Seven Weeks in the Jewish State (Part 2) – Caring for the Other

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/seven-weeks-jewish-state-part-2-%E2%80%93-caring-other

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/5515

This is the second part of my review of Israel’s achievements during the seven weeks I was absent from the blog scene.  If you missed the first part - medical treatments - you can view it here.  The recent Jewish festival of Shavuot (Pentacost) showed us the proper way to treat those less fortunate than us.  There were many examples of that principle in the Israeli news during those seven weeks.

The Palestinian Arab leadership has not won many friends in Israel, but when individual Palestinian Arabs need medical help, Israelis come running.  That’s just what 2nd Lt. Ben Tzanani and his IDF medical team did when they rushed to save a one-month old baby from the village of Beitin near Ramallah.  The baby began to choke whilst her sister was playing with her.  Afterwards many Beitin villagers phoned the division headquarters to express their gratitude. 

Doctors from “Save A Child’s Heart” have treated over 1500 children from the Palestinian Authority, Gaza and neighboring Arab countries at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.  Supporting Jerusalem-based Christian organization Shevet Achim recently wrote in detail about how much effort Israeli doctors and medical staff exerted to keep one Iraqi baby alive.  In total SACH doctors have repaired the hearts of over 3300 children from over 45 developing countries since SACH was founded in 1995.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOD9q5R4S-4

Every week Israeli hospitals receive and treat Syrians who have been injured in the never-ending Civil War that has killed over 150,000 men, women and children.  In just one example, two severely wounded Syrians were transported to Israel and have been hospitalized in the Ziv Medical Center’s trauma unit in the city of Tzfat.  Saving Syrian lives won IDF paramedic Noga Erez the President’s Award for Excellence for her outstanding service.  What other nation would give one of their highest honors to someone who saves the lives of people from a country still technically at war with it?  Back on the border with Syria, CNN’s Nic Robertson reported on the work of Israeli doctors in the IDF field hospital on the Golan Heights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khvi3P-74YY

In yet another conflict area, Israel rescued several Ukrainians wounded in civil protests.  But the high-profile case was that of Gennady Kernes, the Jewish mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv who was shot and critically injured.  After being airlifted to Israel, he eventually regained consciousness in Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center having undergone two major operations in Israel to treat the damage to his lungs, stomach, liver and spine.

You might think that Israeli doctors would be busy enough, yet Israel's chief pathologist, Dr. Chen Kugel, head of Israel's Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine, somehow found time to advise medical students at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Slovakia on dealing with terror victims.  Meanwhile, despite some unnecessarily nasty comments by the Turkish Prime Minister, Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom offered assistance to the Turkish Red Crescent immediately after the explosion and fire in a coalmine in the town of Soma that killed more than 200 people.

I want to leave the medical arena briefly to highlight some amazing Israelis whom even the Jewish State’s doctors cannot (currently) restore to full strength.  Firstly, Zohar Sharon, who won the ISPS HANDA World Blind Golf Championship title for a fourth consecutive time.  Sharon lost his sight during his army service.  And there can hardly be a dry eye in the house for anyone watching this video of some very special teenagers.  For those that really want to serve their country, the Jewish State leaves no stone unturned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZC42c8lMqg&feature=youtu..be

Finally we return again to the subject of medicine.  Israel’s Dr. Rania Okby is excellent at her job as a specialist in maternal fetal medicine.  But her true claim to fame is that she is the first female Arab Bedouin doctor in the world.  And some people call Israel an Apartheid State!!

Israel - There is an “other” side to it.

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

Where was the Apartheid State in 2013?

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/where-was-apartheid-state-2013

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/5124

“And if you think that's Apartheid it's because… You don't know what Apartheid really was”.  (From “Israel Apartheid” by Ari Lesser)

My journey through the news reports of 2013 has now reached the subject of Israel’s treatment of its largest minorities - specifically, Moslem Arabs (including Bedouins), Christians and Druze.  (Those who missed last week’s “The Israeli Occupation in 2013” can still read it here.)

As usual, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) idiots have got it totally wrong when they accuse Israel of being an “apartheid” state.  There is no segregation of Israel’s Jews, Arabs and Druze in the manner of South Africa under apartheid. The following news stories from 2013 show that Israel gives its minorities equal status in all areas of society.

When reporting medical stories involving Israeli-Arabs I frequently feature Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center.  A high proportion of Muslim women refuse to undergo prenatal testing for deformities, so Rambam surgeons often have to perform operations such as on two 14 year-old twins each with a cleft palate and nose, and fused fingers. Also at Rambam in June, Israeli-Arab Mohammed Eckert received a kidney from the son of Israeli-Jew David Ben-Yair whilst simultaneously David received a kidney from Mohammed’s wife.  "We bonded both physically and mentally," said David. "Here, in our country, and in the world at large, we have to realize that we have the power to save people, all people."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahu_as7yub8

Congenital heart defects are also common among the Israeli-Arab population.  At 28, Balal Kalash from Kfar Qara had undergone several cardiac operations at Schneider Children's Medical Center until in June he became the hospital’s oldest pediatric heart transplant patient.  And only in Israel could researchers have uncovered an Arab genetic disease.  The rare bone marrow mutation “congenital neutrophil defect syndrome” affected five Arabs at Sheba Hospital and two Moroccan Arabs in Munich.  Israeli doctors are now working on a potential treatment.

There was no discrimination in April when Muslim cardiologist Dr. Aziz Darawshe was promoted to become director of the emergency department at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, and chairman of the Israel Society for Urgent Medicine.  Dr Darawshe would therefore have been impressed in October by the way Doctors at Israel’s Hadera hospital carefully extracted a 3.5cm hatpin that was accidentally swallowed by a 16-year-old Israeli-Arab girl from Baka al-Gharbiya.

Israel’s universities are a shining example of Israel’s integration of its minorities.  Last year, the top student at Israel’s Technion was a Moslem Israeli woman.  Mais Ali-Saleh graduated first in her medical school class and is now an obstetrician-gynecologist at Carmel Medical Center in Haifa. 

In February we heard about the commercial plans for the diagnostic breath test for cancer invented by Technion’s Israeli-Arab Professor Hossam Haick.  In April, the normally anti-Israel New York Times published a positive feature on the Technion, highlighting its 20% Arab student composition.  It is also well worth reading Vivian Hamui's account of life with fellow students who include Ethiopians, Russians, Chinese, Dutch, Venezuelans and (of course) Arabs.

Israel certainly doesn’t rest on its (Nobel) laurels.  In 2013:

-         The Hebrew University started a program for students from minority backgrounds

-         The Israeli Ministry of Education founded the "Peace University" in Nazareth

-         Israel’s Higher Education Council launched a new $82 million, six-year program for Arabs.

-         Channel 2 TV featured Ashraf Brik - Israel’s first Arab Chemistry Professor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im6kGkaUw9I&feature=youtu.be

These are some of the Jewish State’s initiatives in 2013 to improve the economic prospects of Israeli minorities:

-         January’s R&D conference for the Arab community, sponsored by Israel’s Ministry of Science

-         February’s inauguration of the Bedouin eco-village of Hura

-         March’s export by Golan Druze of 18,000 tons of apples to Syria.

-         The annual free distribution of fir trees by the municipality to Christian residents of Jerusalem.

-         The new Nazareth industrial park promoting economic cooperation between all religious groups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V5cBo9pfpM

In entertainment, 19-year-old Israeli-Arab Lina Mahoul won the TV song contest “The Voice Israel” singing Leonard Cohen’s “Halleluyah”.  In sport, Israel’s European Under-21 Soccer Championship squad contained Jews, Arabs, Druze and Ethiopians, as you can see in this video

There may be a way to convince the BDS mob that Israel is not an Apartheid state, but they would have to read and listen to what ordinary Israeli Arabs said themselves in 2013.  People such as:

-         Abdol Abugosh - “I’m proud to be Arab and Israeli.”

-         Anett Haskia, whose goal is to replace deceitful Arab representatives in Israel’s parliament.

-         Some of the majority of Bedouin who supported Israel’s plans to improve life in the Negev.

Or the thousands of Israel’s minorities that in 2013 were proud to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. 

Such as:

-         Samir – a Muslim Arab who was born in Syria but now lives in Israel.

-         Sgt René Elhozayel - an Arab Bedouin medic with 5,600 relatives who nearly all join the IDF.

-         Master Sgt. Marzuk Suaed who actively goes round recruiting fellow Bedouins.

-         Bedouin Lieutenant Colonel Magdi Mazarib, who was featured in Al Arabiya.

-         New recruit Muhammad Atrash and his brother Milad who is training to be an officer.

-         Colonel Ghassan Alian, the first Druze to serve as the chief of the elite Golani Brigade.

-         And especially Bedouin Ahmed Inaim who enlisted despite losing one brother in service and another who was wounded in the raid in which terrorists captured Gilad Shalit.  Please watch his video here.

To conclude, here is the full video of Ari Lesser’s “Israel Apartheid” to enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsOH2Y_CZE0

Finally, here is an example of how crazy the BDS squad really is.  When Larry Rich, from Israel’s Emek Hospital, spoke in the Scottish Parliament about Israel’s equal treatment of its patients and medical staff, a BDS member launched into a long verbal attack on the Jewish State.  Just before he sat down, he had the gall to ask for Israel’s help in treating someone with a serious medical condition.

Apartheid State?  What on earth are they talking about!

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

The Magic Touch

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/magic-touch

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/4664

There are occasions when I think that the international media must possess a device comparable to Harry Potter’s “cloak of invisibility”. It hides Israel’s achievements so skillfully that most of the inhabitants of this planet must be under the illusion that some unseen magician is responsible for half of the world’s innovations. Well the aim of my blogs is to expose the media’s sorcery and reveal what’s really going on.

Israeli doctors definitely have a magic touch.  How else can they perform such delicate operations?  Like the two three-hour operations reconstructing the faces of twin 14-year-old Muslim boys at Haifa’s Ramban hospital. A genetic defect caused their cleft palate and nose, and fused fingers. Meanwhile, the Jewish State is the country of choice for Syrian doctors to send the wounded from their own civil war.  The latest Syrian casualties to be taken to Israeli hospitals included a 16-year-old boy suffering from gunshot wounds, a 13 year-old girl and two boys aged nine and fifteen. Even the normally anti-Israel Lebanese Daily Star is reporting the phenomena. In total, Israel has now treated over 100 Syrians.

There was a touching encounter recently when 10-year-old Yakub Ivachisad, the Palestinian Arab boy who received one of the kidneys from deceased Israeli boy Noam Naor, was visited in Schneider Children's hospital by Noam’s parents.  I was also particularly touched to read about a typical day for Israeli Diana Bletter, interacting with Muslims, Christians, Druze, Ethiopian Jews and a Baha'i woman.

I may now be touching a nerve with some people, by mentioning “dental implants”. Israel’s RegeneCure has developed a safe bone augmentation system using an innovative synthetic membrane. Alternative animal-tissue-derived products can be contaminated.  Additionally, RegeneCure’s membrane degrades slowly, giving the natural bone more time to regenerate.   The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is applying a lighter touch in its  medical research for children.  It will establish a center focusing on incurable genetic diseases, building new models for testing drugs for children and synthesizing new molecules suitable for them.

As I stated in my introduction, my aim is for the world to see Israel in a new light.  They would, if they have been touched by Eye from Zion, an Israeli organization that provides free ocular medical treatment to needy populations around the world. Photographer Vardi Kahana has documented some of those whose eyesight has been restored in a new photographic series entitled “Field of Vision”.  Another Israeli humanitarian organization is MASHAV (Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation) which is working with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in South Sudan and alleviating the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa. The Executive Director of WFP has just visited Israel for the first time, to touch base with MASHAV leaders.  In contrast, Arab leaders were completely out of touch when they failed in their bid to block Israel from leading the UN Entrepreneurship for Development Debate.  They couldn’t touch Israel as it showcased its agriculture, solar energy and medical equipment to developing countries.

I will now touch on a few of the latest Israeli innovations in the hi-tech arena.  When discussing a touchy medical subject with a new doctor, you no longer need to worry that he / she hasn’t got access to your records.  One touch of your smartphone and Israeli-developed Hello Doctor will retrieve everything you need.  Israeli startup Architip has an app that will touch up the image of any archaeological feature you are looking at.  Point your smartphone at the ruin and Architip will display how the site used to look.  It will come in handy when viewing the latest discoveries in Jerusalem that prove Jewish connections stretching back at least two millennia.  Finally, Israel’s N-trig has announced that its DuoSense touchpad controller provides a single sensor for both pen and touch to Sony’s VAIO® Duo 13 Ultrabook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NLddTnKqBrQ

Israeli start-ups are a soft touch when it comes to good causes.  Israel’s OurCrowd is the first Venture Capital Funding Organization to insist that its portfolio companies donate a portion of equity to a charitable foundation.  Start-ups allocate shares to the non-profit Tmura.  If the start-up is taken-over, Tmura gives 90% of the share value to charitable projects.

We’ll be touching down this week with a few atmospheric news items. With tourist numbers touching record levels, Israeli Yaniv Emanuel, flew the world’s longest commercial plane – the new Boeing 747-8 into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.  One of Israel’s first-time visitors was Dr. Qanta Ahmed who saw the country ‘as God sees it.’ The Muslim physician, and daughter of Pakistani immigrants to the US, was smitten by its magical natural beauty, history and modern achievements that came into vivid focus on a helicopter tour of the Jewish State.

Finally, Israel’s newest pilots now include 21-year-old Lt B who made Aliya from New Jersey in 2009.  For many years the Jewish State has worked its magic on the high flier, who said, "I knew from a young age that Israel was an amazing country, and that I was destined to fall in love with it."

Magic!

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

At the Dawn of a New Age

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/dawn-new-age

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/4460

As we leave behind the celebrations of Israel’s independence, it is important not only to look back at what Israel has achieved in the past, but also at what Israel is doing right now!  Both indicators show that the Jewish State is leading mankind into a future that is vastly different both medically and technically from our current environment.

The world we are beginning to see is one where humans no longer suffer from dementia.  The research by Professor Michal Schwartz and her team at the Weizmann Institute highlights the changes in the brains of the elderly that prevent immune cells traveling to repair brain trauma. It opens up the possibility of new treatments to prevent brain degeneration.  Similarly, Parkinson’s will be cured – maybe using the sugar substitute mannitol that researchers from Tel Aviv University found to protect the brain against the disease. 

The “Big C” will one day be a thing of the past, thanks to specialists like Israel’s Professor Alexander Levitzki of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  The American Association for Cancer Research has just awarded him its 2013 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research. Other problems with the immune system will be resolved.  Professor Rifaat Safadi’s team from Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem has already identified the way the system’s Neuroliglin 4 protein can either fight fatty liver disease or exacerbate it. 

Whilst on the subject of medicine, Israel’s Teva is the world’s largest producer of generic medications.  In the US, one in six prescriptions are for Teva products. CEO Jeremy Levin recently stated, "We are an Israeli company, and we will remain an Israeli company. At our Ashdod plant, whilst people (in Gaza) fire rockets, we make medicines.”

In the new golden age, no one would dream of accusing Israel of being an apartheid state.  Everyone will know how Israel’s hospitals employ Arab Muslims alongside Jews at all staff levels.  For example, 57-year-old cardiologist Dr. Aziz Darawshe from the Arab village of Iksal, near Nazareth is the new director of the emergency department at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, and chairman of the Israel Society for Urgent Medicine.  Everyone will hear that Israeli hospitals treat thousands of Palestinian Arab children every year.  Like siblings Ahmad and Hadil Hamdan from Gaza, who both suffer from chronic kidney disease and receive dialysis treatment at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel.  Now just sit back and enjoy some beautiful images of Israel’s diverse population and cultures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=269ajfksUQM

Israel is the world’s third most innovative country, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology survey of 61 experts from 20 countries.  Israel’s agricultural technology is starting to eliminate hunger in Africa, India and China.  The latest innovations include a low-cost robot milking machine from Israeli start-up MiRobot, which is marketed as “the greatest thing to happen in dairy farming in 100 years”.  MiRobot is embarking on a road show of the US with four other Israeli agri-tech start-ups including SolChip (solar powered livestock tracking sensors) and EdenShield (natural herbs to prevent insect infestation of plants).

Storage of electricity will soon become far more efficient than at present.  Two Israeli companies are at the forefront of this technology.  First, Tel Aviv’s Enstorage has produced the first ever Hydrogen-Bromine flow battery to be connected to the national grid. It is the cheapest, smallest and most powerful flow battery on the market.  The second company, Phinergy, impressed US President Obama with its evolutionary aluminum-air battery.  It can power an electric vehicle for up to 1,000 miles (1600 km) before needing a recharge – three times longer than any competitor.

There will be no drought or water shortages in tomorrow’s world.  Israel - the world’s most efficient user of water - invested NIS 3 billion in water infrastructures in 2012.  Israel is marketing its desalination and recycling facilities across the world.  Israel will also be an economic powerhouse.  Already its currency is the strongest in the world.  Of the 31 currencies monitored by Bloomberg, Israel’s shekel had the best performance in the first three months of 2013.  Reasons include Israel's stable growth and anticipation of the favorable economic impact of new natural gas flowing from the Tamar field.

But financial strength and technological advances alone are not enough.  “What the world needs now is love” and the composer of that song, Burt Bacharach, is coming to the Jewish State in July to perform some of his 70 top 40 hits.  We all should “Say a little prayer” and maybe we will receive a few “Magic Moments” to inspire us towards a better future.  Meanwhile our homegrown vocal group “The Fountainheads” has used the translation of the title of our National Anthem (Hatikvah) to energetically express this “Hope”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsE1cAKM4Yc&feature=player_embedded

Finally, to celebrate Israel’s 65^th Independence Day, here is Israel21c’s list of the top 65 solutions that Israel has provided to some of the world’s most pressing problems.  Plus 65 things we love about Israel in 65 seconds.  See how many you agree with. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6U5GC_OtR4&feature=youtu.be

From my blogs, you can probably find about 65,000 more! 

Enjoy the Sunrise.

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

Israel Sets the Pulses Racing

Israel Sets the Pulses Racing

27/2/13

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/israel-sets-pulses-racing

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/4323

Life in the Jewish State is never boring, and the activities of Israeli politicians can sometimes raise stress levels significantly. But if you look beyond an all too frequent selection of sensationalist negative news reports, an exciting and pulsating picture of Israel’s achievements is revealed.

Israel’s goal as far as cancer is concerned is to discover treatments that can maintain the pulse of the sufferer indefinitely.  A team of 11 scientists from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot has found a combination of two antibodies to attack aggressive breast cancer tumors, causing them to collapse and die.  Another group of Weizmann Institute scientists has developed a microscopic device that is injected into your body to search for genetic malfunctions in your cells.  If it finds any, it emits a pulse of green light to highlight the diagnosis. The scientists are now working on upgrading it to destroy the cancerous cells.

As blood pulses around the body, it carries many vital biological organisms.  Weizmann Institute graduate Prof Jonathan Kipnis has discovered that the immune system’s T-cells not only fight infections but they also govern intelligence.  And another group of Weizmann scientists has discovered a pseudo-education system in the colon.  Newly arrived monocytes are taught how to maintain a healthy balance in the gut by resident immune cells. But if you get an infection or eat the wrong food, the new pupils run wild!  Finally, your pulse may have started racing when you first met your life partner, but Bar-Ilan University’s Psychology Professor Ruth Feldman found that the blood hormone oxytocin is a major factor in keeping couples together.

The PA propaganda machine never fails to rush to accuse Israel of all sorts of false crimes.  But the reality is that IDF medics race to save the lives of Arabs wherever called upon.  As in the case of the Palestinian Arab motorcyclist who suffered severe abdominal bleeding in a crash with a mini-bus near Shechem / Nablus.  Or the seven Syrians wounded in battles between Syrian army forces and rebels near the border with Israel.  Even a terrorist with the blood of 21 Israelis on his hands.  And the hope for the future is with Palestinian Arabs such as those working for SodaStream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl85AL1l0H0

Israel’s clean technology is racing ahead of the competition.  Israel’s Atlantium is using pulses of ultra-violet light to purify water. It renders germs harmless without damaging equipment or generating high levels of ozone.  Meanwhile South America and India are going Blue thanks to Israel’s Blue I Technologies’ advanced water controllers and analyzers. Israel is able to turn the arid wastes of the Negev desert into fertile soil for agriculture.  Or as Israeli President Shimon Peres said in the latest KKL-JNF video “Israel is contrary to nature”. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK0nEV5dWBA&list=SPE2E17062DDBAC026

We return to fizzing SodaStream, which was voted Israel’s most innovative company just before Samsung announced that its Four Door Refrigerator would incorporate a built-in SodaStream carbonated water dispenser.  Users will be able to select up to three levels of carbonation for their sparkling water. To quote a Samsung VP, “it brings a new experience to the kitchen”.  For those who like a stronger beverage, however, Gush Etzion residents from Scotland and the United States have teamed up to create Lone Tree Brewery, which works to make “the best beer possible.” 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HA_d8TZOIZE

Positive messages about Israel were racing across the Internet following the visit to the Jewish State by six Serbian bloggers.  “If we could, we would stay in Tel Aviv forever”, they posted.  “The people are wonderful, the food is outstanding, the views are splendid, the soldiers walk around with big guns and huge smiles and they are much nicer than our civil servants."  Everyone can get a buzz by supporting Israel during Buy Israel Week.

Finally, immense feelings of elation accompanied a recent edition of the BBC’s longest-running radio show “Desert Island Discs”. Non-Jewish Zionist writer Julie Burchill was invited to play the eight records she would most like to listen to on a desert island.  She chose “Hebrew Man” by Israel’s Ehud Banai and the theme song from the movie “Exodus”.  But I gave her a standing ovation when her top choice of the Israeli National Anthem “Hatikvah” radiated over the airways.

Come back next week, to keep your finger on the pulse.

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

I Cannot Explain It

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/i-cannot-explain-it