Tempe mayor visits Israel

Finds hope, history amid conflict, poverty and politics

TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer

Giuliano stands outside the walls of Jerusalem

Did you know that some Israelis carry two or three cellular phones? Or that they favor tomatoes and cheese for breakfast?

These are just two of the many observations Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano shared in an interview with Jewish News about his recent trip to Israel. And, while gratefully dining on an all-American raisin bagel for his own breakfast, he discussed his experiences on the trip, emphasizing his fascination with the country's political, social, urban and technological structure.

Giuliano was able to travel to Israel last March for the first time thanks to Project Interchange, an institute of the American Jewish Committee. The nonprofit, nonpolitical organization, funded by private individuals and foundations, provides edu- cational travel seminars in Israel for American politicians, ethnic and religious leaders, and members of the media.

Ten Americans participate in each seminar. When they arrive in Israel, they are met by an Israeli guide, who leads tours and educates them throughout the seminar.

The trip marked the longest duration Giuliano has been away from Tempe since he was first elected mayor in May of 1994. As difficult as it was to be away for 10 days, he says, the experience was invaluable. Giuliano, 42, says he always longed to visit Israel.

"I was interested in the political dynamics at play," he says. "It's such a dynamic situation over there, and people are very passionate about (politics)."

The seminar's political agenda included meetings with experts on the Middle East peace process, Israeli Arab community leaders, Palestinian leaders and supporters of Ehud Barak, then-Labor Party candidate and now prime minister-elect of Israel.

"We were very well received, and everyone was willing to share their views and help educate us," Giuliano says.

In order to join a seminar, one must first be nominated - either by the AJC or the National League of Cities. Project Interchange's board members then review each nomination and select those people whom they wish to invite. There are approx- imately 15 such seminars to Israel each year, and occasionally participants are sent to other nearby countries, such as Syria or Jordan.

The total cost to Project Interchange is $30,000 per trip, not including the participants' transportation to New York, which they pay for themselves, according to literature supplied by Project Interchange.

Giuliano says that because of the trip he now has a clearer understanding of the issues that surrounded the May 17 election and the Middle East peace process.

"One thing that I found very interesting was when a speaker said that (Israel's) peace is not necessarily peace," he says. "It's simply a peace process, and they'll never really be at peace. But they can have a process that will keep them from fighting."

The seminar was not entirely focused on politics, however. Giuliano witnessed life on a kibbutz at Kibbutz Ma'agan on the Sea of Galilee, met with Jewish settlers in various communities and visited WIZO-Hadassim Youth Village in Tel Aviv, a boarding school for immigrant, at-risk youth. There, he learned some of the issues children in Israel face.

"These were just kids who were questioning their future, questioning if they were going to be able to make it in the world, and questioning if they were going to stay in Israel or not," says Giuliano. "But they all appeared to be very bright and upbeat. This was not a downer place at all. This place was full of hope and optimism.

"One thing that is very apparent (in Israel) is the military presence," he continues. "There are 18-, 19-year-old kids on every street corner with machine guns. At every public place and every (restaurant), there were these military people around. Kids. Literally, kids."

Military presence aside, there are other obvious differences between Israel and the United States, he observes, such as Israel's lack of development outside modern Tel Aviv. Giuliano feels that most of the country is of Third World status.

"(In Israel), you can travel from area 'A' to area 'C', and you know when you're crossing a very territorial border, and it makes a deep impression on you that there are different people in control and different ways of interacting with those different areas. You have to be really sensitive to that.

"There is more history in a square mile of that country than anywhere in the world. The land is their reason for living, and that's just not the concept in America," he explains.

As a result of its history and a handful of other reasons, Israel has been inundated with more than 25,000 immigrants - mainly Russians and Ethiopians - within the past five years, says Giuliano. This merging of diverse cultures is creating clashes and crime in many communities, say public figures in Israel.

A practicing Catholic, Giuliano says it wasn't until he visited the scene of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives (where Jesus preached), and, on Palm Sunday, walked the same path Jesus had taken into Jerusalem days before his death, that Giuliano realized his own personal connection to the land.

"As a Christian, these experiences had a strong impact on me. These are the things you study and read about in the Bible as a kid in Sunday school, but it was fascinating to be (there)," he says.

Now that Giuliano has gained a spiritual, social and political overview of Israel, he says that someday he would like to go back and spend more time at a settlement.

"This trip answered some questions, but it created more questions than it answered," he says. "I now have a much deeper appreciation for the variety of issues that Israelis deal with in the Middle East, as well as the history and wars, and how they came about."

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