Building a nation: Israel

Description: Episode of Series “Earth and it’s peoples”. Changes in the cultures of the earth’s peoples are being brought about today with the advent of modern technologies. Israel, the seat of an ancient culture, illustrates such change. In this semi-arid land irrigation has been a foremost problem. Old methods of subsistence farming with antiquated tools and inadequate irrigation are giving way to modern settlements where irrigation and mechanized farming produce excellent crops. Old cities in which religious influence once predominated are contrasted with modern cities, the major activities of which are the development of trade and industry. Immigrants arriving in Israel today live in cooperative settlements and work on farm lands that have been reclaimed from the desert by modern irrigation.