Palestinians and Israeli's Working Together

Arad is one of those remarkable cities that was a late addition to the state of Israel. That does not mean that it does not have ancient origins. It was a city in biblical Canaan that was known as Tel (hill) Arad. There are still ruins near the site of the modern city.

The Yishuv, a group of Jewish residents in British Mandate Palestine, tried the first modern settlement in Arad with 9 men and 2 women in 1921. That failed after 4 months because of a lack of water. The Israeli Oil Company Nefta started the city in July 1961 by building 6 temporary shelters following the discovery of a large quantity of oil. The town blossomed after November 21, 1962 when there was an official ceremony. The town absorbed immigrants from the Soviet Union, some English speaking countries, and from Latin America. It was officially declared to be a city in 1995.

In 2005, there were 23,300 people there. Eighty-two percent were Jewish, and 17.2% were other, non-Arab citizens.

There was a history making event in 1991 when then Mayor of Arad, Besalel Tabib and Walid Dajani, a Palestinian representative of Bethlehem visited Burlington, Vermont and signed a three-way sister city agreement. This was the first of its kind with a Palestinian representative.

Arad has two other sister cities: Wilmington, Delaware (USA), and Dinslaken, Germany.