WOMEN IN PALESTINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 150, 28 June 1927, Page 11

WOMEN IN PALESTINE.

THE WONDER OF THE HOLT LAND.

Tbe wonder of the Holy Land is the' return in these latter days of the Israel-! ites to their own country. All who have read that enthralling book, "Beyond the Bosphorus." by Lady Dorothy Mills, the traveller and journalist, will better be able to understand the great problems which they have to face.

Through the ages, the curse which' made the Jew a wanderer in other lands j than his own, has prevented him own'ng j land. He has become a town dweller by force of circumstances. He, who once wandered the flower-bedecked plains of Palestine tending his father's flocks and herds, or who bent his back to the reaping, has for ages been crowded into the ghettos, of an old and hostile world. Now a new and better life is dawning, and a truly wonderful city has arisen at Tel-Aviv, just outside Joppa, to which the Jews arc flocking from all parts of the world, and again building up their nation. This influx on to the sandy wastes on which they have raised a marvellous city has brought with it the question of agriculture. To support them becomes a question of pressing necessity.

The call to become cultivators has been issued to the youth of tbe Jewish nation, and the young men are answering it hi great numbers. They are giving up positions all over the world and going back to Palestine to try and build up their own agriculture once again, and make tbe Holy Land what it once was, a land flowing with milk and honey. The men felt the call, so did the young women of the nation. The girls have not been slack, they have followed into the new fields, and work where once Ruth gleaned and Naomi walked, and hope again to bring to fruition the fields in which Boaz found love.

In the year 1921 it was decided by tbe Zionists to found a school for agriculture, so that the girls might be taught how to cultivate the hind, raise poultry, and again help to grow the food that their homes needed, and thus assist in the upbuilding of the state. Obstacles stood in the way of this practical and laudable ambition, But it was not till the spring of 1*26 that the official opening of the college took place. The college ie situated, in a" valley that is mentioned in Holy Writ as the site of the last battle which is {o take place in history, and here, from a swamp they have built up a flourishing and fertile landscape. The labour of tbe first few years was crowned with remarkable success, even beyond the expectations of the Jewish pioneers. The students now grow several varieties of corn as well as cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, carrots, cauliflowers, potatoes and other vegetables. The fruit of the apricot is plentiful, and oranges now abound, the trees actually being grafted on the stocks of the wild oranges which have come down from Bible times. The college is -also preparing to make the Holy Land once again a land of shade and verdant trees, and it has young plants ready of acacias, palms and other trees, for all of which the growing settlements provide a ready market. Flowers, too. have a place in the new settlements, and roses are grown for which the Jewish girls carried the black soil in baskets. ' often from long distances.

At first the girls had nothing but one large wooden hut in which to sleep, eat. work and plav. It was not rainproof, and in the wet season the earthen floor was wet and muddy, but still the number of students increased, and Jewish girls came from homes of luxury to take up the conrse of instruction so that they could work on the land and help build up the nation.

The inevitable happened, and the girl* who came to learn agriculture found that the young men also engaged in the work were attractive, and marriages ensued. There are at present more Jewish men than girls in Palestine, and many of the girls marry soon after their arrival. With maternity comes otner problems, for they often lack both means and knowledge to cope with babies in a climate like Palestine, and in the primitive condition in which they lived. The members of the Women's International Zionist Organisation have made an appeal, and the first funds for an infant Welfare Centre, run on Plnnket lines, came as was most meet, from New Zealand; which has the honour to number Sir Truby King amongst its citizens. New Zealand promised to subscribe the entire upkeep for the first three years on condition that the Plunket system was followed, and the centre was duly opened at Neve Shalom, a poor quarter of Tel-Aviv. This little centre soon , proved an oasis, and the young mothers attended eagerly, thankful for helpful advice. Milk and food, baby clothes and medicine are distributed free by those in charge to those mothers who cannot pay for them, and the success of the centre has encouraged others to follow its example, and instal Plunket centres in the Holy Land.