Israel’s Fight for Life
On the Frontiers of Medicine, Research, and Healthcare
by Israel HighWay Staff

Want to live a long life? Live in Israel. Don’t want to spend a fortune for health care? Borrow medical equipment in Israel for free. Want babies to survive childbirth? Give birth in Israel. Want to help save lives around the world? Be part of Magen David Adom's team or support organizations like "Save a Child’s Life" or the "Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid."

Blue Star PR

Since its inception, Israel has provided a very high standard of medical healthcare for its citizens. It has also taken on the responsibility of serving on the frontline in combating illness worldwide. Israeli medical discoveries and breakthroughs are in use in hospitals around the world.

Long Life – the Stats

Israel has one of the most sophisticated healthcare systems in the western world with a ratio of 4.6 physicians to every 1000 people, ranking among the highest ratios in the world. The life expectancy of men in Israel is 77.5 years; of women, 81.5. Both figures place Israel in the top ranks of the world, an impressive feat considering that Israel’s population includes at-risk survivors of the Holocaust and immigrants from poor and underdeveloped countries around the world.



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Abbas in Line of Fire as Militants Refuse to Lay Down Weapons
by Inigo Gilmore

A scheme to disarm wanted Palestinian militants is in crisis because hundreds of gunmen are refusing to take up jobs in the security forces - and many who do, Israel claims, are being allowed to keep their weapons. The issue is overshadowing Mahmoud Abbas's plans to visit Washington for talks with President George W. Bush on May 26. The dual inducements of a regular salary and the prospect of no longer being hunted by Israeli forces have not proved sufficiently alluring, with only 110 of more than 1,200 potential bombers and gunmen joining up so far. Not one is from Hamas, the group behind many of the worst attacks against Israel. (Telegraph - UK)

New Bio of Ariel Sharon Presents Prime Minister's Life for Young Adults by Penny Schwartz

A new biography of Ariel Sharon that is geared for young adults couldn't have come at a better time. As the Israeli prime minister, as controversial now as ever, takes very public actions in the Middle East, Norman H. Finkelstein's book provides readers with useful background information on Sharon.

The book describes Sharon's life and sheds light on the complexities of the efforts now underway to achieve peace among Israel, the Palestinians and their neighbors. Finkelstein, who has written many non-fiction books for children, including one about Zionist leader Theodor Herzl, has won the National Jewish Book Award twice.

Recently, during a break from his day job as a school librarian, Finkelstein talked about the Israeli prime minister. "There is no middle ground with Ariel Sharon," Finkelstein said. "People either think he's the greatest thing since King David or they think he's a dangerous bum."

Sharon's biography is inseparable from the history of the State of Israel, Finkelstein said, and he weaves the two together in the book, giving the historical context for Sharon's rise through the military and his move into politics.

Finkelstein's story begins in April 1948, when Sharon was a 20-year-old Israeli military platoon leader. Sharon's name then was Ariel Scheinerman, and he was known as Arik. (JTA)

MKs Seek US Advice on Constitution by Uriel Heilman

A funny thing happened this week on the way to a new Israeli constitution. The Knesset committee charged with drafting one came to North America to solicit advice from American Jews about writing a constitution – a rare instance of Israeli parliamentarians seeking out American Jewish input rather than money, as one Knesset delegate put it.

The delegation of more than half a dozen Knesset members met last with judges, legislators, judicial experts and Jews in Ottawa, Washington and New York. In Washington, the Knesset members participated in a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony on Capitol Hill, met with US congressmen and capped the week with private meetings with US Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal on the court, and Antonin Scalia, the court's staunchest conservative and a leading candidate to be the next chief justice. (Jerusalem Post)

Wilmette Man, Filmmaker Help Jews from Asia Integrate Into Israel by Rummana Hussain

Retired Wilmette lawyer Sam Pfeffer fulfilled the dreams of a group of Indians believed to be members of one of the lost tribes of Israel when he presented them with a Torah during a visit to Asia last year.

"The scroll was the one item they lacked to make them part of the Jewish community," Pfeffer reminisced this week, describing the B'nei Menashe's reaction to the holy book. "They just went wild."

Israel's chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has recognized the group as legitimate Jewish descendants and orchestrated plans to bring them back "home," ending their 2,700-year exodus from the Middle East. Pfeffer, a Columbia College board member, is intent on capturing part of the journey.

He and Columbia College film and video department Chairman Bruce Sheridan will travel to Israel this week to interview Amar's aides for a documentary on the plight of the 6,000 to 7,000 Jews from the far northeast Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram.

"These people have been obscure and unknown to the world. Their dream has always been to return [to Israel]," Sheridan said.

Click here to learn more about the B'nei Menashe (Chicago Sun Times)

See Also: Long-Lost Jews - by Michael Freund

About 4,500 Bnei Menashe live in towns and villages scattered throughout the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, with a handful in Assam and Myanmar as well. Members of the Mizo and Kuki tribes, they have passed down through the generations the tradition that they are descendants of the lost tribe of Manasseh, which was exiled from the Land of Israel by the Assyrians in 723 BCE. (Jerusalem Post)

'Peter's Kids' are Bar-Ilan Scholarship Recipients by Arlene Fine

As community leader and philanthropist Peter Rzepka thumbs through the manila file bursting with thank you letters from Bar-Ilan University students, he resembles a proud papa showing off his kids' work. And these definitely are Peter's kids.

For the past 14 years, Rzepka and his wife and partner Aliki have provided financial backing to a number of disadvantaged Israeli students from Ethiopian and Russian backgrounds attending Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel.

The letters, often accompanied by stellar college transcripts and photos, are sent to the Rzepkas' Shaker Heights home. One is from Ethiopian-born Elishev Darar, who received a master's degree from Bar-Ilan because of the Rzepka-sponsored scholarship.

"Being a master student for me means facing enormous challenges," Darar writes. "Your support is giving me opportunities which otherwise would have been totally unattainable for someone in my financial position." (Cleveland Jewish News)

Israel in LA: Take a Trip to Israel - In the Classroom
by Julie Gruenbaum Fax

It used to be that the Conservative movement’s United Synagogue Youth (USY) sent around 1,000 kids to Israel each summer. They toured, they worked, they celebrated, they met Israelis - and they came back energized to make Israel central to their lives.

Then came the second intifada, and the following summer USY sent only 200 members to Israel - part of a nationwide collapse in the number of American Jewish teens who traveled with youth groups to Israel.

While teens are heading back to Israel in larger numbers this summer - USY has about 500 signed up - the sudden crumbling of a cornerstone of education about Israel was a wake-up call to Jewish educators. They realized they needed to pack the same impact of a life-changing trip to Israel into classes held here, but the existing curricula about Israel were typically scant, weak and outdated.

The Los Angeles Jewish community responded to the challenge, with creative, more intensive programming and curricula surrounding Israel, making Los Angeles a national model for how to rethink and energize Israel education.

"Israel has become part of the culture of our school, part of what we do every day, not just part of the curriculum," said Tamar Raff, Judaic studies director for the day school at Valley Beth Shalom (VBS), a Conservative congregation in Encino.

VBS is one of 14 Los Angeles Hebrew schools and day schools paired with a public school in Tel Aviv through the Jewish Federation’s Tel Aviv-Los Angeles Partnership, an initiative involving schools, organizations and municipal leaders in collaborative programming. In addition to developing personal ties with Israelis, the schools have radically ramped up their Israel curricula, and so have other schools. A Bureau of Jewish Education program offers a four-semester course for teachers on how to become Israel specialists at their schools. Two emissaries from Israel, sent to The Federation by the Jewish Agency for Israel, an Israeli organization that develops connections to Jewish communities around the world, have brought a view of modern Israel to local schools. Many schools also host "Bat Ami girls" - Israeli women who fulfill national service duty by doing Israel-related programming at schools abroad. (Jewish Journal of Los Angeles)

Student Finds Inspiration in Heroic Topic by Shira Klazmer

When we were assigned to write a speech in class on the topic "My Hero Is," I immediately thought of a statue that I had seen on my visit to Israel last May. We toured the Holocaust museum there and I remembered one statue that stood out to me from all the rest.

Although each and every statue had a different story to tell and a sad memory, one statue touched me very deep inside. It was a large statue of an elderly man with his arms wrapped around a bunch of small children. (See picture.) The look in his eyes was so deep and strong that I felt like I was actually in front of a live man. The way he embraced the children made me feel comfortable and very sad at the same time. Many thoughts flowed through my head as I read the passage about the statue.

Tears swelled in my eyes and I knew that this man was a great man and deserved to be remembered. Therefore, when this assignment was given, I immediately thought of him. I had forgotten his name so I quickly went to researching and soon enough I found out his name was Janusz Korczak.

[Editors note: Janusz Korczak was a Polish Jewish educator who ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto prior to its liquidation in 1942. Given the chance to escape the ghetto, Korczak chose to stay with his children, ultimately perishing along with them at the Treblinka death camp.]

I read everything in detail from when he was a child until the day he died. All of things he did and accomplished amazed me, but mainly what he did for the children in the orphanage where he had volunteered. I wrote my speech from my heart, and I wrote my speech quoting Korczak as much as I possibly could. Shira Klazmer is a ninth-grader at Ridgeway High School in Memphis. (Commercial Appeal)

Move Over, Donald Trump! by Maxine Liptzen-Dorot

At 15, Ohr Abu, may be the youngest CEO in the country. As head of Ronshon Enterprises, this ninth grader leads a company of 16 stockholders, all aged 15 or 16.

The aim of the project is to teach young people all the facets of business from planning, design, and execution to the marketing and advertising of an original product. They form their own company and take responsibility for each step in the process from start to finish.

The first group of Young Entrepreneurs from the ORT Henry Ronson School in Ashkelon was introduced to the idea last October, when national project director Niva Re'em visited the school. Something clicked, and the students - who had to pass an interview and tests to get accepted - soon found themselves on a long journey that they describe as the "most exciting" in their lives.

For seed money, the teenagers bought "shares" in Ronshon for 20 shekels apiece.

The teens were responsible for writing monthly business reports and sending them to Re'em, who is also in charge of 13 similar schools participating in the project from the south of the country.

After coming up with ideas for five potential new products, the group divided into teams and held surveys to check for the most feasible product in terms of marketability and production costs. The winner was Fill-In, three separate compact-size plastic bottles that are attached to form one unit. The idea came when one of the girls went on a school trip and found that packing her toiletries in one bag took up too much space and was too heavy. (Jerusalem Post)

735 Egyptians Visit Israel by Doron Sheffer

After a long period in which Egyptians stayed away from Israel, 735 Egyptian tourists entered the country last month, the Interior Ministry reported. The bulk of the visits were Easter Holiday pilgrimages and lasted some 10 days; the pilgrimage trips included tours of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and Tiberias, the ministry said.

It was also reported recently that the Interior Ministry has received requests from travel agents who want to bring Jordanian tourists to Israel. (Ynet News)

Ronaldo Gets Warm Welcome

Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo received a warm welcome at separate stops in Israel and in Ramallah last week, as fans jostled to get a glimpse of their hero during a goodwill visit that left even the usually serious Palestinian prime minister grinning like an excited schoolboy.

The Real Madrid striker, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Program, made a series of appearances in Ramallah before heading to Herzliya to meet hundreds of young athletes who play in a joint Israeli-Palestinian soccer league. (Reuters)

Shooting for Equality in Israel - On the Soccer Field and Off
by Daniel Ben-Tal

Israeli Arab soccer players have made tremendous inroads in the game in recent years, and now are featured on the roster of almost every Premier League club in the country. Numerous Arab players star in the national team alongside their Jewish teammates, and have made headlines by scoring critical goals in important international matches.

But the Ichud (United) Abu Ghosh-Mevasseret team has taken coexistence one step further by forming Israel's first combined Jewish-Arab club that is explicitly more than just about soccer.

"We are not engaging ourselves in sport only. The united club is an important test-case in Arab-Jewish coexistence, and we intend to pass that test," says the club's president Alon Liel (pictured), a former Foreign Ministry director-general and the country's ambassador to Turkey.

Liel bases his belief in the power of soccer to bring communities together on his experiences in South Africa. During the 1980s, Liel lobbied within the foreign ministry to deepen ties with supporters of then-imprisoned civil rights leader Nelson Mandela. As a special envoy to the country from 1986 to 1988, he first made contact with black soccer teams.

"I've been a soccer fan since my childhood in Tel Aviv. Soccer is one of the few sectors of Israeli society in which Arab citizens can reach the very top of their profession on the national level," Liel said, noting that last season, for the first time in Israel's history, an Israeli Arab club, Ichud Bnei Sakhnin, won the national knock-out competition, the State Cup.

"When Bnei Sakhnin made it into the top league and won the cup, I saw it as a way for Arabs to achieve equality," he says. (Israel21c)

All for Peace: A Palestinian-Israeli Radio Station by Sima Borkovski

It started with music. In January 2004, a radio station based in east Jerusalem made its debut on the Internet broadcasting a playlist of global tunes that featured Arab and Israeli melodies. By April, the station was hosting talking radio programs in the mornings - one hour in Hebrew and one hour in Arabic. "We deal with education, culture and sport, but politics is out," explains Maisa Seniora, the station’s Palestinian co-director. "You are bound to hurt someone when you deal with politics." The station offers a range of programs for adults as well as for young listeners.

"The equator" is a one-hour talk show broadcast in Hebrew that examines the different social and cultural aspects of life in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The show lets Hebrew speaking listeners get to know Palestinian society. Its counterpart is "Muhawalat," another daily program. Broadcast in Arabic, it deals with different aspects of Israeli society and gives Palestinian listeners a perspective on Israeli life.

"Crossing Borders" is a youth program hosted by two young girls, Neta Muray and Shireen Yassin. The show deals with the fears, dreams and hopes of both Israeli and Palestinian youth covering issues that affect their lives such as education, music, violence, drugs and more.

The station broadcasts 24 hours a day and plans to continue doing so once they officially go on air. Run by 12 Israelis and Palestinians - technicians, producers and reporters - All for Peace Radio is determined to instill fresh hope in two populations that have sunk into apathy and despair. The dual heritage of their small staff in itself serves as an emblem of cooperation and peace. (World Press)

Israeli Environmental Program Spurs Mandy Patinkin to Take to the Road

Film and TV star Mandy Patinkin was among the 100 bicyclists from the U.S. who completed Monday a 265-mile six day bike ride in Israel from Jerusalem to Eilat, - all to benefit a unique environmental program in Israel that unites Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and American students.

This year's fourth annual ride, subtitled 'Cycling for Peace, Partnership and Environmental Protection,' raised a record breaking $365,763 for environmental education and advocacy in Israel and the Jewish Community in the U.S.

The ride brought together an exceptionally diverse group of people, and riders including Jewish and Arab Israelis, Jordanians and a Palestinian, as well as the Americans. Patinkin, 52, who rode with his son Isaac, was in Israel for the first time in 20 years.

"Listening to Palestinians and Jews, Germans and Americans, discussing something of common concern - the environment - made me believe that this was the key to solving the peace process," said Patinkin. "We can achieve the impossible." To commemorate a year since overcoming prostate cancer, Patinkin, sang a moving rendition of a Yiddish folk song about a shepherd singing of his love for his land, a parallel to the experience that Patinkin was having during his time riding through Israel. "I have always found community and spirituality when riding with a group, everyone looks out for each other, one of the reasons I am on this trip is to ride with other Jews and I think here I have found this sense of community," he said.

The Ride is a partnership of New York based Hazon, which founded a series of Jewish environmental bike rides in 2000, and the Ride's main beneficiary, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES), is a regional center for environmental leadership located on Kibbutz Ketura in Israel's Arava Valley - near the Jordanian and Egyptian borders and the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. By encouraging environmental cooperation between peoples, the Arava Institute is working towards peace and sustainable development on a regional and global scale.

David Lehrer, executive director of AIES, said, "The Ride is helping to train a new generation of environmental leaders, Jordanians and Palestinians as well as Israelis, who are working together to improve the quality of life for people across the region." (Israel21c)

Walking into History - Florida Students on "March of the Living"
by Leon Fooksman

Ending a two-week journey to Poland and Israel to forge a personal link to the victims of the Holocaust and explore their Jewish identities, about 70 Palm Beach County teenagers returned home Sunday with bittersweet feelings.

"I know this is home but now I feel like Israel is my real home," said Iryssa Rutman, 17, of Wellington, as she arrived at Palm Beach International Airport.

An outpouring of emotions marked the conclusion of the "March of the Living" trip for high school seniors and juniors organized by the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. Some cried as they reunited with loved ones and recounted the painstaking trek into former Nazi concentration camps in Poland and later their visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Jenna Citron, 18, who lives west of Lake Worth, kissed the ground shortly after landing in Tel Aviv. Like other teenagers, it was her first visit there and she wanted to remember the moment forever.

Upon her return home, she said she arrived feeling connected to something grand, and appreciating like never before what earlier generations have endured. "I am feeling proud and free," she said. (Sun-Sentinel)

See Also: Once in a Lifetime Experience - by Nicol Jenkins
Three students from Saint Andrews School in Boca Raton who took the pilgrimage said they’ll remember the mournful site of mounds of ashes in the concentration camps and the stories recounted from survivors for the rest of their lives.

"At one of the camps, I saw a mound of ashes remaining from the dead Jews and that was very hard and very emotional," said Jarrett Levy, one of the teens on the trip. "I’ll remember that." (Boca Raton News)

Science Fair Project Nets Internship in Israel by Daryl James

Hamilton High School senior Diana Eheart (pictured) has new summer plans. The Chandler (AZ) student will graduate on June 1 and travel to Europe as planned. But then she will head to Rehovot, Israel, for a five-week medical internship at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Eheart, 18, won the scholarship Friday at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her research on Ecstasy drug treatments using laboratory rats at Arizona State University. Eheart also won a $1,500 second-place grand award in the medicine and health category.

Eheart said she was not even sure what she would do in Israel because she had not yet had time to read an informational booklet that the Weizmann Institute provided. But her plans for next semester have not changed: She will attend ASU on a full tuition scholarship and continue her research on Ecstasy. (East Valley Tribune)

Letting Music Speak of Mideast Pain by Felicia R. Lee

For Tamar Muskal, an Israeli-American composer, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians goes beyond politics. It is music, it is poetry, it is the lone voice, speaking of pain and dreams.

It is also in her composition "The Yellow Wind," which combines a full orchestra, an Arabic flute, Arab and Israeli poetry and songs, and excerpts from the 1988 book of the same title by David Grossman.

The composer said she started with just a vague idea of creating a piece about the feelings of the people involved in the Mideast conflict, perhaps running Arabic and Hebrew words together. She ended up turning to the book, an account by Mr. Grossman, an Israeli novelist, of the experiences of both groups in West Bank settlements and camps in 1987. (New York Times)

Grammy Winning Hip-Hop Violinist Rocks Newark by Genevieve Long

In a high school auditorium in Newark last week, the finale of a little-known play called Gemini Rising exploded with the amazing sounds of the hip-hop violin.

Known as the "Hip-Hop Violinist," Grammy award-winning Miri Ben-Ari grew from her reputation and talent as a classical and jazz virtuoso to gain access to the urban mainstream of R&B and hip-hop.

"I had to fly all the way from Israel to the States to study jazz because I wanted to know how to improvise. I came here with no money, no family, no language… And this year I won my first Grammy," said Ben-Ari

Even as her list of credits with artists like Jay-Z, Wynton Marsalis, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Patti LaBelle and Janet Jackson grows, Ben-Ari is continuing to work on what she calls her "craft."

"My message is so much about discipline, about practicing, about not giving up your dream. If you really believe in something you should go ahead and pursue it. I was so drawn to music that I wanted to get what I wanted to get, no matter what," said Ben-Ari. (Epoch Times)

Stamford JCC to Host 2006 Maccabi Games

The Stamford Jewish Community Center announced that it has been selected to host the 2006 Maccabi Games.

Gary Lipman, chief executive officer of the Stamford JCC, announced the news at a press conference, noting that more than 200 teens from the Stamford JCC will participate along with more than 1,000 Jewish teens from around the world at the Maccabi Games, which will take place from Aug. 13-18, 2006.

Stamford was chosen, along with Vancouver, Phoenix and New Orleans, to host the largest annual gatherings of Jewish teen athletes in the world. Stamford will host Maccabi teams from many cities on the East Coast as well as delegations from a number of other countries, including Israel. Canada and Mexico are potential guest delegations along with teams from South America and Europe. Overall, close to 1,300 teens will be housed, fed and entertained by the Jewish communities in and around Stamford.

Opening ceremonies are scheduled at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, home of the Bridgeport Bluefish, the area's minor league baseball team, and 14 sports competitions will be scheduled throughout the week. (Jewish Ledger)

Shins Get a Cow-Obsessed Guy in the Israeli Army to Make Them a Video

You could imagine the Shin's James Mercer's surprise when he was checking his e-mail one day last month and came across a note from a dude in Israel ... with a video for the Chutes tune "Pink Bullets" attached.

"He had e-mailed me about a year ago and asked me if he could work on a video for us. I had kind of forgotten about it, honestly. I don't even remember how he got my e-mail address," Mercer laughed. "Here's this guy from Israel - in the Israeli army, actually - and he made this cool, paper-motion video for us."

That guy was 22-year-old Tel Aviv resident Adam Bizanski, who made the video for "Pink Bullets" over the course of three months, by himself, in his apartment. He built all the miniature sets and carefully moved the video's star - a paper cow - centimeter by centimeter, snapping each frame with his stop-motion camera. And in order for the cow's mouth to match Mercer's voice, he was forced to break "Pink Bullets" down into syllables ... which he eventually translated into his native Hebrew. The Shins put the video up on their Web site, and the reaction from fans was so great that Sub Pop (their label) submitted the video to MTV. And now this stop-motion clip is getting major play on college campuses across the U.S., via mtvU.

But for Bizanski, making the clip was easy. After all, he'd spent three years in the Israeli army, guarding the border and listening to the Shins' first album, Oh, Inverted World. For him, the most difficult thing was just trying to get in contact with Mercer. View Adam Bizanski's on-line gallery (MTV News)

57 More Reasons I Love Israel by Barbara Sofer

Last Independence Day, I suggested 56 reasons why I love Israel. With the trepidation of embarking on a sequel, I venture forth with 57 additional reasons - in no particular order. Here are excerpts:

1. At Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo the loudspeaker announces "Afternoon prayers (minha) are now being held near the lions."

7. When the tsunami struck, we sent medical assistance the same day.

18. Childbirth and burial are free. Even the homeless have health insurance.

32. We charge our food at the corner grocery, but Israelis invented the check-out technology for America's largest supermarkets.

43. Everyone knows where the secret intelligence offices are.

50. Take-out food is called "take-away" in Hebrew, and you can get kosher kubeh, sushi and tiramisu.

56. "Shalom" means hello or goodbye, and it can be a first name or a last name, but it's primarily our elusive dream.

57. In this ancient land, there's always something new to love. (Jerusalem Post)

Return Address by Efraim Karsh

The Palestinians have rewritten their national narrative into an unblemished story of victimhood that makes Israel, rather than Arab states, the sole culprit of the "catastrophe," as Palestinians call the collapse and dispersal of their society during the 1948 war. This narrative has led Palestinian leaders to demand a right of return, for the descendants of those displaced in 1948, to territory that is now part of Israel proper.

To insist on the full implementation of the right of return indicates that, in the Palestinian perception, peace is not a matter of adjusting borders and territory but rather a euphemism for the annihilation of the Jewish state.

One therefore hopes that in his upcoming meeting with Abbas (slated for the end of May), George W. Bush will inform the Palestinian leader in no uncertain terms of his unequivocal and non-negotiable rejection of the right of return - which, after all, negates the vision of two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian, living side by side. (The New Republic)

The Cyber-Case for Israel by David Shamah

If we expect to convince others of the justice of our cause, we have to be convinced ourselves. Fortunately, there are lots of Web sites and Internet resources we can draw upon in order to reaffirm our truths, and to help prepare us for the endless barrage of anti-Israel arguments that are constantly thrown in our faces. How about a dose of national pride to counter the negativity? Did you know that Israel has more engineers and scientists per capita than any other country? Or that Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world? Or that Israel has the world's second highest per-capita output of new books? These and other happy facts are on display at www.israelcelebration.com, which provides not just information, but also posters you can print out and hang up with these and other "celebrations of Israel." (Jerusalem Post)

Misguided Boycott of Israeli Universities by David Biale

The British boycott of two Israeli universities is self-defeating and even incoherent. Bar-Ilan University gives credit to students taking courses at the College of Judea and Samaria, which is located in the West Bank town of Ariel. The College of Judea and Samaria is hardly the "apartheid" institution alleged by the British; there are actually several hundred Israeli Arabs enrolled as students there - a reality more complex than the boycotters realize. So it is with Haifa University, which has a 20% Arab student body and the most Palestinian students of any Israeli university. The writer is Emanuel Ringelblum Professor of Jewish History at UC Davis. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Since 1995, with the passing of the National Health Insurance Law, every Israeli citizen has medical health insurance regardless of religion, financial status or race and has the right to medical facilities and healthcare. Yet, in recent years, Israel's healthcare has faced new challenges because of hospital cutbacks, overcrowding, new immigrants, and a growing elderly population. During the height of the flu season this past winter, some hospitals were forced to send away patients or bed them down in hallways.

Israel has four medical schools, each affiliated with a major university. They are the Hebrew University Medical School associated with the Hadassah Medical Association; the Tel Aviv University Medical School; the Technion Medical School in Haifa; and the Ben-Gurion University Medical School in Be'er Sheva.

An example of Israel's standing in the medical world is the recent reelection of Dr. Yoram Blachar (chairman of the Israel Medical Association) as the chairman of the secretariat of the World Medical Association, the roof body for national medical associations in 84 countries and representing nine million physicians. Blachar was chosen unanimously to fill the most important executive position in the WMA, which deals with medical economics, medical ethics and various social issues involved in medicine and healthcare. The IMA said the vote leaves politics at the wayside and recognizes the high level of Israeli medicine and the major contribution of the Israeli association to the international organization. (Jerusalem Post)

Israelis have never shirked the opportunities to help those in need of healthcare. One of Israel’s largest volunteer organizations is Yad Sarah, an Israel-wide network of volunteers aiding sick, disabled, elderly, isolated and housebound people with an array of services aimed at making home care possible. Yad Sarah is best-known for its lending of medical and rehabilitative equipment on a short-term basis free of charge to anyone who needs it – Jew, Muslim, or Christian - from a stock of over 250,000 items, from crutches and wheelchairs to oxygen concentrators and electronic monitors. In addition, Yad Sarah provides a wide range of other services, including transportation and day care centers for the disabled, drop-in centers and minimum-charge dental clinics for the elderly, personal computerized emergency alarms monitored 24 hours a day and guidance/exhibition centers which help disabled people choose the devices most suited to their needs.

Israel also attempts to better the needs of the Palestinians in their healthcare needs. In those areas that Israel conquered in 1967 serious diseases have been eradicated; Palestinian infant mortality rates have been dramatically reduced; Palestinian medical staff have received training in Israeli hospitals; and Israel has helped open fully equipped intensive care and open heart surgery units in Palestinian hospitals. Hundreds of Palestinian children receive free medical care, such as cardiac surgery, from Israeli surgeons. Save a Child’s Heart working out of Holon’s Wolfson Hospital, has treated more than 400 Palestinian children in the last decade, as well as children in Nigeria, China and Ethiopia.

The Malki Foundation is dedicated to providing specific services and equipment for families of severely disabled children. It seeks to provide essential and practical assistance to severely handicapped children in Israel. The foundation is named after Malka Chana Roth (pictured), an Israeli teenager killed in 2001 in a Jerusalem pizzeria by a Palestinian bomber. Malki took an exceptionally strong interest in helping children with disabilities.

Israel is also at the forefront of helping other people in the world and sharing its healthcare and medical knowledge. Despite being systematically blocked from becoming a member of the International Red Cross, the Jewish "Red Cross," Magen David Adom (MDA), continues to provide ambulance treatment and life-saving aid, sharing its expertise in the first aid around the world. Working with the Israeli army, the disaster relief operations of MDA and IsraAid have swung into action in Turkey, Kosovo, India, Ethiopia, Eritrea and of course the nations hit by the tsunami.

Israel is meeting and overcoming the challenges of modern living and its diseases. Click on the medical news pages in Israel21c to read about the hundreds of medical innovations being developed in Israel. Israel is at the forefront of the fight against AIDS, cancer and heart disease. Many eyes around the world are focused on Israel for answers to these very pressing problems. (The Israel HighWay)

Additional reading

History of Health Care in Israel
Israel’s Ministry of Health
Magen David Adom Volunteer Program
The Ills of Immigration by Neta Zach
IsraAid

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