Middle East: Building a Dream(Israel) 2ed

[Music] once it was a quiet suburb of the Arab city of Jaffa today Tel Aviv is a dynamic beautiful Metropolis Tel Aviv was part of the dream the dream that a narrow strip of land on the Mediterranean Coast would one day offer Jews a Homeland again the Dream came true Israel is a new nation in the Middle East a parliamentary democracy with Tel Aviv its diplomatic Capital but Israel's parliament the knesset meets in Jerusalem the city Israel considers its capital this is the knesset building Israel was planned and built by Jewish immigrants and their descendants nearly half of Israel's 4 million people have immigrated here since Israel became a nation in 19 1848 Israelis have come from over 70 different countries and have had to adjust sometimes with difficulty to Israel's way of life and Israel's language Hebrew the majority of Israelis of course are Jews 85% of them of the remainder some are Christians but Arab Muslims make up nearly all of the non-jewish population Israel is a nation of young people nearly onethird of its population is still in school Israel is one of the world's most urbanized Nations more than 80% of its people are clustered in its cities and suburbs and yet the planners who dreamed of Israel as a Homeland for Jews first settled in rural areas the Cabots a type of communal Farm Village was established by those early immigrants the Zionist Pioneers they saw the necessity of owning and working the land if one day it was to become their Nation today about half the Jewish farmers in Israel live either on a kabut or a mhab the two main types of agricultural communities [Music] originally a kabut was simply a communal Farm Cooperative but today the Ws might have its own busy packing plant and hire local [Music] workers Orab buts might not specialize in farming at all this one raises fish commercially individual members of a Kutz don't own any part of it they simply share in the work and in the responsibilities for maintaining the Kuts and in return receive their share of the services it provides the kabut is probably the best known type of agricultural community in Israel but greater numbers of farmers actually live and work on a mashav a farming Cooperative members of a maave buy equipment and sell products cooperatively and together they maintain Village services but families work their own plots of land and keep their own income you did most privately owned farms grow citrus fruits Israel's main agricultural export Citrus was a major crop of the Palestinian Farmers when Jews first began immigrating from Europe the Arabs who lived in what was then Palestine owned and farmed nearly all the land that could support crops the rest of the land was Barren another dream of the early Jewish settlers was that they would be able to enlarge the areas that could be farmed nearly half of Israel is rugged desert the neive today this land is slowly being reclaimed and used for growing crops because it has been supplied with the one thing it lacks water but irrigation means more than only new land for growing crops water in the desert also means that people can be settled there communities can be established industry can grow the water problem is being solved in a number of ways Israelis rediscovered ancient methods for catching and storing water from the desert's brief but intense rainfalls now the water no longer has to be lost as it seeps into the desert Sands this plant draws on another large source of water the sea if the salt can be removed from sea waterer the water becomes usable and at this desalination plant seawater is converted to fresh water but probably the most important work that Israel has done to bring water to its water hungry land is the Jordan Valley Project fresh water from the Jordan River and lake kinet has been piped South into the Nega [Music] a large part of Israel's agricultural success has come from research and experimentation one result has been new varieties of commercial crops for export flowers for example a brilliant new color or unusual pattern in a flower might be as important to Israel's economy as a new type of cereal grain that can survive desert heat [Music] agriculturalists have been experimenting with new strains of animals too israelies developed cattle that could produce milk more efficiently in their climate and they learned what methods could be used to produce dairy products most [Music] economically was Israel's successful development of its agricultural resources that allowed the country to become self-sufficient in food Israelis have recognized that the further economic growth of their Nation depends not on agriculture but on industry and industry has grown with the help of huge amounts of money from other countries and from Jews in other parts of the world industry was also stimulated by the demand for consumer goods which increased as population grew Israel has become the most intensely industrialized nation in the Middle East most agricultural kutzas have expanded into industry the government has encouraged Private Industry to develop three kinds of exports in order to stimulate the economy one kind of product is based on skills in advanced work like Electronics or aircraft design another sort of goods for export makes use of imported raw materials that are small and light as the diamond polishing industry does the rough diamonds are imported and then polished into sparkling gems Israel is one of the world's leading exporters of polished diamonds a third major type of export Goods is based on raw materials like cotton that are locally available from their nation's abundant cotton Israelis weave many kinds of cloth the basis for Israel's clothing and fashion industry another locally available source of raw materials is based on the mineral wealth of Israel beneath the rugged mountains of the neab are iron manganese sulfur and copper and these are the long lost minds of King Solomon archaeologists found them by using the Bible as a guide book The Dead Sea is also an important source of raw materials its waters are salty because of the heavy concentration of dissolved minerals they contain potassium and magnesium compounds bromides calcium chloride table salt this plant extracts potach from the Dead Sea potach is a potassium compound a fertilizer needed and used all over the world the high mineral content of the Dead Sea also gives it another value it's a popular vacation spot in tourist attraction because a swimmer can't sink in its salty Waters and even its mud is supposed to have some medicinal value the Dead Sea is the lowest spot on the surface of the Earth Israelis usually spend their vacation time in their own country traveling out of the country is too expensive for most of them the tourists and religious pilgrims come to Israel from all over the world Israel's historic role as the Holy Land draws people of many religions please please please please my friend Israel promotes tourism now not only for cultural reasons but also to help solve its econom [Music] ashad south of pipa didn't even exist then ashad handles the mineral output of the netive Israel's Industrial Development has increased the demand not only for Laborers but for trained workers and this has stimulated the expansion of higher education the number of students that attend secondary schools is growing and more graduate and qualify for universities universities have expanded too in size and number most schooling is free on all [Music] levels the availability of trained men and women accounts not only for the development of Technology but for young people well prepared for working in [Music] agriculture Advanced education has produced scientific breakthroughs in areas like computer technology and atomic energy so industrial and Technical development has been matched and advanced by educational development there is also a cultural development going on a development that is seen in the people's need to Define themselves as Israelis part of this development comes from a study of Israel's history as a nation but Israelis are developing an even deeper identification with the land to their great interest in AR iology theirs is a land touched by many of the Great empires of the past by many peoples and cultures whose civilizations now lie buried and Israelis are interested too in the history of their own people who lived in their land in the past ancient manuscripts like the Dead Sea Scrolls give them a look back into Those Distant parts of their culture and history most of the scrolls are written in Biblical Hebrew essentially the same language spoken in Israel today in Israel the past links up with the present most powerfully for Israelis and Jews from all parts of the world in the Wailing [Music] War the world is a painful reminder of the destruction of the last Jewish state by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago and perhaps it also stands as a constant warning to Modern Israelis of the danger that can come from not settling their current problems and the problems are more than those of conflicts with their Arab neighbors there is a difference of opinion as to what role the Jewish religion should play in a Jewish State there are serious differences in lifestyle between European Jews and those from North Africa and Asia there are also disagreements between older Israelis who have been through the Immigrant experience and the younger native born Israelis who have not and they have different attitudes towards one of Israel's most basic problems the Arabs Israel must find a way to deal with the 15% of its people who are Arab Muslims and Christians and they're conflicting loyalties between the Israeli Society they're part of and the Arab world that is their cultural heritage and then there is a problem of religious conflicts in Jerusalem a city of great importance to Muslims as well as Christians and Jews for instance the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is one of the most sacred of Muslim shrines but Israelis control Jerusalem and consider it their Capital most Muslims will not go to a city under Israeli jurisdiction internal problems with the Arabs also involve a group of them who are in the process of changing their lifestyle all over the Middle East the bins this is a wedding celebration once vins were Nomads roaming all the lands of the Middle East but the creation of Israel closed off large grazing areas most of Israel's beduins have given up their nomadic ways helping them adjust to a modern lifestyle is part of Israel's problem with its Arab population education again is part of the solution more Arabs are attending universities in Israel they learn about their own backgrounds as well as about the background of the country they are now part of Palestinian Arabs were victims of fear and confusion when Israel was first granted Ed statehood by the United Nations in 1948 and since then the UN has taken some responsibility for the health and well-being of many refugees who left Israel this is a un sponsored Child Care class Israeli Arabs are getting Professional Medical Care Now something they seldom had before Israelis face two serious problems with the Arabs one is that the Arabs living in Israel feel that they are not full citizens Comm another is the conflict with the Arab countries around Israel physical as well as political fences separate them from the rest of the Middle East but slowly changes are taking place as Israel tries to improve relationships with its Arab neighbors Solutions are beginning but meanwhile Israel must pour a large part of its national income into military expenses war and threats of War have been a way of life for Israelis ever since the nation began young men and women must serve in the armed forces and are always on call in emergencies since 1977 Israelis have seen the hope for improved relations with Egypt peace a permanent peace with secure ERS for Israel and active cooperation with its Arab Neighbors in solving their common problems all this is necessary for Israel's further development not only do military expenditures use up so much money but they're the major cause of another of Israel's problems Israelis suffer from severe inflation and from taxes that are among the highest in the world and so Israelis dayto day face problems of War War and Peace economy and growth there is one more problem they can't escape the refugees from earlier Wars that still need help the Arab Palestinians these homeless and landless people receive limited care from the United Nations the solution of Israel's problem with its Arab neighbors partly lies in solving the problems with the Palestinians it takes a lot of work to make a dream come true Israel's dream is still a troubled one with no simple right and wrong answers to complex questions but just as the land endures in its beauty and its history so does Israel's dream