Wednesday, December 24, 2008

12-24-08 Hanukah Israel Update

Dear all,
This holiday season, let us light a candle for Gilad Shalit, and all others who are not able to celebrate freedom with their families, as we hope for his speedy return. See: http://standwithus.com/FREETHESOLDIERS/candle.asp.
Peace,
Noah

VIDEO: REMEMBERING MUMBAI
View this video from Chabad, a tribute to Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg and all those who were murdered last month in Mumbai: http://www.road90.com/watch.php?id=h859fgGLoA

QUICK READING LIST
- Solar Power – the Israeli Connection, Eric Taub, NY Times, 9/23/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/businessspecial2/24GOLDMAN.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
- PA Policewomen search Palestinian women for weapons, Ilene Prusher, Christian Science Monitor, 11/21/08: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1121/p01s02-wogn.html
- Thin line makes vast difference to life in Israel, Licia Corbella, Calgary Herald, 11/22/08:
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/columnists/story.html?id=386535e7-46da-411d-937e-61fb9a736aa3

- While Detroit Slept, Thomas Friedman, NY Times, 12/9/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/opinion/10friedman.html
- Israel Bans a UN Rapporteur Who Compares the Jewish State to Nazi Germany, Alan Dershowitz, Hudson, 12/18/08: http://www.hudsonny.org/2008/12/israel-bans-a-un-rapporteur-who-compares-the-jewish-state-to-nazi-germany.php

RESOURCE: TRAVEL TO ISRAEL
Nice article on Israel's natural beauty, and tourism options in the country: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/travel/28explorer.html
View also this blog and website from an Israeli tour guide, with wonderful photos, travel tips, and other great information: www.israeltour.wordpress.com and www.davidhymanisrael.com

NEWS
- A feast of lights under gloom of rockets:
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6560882.html
- Myanmar students attend agricultural training in Israel: http://www.mmtimes.com/no443/n006.htm
- Olmert's corruption case garners praise for Israel in the Arab world: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1212041432454&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
- Israeli doctors save Iraqi child: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3633108,00.html
- Czech pilots train in Israel for Afghan mission: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=350692
- Palestinians got $1.7 billion in aid last year:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iApRoTyESi2JfZXp2zJTskfoqOnQ


QUOTE OF THE DAY: WHY SHOULD THEY SUFFER?
Asked how he justified the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Israeli President Shimon Peres said: "Why should they suffer? Let them stop shooting and they won't suffer."
http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnTRE4AI5D1.html

ACTION: FREE JONATHAN POLLARD
Some people may be interested in this action: With less than one month until President Bush leaves office, this grass roots effort is intended to remind the White House of Jonathan Pollard's plight and to push for a commutation of his prison sentence. Please visit www.FreePollardNow.com to join the effort to help set Jonathan Pollard free.

VIDEO AND PETITION: BIASED MEDIA
View HonestReporting's latest video about biased media reporting: http://www.honestreporting.com/a/who_speaks_for_israel.asp
- Also, read and consider signing this petition, urging the Washington Post to adopt a more balanced reporting on the Middle East: http://eyeonthepost.wsone.com/bin/display_petitions.cgi?ID=1

RESOURCE: ISRAEL AND ENVIRONMENTALISM
Check out this link, regarding environmentalism in Israel:
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=3918015&ct=5158747
- Also, see these cool facts!
http://www.israelactivism.com/pdfs/wasteTreatment.jpg and http://www.israelactivism.com/pdfs/waterHeater.jpg and
http://www.israelactivism.com/pdfs/electricPlant.jpg

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Israel Update 11-26-08

QUICK READING LIST
- Inside the covert world of Gaza's rocket factories, Janis Mackey Frayer, CTV News, 11/20/08 (with pictures): http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081120/rockets_janis_081129/20081120?hub=TopStories&pr=showAll
- Consul general is an Arab who represents Israel well, John Christensen, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/15/08:
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/15/mansour.html - Self-induced Nakba, Phillip Carl Salzman, History News Network, 10/15/08: http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/55730.html
- Angola: Children Return Home After Surgery in Israel, Angola Press Agency, 9/22/08: http://allafrica.com/stories/200809230029.html
- See also: Save a Child's Heart - http://www.saveachildsheart.com/

RESOURCE: ADS 4 ISRAEL & BLUE STAR PR
Check out these very cool resources for publicizing interesting and little-known facts about Israel, featuring great flyers and advertisements: http://www.ads4israel.com/ and http://www.bluestarpr.com/ (copy and paste if clicking link doesn't work)

NEWS:
- Jerusalem elects a new mayor: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404699357&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
- Jordan, Israel work to overcome regional water deficit: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910086247&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
- Charity Convicted in Terrorism Financing Trial: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/us/25charity.html (view Hamas posters found at the charity: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/ICS%20Hebron%2010.pdf)
- Israel takes silver medal in Chess Olympiad: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3628765,00.html
- Vietnam to open embassy in Israel: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3627644,00.html

WEBSITE: GILAD SHALIT
For Hebrew speakers: See this website, an attempt to influence the parties on all sides to resolve the situation and bring back Gilad Shalit by November 29, which will mark 888 days since Gilad was captured: http://www.giladshalit888.com/

QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'I WANT THE ISRAELIS BACK'
Riyad al-Laham, a Palestinian living in Gaza: "I want [the Israelis] to come back [to Gaza]. All the Mawassi people used to work in the settlements and make good money. Now there is nothing to do. Even our own agricultural land is barren . . . My sons were farmers in the greenhouses [before Israel withdrew 3 years ago]. We worked in the settlements and had resources. Now, I don't think I could survive without [the UN] . . . Before was better . . . [The Israelis] used to take responsibility for us as occupiers. Neither [Hamas nor Fatah] knocked on the doors to ask what we need. People are fed up.... We have become beggars."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0812/p07s02-wome.html

HISTORY AND ARCHEOLOGY
-The Palace of David: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bible/mazar.html
- Watch the video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bible/maza-01.html -Herod's Lost Tomb: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/herod-s-lost-tomb-3571/overview?intcmp=herod_homepage-to-channel
- See also: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081119084537.htm

VIDEO: GAZAN WOMEN SUICIDE BOMBERS
Watch this interesting video from MEMRI regarding Gazan women preparing to become suicide bombers: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1840.htm

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Israel Update 10-26-08

QUICK READING LIST
- How to Get the World To Hate Israel, Richard Cravatts, History News Network, 8/4/08: http://hnn.us/articles/52723.html
- Why Iran and Hamas adore Darfur's genocidal dictator, Jonathan Schanzer, Weekly Standard, 8/6/08: http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/401vcvba.asp
- Seaweed gel 'could save 20,000 heart attack patients' lives a year', Stephen Adams, Telegraph (UK), 8/11/08: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2538804/Seaweed-gel-could-save-20000-heart-attack-patients-lives-a-year.html
- Jerusalem dig uncovers ancient city walls, Reuters, 9/3/08: http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKL342025420080903
Watch also: http://www.road90.com/watch.php?id=wiJTDkFpcL
- Things here aren't what they seem, Oakland Ross, Toronto Star, 10/15/08: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/517472

CHARITY: AMIT CHILDREN
Please consider donating to AMIT Children, a charity that enables Israel's youth to realize their potential and strengthens Israeli society by educating and nurturing children from diverse backgrounds within a framework of academic excellence, religious values and Zionist ideals: http://www.amitchildren.org/
- See their Students in Solidarity with Sderot project: http://www.amitchildren.org/s3.asp

VIDEO: FOOD AND AID TO GAZA
Watch this interesting video about Israel’s attempts to get critical food and medical aid to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjJyi-Pp3p4

QUOTE OF THE DAY: ZIONISTS’ DECEITFUL CONTROL
From Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s recent speech at the UN (see also the petition below denouncing his rhetoric):
“The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they [the Zionists] are a minuscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner.It is deeply disturbing to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gatherings, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support . . . “

NEWS – CURRENT EVENTS
- MUST READ - Iraqi MP visits Israel: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1221034882048&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
- A Boom in Israel's Exports to India: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2008/gb20080828_867715.htm - Young Iranians Release Book Caricaturing The Holocaust: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/27/AR2008092702588.html
- Colombia smashes drug ring with Hezbollah ties: http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnTRE49L0GQ.html
- Israel to begin drilling for natural gas in Mediterranean: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLJ71844920081019

PETITION: DENOUNCE AHMADINEJAD
Please read and consider signing this petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, denouncing Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s recent hate-filled and anti-Semitic speech at the UN: http://www.wiesenthal.com/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=4547233&msource=Ban08&auid=4051862

RESOURCE: UNIQUE PROJECTS
Check out this cool website, for anyone interested in real estate in Israel: http://www.uniqueprojects.co.il/

Monday, September 29, 2008

Israel Update 9/29/08

QUICK READING LIST
- Being a French journalist means never having to say you're sorry, Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, Weekly Standard, 7/7/08: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/284xawsb.asp
- Israeli company to build sea wave power plants in China, Israel21c.com, 7/10/08: http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El2189&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Technology
- See also: http://mashav.mfa.gov.il/
- Angola Children Travel to Israel on Medical Treatment, Angola Press Agency, 7/21/08: http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200807210154.html
- See also: http://www.saveachildsheart.com/home1.html
- Refugees From Whom?, Melanie Phillips, Spectator (UK), 8/4/08: http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/875566/refugees-from-whom.thtml
- Cotler: 'Peace Partners' Promote Hate, Joel Goldenberg, The Suburban (CA), 8/20/08: http://thesuburban.com/content.jsp?sid=75989305914795834871465141243&ctid=1000029&cnid=1016185

REMEMBERING 9/11
A few weeks late, but still pertinent:
- Read Finding the Next Danny: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018440.html
- And remember who celebrated on that tragic day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV_eN4YEEI0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMOZvbYJMvU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrM0dAFsZ8k

NEWS:
- Israel to launch website in Hindi and Urdu: http://www.freshnews.in/israel-to-launch-website-in-hindi-and-urdu-36984
- US Airways adds Tel Aviv; more routes to come: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/breaking/US_Airways_to_add_new_international_route.html
- 17 Georgians wounded in Caucasus war to be treated in Israel: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3591396,00.html
- Tzipi Livni Wins Party Vote in Israel: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/17/AR2008091702365.html
- McCartney makes his mark in Israel: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/first-night-sir-paul-mccartney-hayarkon-park-tel-aviv-942942.html

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "JEWS CANNOT BE TRUSTED"
Palestinian imam Yousif al-Zahar, a member of Hamas: "Jews are a people who cannot be trusted. They have been traitors to all agreements — go back to history. Their fate is their vanishing. Look what they are doing to us." Al-Zahar referred to Jews as "the brothers of apes and pigs," while the Hamas television station, Al Aksa, praises suicide bombing and holy war until Palestine is free of Jewish control.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/world/middleeast/01hamas.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

PETITION: PROTEST AHMADINEJAD'S STATEMENTS
Please read and consider signing the following petition to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, sponsored by StandWithUs, expressing outrage at Iranian President Ahmadinejad's repeated threats toward Israel: http://www.standwithus.com/petition/

CHARITY: SDEROT CAMPUS CONNECTIONS
Please consider donating to Sderot Campus Connections, a project of Connections Israel. Situated in the heart of four neighborhoods, Sderot Campus Connections will serve as a meeting place for Jews from around the world while providing a safe community space in which to pray, celebrate and just live life: http://connectionsisrael.com/get-involved/sderot-campus-connections-build-it-with-us

WEBSITE: ROAD 90
Check out this website, Road 90, featuring interesting videos about everything Israel: http://www.road90.com/

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Israel Update 8/28/08

QUICK READING LIST
- Who Revived the Electric Car?, Tamar Snyder, Jewish Week, 8/6/08: http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a13109/News/New_York.html
- Betancourt calls for Gilad Shalit's release, Reuters / YNetNews, 7/20/08: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3570722,00.html
- Why Gentile Americans Back the Jewish State, Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, July 2008: http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080701faessay87402/walter-russell-mead/the-new-israel-and-the-old.html
- Land without regret, Hillel Halkin, National Post (CA), 5/6/08: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=494303
- Must Read (short): Five hours at Tel Aviv airport, Nicolien Den Boer, Radio Netherlands, 4/9/08: http://www.radionetherlands.nl/specialseries/mideastdiaries/080409-tel-aviv-airport
- At 63, Israeli immigrant solves 38-year-old math riddle, Aaron Heller, USA Today, 3/20/08: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/mathscience/2008-03-20-road-coloring-problem-solved_N.htm
- A Moral Outrage, Mort Zuckerman, U.S. News & World Report, 3/14/08: http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/mzuckerman/2008/03/14/a-moral-outrage.html

RESOURCE: VIRTUAL JERUSALEM
Take a virtual tour of the City of David: http://www.cityofdavid.org.il/hp_eng.asp

VIDEO: GAZANS TRAIN FOR WAR
Watch this short CNN video about how some Palestinians in Gaza are spending time during this "truce" with Israel: making rockets and training for war --
http://ws.collactive.com/points/point?id=SceCQyymTxR7
- Watch also:
http://uk.reuters.com/news/video?rpc=401&videoId=88018&feedType=VideoRSS&feedName
- Read also: Gaza summer camps teach kids to fire rockets: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3575660,00.html

VIDEO: WHAT ISRAEL IS REALLY LIKE
Nice short video ad, brought to you by AJC, in honor of Israel @ 60: http://www.gmmb.com/client_view/AJC/AJC_landing_page/flash/index.html
- See also this color flyer, on the same topic: http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7b84DC5887-741E-4056-8D91-A389164BC94E%7d/20080731%20WINNER%20TOMMY%20HUYNH.PDF

CHARITY: SHALVA
Please consider donating to Shalva, an organization that provides comprehensive programs to physically and mentally challenged children in Israel: http://www.shalva.org/frame.htm

QUOTE OF THE DAY: HAMAS SON SPEAKS
Masab, the son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef and a convert to Christianity: "You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas . . . They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death . . . An entire society sanctifies death and the suicide terrorists. In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheikhs tell their students about the 'heroism of the shaheeds.'" "Send regards to Israel, I miss it. I respect Israel and admire it as a country," he says.
- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1007097.html

NEWS: DAILY HEADLINES
Check here for daily headline news from Israel, in English: http://www.jerusalemonline.com/

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Israel Update 8/7/08

QUICK READING LIST
- Green giant, Kobi Ben-Sihon, Haaretz, 5/18/08: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/984030.html
- Israel wins significant EU upgrade, Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post, 6/16/08: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1212659748504&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
- See also: Europe and Israel: Strengthening the Partnership, Nile Gardiner, Testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 7/9/08: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Europe/wm1984.cfm
- Google Earth: A New Platform for Anti-Israel Propaganda, Andre Oboler, JCPA, 6/26/08: http://jcpa.org/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=376&PID=0&IID=2250&TTL=Google_Earth:_A_New_Platform_for_Anti-Israel_Propaganda_and_Replacement_Geography
- Israeli expertise in ritual helps Africa combat AIDS, Joel Greenberg, Chicago Tribune, 7/8/08: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-circumcise-08-jul08,0,2114726.story
- In honor of the upcoming Olympics: Neal Amdur, NY Times, 7/13/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/sports/olympics/13ladany.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

CHARITY: BEIT ISSIE SHAPIRO
Beit Issie Shapiro is a center in Ra'anana, Israel that uses state of the art therapies to make a difference in the lives of children with special needs: http://www.afobis.org/

WEBSITE FOR STUDENTS
For students interested in Middle East politics and diplomacy, check out this upcoming conference in Tel Aviv: http://mesc.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

REACTIONS FROM THE PRISONER SWAP
- For Israel, prisoner swap evokes raw memories, Aaron Heller, AP, 7/15/08: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGxpzWERVNq09cHSTuA2GNHHsB3QD91UMDB00
- A strange kind of hero, Editorial, Boston Globe, 7/18/08: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2008/07/18/a_strange_kind_of_hero/
- A moment of moral clarity, Gil Troy, Montreal Gazette, 7/18/08: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=d58f760a-55aa-45bf-aa5c-85bcda0cd072
- Watch also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS6NyrexKlk

SPECIAL: ISRAEL IN PICTURES
See: http://gilad.deviantart.com/gallery/ and http://ws.collactive.com/points/point?id=4QeSDQPDGZ4O (be patient and enjoy the slideshow!)

QUOTE OF THE DAY: BLAME HAMAS
These quotes are a little old, but still ring true:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said militant Palestinians, not Israel, are to blame for deteriorating conditions in the sealed-off Gaza Strip. "The responsibility for what is happening in Gaza should be put directly on the shoulders of Hamas . . . It is the policies of Hamas that have led to its own isolation . . . There have been efforts to make certain that humanitarian assistance is getting through," Rice said. "We have worked very diligently with the Israelis," she added. "Of course we're very concerned, but let's put the blame where it should be, and that's on Hamas."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hKO6E2Vs5MktD_-DXHsbQ6tnT1-QD8TIRM3O1

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Secretary Rice said, "We believe that Hamas has acted in a way in Gaza that has made it very difficult for the Palestinians, the innocent Palestinians who are unfortunate enough to be in Gaza."

And White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "The Palestinians living in Gaza are living under chaos because of Hamas. The blame has to be placed fully at their feet." http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1388167.php/US_blames_Hamas_for_Gaza_&quotchaos%22__2nd_Roundup_

GOOD NEWS!
- Israeli Economy Weathers Global Storm: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2008/gb20080520_712676.htm
- Microsoft opens new R&D facility in Israel: http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/05/21/microsoft-sets-facility-israel
- Tourists Flock to Israel: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2008/gb20080521_370198.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_top+stories

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION: THE 'BIG LIES'
Brought to you by Honest Reporting: http://www.honestreporting.com/a/bigLies.asp

Monday, July 7, 2008

Israel Update 7/7/08

NEWS FROM THE PAST 2 MONTHS
More Yom HaAtzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) links:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZX7WKsn5QE (video)
- http://www.aish.com/movies/60Years.asp (video)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uPHaioopKM (video of Barbara Streisand singing HaTikva)
- Shop Israel! Commemorative memorabilia: http://www.judaicawebstore.com/emails/independencedayspecial.htm
- Israel's 60-Year Test, by Bret Stephens: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121003365007069313.html
- Israel's Gift To The World, by Alan Dershowitz: http://www.nypost.com/seven/05042008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/israel_s_gift_to_the_world_109432.htm
- A Reality Check as Israel Turns 60, Fouad Ajami: http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/fajami/2008/05/07/a-reality-check-as-israel-turns-60.html

Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day) video links:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2XkzTPhQvo&feature=related - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4yKn0vkmRQ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y-SfbPmQjw&feature=related - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wahd2piIr4Q

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day):
- Interesting and powerful video: http://www.aish.com/movies/jerusalem.asp
I'd love to know your thoughts!

CURRENT EVENTS
Israeli Humanitarianism:
- Israeli rescue teams in Myanmar (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnpjDN9hmZs
- See also: Israel sends humanitarian aid to Chinese earthquake victims: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2008/Israel+sends+aid+to+Chinese+earthquake+victims+25-May-2008.htm

Gilad Shalit:
2 years have passed since Palestinian terrorists from Gaza kidnapped Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was 19 years old at the time. Watch this video of American 11-year-olds reading the story about peace that Gilad wrote when he was just 11: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0rb_SmjUKc

Current News:
- Israel Agrees to Exchange Prisoners for Dead Soldiers, Ethan Bronner, NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/world/middleeast/30mideast.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
- See also: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oe-morris1-2008jul01,0,2976963.story
- Intel inaugurates Israeli chip-making plant, Ori Lewis, Reuters: http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKL0172265220080701
- Palestinian terrorism as a natural act, Bradley Burston, Haaretz: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998354.html


OTHER ARTICLES
- Israel's bond rating raised, Forbes.com, 4/18/08: http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/04/17/afx4905383.html

- Israel is Now America's Closest Ally, Michael Oren, Wall Street Journal, 5/7/08: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121011902390872015.html

- Sierra Leone: Israel Boost to Agriculture, Tourism, Abdul Karim, Concord Times (Sierra Leone), 5/13/08: http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200805130680.html

- Palestinian victims of Hamas swear revenge, Martin Chulov, The Australian, 5/17/08: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23710388-15084,00.html

- The paradoxes of life in Israel, Yossi Klein Halevi, Jerusalem Post, 5/20/08: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1211288129459&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

- People vs. Dinosaurs, Thomas Friedman, NY Times, 6/8/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/opinion/08friedman.html?_r=1&ex=1213761600&en=f12cbccc39e33839&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

- Recognising the Jewish 'Nakba', Lyn Julius, Guardian (UK), 6/25/08: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/25/middleeast.middleeastthemedia
- See also: The Forgotten Refugees: http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/


QUOTE OF THE DAY: "THE INTIFADA HAS FAILED"
Zakariya Zubeidi, until not long ago the commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin: "Look, it's perfectly clear to me that we won't be able to defeat Israel . . . Back in [Yasser Arafat's] day, we had a plan, there was a strategy, and we would carry his orders . . . Everything that was done in the intifada was done according to Arafat's instructions, but he didn't need to tell us the things explicitly. We understood his message . . . Today I can say explicitly: We failed entirely in the intifada. We haven't seen any benefit or positive result from it. We achieved nothing. It's a crushing failure."
- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971604.html


PHOTOS: DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY ROCKETS
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.4125811/
- See also: The Assault on Israel's Right to Self-Defense, Abraham Bell: http://jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=378&PID=0&IID=2021&TTL=International_Law_and_Gaza:_The_Assault_on_Israel's_Right_to_Self-Defense

Friday, May 2, 2008

Israel Update 5/2/08

This is a season of contradictory feelings for those who care about Israel. We recently commemorated Yom Ha’Shoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day – and next week we will commemorate Yom Ha’Zikaron – Israel’s Memorial Day. As solemn and mournful as those days can be, Memorial Day in Israel is followed immediately by Yom Ha’Atzmaut – Israel’s Independence Day – a day of rejoicing that reminds us of the blessing and the hope that is the modern State of Israel. This Thursday, on Israel’s 60th birthday, I encourage everyone to do something to celebrate: hang a flag on your window, watch an Israeli movie, listen to Israeli music!


QUICK READING LIST
- Desalinated water grows a city in Israel's desert, Margaret Coker, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4/6/08: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/04/05/iswater.html
- Puppet child on Hamas TV "kills" US President Bush in revenge, AP / IHT, 3/31/08: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/31/africa/ME-GEN-Palestinians-Bush.php (View a link to the video clip at the end of the article)
- Rights Council hears from Jewish refugee, Paul Lungen, Canadian Jewish News, 3/27/08: http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14325&Itemid=86
- See also: The Forgotten Refugees: http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/
- The Care and Feeding of an Angry Territory, Jonah Goldberg, National Review, 3/7/08: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjNkNTE1YzFiZGY5YmY4YTNkZmVlYzFjZDUwYWRmY2M=
- Living in the most heavily bombed place in the world, Phillip Jacobson, Daily Mail (UK), 2/15/08: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/live/live.html?in_article_id=514681&in_page_id=1889
“Because of its proximity to the border and the concentration of Hamas-led amateur bomb-makers on the other side, Sderot has a unique civic claim: on a rocket-per-head-of-population basis, it is the most targeted town in Israel, indeed the world.”
- A conversation with Israel’s legendary startup guru, Stacy Perman, Business Week, 1/2/08: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2008/sb2008012_744161.htm?chan=smallbiz_smallbiz+index+page_top+small+business+stories


IN HONOR OF ISRAEL’S 60TH BIRTHDAY
- Sign Hillel’s birthday card for Israel: http://www.hillel.org/israel/israel60/default
- Israel@60: http://standwithuscampus.com/?page_id=135
- Israel at Sixty: http://www.60israel.org/JewishAgency/English/Jewish+Education/Focus+Areas/60Israel
- Israel at 60, by Yossi Klein Halevi: http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/israeldiary/Israel_at_60.asp


QUOTE OF THE DAY: SOME ISRAELI ACHIEVEMENTS
“The country is so much more than the narrow lens that we see through the media…Israeli engineers are on the cutting edge of solar energy technology…In a medical breakthrough, a pill taken internally and containing a tiny camera allows Houston-area doctors to make a diagnosis with visual information and data... Scientists from Israel and Jordan are learning to transplant coral in the Red Sea into artificial reefs to save it from destruction…An Israeli-developed system for generating rain in desert regions has interested Texas officials who hope that it can be useful to increase agricultural production in Texan deserts.”
- http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5639801.html


VIDEO: TERROR ON THE WEB
Watch this interesting short video clip, exposing how the Hamas and Hezbollah terror organization spread their hateful messages on the internet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miTP6DkwhsM
- See also: http://pmw.org.il/bulletins_may2007.htm#b280507, with links to Hamas TV clips on YouTube


RESOURCE: HUMANITARIAN AND INTERNATIONAL AID
View these links, highlighting Israel’s humanitarian and international aid to developing countries and those in need: http://standwithuscampus.com/?page_id=132 and http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=3918015&ct=5161913


2ND QUOTE: PALESTINIANS’ MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
This one is particularly apropos this month:

Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, comes to the painful acknowledgment of an opportunity missed. Looking back to the U.N. partition plan of 1947, which envisaged Jewish and Palestinian states living side by side in peace, he laments: "After 60 years, we are struggling for what we could have had in 1947. We have missed many historic opportunities."
- http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/14/africa/ME-FEA-GEN-Palestinian-Old-Guard.php

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Israel Update 4/17/08

QUICK READING LIST
- Palestinian children from Gaza undergo heart surgery in Israeli hospital, AP/International Herald Tribune, 3/12/08: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/12/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Palestinian-Surgery.php
- See: Save a Child’s Heart: http://www.saveachildsheart.com/
- At the Zenith of Solar Energy, Neal Sandler, Business Week, 3/26/08: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2008/gb20080326_485582.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_companies
- The end of the ‘guilty Israeli’, Yossi Klein Halevi, LA Times, 3/2/08: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-halevi2mar02,0,7671220.story
- Collective Punishment and Newspeak, Michael Krauss, American Thinker, 2/24/08: http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/02/collective_punishment_and_news.html
- Gaza buried in flour, Martin Kramer, 1/28/08: http://sandbox.blog-city.com/gaza_buried_in_flour.htm
- The town that measures life in 15-second intervals, Mary Dejevsky, The Independent (UK), 1/25/08: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mary-dejevsky-the-town-that-measures-life-in-15second-intervals-773885.html


PRAYER FOR PASSOVER
At the Passover Seder we celebrate freedom. This year, let us remember those who are not free to celebrate the holiday with their families and friends. Download this prayer for the health and well-being of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers:
http://www.freethesoldiers.org/local_includes/downloads/18388.pdf


CHARITY FOR PASSOVER: MEIR PANIM
Please consider donating to Meir Panim, which helps feed the needy in Israel: https://www.meirpanim.org/donation_e.php?occasion=pesach&file=pesach


QUOTE OF THE DAY: A HEALTHY ISRAEL
Israel enjoys one of the fastest growing emerging markets in the world. Israel's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth is robust . . . Israel leads the world in research and development spending as a proportion of GDP. The country hosts the greatest number of NASDAQ-listed companies after the US and Canada. It is home to Teva, the world's largest maker of generic drugs, to telecommunications software firms like Amdocs, to world-class biotech research at the Technion and to Intel's advanced chip production facilities. Silicon Wadi, in fact, is the world's second most important technology cluster. In 2007, venture-capital firms invested $1.76 billion here. Export earnings are up. Tourism is up. So are property prices. Just this month, Forbes magazine rated Israel as the world's most "up-and-coming" real-estate market. Last year Israel was invited to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207649985233&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


ACTION: PETITION
Please read and consider signing the following petition, which condemns the words of UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard, who recently legitimized Palestinian acts of terror against Israelis as being “against occupation” and “in the course of a war of national liberation”: http://www.ipetition.com/str-asp-PetitionID_5-end-SignPetition.htm


RESOURCE: WOMEN IN ISRAEL
Learn more about women’s rights in Israel and the status of women in all facets of Israeli life: http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=3918015&ct=5134255


JULY TRIP TO ISRAEL: JUMPSTART
Support Israel with your presence! Here is one among the many possible summer trips to Israel: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21660376664


VIDEO: HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE PA
Take a look at this short video clip regarding human rights abuses in the Palestinian Authority: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/02/27/wedeman.mideast.human.rights.abuses.cnn


YOM HA’SHOAH: HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
In honor of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day, not to be confused with Holocaust Memorial Day), which will be on May 2: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120147388696520647.html
- View also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfv3jsLGzL0

Monday, March 31, 2008

Israel Update 3/31/08

QUICK READING LIST
- Israel’s true friends, Representatives Artur Davis and Eric Cantor, LA Times, 1/12/08: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/web/la-oew-cantor12jan12,1,4577405.story
- Israel is embracing the electric car on a wide scale, Steven Erlanger, International Herald Tribune, 1/21/08: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/21/business/cars.php
- Watch also: http://www.jerusalemonline.com/specials18.asp
- A barrage against Israel, Robin Shepherd, Times (UK), 1/29/08:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3278541.ece
“The critics [of Israel] had another field day yesterday. But their arguments are dishonest.”
- Sderot, the Israeli town under rocket attack, Carolynne Wheeler, Telegraph (UK), 2/3/08: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/01/wisrael201.xml
- Watch also: http://youtube.com/watch?v=GfvBGzMZcE8 and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDRynuIDWQw&NR=1 (a bit old but informative)
- Welcoming the world’s ills, Ronny Linder-Ganz, Haaretz, 2/14/08: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/952294.html
A five-year-old boy from a village in Kazakhstan, diagnosed with a severe blood disease, came to Israel for a bone marrow transplant at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. A year later he returned to the village, healthy and speaking fluent Hebrew.
- Morbid Celebrations, Jonathan Schanzer, Weekly Standard, 3/10/08: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/860nntcv.asp


ACTION ALERT: CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
The House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill (H.Res.185) addressing the issue of Jewish refugees from Muslim countries. The legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), states in part that "any resolutions relating to the issue of Middle East refugees, and which include a reference to the required resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue, must also include a similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of Jewish, Christian, and other refugees from Arab countries." Please contact your Representatives to express your support for H.Res.185: https://secure2.convio.net/ajc/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=151&JServSessionIdr004=t23kd9ycy1.app13b
- For more info on the "forgotten" Jewish refugees, see: http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/

TRIPS TO ISRAEL
For those who have been on a Birthright Israel trip, or who have never been to Israel at all, check out: http://jeconline.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=32
- See here for other programs in Israel: http://www.israelprograms.org/JewishAgency/English/Aliyah/Israel+Programs

QUOTE OF THE DAY: TOO MUCH BLAME ON ISRAEL
European commissioner for Justice Freedom and Security, Frano Frattini, criticized the incessant Qassam rocket fire on Israeli civilian population centers. . . . “There has been a large misunderstanding in recent years between Europe and Israel. And Israel is justified in its concerns. For too long, Europe has put too much blame on Israel for lack of peace with the Palestinians. We, as Europeans, should have understood Israel's concerns sooner.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3497543,00.html

Likewise, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said that the singling out of Israel for criticism in international forums was unfair. "It is not acceptable to focus on Israel time after time, while other countries like Sudan do not receive any reference whatsoever at the United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly in New York," Verhagen said in an interview.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/947090.html

VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT: UN-WATCH
Click here for a video and transcript of Hillel Neuer’s testimony at the UN, in which he gives an impassioned case against moral inversion: http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=4972179

CHARITY: HELPING DISABLED ISRAELI CHILDREN
In the spirit of giving charity on the holiday of Purim (last week), please consider donating to this charity, ALEH, Israel's largest and most advanced network of residential facilities for children with severe disabilities: http://www.aleh.org/index.asp

RESOURCE: TEACHING KIDS HATE
Take a look this report (with pictures) on the Palestinian ‘hate industry,’ where children are encouraged to kiss the corpses of terrorist “martyrs”: http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/eng/eng_n/hi_231207e.htm
- In contrast, see the “Teach Kids Peace” campaign: http://www.teachkidspeace.org/

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Israel Update 3/16/08

QUICK READING LIST
- Israel’s Winemaking Revolution, Stacy Perman, Business Week, 1/16/08: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2008/sb20080116_186026.htm?chan=smallbiz_smallbiz+index+page_top+small+business+stories
- Gazan hearts saved in Israel as conflict rages on, ReliefWeb, 1/17/08: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/RMOI-7B2R9Z?OpenDocument
- See also: Save a Child’s Heart: http://www.saveachildsheart.com/home1.html
- U.N. could take lessons from Rambo, Bridget Johnson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1/29/08: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/349190_johnsonnline30.html
- Rocketing Towards War, Richard Cohen, Washington Post, 2/19/08: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/18/AR2008021801539.html
“In Europe and elsewhere, where activists are just plain dizzy from their own moral virtue, Israel is denounced for inflicting suffering on Gaza. But the protesters say nothing about the Qassams raining from the sky -- sometimes as many as 40 a day.”
- See also: The Sderot Calculus: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120398961080492299.html
- France Eyes New Israeli Ties, Jamey Keaten, AP, 3/11/08: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j0oWxr9M6MoGVDkADL6DscuS1lAAD8VBC5M00

NEWS: MASSACRE AT JERUSALEM YESHIVA
Last week, an Arab resident of East Jerusalem entered a Jewish school of religious education and murdered 8 students while they studied Bible in the library. Watch this moving, but graphic, video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I4O0WSvevs&eurl=http://apps.facebook.com/superwall/view.php?src=se&id=803149936&owner_id=121729
- Contrast that one with this video of Palestinians celebrating the massacre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMxPUzEBWDU. Even if you don’t understand Hebrew, the images of thousands of Palestinians cheering, handing out candy, and flashing victory signs should be repulse you.
- (See also: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1204546440616&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

SUPPORT THE TROOPS: SEND GIFTS
In honor of the upcoming Purim holiday, send “mishloach manot” gift packages to Israeli soldiers! Learn more: http://www.myownisrael.com/manot.php

QUOTE OF THE DAY: REJECTING JEWISH SOVEREIGNTY
PLO Executive Committee member Yasser Abed Rabbo: "It is only a Zionist party that deals with Israel as a Jewish state, and we did not request to be a member of the international Zionism movement."
Veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the Palestinians would never formally recognize Israel as the Jewish state: "Israel can define itself however it sees fit; and if it wishes to call itself a Jewish state, so be it. But the Palestinians will never acknowledge Israel's Jewish identity."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195036610009&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Erekat stated further: "There is no country in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined.”
http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Diplomacy/12344.htm

Really? How about England, where Queen Elizabeth “is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and ... she appoints archbishops, bishops and deans of cathedrals on the advice of the Prime Minister"? (http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/cofeorg/)
How about the Basic Law in Erekat’s own Palestinian Authority? Article 4 bluntly states: “Islam is the official religion in Palestine.” http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/palestbasic.htm
(Credit to Daniel Gordis for these sources: http://www.danielgordis.org/Site/Site_Dispatches.asp)

WEBSITE: PANORAMIC ISRAEL
Click on this link to view some unbelievable panoramic views of Jerusalem: http://www.israguide.com/panoramic.asp

RESOURCE: LEGALITY OF ISRAEL’S ACTIONS
Read this background paper on the legality, under international principles, of Israel’s self-defense actions in responding to Palestinian rocket-fire: http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/A1D75D9F-ED9E-4203-A024-AF8398997029/0/GazaProportionality.pdf
- See also: http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Special_Report_Gaza_-_Israel_Responds_to_Hamass_Escalation.asp

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Israel Update 3/2/08

QUICK READING LIST
- India: Reach out to Israel, Ramesh Thakur, Times (India), 12/13/07: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/Reach_out_to_Israel/articleshow/2617931.cms
- At Gaza’s Edge, Israelis Fear Rockets’ Whine, Steven Erlanger, NY Times, 1/9/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/world/middleeast/09israel.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=gaza&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
- View also this video report of how Palestinian terrorists in Gaza use ‘Google Earth’ to launch rockets at Israeli targets: http://ws.collactive.com/points/point?id=WHxGEWMGoK3k
- Deep inside the plucky country, Gerg Sheridan, The Australian, 1/19/08: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23072242-7583,00.html
“Naturally the reporting [on Israel] is one-sided. But it is worse than that. It omits from the equation Israel and the Israelis, and all the countless enthralling and diverse aspects of Israeli politics and society.”
- Israeli duo of Ram, Erlich win Australian Open doubles title, Rami Hipsh, Haaretz, 1/26/08: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948247.html
- See also: Israel's tennis player Peer makes history in Gulf: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080217/sp_wl_afp/tenniswtaqatisrpeeroly2016
- Israel isn't to blame for chaos around Egypt's wall, Jonathan Gurwitz, San Antonio Express-News, 2/5/08: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/stories/MYSA020608.02O.gurwitz.25d44c7.html
- Palestinian Christians live in constant fear, Father Raymond De Souza, National Post (Canada), 2/19/08: http://www.nationalpost.com/story-printer.html?id=317540
“The problem is not [the Palestinian Christians’] behaviour but, in the eyes of the violent Islamist jihadists, their very presence.”
- See also: Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society: http://jcpa.org/christian-persecution.htm

ACTION ALERT: CONDEMN ROCKET ATTACKS ON ISRAEL
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), and Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) introduced a resolution (H.Res. 951) condemning the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and supporting Israel's sovereign right to defend itself against such attacks. Please write to your Representatives and urge them to support this resolution: http://www.aipac.org/694.asp#8609 (click on the “Email your Representative” link)
- For more info on the rocket attacks, see: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Missile+fire+from+Gaza+on+Israeli+civilian+targets+Aug+2007.htm

PHOTO ESSAY: ISRAEL COVERED IN SNOW
Beautiful pictures of the Holy Land covered in snow: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125106

QUOTE OF THE DAY: IRAN’S FEELINGS ABOUT ISRAEL
Unsurprisingly, they are not very fuzzy:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the West to acknowledge Israel's “imminent collapse.” Ahmadinejad further incited his listeners to “stop supporting the Zionists, as [their] regime reached its final stage . . . Accept that the life of Zionists will sooner or later come to an end.”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/949628.html

Mohammad Ali Jafari, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards: "In the near future, we will witness the destruction of Israel, the aggressor, this cancerous microbe Israel, at the able hands of the soldiers of the community of Hezbollah.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080218/wl_mideast_afp/iranisraelpoliticssyrialebanon_080218115101

WEBSITE: ISRAEL AT 60
This May, Israel will be celebrating its 60th birthday! Check out this great website for fascinating facts (did you know Israel has more museums per capita than any other country in the world?), great videos, and more: http://www.israelcelebrates60.com/

VIDEO: HAMAS BUNNY THREATENS DENMARK
After newspapers in Denmark recently re-published cartoons of Mohammad, a rabbit on a Hamas children’s television program in Gaza threatened to kill Danes, bite them, and eat them up (see 3 minutes, 30 seconds in): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0U2ce-LmA4&feature=related

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Israel Update 2/14/08

February 1 marked the 5-year anniversary of the Columbia Space Shuttle crash in which Col. Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, was tragically killed. In memory of Ilan Ramon: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/818760.html.

This week also saw the death of Representative Tom Lantos of California, a Holocaust survivor, a staunch supporter of the State of Israel, and a hero. In honor of the life of Tom Lantos: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202742150570&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.

QUICK READING LIST
- Another day, another bombardment, Tobias Buck, Financial Times (UK), 12/7/07:
http://search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=another+bombardment&aje=true&id=071207000004&ct=0&nclick_check=1
- View also the report from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center about the rocket threat from Gaza 2000-2007 (scroll down and also click on the link to the short video at the bottom): http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/eng/eng_n/rocket_threat_e.htm#
- Also, take a look at this photo gallery of terrorists from the Islamic Jihad group making rockets in Gaza: http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,28471,00.html
- Israel gets rare UN approval for farm resolution, Patrick Worsnip, Reuters, 12/11/07: http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnN11501976.html
- See also: http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El1882&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Democracy
- Baby Steps, Dennis Ross, New Republic/Washington Institute, 1/8/08: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC06.php?CID=1119
- More propaganda from the Los Angeles Times, Alex Safian, CAMERA, 1/17/08: http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=33&x_article=1417
- See also: http://www.honestreporting.com/
- Breach in Gaza – Hamas blockades the peace process, Editorial, Washington Post, 1/24/08: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012303327.html

NEWS: TERROR IN DIMONA
- Click here to view a photo of a Palestinian boy handing out sweets to celebrate a suicide bomber who killed at least one Israeli woman and wounded scores of others in the Israeli city Dimona: http://ws.collactive.com/points/point?id=yBQkyNqToAZS and
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/951034.html
- And watch this dramatic video of the heroic Israeli policeman who shot dead a second terrorist, wearing an explosives belt, before he had time to detonate the bomb: http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7220000/newsid_7226300/7226313.stm?%3Cbr%20/%3Ebw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1

ACTION ALERT: CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
A bill (H.Res.185) addressing the issue of Jewish refugees from Muslim countries is being addressed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), states in part that "any resolutions relating to the issue of Middle East refugees, and which include a reference to the required resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue, must also include a similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of Jewish, Christian, and other refugees from Arab countries." Please contact your Representatives to express your support for H.Res.185: https://secure2.convio.net/ajc/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=151&JServSessionIdr004=t23kd9ycy1.app13b
- For more info on the "forgotten" Jewish refugees, see: http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/

RESOURCE: PROGRAMS IN ISRAEL
It's not too early to be thinking about your summer plans! Check out these websites for some long- and short-term programs in Israel:
- http://www.israelprograms.org/JewishAgency/English/Aliyah/Israel+Programs
- http://www.lifeinisrael.org/
- http://www.wzo.org.il/en/programs/most_popular.asp
- http://www.destinationisrael.com/works_internships.asp
- http://www.birthrightisrael.com/site/PageServer

And keep in mind that 2007 marked the best year ever in terms of American tourism to Israel: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-01-23-american-tourism-to-israel_N.htm

STATE OF AFFAIRS IN GAZA
- Palestinian terrorists vandalize American school in Gaza (video): http://ws.collactive.com/points/point?id=SqDXLwbBaxNv
- And as if that wasn't enough, elsewhere in Gaza terrorists take advantage of humanitarian aid packages to smuggle explosives into the area: http://ws.collactive.com/points/point?id=fBz0nk3P5Fm7
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL297764020071229
- See also: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944592.html
- Also, check out this report about the media's misrepresentations about what is happening in Gaza: http://ws.collactive.com/points/point?id=iv4mIci56xEU

VIDEO COMPETITION
Through Feb 29: MyIsrael video competition. See: http://my.israel.org/

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Israel Update 1/23/08

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this week, let us recall that Dr. King was a stalwart supporter of the Jewish state and wrote that “Israel’s right to exist as a state is incontestable.” See http://rac.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=415 and http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080108/METRO02/801080356/1409/METRO#.
- And take a look at this nifty flier: http://www.bluestarpr.com/docs/mlk1.pdf

QUICK READING LIST
- Leaving home for the homeland, Rory McCarthy, Guardian (UK), 11/24/07: http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2216069,00.html
- See also: http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/
- A Time to Kill, And a Time to Heal, Laura Blumenfeld, Washington Post, 11/25/07: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/24/AR2007112401509.html
- What about the record?, Diana West, Washington Times, 12/21/07: http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071221/EDITORIAL04/615858635/1013/editorial
- Bush’s Mideast Muddle, Michael Oren, Wall Street Journal, 1/9/08: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119984146243176521.html

ACTION ALERT: ADS AT ‘MS.’ MAGAZINE
- Ms. Magazine has turned down an advertisement calling attention to women who currently occupy three of the most significant positions of power in all three branches of the Israeli government. Their reason? The ad “will set off a firestorm” and that “there are very strong opinions” on the subject. See more here, and tell the Ms. editors your thoughts:
https://secure2.convio.net/ajc/site/Advocacy?s_oo=iET6e1kNSObQ-ZPggh-qrg..&id=148
- Also, view prominent Jewish feminists speaking out about this controversy (video): http://youtube.com/profile?user=AJCongress

NEWS: NASDAQ-TEL AVIV STOCK EXCHANGES
- Read about the new partnership between NASDAQ and the Tel Aviv stock exchanges: http://www.thestreet.com/newsanalysis/banking/10391583.html
- View also (video): http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&fg=rss&vid=252bd8c2-8c58-4a18-b3e8-97942b163243&from=34

BAD REPORTING: ISRAEL’S ACTIONS IN GAZA
- Many media outlets fail to add significant context to their reporting on Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, meant to eradicate the area of terrorists who have launched daily rocket barrages at Israel: http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/A_Barrage_of_Bad_Reporting.asp
- For more on this situation, click here to view a short video from EuroNews (UK) showing the human side of the toll that daily rockets have taken on residents of the Israeli town Sderot: http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=mediterraneans&article=455347&lng=1#
- Read also: Palestinian rocket lands next to Israeli day care center, http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/03/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Babies-Rocketed.php

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: THE TRUE ISRAEL
We all know the Israel of wars, oppression, and precarious security, but what about Israel of the humming economy with 90 Israel-related companies on NASDAQ? What about Israeli films garnishing honors around the world: "Jellyfish" and "The Band's Visit" at Cannes, "Beaufort" in Berlin, "My Father My Lord" in Tribeca, "Sweet Mud" at Sundance, and "Aviva, My Love" in Shanghai? What of Israeli solar power in California that has been saving 2 million barrels of oil annually for nearly 20 years? What of Arava Valley high-tech agriculture, with exports exceeding $100 million? Natafim, the drip irrigation system patented by Kibbutz Hatzerim, is now a multinational conglomerate selling millions of systems throughout the world. What of the Israel that is taking in Darfur refugees, and what of the first Israeli-initiated UN resolution, calling upon countries to share agricultural technology with developing countries, adopted overwhelmingly this month? It's this other Israel that's underreported.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/12/29/the_overlooked_issues_of_2007/

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Israel Update 1/9/08

QUICK READING LIST
- Persona non grata in Gaza, Conal Urquhart, Guardian (UK), 10/22/07: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2196828,00.html
- Engaging the enemy, David Feith and Andrew Steinberg, National Review, 10/24/07: http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=MjMyZjUwYTE1ZjQxMzdmNmU4NWZjZDk1MDM5ODlkMzI=
- Group Spotlights Jews Who Left Arab Lands, Warren Hoge, NY Times, 11/2/07: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/world/middleeast/05nations.html
- See also: http://www.theforgottenrefugees.com/
- France 2 Cooks the Raw Footage, Nidra Poller, Pajamas Media, 11/15/07: http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/11/al_dura_affair_the_raw_footage.php
- See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWQcRd_Mg60
- Is Israel a Jewish state?, Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe, 11/14/07: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/11/14/is_israel_a_jewish_state/
- Drinking water for India's 'wet desert' with Israeli help, Syed Zarir Hussain, Earthtimes.org, 12/4/07: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/152706.html

FIRST QUOTE: ARABS IN ISRAEL
Simon Deng, a former jihad slave from Sudan and now a human rights activist, has written a protest to Bishop Desmond Tutu over the bishop’s rabid prejudice against Israel, which he accuses of ‘apartheid’:
“The State of Israel is not an apartheid state. I know because I write this from Jerusalem where I have seen Arab mothers peacefully strolling with their families – even though I also drove on Israeli roads protected by walls and fences from Arab bullets and stones. I know Arabs go to Israeli schools, and get the best medical care in the world. I know they vote and have elected representatives to the Israeli Parliament. I see street signs in Arabic, an official language here. None of this was true for blacks under Apartheid in Tutu’s South Africa.”
- http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/371696/the-question-of-a-freed-slave.thtml

RESOURCE: PREZ CANDIDATES’ VIEWS ON ISRAEL
Now that the presidential primaries have begun, I figured this would be a helpful resource! Each week Ha'aretz presents a ranking of where presidential candidates stand on their support for Israel. Click here to view this week's edition of The Israel Factor and to read more about the potential candidates and their positions on Israel (thanks to the OU-IPA for this!): http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerPage.jhtml

NEWS: ANNAPOLIS CONFERENCE
Read about the November peace conference hosted in Annapolis:
- Jeff Robbins: http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010889
- Salim Mansur: http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Mansur_Salim/2007/11/24/pf-4681351.html
- Mort Zuckerman: http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/mzuckerman/2007/11/30/zuckerman-editorial.html
- Michael Oren: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/opinion/02oren.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

VIDEO: ISRAEL’S ACHIEVEMENTS
Watch this great new video about Israel’s fantastic achievements! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeVvMJdvEX8

SUICIDE BOMBS: CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
Simon Wiesenthal Center’s full page newspaper ad, prompted by the tragic and horrific assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, calling on the UN to designate suicide bombings as ‘crimes against humanity’: http://www.wiesenthal.com/atf/cf/{DFD2AAC1-2ADE-428A-9263-35234229D8D8}/NYTIMESADCOLORFINAL.PDF

SECOND QUOTE: ‘THE WESTERN WALL IS OUR’S’
Adnan Husseini, aide to the Palestinian Authority president, said that Palestinian demands for Israel to cede eastern Jerusalem under any peace accord also includes the Western Wall [Judaism’s holiest site]. "This is part of Islamic heritage that cannot be given up, and it must be under Muslim control," Husseini told Israel's NRG Web site, adding that all of Jerusalem's Old City should be part of a future Palestinian state.
- http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/104603.html