Dispatch from Jerusalem

Israeli among Top Game-changers

{image_1}
Israeli educational executive Shai Reshef was awarded the 12th spot in a poll answered by 3 million readers of popular American news blog site Huffington Post as one of the Ultimate 12 Game Changers. These were defined as people considered by readers to be global innovation leaders who have significantly changed the way we live or view the world.

IDF Training Base Goes Green

{image_1}

Last year, the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] inaugurated a new officers' training base near Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev. At the same time, a new US $275 million program was announced by the IDF to protect the environment and also fund environmental education at all IDF bases and training areas.

New Jerusalem Skateboard Park

{image_1}

“Jerusalem will be joining leading cities around the world with a modern and professional skate park that will attract many visitors,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat announced recently. The state-of-the-art skateboard park, to span 0.7 acres [0.3 hectares] at an investment of about US $1.3 million, is to open in the capital by the end of 2011 in Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park.

US Defends Jewish Connection to Western Wall

{image_1}

A recent charge by a Palestinian official that there is no Jewish connection to the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, has been repudiated by the Obama administration.

[Palestinian Authority] Deputy Information Minister Al-Mutawakel Taha caused a furor in Israel and around the Jewish world when he endorsed a study that claims that the site, a remnant of the Jewish Temple, is, in fact, historically a Muslim property with no nexus to Judaism.

Arabs Want Iranian Strike

{image_1}

While Arab nations have generally been cautious about discussing military action against Iran’s nuclear program publicly, in private, some of the regions’ officials and leaders have actually called for the US armed forces to stop the Islamic nation’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Hamas: We’ll Occupy Haifa, Akko

{image_1}

As Israel and the Palestinians attempt to renew direct peace talks, Hamas continues its declarations of war. Speaking during a visit to a university, Fathi Hamad, Hamas government’s Interior Minister addressed the Israeli “operation” [Cast Lead] in Gaza, saying that “the Zionist enemy is still hurting [from] the defeat in the war and preparing for another round in an attempt to destroy the Palestinian resistance.” Hamad mentioned the threats to sue Israeli officials worldwide. “The commanders are afraid to travel to many countries,”he said.

Israel Responds to Construction Backlash

{image_1}

A Palestinian official has linked international recognition of a Palestinian state to Israeli plans to build more than 1,000 new housing units in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, potentially raising the stakes in the diplomatic standoff. While construction in disputed territory has been a hot topic in Israeli–Palestinian relations, it is generally believed that in any future peace deal, the Israelis will end up retaining portions of territory claimed by the Palestinians in exchange for territory in other areas of Israel.

Germany: Special Connection

{image_1}

“We feel responsible for guaranteeing that the memory of the horrors of the Holocaust will not weaken, even when those who experienced it will no longer be with us…I believe that the members of my generation and our children must maintain the memory of the Holocaust, support Jewish life in Germany and fight anti-Semitism uncompromisingly.”

Canada: We Will Stand with Israel!

{image_1}

“In Canada, we have taken a number of steps to assess and combat anti-Semitism in our own country. But of course we must also combat anti-Semitism beyond our borders—an evolving, global phenomenon. And we must recognize that while its substance is as crude as ever, its method is now more sophisticated. Harnessing disparate anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-Western ideologies, it targets the Jewish people by targeting the Jewish homeland, Israel, as the source of injustice and conflict in the world, and uses, perversely, the language of human rights to do so. We must be relentless in exposing this new anti-Semitism for what it is….But when Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack—is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand.

Israel’s Water Crisis

{image_1}

Almost every winter we cover the topic of drought in Israel. After seven years of drought in a row, it is certainly justified. Israel’s water crisis is looking even worse this winter. November 2010 was the driest in the North in 48 years with some forecasters saying this winter might be the driest of all seven years.