Torah Thoughts - Hope in Israel
Hope is an important emotion. It gives us strength in the face of adversity, inspiring us to dream for a better future. I thought of this as I read about a new initiative in Israel, reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
This week Danny Atar, the Jewish mayor of the Gilboa Regional Council, announced with Qadoura Qadoura, the governor of Jenin a joint initiative. Gilboa is a mountainous area of Israel of 22,000 people located between Jenin in the West Bank and the Israeli city of Beit Shean.
The plan calls for establishing a joint Israel-Palestinian industrial park just inside the West Bank that will manufacture products such as olive oil and packaged salad greens to be exported to overseas markets via Israel. It also involves setting up cultural centers to teach Hebrew to Palestinians and Arabic to Israeli Jews, organizing women’s empowerment courses and holding sports tournaments for children from both communities.
Jenin might seem an unlikely model of coexistence, as in years past suicide bombers came from this city. The Israeli Army launched excursions into Jenin, including a major one in 2002 that left many dead on both sides. Now, however, Jenin is one of the places Palestinian and U.S. officials tout as a model of success for a revamped Palestinian security force, and even some Israeli officials speak of a changed atmosphere in the city. This did not surprise me. On our Temple trip to Israel last November, our group drove through the West Bank with no problem and all was quiet and clam.
The two leaders and others are touring the U.S., encouraging investment from the private sector. Atar adds, "What other alternatives are there, to have nothing in the news but how many Palestinians or Israelis were killed?"
There are many other joint ventures between Israelis and Palestinians, and in this coming new year I pray that they will be lead to peace. News like this gives me hope about Israel, and it seems to me that Israelis are eternally optimistic. After all, the Israeli national anthem, HaTikvah means, “The Hope.”
For the full story, go to http://jta.org/news/article/2009/09/01/1007581/israeli-palestinian-mayors-pitch-rare-joint-industrial-project
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Pont |
