Temple Beth El invites you to
Make Our House Your Home
inviting the imagination to run
riot. Little wonder that the peo-
ple who have settled on this re-
mote, sweltering plain are so
passionately attached to it.
They are farmers who grow
vegetables and melons, dates and
citrus, flowers and fish (in special
tent-covered ponds). And as
farmers they say that water is the
problem here, not land. "For
peace, we'll give up these fields
and look for others," says Peter
Anderson of Iddan (originally
from Australia). "Or perhaps the
Jordanians will lease them back
to us." But the farmers in the Ar-
ava are already using all the wa-
ter in the area — pumped from
subterranean aquifers — and
now the Jordanians want half of
it back. They argue that it comes
from the rain falling on their
mountains, seeping into their wa-
ter table. Right now, there are
no Jordanians living on the plain
to use it. But inspired by the suc-
cess of the Israeli farmers, Am-
man wants to settle people there.
"If Kibbutz Yahel were to lose
its fields, we might share some of
our land with them," says Mr.
Levine of neighboring Ketura.
"But we can't afford to share our
water. We're already exceeding
the quota set by the government."
"Even if Lotan retained all the
water we use today, we'd still
have a problem," echoes Mr. Ze-
vulun. All agree with the gov-
ernment's position that the
solution is not to divide the wa-
ter but to multiply it, by finding
ways to generate more of it for
both countries.
But on other vital issues, the
people of the Arava can't com-
ment on the government's posi-
tion because they've been unable
to find out what it is. "No one has
come to Iddan, no one has talked
to us or given us any informa-
tion," complains Anderson. "We
asked Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres and chief negotiator Eli-
akim Rubinstein where the bor-
der runs," says Yahel's Cohen,
"but they seemed to be as much
in the dark as we are." The point
of these questions is not just to
ease anxieties about the future.
"The kibbutzim here are in the
process of investing millions of
shekels in new crops and equip-
ment," says Mr. Zevulun. "If
something is going to happen, we
want to know.
"That plaint, of course, is not a
new one. It has long been aired
by settlers in the West Bank and
the Golan Heights, to little avail.
In response, they have held ral-
lies and protests to get the gov-
ernment's attention.
Will the Arava follow suit?
Mr. Cohen, whose kibbutz
stands to lose the most, is also the
most outspoken on this matter.
"Nothing will be accepted quiet-
ly," he warns. "People will be-
come belligerent if the
government presents us with a
fait accompli and doesn't ensure
that our economic capability isn't
affected." But his neighbors, Mr.
Levine and Mr. Zevulun, sound
skeptical that the Arava's farm-
ers will rise in revolt.
"We're Labor people," Mr.
Levine relates. "Over a year go,
some of us went up to the Golan
and talked to the settlers there.
They asked for our support. We
nodded our agreement and then
drove off and said: 'Hit will bring
peace, let them give it all back.' I
guess what goes around, comes
around," he adds sheepishly.
"But we really do want peace. So
I don't think people around here
will block the road with burning
tires."
Mr. Zevulun attributes the
lack of agitation to temperament,
as well. "We're a different breed
from the people in the West Bank
and Golan. Like them, we're
first-generatioii settlers. But
we've assimilated into our envi-
ronment: the heat; the laid-back
mentality of the Bedouin; the
open, liberal attitude of Eilat"
(most of Lotan, he reports, voted
for Meretz). "This may sound
like I'm 20 years behind the
times," he continues, "but I truly
believe that settling here is an
important national mission; that
in 10-15 years, as Peres says,
things will be very different here."
Such sentiments are hardly con-
ducive to riots.
The kibbutzim here
are in the process
of investing millions
of shekels.
And such sentiments appear
to be the true consensus in the
Arava. At "101," a rambling,
open-air cafe boasting a collection
of American memorabilia — a
jukebox, pinball and slot ma-
chines, pool tables, kiddy rides —
two monkeys languish in the heat
while a peacock shepherds her
chicks and an obese rooster pecks
at leavings under the tables.
The scene looks, for all the
world, like a Levantine version
of the Cafe Baghdad. The bus-
es plying the route to Eilat stop
at the sterile, air-conditioned
restaurants to the north and the
south of it. But the locals prefer
the atmosphere of "101." Now it
flies a Jordanian flag (next to an
Israeli one) and a banner salut-
ing Jordan for advancing toward
peace.
"If King Hussein has taken
that step of seriously entering
into the peace process," says
Yosef, who works the cash regis-
ter, "he needs feedback from us.
Rabin needs it too. He needs our
up-front support. And this is our
way of giving it to them."
Anxiety and impatience
notwithstanding, that pretty
much sums up the word from the
Arava.
BRING YOUR FAMILY
TO MEET OUR FAMILY
at a
NEW MEMBER SHABBAT SERVICE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1994
8:00 P.M.
Babysitting Available
Temple Beth El
Michigan's First Reform Congregation
7400 Telegraph Road
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
(810) 851-1100
Membership information will be available
Flexible dues structure to accommodate all family situtations
BRAND NEW1994 VOYAGER
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motor sales, inc.)
Corner of Pontiac Trail & S. Commerce Rds,
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