And now for some good news

While most of the prominent headlines from Israel deal with terror and violence, there is another side of the news, not sufficiently reported. Here are some of these items.

A group of Israeli, Palestinian and Christian chefs joined hands in preparing a menu featuring highlights of their respective culinary specialties. Proceeds from the well-attended event, which took place in Jaffa, were contributed to the Arab-Jewish Club for Children in Need.

A joint day care program for children with educational and social problems is being conducted regularly for Bedouin youngsters from Rahat and Jewish children from Neve Hanna. After a basic educational program, they receive personal therapy and learn about each others' language, culture, customs, traditions and holidays.

Israel joined American Jewish organizations in contributing for the welfare of Muslim Sudanese orphans who had fled their country to Chad.

The chief conductor of the Kazakhstan Symphony Orchestra, Yuri Borokhovsky, has had his eyesight restored by an operation at the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya. An operation on his wife for a similar serious disorder, conducted in the central hospital in Moscow, was a failure, and he chose the Israeli hospital.

More than 15 tons of food collected by the Israel embassy in Kenya were distributed by the embassy staff to victims of the drought-induced famine that has severely affected remote villages in that country.

A feature of the award at the Government Music Prize for Composers held in Tel Aviv not long ago was the performance by the joint Jewish-Arab youth orchestra. The group was formed under the auspices of the organization Musical Youth in Israel, with assistance and encouragement from the conductor Daniel Barenboim.

It has not received much publicity, but efforts are being made in Arab Muslim youth circles to stimulate a peace movement, parallel to that which exists on the Jewish side. The initiative is being taken by a persistent 17-year-old Arab girl, Samekh Khujairat, who feels that if the politicians have failed, perhaps a grass-roots movement may corral support. Asked if she was not afraid that extremists might seek to kill her, she replied that they had already seen enough bloodshed. Peace was worth taking a risk for.

Little known is the fact that for the past 25 years the Evangelist Church in Germany has made it possible for its students of theology to spend a year studying in Israel. Some 400 young people have availed themselves of the opportunity. The present head of the movement, himself a graduate of the program, married a Jewish woman and fathered Jewish children.

Carl Alpert is a free-lance writer living in Haifa, Israel.

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