hatred. Many false fears
keep being circulated to this
day. One of them concerns
the water problem.
In this regard, there is a
continuity of accusations,
especially by Jordan, that
Israel is diverting water
sources. The water problem
has always been one for
Israel and her neighbors.
It was not ignored. In the
early 1930s, one of the
world's most famous au-
thorities on forest, land and
water conservation, Dr.
Walter C. Lowdermilk, in-
troduced programs to solve
the pressing needs for the
entire affected area.
Dr. Lowdermilk, who was
one of the leading per-
sonalities in the American
Christian Palestine Move-
ment, outlined his plans in "
Palestine —Land of Prom-
ise." Dr. Lowdermilk at-
taches an acquired world
Walter C. Lowdermilk
.
recognition for plans he for-
mulated as a Jordan Valley
Authority. In his outline of
plans, which was published
by the American Christian
Palestine Committee under
the title " The Untried Ap-
proach to the Palestine Prob-
lem" in 1939, he gave em-
phasis to the Jordan Valley
Authority as follows:
It was while making an
airplane survey of
Palestine in 1939 that I
was struck by the possi-
bility of a great power
project based on the ex-
traordinary difference in
altitudes between the
deep rift of the Jordan
Valley and the Mediter-
ranean Sea only a few
tens of miles away.
Palestine's two chief
economic needs are sup-
plies of water for irrigated
agriculture and power for
industrial development.
The JVA would supply
both.
It would divert the
sweet waters of the Upper
Jordan and its tributaries
into a net work of irriga-
tion canals, while, in
order to compensate the
Dead Sea for the loss of
these waters, it would in-
troduce sea water from
the Mediterranean star-
ting point near Haifa and
conduct it through a
tunnel and open canals
down the Jordan depres-
sion to the Dead Sea.
As this sea water
dropped into the Jordan
rift, there would be almost
1,200 feet of effective fall
for the development of
hydroelectric power.
The water problem is one
of many that can be solved
by direct negotiations. It
demands seriousness with
an elimination of rancor.
Hopefully the paths
toward the desired peace are
Positive Factors
In Israel's Status
We want to visit Israel to
take advantage of treatments
of arthritis at the Dead Sea.
Is there a clinic there?
This was a question ad-
dressed to the travel editor
of the New York Times and
published in the travel sec-
tion on Dec. 15. Before turn-
ing to the explanatory reply,
there is the compulsion to
repeat appeals made by us
on many occasions: that the
positive elements in Israel's
creative life should never be
ignored.
There are so many tenden-
cies to turn only to the
threatening of Israel's exis-
tence that the urgency to
emphasize the Israeli con-
tributions to mankind must
keep demanding attention.
The warm, dry climate
of the Dead Sea area
along with what is said to
be the healing properties
of the sea's waters draw
people there for
treatments of various
kinds. The magnesium
and other minerals in the
water are said to be espe-
cially beneficial in
treating psoriasis and
other skin ailments.
Also, sulfur baths in the
area are said to be effective
in treating arthritis and
rheumatism ...
Because of the area's
low elevation, the air
there is said to include 10
percent more oxygen that
at sea level and also have
a lower degree of
ultraviolet rays, allowing
people to take the warmth
of the sun, to ease ar-
thritis or treat skin prob-
lems, with less risk of
sunburn.
Packages include a stay
at one of the spas that ac-
commodate patients or in
one of the hotels about a
five-minute bus ride from
the spas ...
This may sound like an
advertisement, but it is a
provision for health pro-
tection for everybody,
Arabs as well as Jews.
Therefore, this is an ap-
peal for unlimited em-
phasis on the positive fac-
tors of Israel's status. El
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