Israel Keeps on Building
26/12/12
Here is an alternative strategy to use when
responding to those criticizing Israel’s plans to build houses in its capital
city. Change the conversation. Describe some of the many construction
projects that Israel is working on in the fields of education, technology,
humanitarian aid, medicine, interfaith relations, the environment and
commerce. Here are some examples from
the “real news” of Israel’s recent building achievements.
Israel is the only country in the
Middle East working to build a better future for all nations. Daniel Carmon, head of Israel’s Agency for
International Development has just signed a foreign
aid agreement with Canada’s International Co-operation Minister in
Ottawa. Carmon said, “We have
obligations as developed countries ... to not sit idle and see people in the
developing world suffer or not get the education or the health or the most basic
human rights and other rights that every human being should receive”. Spend eight minutes to see what sixteen
Israeli technology companies have been building by watching this
new video of some of the products displayed at Israel Agritech 2012.
Recent international projects include
Israel’s Galilee International Management Institute, which has been building
policies for the Kenyan Central Bank and training students from the Kenya
School of Monetary Studies. Kenya asked
the World Bank for help and they
called in the Israelis. Another
role model is Professor Shimon Benita, director of the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem School of Pharmacy, who has just received the “Knight in the National
Order of Merit of France” for his scientific achievements and success in building
close ties with French research.
The key to building a better world is
education, and Israeli companies have built many world-renowned educational
systems. The latest is an intelligent
learning platform from Israel’s Mindojo. Its artificial intelligence allows
individuals or companies to create an online course that will automatically adapt
to each student’s needs and learning style. Dr. Zohar Komargodski has certainly built on his educational
qualifications from Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute. The Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation has
just awarded him the New
Horizons in Physics Prize for his Quantum theories proofs.
The Jewish State is constantly rebuilding
lives thanks to its advanced medical innovations. For the first time in 10 years, Canadian Tony Lightfoot’s
uncontrollable tremors stopped. It
followed four hours of non-invasive
treatment on his brain, using focused ultrasound from Israel’s
InSightec. Tony is the fifth patient at
Toronto’s Western Hospital to have the life-changing Israeli treatment. Surgeons across the world now have a vital
aid for stopping
problematic bleeding during surgery now that the US Food and Drugs
Administration has given approval for the Evarrest biological sealant developed
in Israel by Omrix Biopharmaceuticals.
Even Israel’s soldiers are rebuilding
lives. In common with seventy percent of
Israelis who are drafted into the IDF, Sgt Idan Ducach gave a blood
sample to Israeli charity Ezer Mizion when he enlisted. Later he was told he was a bone marrow match
for Alex – a young American boy. Idan donated
his bone marrow and one year later met a very healthy Alex in New
York. In contrast, the Palestinian
Authority refuses to pay for medical treatment on its own children. So in order to save the life of a two-year
old Palestinian Arab boy, Israel’s Civil Administration for the Territories funded his bone marrow
transplant at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
Bone marrow - Wiki Commons
Two Israeli companies are building more
efficient environments in North America.
Winnipeg businessmen Michel Aziza and Hans Peper have set-up the North
American headquarters of Israel’s Traffilog. Traffilog’s
on-board systems provide real-time feedback to the driver and to the
fleet operator on driver safety, fuel consumption, vehicle performance, and
vehicle health. Back home, Traffilog’s systems are being
installed in every Volvo and Scania truck in Israel. Another entrepreneurial company, Israeli online farmers market Farmigo aims
to put local, fresh-from-harvest produce on the American table, instead of the
industrialized food that most families buy currently. It expects to fundamentally change the way food is purchased and
distributed.
The Jewish State continues with its
impressive re-building process.
Firstly, GDP growth forecasts have been
revised upwards to reflect the natural gas output from the Tamar field
scheduled to commence in a few months.
Secondly, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
reported satisfaction with Israel’s progress in building a cleaner
environment. And thirdly, Tel Aviv has
now become the world’s number two most
successful start-up center after Silicon Valley. No wonder that skilled Israeli ex-pat
professionals, like Dekel Ovadia, after living abroad for seven years are coming
home to Israel.
In conclusion, Israelis are destined to be
builders – it’s part of our DNA. As the
Mishnah says, “Read not banayikh (your children) but bonayikh (your
builders). And as far as Jerusalem is
concerned – just watch
this video. Israel has re-built
its capital as a united city and the majority of its residents (Jews and Arab
alike) wish it to remain so.
Now can anyone help me build a website?
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.
To subscribe, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
