Sunday, April 11, 2010

41 Days

41 years ago, in the Negev city of Be'ersheva in 1969, Israel built a modern marvel: a university in the desert. Ben Gurion University, or "The University of the Negev," is named or David Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister. He loved the Negev desert, and actually lived the last years of his life on a kibbutz called Sde Boker in the arid souther region of his country. Making the desert bloom was his greatest pride. The university's faculty include such illustrious names as Israeli novelist and peace activist Amos Oz and historian Benny Morris.

One of the fastest growing universities in Israel, Ben Gurion University currently has 17,400 matriculating students. Through cooperation in fields such as agriculture, desertification and irrigation, the university has issued a mandate to develop a sound peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

___

Though David Ben Gurion never attended the Salute to Israel Parade, many prominent Israeli government offiicals have participated over the years, including current Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, former Minister of Industry and Tradey, Natan Sharansky and former Minister of Education Limor Livnat.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment