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NEW YEAR
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LANDSCAPING, INC.
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Mystery City
Of Irron
CARL ALPERT
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Mysteries are to found in litera-
ture, in police and crime files and
in television quiz programs. But
Israel also has an unusual mys-
tery in the form of tow new cities
which are now on the planning
boards and are to be erected
shortly. Both cities are to bear
the same name—Irron—or are
they not two separate cities?
Earlier this year the Minister
of Construction and Housing,
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, an-
nounced that a new metropolis,
with a projected population of
250,000, was to rise in the
Menashe hills, southeast of
Haifa. Some 7500 acres of rocky
land, unsuitable for agriculture,
had been set aside for the city. It
was intended to provide subur-
ban homes for thousands of peo-
ple who would be employed in
Haifa or Hedera or other nearby
centers, yet the new Irron would
also have an industrial park of its
own.
Strategically, the city is part of
a master plan to set up a contin-
uous chain of Jewish population
running down the length of the
country, away fro the sea, well
within the green line, and paral-
lel to the already thickly popu-
lated coastal strip. There was a
hint that when Jewish settlers
began to vacate their settlements
in Judea and Samaria they
would find quality housing which
will run north and south also
away from the cost, and bypass-
ing all towns.
The announcements were
filled with optimism, but precise
location of the city was not clear,
and some reports were conflict-
ing. At any rate, the public was
told that the Town Planning De-
partment of the Ministry was al-
ready at work on the project. If
final government approval is ob-
tained, the cornerstone could be
laid in two years.
Name of the new city, Irron, or
Eiron. Several months ago four
busloads of Jewish journalists
form all parts of the world, who
had been attending a conference
in Jerusalem, were taken for a
visit to a projected new city to be
built to the center of the country,
in Wadi Arrah, where there is a
large Arab population. At the
moment some 86,000 Arabs and
perhaps 10,000 Jews live in the
area.
The purpose of the project is to
bring about a closer friendly re-
lationship between Jews and
Arabs, as neighbors, or so it was
explained to the journalists who
were taken to the site. Sponsors
of the program? The Department
for Rural and Urban Develop-
ment of the Jewish Agency, and
the name of the city—Irron or
Eiron, depending on how the
transliteration from the Hebrew
is to be spelled.
Jewish Agency speakers de-
scribed how the city is to be geo-
graphically interwoven among
the exiting Arab villages, allow-
ing the latter independent sta-
tus, yet making them obviously
economically dependent on the
services and facilities of the large
city, their neighbor. The program
of the conference (sponsored by
the Jewish Agency) was even
more explicit, calling for a visit to
the "site of new Arab-Jewish
town", with explanations by both
Jewish Agency and local Arab of-
ficials.
literature distributed among
the journalists on the spot not-
ed existing barriers to develop-
ment, among them imbalance in
the demographic situation and
lack of communication between
the Jewish and Arab sector, as
well as the poor image of the area,
which acts as a deterrent for new
Jewish settlers, especially for se-
curity reasons.
Among the many objectives of
the program as listed, were the
encouraging of joint business ven-
tures and the fostering of a cen-
ter for Jewish-Arab dialogue. It
was interesting to note that
among the literature distributed
was a leaflet promoting Givat Ha-
viva, Center for Jewish-Arab Re-
lations, which happens to be
located nearby, and is supported,
among other, by the New Israel
Fund and the Kibbutz Artzi
(Hashomer Hatzair).
The mystery: Is the Irron be-
ing planned by the Ministry of
Construction and Housing the
same as the Irron being planned
by the Jewish Agency? If so, why
do they sound so different, de-
pending on who is providing the
information?
We sought clarification. The
Jewish Agency had already giv-
en us their side of the story. Yet
despite repeated and again re-
peated queries to the Ministry of
Housing, the spokesman of the
Ministry failed to answer any of
our questions.
Music Program
Demonstration
A free demonstration of the Kin-
dermusik Preschool Program will
take place at the Orchard Lake
School of Music in West Bloom-
field. The method is a holistic ap-
proach to music for children ages
18 months through 6 years, in-
volving movement, singing, in-
struments, listening experiences,
with note reading, writing and
composition for the older begin-
ner.
Demonstrations will be given
Sept. 6-10 For information, call
Orchard lake School of Music,
(810) 332-6576.