elctronic newsletter no' 1

•Over 200 Katyusha missiles hit the city
•Numerous homes, businesses, public buildings were hit
•Miraculously - Zero fatalities
•Residents of Tiberias were forced to go into the bomb shelters
•Others fled to the south
•The city resembled a ghost town
•A special municipal-police-military task force was set up
•The municipal services provided food, supplies, educational activities to the shelter dweling citizens

Foreign Affairs Office
Tiberias Municipality
Dear Friends, Supporters and Guests of Tiberias,
The hardships of war as experienced by the residents of Tiberias, during July-August 2006 has taught us that your support and interest are priceless.
As the world celebrates the beginning of the New Year 2007, we have taken the opportunity to look back and reflect on the process of recovery that has taken place in the city following the war. We are pleased to begin a new tradition of updates of events that we will be sending every few months to all of our dear friends, supporters and guests. We hope this will help maintain an ongoing connection between you and our city, give an idea of current events as they take place, and send a message of optimism and hope.
We would greatly appreciate your feedback and response.
Sincerely,
Eitan Oved
Councilman in charge of Foreign Affairs
Tiberias Municipality

The Tiberias International Marathon
Approx. 4000 runners participated in the 30th International Marathon in Tiberias on the 4/1/2007, organized by the Tiberias Municipality and the Athletics Organization. Senior runners from Ethiopia, Kenya, Europe and Bajarain (Muslim state) as well as Israeli runners took part in the festive competition. More than $100,000 were distributed between the winners.
As a part of the Marathon, a number of additional competitions were organized: A 10 km race, A popular race (2,5 km) for school students, A 10 km run for IDF (military) champions, a waiters race, etc.
1st place- Moshir Salam G`auer from Bajarain (2:13.12 hours)
1st Israeli runner- Asaf Bimaro
1st Female runner- Nili Abramseh

Tiberias Excavation

The sixth digging season, was recently concluded in Ancient Tiberias, under the National Antiquities Authority and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During the present digging season the excavations focused on the exposure of the Presidential Bench and the Sanhedrin building (called the Tiberias Basilica); where the Palace of Justice of the Ancient Jewish of Israel functioned in Tiberias. Diggers found out that the building was built in the IV century AC - the golden époque of Tiberias during the Wise and Presidential Times.
In addition, planning was approved for the establishement of The Archeological Garden of Tiberias, a project of grand scope at 22 millions NIS, granted by the Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud Olmert.
The heart of the project will be the full exposure of the Roman Theatre, built at the foot of the Bereniki Mt., on the south border of modern Tiberias. The traces (the eastern wall of the theatre, 5 meters height and part of the seats) were discovered in 1990, during the initial excavations. The ancient theatre, located at about 200 meters from the Sea of Galilee with 5000 seats (the largest scale Roman theatre in Israel), is considered to have a tremendous economic and tourist potential. The park, that will be built at the spot, will be called “Berko`s Park”, after the name of Oz Bercovich, a high ranking official from the Treasure Ministry and a Tiberias citizen deceased a few months ago.
The archeological excavations have been led in the past ten years by Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Iosi Stefansky, from the National Antiquities Authority. Professor Hirschfeld has recently passed away, symbolically on the last day of the excavations, leaving a an enormous body of work and having advanced the process of recovering the rich ancient history of the region tremendously. A process has now begun to name his predecessor from the ranks of the Hebrew University academy.




Tiberias Rowing club
Israel Chmpion 2006

October was a month to remember in Tiberias and especially in the rowing club. Our team of young rowers and the adult group competed against the teams of Haifa and Tel Aviv for the title of 2006 Israel Rowing Championship.
The event took place on the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv and among the crowd that came to applaud and watch were Prof. Jan Bojua of Belgium and the 2 sport journalists from the “Rowing News” international sports newspaper.
The team competed in rowing boats for 8, 4 and 2 participants and also in a Skif Olympic boat. The young team as well as the adult team took all the first prizes and also gold medals as the Israeli Olympic team. They will take part in the 2007 World Championship as well as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. This will be the first time ever, an Israeli team takes part in the rowing competition.
We wish all the luck and success to the team, the coaches and managers. We are proud to be a part of all this.










Taste of the Sea of Galilee
Tiberias food festival




During the first 2 weeks of December, we celebrated the annual food festival: “Taste of the Sea of Galilee”. A unique festival dedicated to the various dishes, tastes and scents of the region. The closeness to the Galilee Sea together with the influence of the culinary traditions brought to Tiberias from numerous countries of the world by the immigrants who settled in the city, has created a new culinary tradition which has become world renowned.
Thousands of tourists participated in the events which included open house visits to authentic homes in Tiberias who offered their home cooking to the public: couscous, falafel, unique fish dishes and much more. In addition, they experienced a wide range of guided tours and trips to the unique sites of the region: Tombs of the Righteous (Zadikim), 3000 year old archeological sites etc.
The public also had a chance to attend unique cooking and baking seminars and classes with well renowned Israeli Chefs utilizing the region’s special products: Bananas, dates, St. Peter’s fish, Anis and more.
This annual event has succeeded in raising awareness for the richness of culture, history and folklore of the region. Following the war in the Summer, this was the first show of public support of thousands of visitors that flocked to the area to participate