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