Evening star., 1955-05-16
ISRAEL TODAY
BY CROSBY 5. MOVES

European Correspondent ~ Tne star
TEL AvIV.-There are a num-
ber of ways to see Israel-all Of
them good. Since the days when
Mark Twain described the place
as leagues OF blasted. blighted,
sand. rocky. sunburnt, ugly.
dreary, infamous country" there
have been some changes made.
II he wants to. the tourist can
travel the length and breadth Of
Israel and never leave Palm
Springs. Resort hotels. complete
with swimming pools, terrace
rooms and bathing beauties are
plentiful. Also plenty expensive.
So far as we could see, austerity
Is a thing Of the past here.
The shops are fun Of things to
buy and some of them-particu-
larly the native handicraft prod
ucts offered in government-run
WHO stores - pretty fabulous.
There are excellent restaurants
where the specialties are either
French (there is apparently no
such thing as a Jewish cuisine
here) or Arabic. Israel serves the
biggest breakfasts and the best
ice cream this side of the At
lantic, but no Coca Cola.
Prices compare favorably with
other places in Europe. Israel is
the only country this side of the
Iron Curtain where people still
refuse to accept tips.
Abundant Scenery
For those who like scenery,
Israel has abundant variety. Be-
tween the rugged hills of Galilee
and the sandy wastes Of the
Negev. climate is less a matter
of being north or south than
Of being up or down.
There are ancient Arab towns
straight out of the Arabian
Nights, complete with veiled
women and camels. There are
new Israeli towns straight out
of the Middle West. with neon
signs. parking meters and drab
architecture. There are land
scapes of unbelievable beauty;
others which make you think
that Mark Twain had q point.
In Israel everybody is an
amateur artist and spends his
week ends tinkering with tubes
of paint, trying to capture some
favorite scene. It seldom works:
"Just too darned picturesque"
they tell you.
For the student Of Biblical
history, names like Jerusalem.
Gaza and Nazareth speak for
themselves. And If you are not
an amateur archeologist when
you arrive, you will probably
become one before you leave.
Possibly because there are so
many around, Israeli authorities
are lenient with their ruins. We
stopped off at a digging near
Caesaria one afternoon and in
20 minutes Of poking around
collected enough old Roman jug
handles, bits Of pottery, glass
and unidentified treasures to
furnish o small museum.
People Are Memorable
No shortage of places to go
and things to see. But what you
remember is the people.
People whose names. some
times, you never learned. Like
the Yemenite farmer who came
by in his horsecart the day the
car got stuck in the, sand
on a lonely back road. We had
heard something of the Yem-
enites-how for 1000 years this
Jewish tribe had been cut OH
from all civilization, living mis-
erably in a small monarchy in
southern Arabia. How suddenly
they had heard the news about
Israel and had set out in q sort
of modern exodus. walking hun
dreds of miles across the desert
to reach the planes which car
ried them to Zion.
We had heard that the Yem-
enites were ignorant Of modern
ways. They are still talking
about the group that built a
cookfire on the floor Of their air
plane. There were other tales OF
disease, superstition. polygamy
and child marriage which made
the job of settling the Yemenites
in their new home something Of
q problem.
At this point. however, we were
the problem, and the farmer
took us firmly in hand. We must
leave our car where it was, he
told us. He would drive US to
our village about four miles
away. But first we must come