At 16, He's Raised $68k: Bears for Life Ambulance Going to Israel by Anath Hartmann

Most 16-year-olds want a car. Yoni Grossman-Boder just bought an ambulance. The Columbia, MD teen, who attends Baltimore's Cardin Jewish Community High School, managed this feat with a little help from his friends, and some generous volunteers and donors.

Three years ago, as part of his bar mitzvah project, he started Bears for Life, a program in which all proceeds from the sale of teddy bears went toward the $62,000 purchase of an ambulance for the Magen David Adom, Israel's counterpart to the American Red Cross. The additional money will go toward supplies.

The Bears for Life ambulance will be dedicated this Sunday at Beth Shalom Congregation of Columbia, where Grossman-Broder's mother, Susan, is the rabbi.

"I was sparked to do something for the state of Israel after seeing all the terrorism on television," Grossman-Broder said. "I saw that the terrorists were putting spikes on the road to prevent the ambulances [from getting to terror victims]. Then I saw a cute little bear in my mother's office, and I got the idea to sell bears to buy an ambulance for Israel."

His mother said that the next step for Bears for Life is not yet determined. "We are continuing to talk about what to do next," she replied when asked if Bears for Life would purchase future ambulances. "Yoni has some vision of it continuing in some way, and a number of organizations have approached us to be the next recipient of Bears for Life."

What Grossman-Broder will continue with certainty for the rest of the year is "Bear Hugs," an offshoot of Bears for Life - co-created by Yoni and classmate Rose King - that sends bears to children who have lost friends or family to terror. The recipients are campers at Camp Koby, which was started in commemoration of 13-year-old Koby Mandell, a former Silver Spring resident murdered near his home in Israel by terrorists in 2001. One-hundred bears were donated to campers last summer. (Washington Jewish Week)

Say It with a Banner, Campaign Supports Israel by Eric Fingerhut

Many people might think it's obvious that synagogues support Israel, but Bob Samet says that doesn't mean they still shouldn't tell everyone. "A husband should tell his wife he loves her. ... A parent should tell his child he loves her, and Jews should be telling Israel they love her," said the Potomac MD resident. And that's the idea behind the Israel Banner Campaign.

Samet's synagogue, Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County in Bethesda, was the first to hang a banner in front of its building last month stating, "We Support Israel In Its Struggle For Peace And Security."

"These are serious times for Israel and we thought it was time to make a stronger statement," said Beth El's Rabbi William Rudolph.

Sixteen additional synagogues in Greater Washington either have hung outside their buildings or ordered similar 3-by-8-foot banners proclaiming their support for the Jewish state, with the number of orders growing daily.

Seeing "Israel under assault" in recent months from the nuclear-seeking Iranians and others around the world, Samet said, convinced him of the need for such a campaign. That coalition adopted the idea and brought it to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. The JCRC agreed to coordinate the effort, and has posted order forms from Rockville's Sign-A-Rama on its Web site.

The forms provide three banner options: "We Support Israel In Its Struggle For Peace And Security," "We Support Israel, A Democracy Working for Peace" and "(Name of Synagogue) Supports Israel." Institutions may also create their own message. (Washington Jewish Week)

London UK: Pupils Drum Up Enthusiam for Day of Learning

Drummers, Middle Eastern dance and Hebrew calligraphy were just some of the highlights last week as Roehampton University hosted the South London Day Limmud (day of learning).

More than 600 people from the Anglo-Jewish community descended on Southlands College for the day of educational activities, held two days before the Jewish festival of Purim.

After a series of performances and workshops, designed for children and teens, on Israel and the media, the event culminated in a Middle Eastern-style party with food and music, including world-class klezmer musicians, in an Arabian tent. (Wandsworth Guardian)

The Kindness Network by Barbara Sofer

Shoshana Greenbaum, 31, taught elementary school in Long Beach, NY. As part of her master's program, the dark-haired, pretty teacher was offered an all-expenses-paid summer program in Israel. She and her husband, Steven Greenbaum (pictured), were delighted. Steven accompanied her to Israel for four weeks, and then returned to his job. On August 9, 2001, Shoshana grabbed a slice of pizza after classes when a Palestinian with a guitar case packed with explosives and nails entered the Sbarro pizza restaurant. The terrorist murdered Shoshana and 14 others.

How do you make sure that Shoshana's memory is a blessing? Steven Greenbaum gathered friends and acquaintances to brainstorm. They came up with a modest idea: Let's exchange stories of kindness. Everyone could use a daily dose of kindness. These wouldn't be grandiose heroic deeds like leaping into a fire to save a child. Not headline-catching enough for the media, the stories could circulate in e-mail messages. At first there were a dozen or so participants, but within the first two months the numbers grew to 300. He eventually set up two organizations - two organizations in Shoshana's memory - a Jewish one called "A Tradition Of Kindness" and a general one called "Partners In Kindness ."

Greenbaum wanted to encourage people everywhere to do kindnesses each day. Today Greenbaum has 40,000 subscribers, with several hundred new subscribers every week to his daily doses of kindness. His own Web site has become a springboard for other Web sites promulgating niceness. (Jerusalem Post)

Muslim, Jewish Leaders Meet in Spain

Muslim and Jewish leaders from around the world gathered in Seville on Sunday to discuss how they could work together for peace and confront religious fanatics. The four-day meeting, called the Second World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, is sponsored by Hommes de Parole, a peace foundation based in Paris. Organizers say it is bringing together representatives from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the United States. Those attending included the Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger (pictured), and Imad al Falouji, the imam of Gaza.

The meeting was designed to let religious leaders discuss what role they can play in conflict resolution and in educating young people about religious tolerance. "Through this event, we hope to give men of religion, both Jewish and Muslim, a forum for building vital bridges of communication," Hommes de Parole said in a statement. (Jerusalem Post)

Unusual Trade: Israel Exports Surplus Apples to Syria by Scott Shiloh

For the second straight year, Israeli apple growers are expanding their customer base to include an unlikely, but eager purchaser of their surplus produce - Syria.

Using the United Nations as an intermediary, Israel will export about 10,000 tons of apples from the Golan Heights to Syria this week, double the amount exported last year. The growing trade in apples between the two countries, which are technically at war with each other, is an interesting anomaly in a region riddled with violence and virtually endless conflict.

Faced with a surplus of apples, the Israel Agriculture Ministry turned to the United Nations peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights in a bid to export the excess produce to Syria. The Syrians, apparently short on apples, unexpectedly agreed to the deal. Ironically, Israel’s apples are grown mainly in the Golan Heights, an area which Syria considers occupied territory, ever since Israel conquered it in the 1967 Six Day War. The produce will come from Druze apple growers. Though many are full-fledged citizens of Israel, Golan Druze still identify with Syria and maintain extensive family ties across the border. (Israel National News)

Using Theater to Develop Middle East Understanding
Why I Started the "I See Your Point" Workshops for Teens
by Eva Orbuch

Do we really ever step into the shoes of someone else? Although we all know this is difficult to do, I believe it is necessary to help make the world a more tolerant place.

When I went to Israel this past summer during the time of the Gaza pullout, I was struck by the way my fellow American teens quickly developed opinions, often based upon previous biases. I endlessly questioned why the conflict in the Middle East continues, and although I knew I couldn’t fix this situation myself and force Israelis and Palestinians to understand each other, I had my own ideas for action here at home.

Over the past six months, I have helped to create a workshop called "I See Your Point", where teenagers will hopefully be able to step into the shoes of Palestinians and Israelis by using various acting techniques. My goal is to help teens gain a wider perspective on the conflict by acting out scenarios from the lives of different characters; to create empathy for everyone, whether it is an Israeli soldier or a Palestinian teenager; and to inspire teens to examine multiple sides before forming opinions about the Middle East and about world issues in general. We will be using a technique called Playback Theater, in which an Israeli and a Palestinian tell personal accounts, and the workshop participants "play the story back," creating a window on that person’s life.

A large part of my process in preparation for the workshop was finding the right person to lead it. I wanted an adult leader who could impart knowledge of the Middle East to teens in a creative way and facilitate teens in creating a theater piece based on Israeli and Palestinian characters. I found a wonderful leader named Armand Volkas, who is a drama-therapist from Berkeley, CA. He has experience using theater to resolve conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. I have collaborated with Armand and his theater company to create the "I See Your Point Workshop."

This workshop will be held at the Student Art and Activism Festival on Saturday, March 25th at Marin Academy high school in San Rafael, CA. This event was organized by Next Generation, an organization I volunteer with that works to empower youth activists and take action concerning issues of peace and the environment.

For additional information about the I See Your Point Workshop that Eva started, visit www.gonextgeneration.org.

Eva Orbuch, 16, is a junior at Marin Academy in San Rafael, CA. She is pictured above last summer participating in Gadna, a program that introduces teens to the Israeli experience of army life. (Special to the Israel HighWay)

[See more on Armand Volkas in the October 26, 2003 Israel Campus Beat].

Children of Emigres Join IDF in Record Numbers by Hanan Greenberg

A steep increase has been recorded this year in the number of youths returning to Israel to enlist in the IDF after their families emigrated from Israel years earlier. In the 1990s, roughly 30 youths agreed to come back to Israel each year to serve voluntarily, but this year the number soared to over 150.

"They’re giving up the newest Jeep model their parents are willing to buy them and are coming to Israel to join the army," Colonel Zeev Sharoni from the Education Corps said of the unexpected success story.

Although the IDF has experienced a drop in enlistment numbers lately, dozens more are arriving from the United States, Canada and England to join the army. For decades only a handful of adolescents agreed to leave their new homes abroad to navigate the Negev under the blazing sun, but the last two years have witnessed a significant turnaround. For the first time ever, in 2006 the IDF is expecting a three-digit number of youths returning for the draft.

In May, Col. Sharoni is slated to give a seminar tour on the U.S.’s east coast, Canada and England to educate potential soldiers. Meanwhile, some 150 adolescents are waiting to land in Israel this summer to enlist. "These are youths between the ages of 18 to 26, most of them are straight out of high school, a few have their Bachelor’s degrees. Most of them were born in Israel and left with their parents at a young age. They are not obligated to join up, and so each one is doing so out of a true desire to contribute to the country," Col. Sharoni explained. (Ynet News)

Trip to Israel a Journey of Awakening by Christine Armario

It was on the last day of their trip to Israel that Asad Baig and Naanyaal Khan were given an orange the size of a soccer ball from complete strangers they had briefly befriended. Short on time to eat it, and unable to take it through customs, the two Muslims from the Islamic Center of Long Island gave it to their Jewish tour guide and security guard.

"This is a gift from the Palestinians, from me to you," Khan, 16, told them. The conciliatory gesture was one of many displayed by Baig, Khan and 14 other Long Island teens of Islamic, Jewish and Catholic faiths who made a trip to visit the holy sites of Israel last month. The Muslim students shared their experiences yesterday at the Islamic Center in Westbury.

"There was a sense of disbelief," said Dr. Faroque Khan, chairman of the Islamic Center of Long Island board, who accompanied the teens on the weeklong trip. Traveling through a region rife with religious conflict, Faroque Khan said it was "almost like a revelation" for people to see students of different faiths together. "Their separation is so great," he said.

The trip, sponsored by Custom Tours and Events of Merrick, will result in "Acceptance Through Understanding," a documentary from the tour company. Students went to sites like the Golan Heights, where they prayed at sunset, and Jerusalem, where the Catholic students walked through the Stations of the Cross. In addition to the Islamic Center, the students came from the Kings Park Jewish Center and Kellenberg Memorial and Chaminade high schools.

"Learning more about Christianity and Islam, I learned more about Judaism," said Sadi Pincus, 16, of Dix Hills, one of the Jewish students on the trip. "By the end, we all felt very close and a lot like family."

Dawn Azrak of Custom Tours described the Muslim and Jewish students comforting the Catholic students after they walked the Stations of the Cross. The teens said visiting Israel gave them a greater understanding about their faiths' commonalities, breaking barriers and challenging others. (NY Newsday)

Fit for a Queen - An Interview with Natalie Portman
by Abigail Pogrebin

I ask her where she feels more herself as a Jew - in Israel or in America. "It's hard, because I was raised in the Long Island atmosphere, but I admire the Israeli atmosphere. So I'm in this strange middle ground."

At Harvard, she took a seminar in Israeli literature, and she briefly engaged the Israeli-Palestinian controversy on campus. In the spring of 2003, when a law student named Faisal Chaudhry wrote a column in the Harvard Crimson about the racism of Israelis, titled "An Ideology of Oppression," Portman shot off a letter to the editor. "I was reading my student newspaper and the fact that they published something that was such propaganda really upset me and I wrote back. But it ended up bringing more attention to this guy's story than it got initially, so I was angry. I learned my lesson. I helped him get into the Washington Post - they gave him a lot more voice than he was due. I'm sure he's a very intelligent and good person, but I think a lot of people don't know what they're necessarily talking about."

I ask if she's felt pressure, since she graduated, to use her celebrity on behalf of Israeli causes. "I'm very comfortable with that," she says, "and I'm currently exploring ways to help because I love my country." She's recently become more protective of Israel, in part because people around her have become more impatient with it. "I have a very close friend who lately has this European, anti-Israel way of thinking, and it's very hard for me to have conversations with him. He says, 'Can't you be self-critical?' But it's hard to be publicly critical. It has to be done in a very delicate, well-thought-out manner. These issues come up at parties and dinners with people who don't know a lot, and as someone who was born in Israel, you're put in a position of defending Israel because you know how much is at stake. It's become a much bigger part of my identity in recent years because it's become an issue of survival." (Hillel)

See also: Portman Researched Grandparents' Holocaust Woes

Natalie Portman prepared for her torture scenes in V FOR VENDETTA by thinking about the suffering her grandparents endured during the Holocaust. The 24-year-old Israeli-born beauty researched her relatives' experiences online in order to be in the right frame of mind when shooting the harrowing sequences. She says, "Fortunately my grandparents escaped, but their whole family perished in the Holocaust. There were stories in the house of what had happened to them and it wasn't that much talked about. I had to go on a website to read my grandfather's descriptions of what happened to the family, but it is absolutely something I have lived with and have grown up with." (Contact Music)

Israeli Boxer Wins Title by Frankie Sachs

Roman Greenberg scored a technical knockout of Russian Alex Vassilev in Monte Carlo on Saturday night for the vacant International Boxing Organization Intercontinental heavyweight title. The 23-year-old Greenberg's (22-0, 15 KOs) stock now rises in the heavyweight ranks. The plan for Greenberg now is a fight against a legitimate world title contender. [Editor's note: Greenberg was born in Russia, raised in Israel and trained in England.] (Jerusalem Post)

See Also: Israeli Female Superfly Boxer

Israeli female superfly Hagar Shmoulefeld takes on Bulgarian Svetla Taskova March 25 in Tel Aviv for the WIBF I/C and WIBA European titles. There are about 15 active boxing pros in Israel at the moment. (East Side Boxing)

Israel Chooses Eurovision Song Contest Rep by Or Barnea

Eddie Butler has been chosen to represent Israel at the annual Eurovision song contest to be held in Athens, Greece, on May 20th.

"I've always known that God loves those that love him," Butler said in response. "I did not serve in the IDF and now I have the opportunity to pay back the country which I love so much.

Butler was born in Israel to American parents who came for a visit from Chicago but decided to stay in Dimona. At age 19, Butler decided to leave Dimona for Tel Aviv and began performing in different spots. Eventually he and brother Gabriel formed "Eden", with two other friends. The band broke up in 2001, and a year ago, Butler embarked on a solo career. (Ynet News)

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by James Taranto

The New York Sun reports on a paper, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" by Stephen Walt of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, about the allegedly far-reaching influence of an "Israel lobby." White supremacist David Duke, a one-time Ku Klux Klan leader, called the paper "a great step forward." The "working paper" claims a network of journalists, think tanks, lobbyists, and largely Jewish officials have seized the foreign policy debate and manipulated America to invade Iraq. Included in this network, the authors say, are the editors of the New York Times, the scholars at the Brookings Institution, "pro-Israel" senior officials in the executive branch, and "neoconservative gentiles" including columnist George Will.

Walt and Mearsheimer's method of analysis presumes Israel's guilt. Every past or present Israeli transgression is evidence of its wickedness, whereas Arab ones, if they are acknowledged at all, are "understandable." This approach is anti-Semitic in effect if not in intent. It is telling that David Duke finds their ideas congenial. (Wall Street Journal)

For additional response to Walt and Mearsheimer see left column.

The Environment and Israel's Politics by Michael M. Cohen

Many Israelis are focused on the March 28 elections, but one wonders how aware they are that in the campaign itself environmental issues have largely been ignored. "None of the candidates at the head of the major parties has made a reasoned and professional announcement on environmental matters," says Alona Sheafer-Karo, director of the environmental umbrella organization Life & Environment.

Such a state of affairs is appalling. For too long the Jewish value of caring for the environment has, when it comes to the Land of Israel, been put on the back burner as we wait for the conflict between Israel and her neighbors to finish. This is the reason for the formation of the Green Zionist Alliance. We can no longer afford to allow environmental concerns to be lost in the shuffle of the other important issues.

Paraphrasing the Zionist philosopher Ahad Ha'am, one might say, "More than the Jews have kept the Land of Israel, the Land of Israel has kept the Jews."

One of our most important decisions, made at the moment we were expelled from the land, was to keep our connection to the land strong. The Romans knew this when, hoping to sever that connection, they changed the name of the land from Israel to Palestine.

We made the connection strong by making it tangible, real and full of meaning.

The writer, a rabbi, is co-founder of the Green Zionist Alliance. www.greenzionism.org (Jerusalem Post)

Only One Real Choice by Netanel Weinstein

The Likud, and especially chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, is the only party which presents a complete, rational political thesis. Anyone who doubts this should have a quick look at Netanyahu's 1992 book "A Place Amongst the Nations." There, Netanyahu not only displays a deep knowledge of politics, but unlike his left-wing colleagues, he is unwilling to overlook speeches by Arab politicians in Arabic.

While Israel was under the euphoric spell of the Oslo process and tried hard to believe that Yasser Arafat had in fact embraced peace, Netanyahu warned that it was all a lie. And he points out that Arab hatred of Jews began long before 1967, and long before 1948. In 1929, Hebron Arabs conducted a pogrom against their Jewish neighbors, killing dozens.

Many on the left object to Bibi's "prophecies of doom," but the unfortunate reality is that his predictions have consistently been on target. In 1993 he warned that Islamic terror would reach the capitals of Europe, America and New York if the west continued its policy of appeasing terror, and a decade later he was proven right – in New York, Washington, Madrid and London.

Netanyahu rightly claims that Israel, as the region's only representative of peace, justice and morality, is in the midst of a war that it was forced into against evil. He understands the enemy and why it is currently dangerous and immoral to give the Palestinians a state, or strategically important land.

Netanel Weinstein is a senior at Himmelfarb Torah High School for Boys in Jerusalem. (Ynet News)

How I Learned to Love the Wall by Irshad Manji

The phrase "apartheid wall" is spewed on almost every university campus I visit in North America and Europe. This barrier, although built by Mr. Sharon, was birthed by "shaheeds," suicide bombers whom Palestinian leaders have glorified as martyrs. Qassam missiles can kill two or three people at a time. Suicide bombers lay waste to many more. Since the barrier went up, suicide attacks have plunged, which means innocent Arab lives have been spared along with Jewish ones. Does a concrete effort to save civilian lives justify the hardship posed by this structure? The humanitarian in me bristles, but ultimately answers yes.

Israel's intent is not to keep Palestinians "in" so much as to keep suicide bombers "out." Before the barrier, there was the bomber. The barrier can be dismantled, but the bomber's victims are gone forever. Young Muslims, especially those privileged with a good education, cannot walk away from these questions.

Irshad Manji, a fellow at Yale, is the author of "The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith." (New York Times)

Sounds Reasonable, But No One Believes It

The Hamas demands may sound reasonable to some, but not to Israeli, American, and European diplomats and experts who continue to see Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Meshaal is known for his extremely hardline opinions and absolutely refuses to recognize Israel. In fact, Meshaal said that Hamas' only interest is to destroy Israel. Speaking last week at a memorial gathering for a deceased Palestinian politician, Meshaal said, "Being in power is only a means to an end for Hamas, power is not our ultimate goal."

The Hamas leader reiterated his belligerent stance: "We and the Zionists have a date with destiny. If they want a fight, we are ready for it. If they want a war, we are the sons of war. If they want a struggle, we are for it to the end," Meshaal declared. "We have more stamina than Israel and we will defeat it, God willing."

Analysts point to other terrorist organizations, such as the Islamic Jihad or Fatah, taking over for Hamas' terrorists while the new Palestinian leaders take a breather from the active terror campaign. On Tuesday a suicide bomber from Islamic Jihad was intercepted by Israeli security forces on the way to Tel Aviv. Click to see video news account.

The international community has set three criteria for Hamas before it can receive recognition and help. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on behalf of the Middle East Quartet, creator of the "Road Map" for the peace process, has made three demands of Hamas: recognize Israel, observe all international agreements signed by the previous Palestinian leadership, and end violence against Israel. Meshaal and many Hamas leaders have repeatedly stated that Hamas will do none of the above.

Emergency Funding Continues

The European Union (EU) recently signed a deal with the United Nations granting $78 million in urgent aid for Palestinians. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner signed the emergency aid which is designated for education, health, and social services for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

But even the EU aid is not likely to continue once Hamas is officially in power. The emergence of an Islamic Hamas government may jeopardize up to 80 percent of the EU's $609 million annual aid for Palestinians once they are led by a group that is sworn to destroy Israel, EU officials say. There is a worry amongst many in the West that Palestinians may look to countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. Just last month Iran transferred $1.8 million to the Islamic Jihad, Israel's Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz revealed this week. The fear is that being financially dependent on these nations will further radicalize Palestinian positions.

Is a Hamas Government on Its Way?

A Hamas-led Palestinian government became more of a reality this week as a cabinet was presented to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas by Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh. The cabinet list consisted solely of Hamas members. The new lineup includes five professors from an-Najah University in Nablus and a number of independent academics closely associated with the Islamic movement.

The post of foreign minister is second in importance to that of prime minister. After all, he (Hamas is unlikely to ever appoint a woman to the post) is the face and voice of the Palestinian government to the world. Mahmoud Zahar is the Hamas candidate for the post. He is "adamantly opposed to any softening of Hamas' position that Israel should be destroyed," one newspaper reported this week. "Zahar is known for his fiery rhetoric and vocal support for the organization's use of suicide bombings. Zahar has long said that all of historical Palestine is holy to Islam and must be liberated," the paper continued. "From Israel's point of view, Zahar as foreign minister is simply a symbol of what Israel faces with Hamas at the helm."

Fatah, the group founded by Yasser Arafat that led the Palestinians for 40 years, did not join the new cabinet because it is unhappy with the coalition guidelines, explaining that it cannot join a government that does not accept the "strategic" principle of negotiating with Israel. Other factions in the PA that refused to join the coalition did not insist on negotiations, but wanted the basic principles to mention the Palestine Liberation Organization and its status as the representative of the Palestinian people, as well as the international decisions regarding a resolution of the conflict and the establishment of a Palestinian state. (The Israel HighWay)

Additional information

Where to Draw the Line, by Ze'ev Schiff, Ha'aretz

The Hamas Charter

With Hamas Victory, a Changed Middle East, by Steven Erlanger, International Herald Tribune

FYI: Hamas in Power, Israel Foreign Ministry

Hamas Unlikely to Moderate, interview with Matthew Levitt by Bernard Gwertzman, Council on Foreign Relations