So Many Jews are Returning to Israel That the Gov't is Worried They Won't be Able to Absorb Them

A lot of the Negev Desert and Judean Desert are still undeveloped.

And I doubt if they will be.
There ain't no water.
Towns originally sprang up around water wells.
Damascus was settled SO early because it had and has TWO totally independent fresh water wells.

When we lived in Saudi Arabia it rained ONE time...in FIVE years. Dry as a bone. That's why the fresh water wells were/are so important.
Of course the Saudis have desalination plants out the wazoo AND the power to keep them running another 200 years at least.

Yes, it is difficult to explain to people who have never lived and worked in Middle Eastern countries the profound differences between their attitudes and way of life, and those of most Americans.
But I enjoy the opportunity to try!

I USED to enjoy it as well but now it's just BORING.

True story. My husband and U lived in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia--right on the Persian Gulf. The company WAS Saudi and American owned (petroleum companies) NO U.S. government involved at all.
Anyway there was a birthday party given by the American women's group. It was for ALL the American women. There were twelve large tables, each one was a different month and we sat down at our own month. It was September. It was a luncheon.

There were also fun gifts. September has a small gift--I can't even recall what it was. It was cute. I think it was a little school kit with crayons and such.
The next day at work I gave that little gift on one ALI, one of the Saudi men who worked in that office. He was a very nice guy. I knew that he had children.
Three days later he came to me--exhaustion in his eyes.

He had TWO daughters and they BOTH wanted that little gift. Ali tried for THREE days to reconcile them but it was no good. He even tried to give the gift to his son. Also no good.

He said that I had started a war in his home and he wondered if I could help.
I went to one of the other "September" women and told them the story of Ali and this two daughters fighting over the ONE gift. So the woman gave me HER little gift.
The next day I brought it in to Ali. He was most grateful and that "war" between his daughters would be over.

That's just an example of how ordinary their lives are.
They were no terrorists, bombers or killers. They were all working stiffs, married, with children, homes, debts, families, cars...pretty normal in the end.

Funny story

You know it had to be true. No one could MAKE UP such a story.

Here's another.
I was at my cubical working away. The Saudi boss was taking a break and there were six or seven other Saudi men, his workers, with him. All the men were in their 50's and 60's.

They talked for so long, all of them, and they seemed to be shaking their heads over something. I kept hearing the word "sayareet."

After they broke up I ask my boss what they were talking about. He said that they were all talking about their 18-year-old sons.
NONE of the sons wanted to work or go to school. All they wanted to do was drive around in their cars. He said that "sarareet" mean "car."

I laughed and said that many of OUR 18-year-old sons were the same way--no work, no school, just drive around in their cars.
It made me smile.

The Arabic I learned, spoken mostly in Jordan and Syria, uses a similar word for car: “sayarra.” Plural “sayarrat.”

I LOVED both of those places.
Amman was AMAZING...small country but amazing. Petra was the place to go. The Arabs have no "p" in their alphabet so they pronounced it "Betra." The Arabs did add a "p" and a "v" to their alphabet later on.

Syria was fabulous. I bought some camel saddles there and had them sent home. I gave one away to our bishop...as he had traveled with a friend to the KSA. I still have the other one. It is an excellent foot rest.
I bought a BUNCH of embroidered tablecloths there as well. The cotton had come from Egypt [Misr].
It took me a while to figure out that damask tablecloths came from DAMASCUS. Duh.

mudhabiha
مذبحة
Lol.

There's no easy Arabic for my call sign.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.