ment town built in the 1950s, has
22,000 residents, one quarter of
whom are immigrants. The area
is a 40-minute drive from Haifa,
the port city where the Technion
university is located.
Emek Yizrael is in the Jezreel
Valley, a stronghold of the kib-
butz movement. Immigrants ac-
count for &5 percent of the 19,800
Jewish residents in Emek
Yizrael.
The recent influx of o/im has
created some challenges for the
central Galilee. Although the un-
employment rate is lower than
the national average, jobs and
housing have not kept pace with
the increasing population in the
region.
`The future lies in bringing for-
eign and internal business to the
area," Mr. Aronson said.

"It's an opportunity
for connection."
- —Robert Aronson

Some of that has already be-
gun in Emek Yizrael and
Nazareth hit, where scientists
working in government-funded
"technical incubators" are given
free rein to develop concepts that
could, in the long run, add to Is-
rael's economy.
Members of Detroit's delega-
tion visited these research facili-
ties. They saw one man designing
a prototype for artificial verte-
brae. Down the hall, an inventor
was building an exercise machine
that gives every muscle a simul-
taneous work-out.
"Our personal favorite was a
guy developing a machine we
called a fish-buster," Mr. Aron-
son said. 'The range of these pro-
jects is unbelievable."
The contraption beheads,
debones, scales and filets fish in
one operation.
Partnership 2000 also will fo-
cus on the area's tourist industry,
especially at Tzippori, where an
ongoing archeological dig has ex-
cavated Jewish and Roman mo-
saics, as well as the remains of 21
synagogues dating back to the
talmudic era.
"It turns out that Tzippori is
the place where Judah the Prince
signed the Mishnah," Mr. Aron-
son said.
He stresses that Partnership
2000 differs from Project Renew-
al, a program which began in the
late 1970s. Project Renewal
linked U.S. Jewish communities
with underprivileged populations
in Israel. Detroit funded projects
in Ramle and Yavneh.
But now, with Partnership
2000, Detroit will play a more in-
teractive role in Israel's growth.
`The major difference," Mr. Aron-
son said "is the notion of part-
nership."

❑

Indo Sarouk

Contemporary/ Tibetan

Needlepointe

Gaucasian Shirvan

Big rugs, little rugs, long rugs, short rugs, round rugs, square rugs, Hagopian has a world of

oriental rugs that'll take your breath away. And they're all on sale for 50% and more off the

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to look at and all on sale for 50% and more off the regular price.

4x6 Reg. $550

Sale $279

2x6 Reg. $725

Sale

$359

Sale

$379

Afghan

• Marrakesh

4x6 Reg. $925

Sale

$369

Indo Bidjar

4x6 Reg. $950

Indo Oushak

$529

4x6 Reg. $2350

8x10 Reg. $1900 Sale $ 767

6x9 Reg. $3500

Indo Heriz

Pakistani

6x9 Reg. $1775 - Sale

Bokhara

8x10 Reg. $2950 Sale

$1179

Shajehan

Sale $ 697

Karachi Keshan

Sale $997

6x9 Reg. $3375 Sale

$1497

Tibetan

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WORLD OF RUGS ®

The Original Since 1939

Special Sale Hours: Friday 10-9 • Saturday 10-7 • Sunday 12-6

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850 South Woojward • Birmingham, MI 48009 • (810) 646-RUGS

*Excluding the Gallery Collection
Hand-made rugs are one-of-a-kind and subject to prior sale. Rug sizes are approximate.

a 1994 Hagopian World of Rugs