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To run the business, Mr. El-
Atika gets to his greenhouse at
6:30 a.m. The steamy hot room,
which is kept at 32 degrees
centigrade, contains row upon
row of hip-high rose bushes.
Like the Bedouins, the roses,
the heartiest and most profitable
flowers, are also not indigenous
to Rahat. They require environ-
mental manipulation in order to
grow in the desert; funnel-
shaped plastic mulch contain-
ing dark brown earth allows the
bushes to grow without coming
into contact with the pale, arid
soil beneath.
Until 10 a.m., Mr. El-Atika
and about five relatives, includ-
ing some of his eight children,
begin cutting the 2,500 roses col-
lected daily. From 10 a.m. until
noon, younger family members,
who help out when they are on
school holiday, sort the flowers
according to length. Two of Mr.
El-Atika's cousins then trim the
ends using cutting machines
and package the flowers in
bunches of 20.
From noon to 3, the family
takes a siesta, returning, along
with some of the female family
members, to cut and package
until the evening when an
Agrexco representative picks up
the flowers and ships them to
Holland, where they are sold on
the flower market.
It took time, however, before
the business ran like clockwork.
In the first few months of open-
ing the greenhouses, Mr. El-Ati-
ka had a number of experiences
that made him rethink his deci-
sion to run his own business.
One morning he came in to
find the water line had explod-
ed; at other times he did not
know how he would make ends
meet. With the help of an out-
side adviser and the purchase of
a water-storage tank that holds
three days' worth of water,
things began to stabilize. But
while Mr. El-Atika, a high-
school graduate who previously
worked on a kibbutz, is pleased
with his business, he said that
he sometimes resents the gov-
ernment for imposing a "mod-
ern" way of life on the Bedouins.
Standing next to the tent where
he was raised and looking out
over Rahat's newly built roads
and industrial zone, Mr. El-Ati-
ka, dressed in slacks and a but-
ton-down shirt, said that for the
older generation the transition
to a city way of life has been dif-
ficult.
"How can the government ex-
pect older people, who are used
to living in the desert, to move
to two-story houses?" asked Mr.
El-Atika, whose mother has re-
fused to move, but whose father
lives with him because he relies
on the telephone in order to help
in the business.
You can't just tell people
who have spent generations
living one kind of life that now
it's time to move to a city; the
mind doesn't work like that.
They need time to make the
transition," said Mr. El-Atika,
noting that most people have a
tent next to their house and
many of them eat and sleep in
the tent and use the house for
storage.
Mr. El-Atika said that, al-
though he sometimes misses the
traditional way of life, for him
there is no going back.
With the rose business stabi-
lizing, he is now beginning to
think of other ventures. In ad-
dition to growing different types
of flowers in his greenhouses,
he's also considering opening a
food processing factory that
would manufacture hummus
and finger foods.
"Change happens for the good
and the bad; nothing is com-
pletely good," said Mr. El-Atika
as his telephone rang. "But the
good outweighs the bad."
❑
Central Bank
Lowers Key Rate
Jerusalem (JPFS) — The Bank
of Israel trimmed its key lend-
ing rate by 70 basis points to
16.3 percent, citing increasing
indications of a stabilizing mon-
ey supply and reduced infla-
tionary expectations.
The interest rate reduction,
the first after eight months of
a steadfast and highly con-
tentious tight-money policy led
by Governor Jacob Frenkel, was
met with mixed feelings among
Mr. Frenkel's rivals and wel-
comed by Tel Aviv's financial
markets.
Prime Minister Binyamin Ne-
tanyahu said the cut reflected
indications that the battle
against inflation is bearing fruit.
Mr. Netanyahu dismissed de-
mands by various business cir-
cles that Mr. Frenkel's recently
approved appointment for a sec-
ond five-year term be reconsid-
ered, and said he has "full faith"
in Mr. Frenkel.
Mr. Frenkel himself was cau-
tious in his assessment of his
longstanding battle against in-
flation. "Veteran warriors know
there is no bigger danger than
declaring victory prematurely,"
he said.
He added it would be a mis-
take to see the cut as a "U-turn,"
saying it merely reflects the
state of inflationary pressures
at a given time.
There is a good chance now
that inflation for the remainder
of this year will be lower than
the 15 percent annual rate that
prevailed during the first seven
months of the year, but should
the indicators take a different
course, rates might have to be
raised again, he said.