UP FRONT
Residents Are Concerned
About Rabin's Giveaways
Residents of West Bank settlements are worried
that, under a Rabin government, they will be far
less of a priority.
LARRY DERFNER
Israel Correspondent
lease explain to me
Rabin's policy on
Ariel, as people ask
questions," read the fax
from an active Canadian
Jewish supporter of this set-
tlement, the second-largest
(pop. 10,500) in the West
Bank. "What areas on his
map are his 'giveaways?'
How close are they to
Ariel?"
Dina Shalit, head of the
settlement's thriving fund-
raising operation, read the
fax, shaking her head. It was
the weekend after the elec-
tions. "What am I supposed
to tell him?" she said. "Who
knows what the answer is?"
The people of Ariel can't
figure out if they're on Yit-
zhak Rabin's hit list of
"political settlements." On
the one hand, they re-
member well how a couple of
vPsrs ago, Mr. Rabin derided
the settlements in the area
as "Emanuel, Ariel,
p
shlomiel (Hebrew for
shlemiel, or fool).
On the other hand, Ariel
certainly doesn't match the
popular image of a "political
settlement" — a tiny, rough
Jewish outpost in the midst
of masses of Palestinians,
thrown up in a rush to defy
the Arabs and/or James
Baker, guarded by bearded,
Messianic, Uzi-armed set-
tlers with a frightening
What worries them
is that in the long
run, funding may
dry up for
settlements like
Ariel.
clarity of purpose in their
eyes.
Ariel, founded in 1978, has
two swimming pools and a
sports center. It has the Col-
lege of Judea and Samaria
(3,000 students enrolled, 90
percent of whom come from
"Israel proper"). It has beau-
ty parlors, a mini-mall, and
two industrial parks, work-
ing on its third. Residents
live in townhouses, villas
and attractive apartments.
More than half make the
quick commute across the
Green Line into the Greater
Tel Aviv area :to work. An
estimated 85 percent of the
residents are not religious.
"Ariel isn't a settlement
and we aren't zealots,"
Mayor Ron Nachman, a new
Likud Knesset member, has
said. "This is a town. We are
yuppies."
Like- the majority of the
125,000 Jews of the West
Bank and Gaza, the people of
Ariel settled here less to
make an ideological stand
than to find relatively cheap
housing and a good quality
of life. Their home is the
"capital of Samaria," a
cornerstone of a small
geographic bloc brimming
with settlements, in a con-
veniently-located area of the
West Bank where Jews,.
number over 40,000 and
Arabs about 30,000.
(Throughout the territories,
One of the settlements which may be on Mr. Rabin's 'hit list'.
Palestinians outnumber
Jews nearly 15-1).
For the above reasons and
more, residents say they are
certain that Ariel, be it a
"political settlement" or not,
will always remain part of
Israel.
Since the election, the
phones at the largest of
Ariel's three real estate of-
fices have been ringing at
their usual pace, with 10-12
people inquiring daily about
apartments or houses for
sale. Some 2,800 well-
designed, pastel or stone-
facade units are under con-
struction across the hillsides
of Ariel, and most have been
sold. They go for about one-
third the cost of similar
homes in Tel Aviv. As set-
tlements get the same
favored status as outlying
development towns across
the Green Line, very ge-
nerous loans and mortgages
are available.
On the day after the elec-
tivities they thought most
important for Jewish organ-
izations to undertake, re-
spondents cited: "deal with
issues related to anti-
Semitism" (66 percent);
"promote Jewish identity
and education" (55 percent);
"raise money for Jewish
causes" (51 percent);
"safeguard the rights of
Jews worldwide" (46 per-
cent); and "deal with issues
related to Israel" (39 per-
cent).
The study was written by
Dr. Renae Cohen of the
AJC's Research and
Publications department,
and by Dr. Sherry Rosen of
the AJC Department of Jew-
ish Communal Affairs.
Discussing the findings,
Drs. Cohen and Rosen com-
ment that while 70 percent
of American Jews have some
type of Jewish affiliation,
the majority do no volunteer
work, attend no meetings,
pay no dues and do not
belong to synagogues or
temples.
Secular Jews
Pass Resolution
The Congress of Secular
Jewish Organizations
(CSJO), comprising 26
groups in the United States
and Canada, recently passed
a resolution formally asser-
ting the civil rights of per-
sons of all sexual orienta-
tions.
"We welcome into our
ranks and into our leader-
ship anyone whose aim it is
to promote the well-being of
the secular humanistic Jew-
ish movement, regardless of
that individual's gender or
sexual orientation," states
the resolution, passed at the
CSJO's annual meeting last
month.
ROUND UP
Jodie Foster
Goes To HUC
Graduates of Hebrew
Union College-Jewish In-
stitute of Religion in Cin-
• cinnati might have experi-
enced a bit of deja vu while
viewing the film Little Man
Tate.
The film, the story of a boy
genius, was directed by
Academy Award-winning
actress Jodie Foster. Many
of the scenes in the movie
were filmed at HUC-JIR's
Mayerson Hall.
'Israel Activist's'
Calendar Printed
The University Student
Department of the American
Zionist Youth Foundation-
Israel Action Center, a non-
partisan group, recently
published "The Israel Ac-
tivist's Calendar" for 1992-
• 1993.
Available to both students
and professionals, the calen-
dar serves as a resource and
guide to pro-Israel activities
and programming during
the year. It includes dates in
Jewish, Israeli and Ameri-
can history; suggestions for
creating Israel programs • to
run in the community; and
the weekly Torah portion
and candlelighting times.
For information, contact
the USD/AZYF, 110 E. 59th
St., Third Floor, New York,
N.Y. 10022 or call 1-800-27-
ISRAEL (477235).
Report Notes
Jewish Affiliation
Substantial and similar
numbers of American Jews
affiliate with the Jewish
community and with the
nonsectarian community,
according to a new American
Jewish Committee research
report.
The report "Organizational
Affiliation of American
Jews," was based on the
responses of a national sam-
ple of 1,114 Jews to a
February 1991 questionnaire.
No volunteer work, no dues.
Among the major findings:
• 70 percent of re-
spondents re-ported af-
filiating in the past 12 mon-
ths with the Jewish com-
munity. The leading manner
of affiliation was
"contributing money or gifts
to a Jewish organization
other than a synagogue or
temple" (50 percent).
"Belong to a synagogue or'
temple" came in second
place with 48 percent.
• 67 percent of re-
spondents also reported af-
filiation with the general
community. As with Jewish
organizations, the most fre-
quent type of affiliation was
the contribution of money or
gifts (49 percent).
• Asked about the ac-
"In the same spirit, we call
upon the entire Jewish
community to open its doors
and its leadership to all
Jews."
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum