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/