Israeli and Palestinian Leaders Pledge to Halt Attacks by Steven Erlanger

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared an effective cease-fire in Sharm el-Sheik Tuesday. Sharon said he and Abbas "agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and in parallel, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere." Abbas said, "A new opportunity for peace is born today....The calm which will prevail in our lands starting from today is the beginning of a new era."

"We expect a declaration on the Palestinian side on the cessation of armed conflict, the intifada," said Raanan Gissin, Sharon's spokesman. "Israel will also make a unilateral declaration that says if the Palestinians cease fire, we will refrain from military activity." Gissin cautioned that in the past four years, 10 announcements of cease-fires had been followed by a resumption of violence, but added that the new announcement "has a greater chance of success than before" because of a new determination to cooperate after Arafat's death. (New York Times)

Palestinian Militants Unleash Mortar Barrage After Truce Declaration by Paula Amann

Palestinian militants fired a series of mortar bombs and rockets into Jewish settlements in Gaza on Thursday, two days after Palestinian and Israeli leaders declared a halt to violence at a summit meeting. Hamas said it launched 46 mortars and rockets over a two-hour period at daybreak on Thursday. (Reuters)

Blue, White and Green Israel Stock Fund, JNF Team Up by Paula Amann

Every bar or bat mitzvah celebration now offers a twofold opportunity to link a child with Israel. The Blue and White Fund, a U.S. mutual fund that invests solely in Israeli companies, has been offering chai ($18) in free stock shares to youngsters celebrating a simcha. Now a sapling - as well as equity - can grow for Jews coming of age.

The Jewish National Fund, a nonprofit devoted to the stewardship of lands in Israel, is partnering with the 2-year-old mutual fund, based in Beverly Hills, Calif. As part of the pact, JNF will plant a tree in the Jewish state in the young person's honor.

"It's a way to honor their bar or bat mitzvah and establish roots for them in the land of Israel," said Rona Rodrig, JNF's director of product and campaign development, of the program of Jewish youth.

Rob Goldman, chief investment officer of the stock fund, sees synergy in the pairing. "On the Blue and White side, what we're attempting to do is building awareness of the Israeli economic ability and the success of Israel's companies by investing in them," said Goldman, adding that the two groups are "working together to support Israel and being socially conscious in the process." (Washington Jewish Week)

Summit Talks Bring Hope for Tourism by Avi Krawitz

The 11th annual International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) opened in Tel Aviv on Tuesday amid optimism that the concurrent meeting between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Sharm e-Sheikh would mark the beginning of a new era for regional tourism.

In a recorded message, Tourism Minister Avraham Hirschson said that the current positive climate had changed the world's view on Israel and was influencing the international community to renew its interest in Israel as a travel destination. He added that the recent cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian Authority Ministries of Tourism was symbolic of the changed mood in the region and the industry. (The Jerusalem Post)

A Zionist Mission to the South Pacific by Uriel Heilman

For a group of Jewish teenagers from New York, a recent 10-day trip to the Republic of Palau was more than just a dream vacation to a tropical island in the South Pacific. It was also a Zionist mission.

As a 10-year-old country with less than 20,000 people, Palau at first glance might not seem to be a natural destination for a group of Jews seeking to promote Israel's interests abroad.

But as one of the only countries in the United Nations to vote consistently with the Jewish state, the tiny island nation plays an important diplomatic role for Israel. That's why a group of students from Yeshiva University's high school for boys wanted to go there to say thank you. (The Jerusalem Post)

Student Group Attends Israeli Conflict Meeting
by Sarika Talve Goodman

They're starting to talk to each other in the holy land again. We hear echoes of it on the news, maybe there's an opening for peace, maybe it's that everyone is tired of death and they have no choice but to talk. Theory stirs around this question. Here is what I perceived when I was there, talking with both Arabs and Jews. No theory, just what I saw.

On the kibbutz where we stayed in the Western Galilee, there is a program called the Center for Humanistic Studies in which 10th grade Arab and Jewish Israelis from the area voluntarily engage in a two-year program dedicated to learning the narrative of the other. They confront hate, prejudice and fear of the other side.

They study each other's history to train for the part that takes guts, when they have to talk to each other. We sat with two graduates, one Jew and one Arab, who have dedicated themselves to working at the center 10 years later. Their words were charged with the vision of the place; they told us, as if they were telling a secret, how it is unique to Israel and perhaps to the world. (The John Hopkins News Letter)

Suicide Bombers Make Way for Romance on TV by Inigo Gilmore

Palestinian television has been ordered by new President Mahmoud Abbas to cleanse its screens of bloody imagery to align with a new mood of peace in the region. Eulogies to suicide bombers, or "martyrs" as they were previously known, have given way to "feel-good" nature programs and romantic films. Instead of referring to "martyr operations", suicide bombings are described as "explosions".

The changes have been made as Israelis and Palestinians prepare for this week's summit between Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Egypt. Mr Abbas summoned the TV station directors and told them to tone down aggressive programming. He also said he did not want the kind of sycophantic round-the-clock coverage of his schedule that was the norm under former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. (The Age)

Israeli-Palestinian Sewage Cooperation by David Rudge

A multi-million shekel joint sewage project between Tulkarm and the Emek Hefer regional council is proving cooperation can sometimes flow smoothly despite the past four years' tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

Sunday a ceremony was held at the site of refurbished sewage treatment plants on the outskirts of Tulkarm, inside the Palestinian Authority area, and was attended by the mayor of the city, senior PA officials and a delegation from the regional council.

The Israelis' visit, albeit only a few hundred meters into the PA area, was coordinated between the IDF and PA security forces and itself marked something of a turning point after four years of Palestinian terrorism and countermeasures by Israel. (The Jerusalem Post)

Yuri Foreman Headlines Broadway Boxing Show Feb. 24th

Unbeaten Brooklyn junior middleweight Yuri Foreman, 16-0 with 7 KO's, will headline 2005's third installment of DiBella Entertainment's Broadway Boxing Presented by Mohegan Sun slated for February 24th, 2005 at the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center.

Foreman, from Haifa, Israel, now fighting out of Brooklyn, has marched through the junior middleweight ranks to an unblemished record of 16-0, with 7 triumphs coming by way of knockout. He will appear in the main event, an eight round junior middleweight test. (East Side Boxing)

Local Florida Jewish Athletes to Compete in Maccabiah Games by Paige Stein

High school soccer star Lindsey Jaffe understands how difficult it can be to qualify for the games. The 15-year-old sophomore at Cypress Bay High in Weston attended a two-day try out along with 55 other soccer standouts before being one of 24 girls ages 15-17 selected for Team USA. Jaffe will be meeting up with the rest of the team in New York for three days of intensive training before heading to Israel for another week of practicing as a team before the competition begins. "It's going to be an amazing experience," she said. "It's not only the chance to go to Israel, but to compete with players from all over the world that is so incredible." Jaffe, who says she talks to a fellow teammate from Minnesota on the phone every day, might have a leg up on the competition. Ron Schneider, former head coach of the Israeli women's national team, is moving to Boca Raton and will be helping Jaffe train. "He says the Israeli [girls youth] team is really strong," she added. (Boca News)

Driver Becomes First Israeli in Formula 1 Racing
by Chanan Wiessman and Sam Ser

Never in the history of ultracompetitive motor racing has an Israeli tasted the glory of driving a Formula One race car - until now. In a press conference at Tel Aviv's Hilton Hotel last week, Faenza-based F1 team Minardi presented to the industry and racing officials from throughout the world their new signing: Chanoch Nissany, the first Israeli ever to drive in the world's most prestigious racing circuit. (Jerusalem Post)

Keepin' It Israel by Irin Carmon

Israeli rap in America is the stuff of JDate's junior set and of journalists looking for a new angle on the bloodbath. Subliminal fancies himself Israel's patriotic Eminem. The sprawling Hadag Nachash (pictured) would like to be the Roots. So far, Hadag Nachash hold the record on songs we chosen people aren't embarrassed to play in front of the goyim. Another rapper, Sagol 59, put it in an interview with a Harvard senior writing his thesis on Israeli hip-hop, "When the messiah comes, we'll have a subway in Israel, and then we'll have graffiti." (Village Voice)

Heroism on a Day of Infamy: Israeli Couple's Depiction of Passengers' Struggle On Sept. 11 Among Finalists for Flight Memorial by Joel Grostephan

Leor Lovinger came to UC Berkeley with his wife from Israel in the middle of 2001 to study and build a career in landscape architecture. He did not expect to watch the Twin Towers fall while he sat in a studio class Sept. 11.

More than three years later, a design created by Lovinger and his wife, Gilat, is among the five finalists selected to build an installation covering 2.5 miles at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 near Somerset, Pa. "It was a great feeling to contribute back to the culture that embraced us ever since we arrived here," he said.

The Lovingers' design, which received $25,000 along with the other finalists, is for a project to commemorate the Pennsylvania crash victims. (The Daily Californian)

Brink of History in the Mideast by Arye Mekel

If Israel and the Palestinian people take necessary actions and a spirit of cooperation prevails at the meeting tomorrow in Egypt between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the window of opportunity could become a doorway to hope.

Despite the instinct toward skepticism about signs of progress in our region, the Middle East is facing, if not heading in, a positive direction. The Palestinian Authority's election last month was a first step toward democratization, and hopefully signified a shift away from dictatorship and corruption.

Further, it served as a positive example to the rest of the region, where tyranny too often prevails over democracy. Abbas was not only elected by more than 60% of the vote, but signs suggest a majority of Palestinian voters are in favor of peace with Israel. (New York Daily News)

The 'Silent Jews' Speak Out by Shoshana Kordova

College students in the U.S. have become like Russian Jews who kept silent because they feared state retaliation if they spoke out about being persecuted. That was the view expressed last week by Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Minister Natan Sharansky at the screening of a controversial documentary depicting pro-Israel students' allegations of intimidation at the hands of Columbia University professors. "The future leaders of American Jewry are becoming 'Jews of Silence,'" Sharansky said, lamenting the fact that only a small number of Jewish students are willing to complain publicly about anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiments. (Ha'aretz)

A Pointless, Tragic Uprising
by Steven Edwards

It's often said that people on the path to self-destruction - perhaps through drug addiction or alcoholism - must first "bottom out" before they can start rebuilding their lives. A morbid accounting of what the Palestinians have lost over the past four years of intifada - or uprising - could well mark a "bottoming out" of that society.

The commitment this week by President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to end the violence between their peoples in turn heralds at least the promise of peace. No Palestinian has remained unaffected as Israeli efforts to prevent terrorist infiltration of Israel led to the collapse of the Palestinian economy, which relied heavily on the income from thousands of Palestinians crossing from the West Bank and Gaza to work in Israel. The high civilian death toll at least shows how the terror groups' obsession with inflicting damage on Israeli society overrides their concerns for the well- being of their own people. The most obvious manifestation of this lies in the recruitment of the suicide bombers, many of whom have been credulous teenagers. (National Post - Canada)

Home l Contact Us l Send your ideas to the Israel HighWay l Back Issues
Subscribe Israel Campus Beat l Daily Alert
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Designed by ST DESIGNS