January 28, 2005

Staking a Claim in the Negev

By HAIM WATZMAN

Drab hills strewn with rocks left by ancient rivers and seas. A lonely, little-traveled, two-lane highway leading to a double ring of trailers clustered around a small central patio. A dozen young men and women digging trenches, laying pipes, stringing wires, planting flowers.

A big sign on the edge of the site proclaims: "Adiel -- Student Village."

Matan Dahan, dressed in red sandals, boxer shorts, an inside-out blue T-shirt, and a two-day-old beard about as long as his

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