a rvo- ar\ ce YtwaI for ra k5 caab ,\ ,0,6er 7qati5 Lease a '97 Saab 900 S 3 Door I Will The Galilee Go Arab? 01\e. 5 11- 0 iN e of our 1,•-Nfr e ssiue b rvk 1*-\ e r 5 fin NECHEMIA MEYERS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS Lease a '97 Saab 900 S Convertible Lease a '97 Saab 9000 CS $389* $419* $279* 36 Months 36 Months 36 Months According to a recent report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Saab 9000 has the lowest driver-fatality rate of any car in the study. In addition, the Saab 900 5- door scored best among all mid-size sedans for injury loss in a report by the Highway Loss Data Institute. These kinds of results spring from a design philosophy that emphasizes safety in unpredictable real-world situations rather than controlled crash tests. And right now, our entire line of cars is available at prices that are compatible with real-life budgets. For complete lease details and a test-drive, see Glassman Saab. your Owl\ road. SAAB • Subject to credit approval. dealer prices may vary. You must place order or take delivery by December 13. 1996. Terms apply to 1997 900S 3 Door w/ 5 speed and sunroof. based on MSRP of 523.325 (including destination). 1997 9005 Convertible w/ 5 speed based on MSRP of 535.520 (including destination) and 9000CS w/ 5 speed. leather/Power seat and sunroof. MSRP of 535.430 (including destination). Lease payment for the 900S 3 Door is 5279 for 36 months with 51199 down. 900S Convertible is $389 for 36 mambo with 51999 down. and 9000CS is 5419 with 51999 down. fees Lessee is resp. for 1st month's payment. ref. sec. dep.. down pymt.. and 5450 acq. fee plus 6% tax. 12.000 miles per year allowed. 15c per mile over and for excess wear. Title and regis- tration extra. Glassman S Telegraph • At The Tel-12 Mall • Southfield 810-354-3300 Monday & Thursday 9-9 Tues-Wed-Fri 9-6 Sat 10-4 1-800-354-5558 Avimm11011, • Terrific selection of gifts for every occasion... always 30% off* Fine designer furniture and accessories... always 20% off • Professional Interior Design Service • Complimentary gift wrapping • Personal, courteous service most mfrs. Road at Maple 6644 Orchard Lake West Bloomfield Tue-Wed-Sat 10-6 • Sun 12-5 Mon-Thur-Fri 10-9 • (810) 855-160 0 70 The joys of a new grandchild blur the demographic concerns of tomorrow. y daughter Dana has cent years has forestalled an just done her bit to otherwise inevitable increase in maintain a Jewish ma- the percentage of Arabs in the jority in the Galilee. total Israeli population. But only She gave birth to a little girl, another wave of Jewish immi- Noa, at the Rebecca Sieff Hos- grants will prevent that figure pital in Safed. from going beyond the present That is not why Dana and her 18 percent. husband Moshe, resi- dents of Kiryat Shmoneh, de- cided to have another child. Their decision stemmed from the fact that they love chil- dren and that their first two were boys. So they hoped that their third offspring Two happy new mothers in a Jerusalem hospital. would be a girl, a hope fulfilled. In the Galilee itself, Arabs al- But their personal considera- ready constitute almost 50 per- tions notwithstanding, the de- cent of the populace. Partly as a mographic balance between result of that, some Israeli Arabs Jews and Arabs in the Galilee is are suggesting that the area very much an issue these days. eventually be given autonomy. This was made crystal clear Some say that it might eventu- when, in talking with a senior ally be incorporated into a fu- official at the Sieff Hospital, I ture Palestinian state. asked him to tell me, in per- This in turn has led some centage terms, how many Jew- members of the government to ish and Arab babies are born demand that the Galilee be "Ju- there each year. After hesitat- daized" as quickly as possible. ing for a moment, he replied: Such an effort was made over "I'm sorry I can't give you that two decades ago, and resulted in information. The subject is too the establishment of many new sensitive." Jewish cities and villages. But Recent attempts to "Judaize" the region didn't change the balance for long. I wasn't willing to accept that and continued pestering him. Fi- nally he suggested that there was a rough ethnic balance in the maternity ward because the many Orthodox Jews in the area, like the Galilee Arabs, have large families. I don't know if what he told me is correct, but the fact re- mains that the average Arab mother in Israel has five or six children while the average Jew- ish mother has two or three. To be sure, the mass immi- gration of Russian Jews in re- since the Arabs went on having larger families, the demograph- ic balance didn't change for long. It remains to be seen whether another attempt will be made to "Judaize" the Galilee, particu- larly since some ministers are more intent on bringing addi- tional Jews to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This latter group favors a doubling of the Jewish population in the terri- tories, raising it from 150,000 to 300,000. However, this would hardly "Judaize" Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, where the Arab population is already 2 million and the birth rate is higher than anywhere in the world. In the meantime, Noa's par- ents and grandparents are too busy enjoying the new arrival to be concerned with such demo- graphic quandaries. But when she grows up, such topics could very well concern Noa. ❑ CJ