Israel – Page 43

Great in Uniform sees potential

Cpl. Ben Levi is a participant in the Great in Uniform program. (photo from Israel Defence Forces)

The program Great in Uniform aims to integrate young Israelis with special needs into the Israel Defence Forces. To date, some 200 youths have been successfully integrated through the program into administrative and logistical positions in the IDF’s air force and home-front command.

The program was founded by Lt. Col. (Res.) Ariel Almog, who became disabled while serving in the IDF when responding to a terror attack. Eventually, he began looking for a way he could return to the army. He then realized that he would like to help make this a reality for others with disabilities, too.

Typically, Israeli teens with special needs are granted an exemption from obligatory military service. By opening a window and creating a support system for those wanting to volunteer to join the army, the IDF is making it possible for these young Israelis to be integrated into the army with their peers. The teens begin as volunteers, serving in various roles. In some cases, they can get advanced training and even become officers.

This has been the case with Ben Levi. Levi was diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP) when he was born. He has learned to live with his disability and the 21-year-old longed to join the army and follow in the path that many in his family have taken: he wanted to serve in a fighting unit.

Levi said he currently works “in the storage room, which is part of the logistics force in the home command. When I have trouble, people help me, but I don’t feel I’m a volunteer. I feel I am a solider for all intents and purposes. I try to do what I can. I am disabled and it’s not obvious at all that I would have gotten as far in the army as I have.

“I can tell you a secret,” he added. “I’m actually interested in going for the officer’s course.

“I’m really happy I got to draft and that I get to serve the country,” he said.

Levi said he feels like a soldier just like any other, and has many friends on the base. When he runs into difficulty, he knows he has his family’s support. In fact, Levi’s family has gotten involved in the IDF program.

“It’s fantastic to wake up every morning and know that I am serving my country, have a job and a way to contribute – it proves to me that CP can’t limit me,” said Levi. “You come into the army as a child and you come out as a full grown person.”

Levi’s commander, Ariana Goldsmith, 18, is originally from Long Island, N.Y. She has been living in Ra’anana for the past seven years after making aliyah with her family.

Goldsmith’s becoming a commander of special soldiers was her own “dream come true,” she said.

“I’ve been volunteering for many years with people with special needs [with] Yachad. My cousin is special needs, I grew up with him, and I’ve been volunteering since I was younger for different organizations.”

Although Goldsmith only joined the IDF four months ago, she was given the title of commander to allow her to do her job – escorting special needs soldiers on base.

“Since I heard about this program, this job has been my dream,” said Goldsmith. “There’s no other job I want to do. So, I ended up getting in contact with the head of the program … it took a long time, about a year and a half, and a lot of working it out with the army, but it ended up working out.

“This is an unbelievable program – to see these kids … they just want to do it so bad. There are so many soldiers in the army who aren’t that into [serving]. You know, everyone has to [serve].” Those with disabilities, however, “don’t have to do the army,” she continued. “They want to, to give back, and they are unbelievable.”

Goldsmith is the only escort in the program at the moment, but that is not stopping her from blazing a trail for future escorts. “With my experience, I can give back to the program and make it more of an official job … so that, after me, more people can go into the army and become a commander for this program.”

Goldsmith feels most units in the army would benefit tremendously from incorporating special needs soldiers, and that the benefits of the program are greater for able-bodied soldiers than they are for special needs soldiers. “I think the base and soldiers get so much out of seeing these [special needs] soldiers being volunteers, and that all they want to do is work. They gain so much from seeing them, they learn a life lesson. Some of these soldiers have never seen special needs people before…. By seeing them and working with them, they gain so much patience and they make connections with them…. This really raises the morale on base in general.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Cleaning up oil in Arava

The Tran-Israel oil pipeline spill near the Evrona Nature Reserve in the Arava Desert has harmed flora and fauna. (photo by Menachem Zalutzki via Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection)

On Dec. 3, 2014, a fractured pipe created the biggest oil spill in Israel’s history, releasing some five million litres of crude oil far into the Arava Desert. In the days that followed, experts from around the world were contacted to clean it up, including from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

photo - Hebrew University’s Dr. Yoel Sasson (pictured here) and his colleague Dr. Uri Stoin have developed a technology that can treat waste caused by any organic compound, including oil — Hebrew University’s Dr. Yoel Sasson (pictured here) and his colleague Dr. Uri Stoin have developed a technology that can treat waste caused by any organic compound, including oil. *(photo from Yoel Sasson)*

Dr. Yoel Sasson, a professor at Hebrew University’s Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry, specializes in environmental catalysis, and he and student Dr. Uri Stoin have developed a soil decontamination process that can treat waste caused by any organic compound, including oil.

According to Sasson, spills are common in countries where oil is being moved by pipes and, considering how old the pipe is in Israel, it was just a matter of time that such a leak would occur, he said.

Exacerbating the situation was that it took hours for the break to even be detected. “It’s horrible, because the oil is simply killing everything,” said Sasson. “All the farmland, the flora and fauna … nothing is left alive once the oil is there.”

The Ministry of the Environment is now in charge of cleaning up the spill and they will have to select the contractor to do the job. According to Sasson, there are several companies that have placed bids, one of which is Man Oil Group, the Swiss company licensed to commercialize this technology developed at HU.

A superoxide, the technology is a variation of an oxygen molecule. “Unlike the oxygen molecule, which is relatively inert, superoxide is a very aggressive, free agent,” explained Sasson. “And it actually oxidizes every organic material.”

It works by breaking down the organic (carbon-based) matter into water and CO₂, and the organic material very rapidly oxidizes, he explained. “Normally, within 10 minutes, oil simply disappears … the soil re-mineralizes,” he said.

“As the oil is killing everything, when you apply the agent, you do not revive the plants, but you take the soil back to its virgin condition. And then, with time, nature will come back. We estimate six to 12 months, [then] it comes 100 percent back to life.”

The CO₂ released in the process can also be neutralized and turned into sodium carbonate, which is soluble with water. With rain, it will be washed away.

Typically, technologies of this kind are termed as either “biological” or “chemical.”

Biological means bacteria is applied (i.e. eating or digesting the oil), a technique that has been used for many years. While this does work, it has some drawbacks. “It’s very slow,” said Sasson. “It would take a half a year to a year to start to see something developing. And it requires excavating the soil, digging it out, so the bacteria will have some air. They are aerobic material.

“Our method is chemical,” he continued, “which means it’s fast, a matter of minutes, actually.”

Sasson estimated that the oil did not seep deeply into the Arava soil, approximately 10 or 20 centimetres maximum. Regardless, he said, the agent is not limited to any particular depth. It can be drilled into the soil and the whole treatment can take place underground.

photo - A cormorant that fell victim to the oil spill — A cormorant that fell victim to the oil spill. *(photo by Menachem Zalutzki via Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection)*

Man Oil Group has been cleaning up oil spills with superoxide in Siberia, Africa and in the Gulf States, and is now looking at the soil in the Arava. The areas that it cleaned in Siberia were larger than that of the Arava spill, and the company has also conducted a successful test cleaning a stretch of a Swiss railway track. The track base, which is comprised of limestone, was restored to its white state, eliminating years of oil drips that were becoming an environmental problem, killing everything around it. Man Oil also conducted a test on the Arava spill site, with positive results.

According to Sasson, oil-caused damage is a worldwide problem that is very serious. But he is focused on cleaning up other contaminated areas as well, one of which is the result of military industries that have left organic pollution underground in Jerusalem.

“This particular case involves mainly those from a group of materials called ‘organic chlorine compounds,’” said Sasson. “These types of compounds, nature doesn’t recognize, and they are polluting underground water. It’s really a disaster.

“When we started, we worked on the destruction of these materials. This was very successful. But, we noticed it takes a lot of time with the authorities to get permission. It takes many years to start such a cleanup. Meanwhile, the oil cleanup is faster and is needed in many more places.”

Another application focus for Sasson is sewage sludge, a by-product of bacteria used to digest sewage waste being disposed of into the environment, causing contamination.

“You feed bacteria your waste,” said Sasson. “They convert the waste into CO₂ and water again but, at the same time, they are growing. And, normally, for one kilogram of waste, you will build up a weight of about 450 grams of bacteria (about 50 percent) and then you create a new waste. So, instead of having one kilogram of waste, now you have half a kilogram. But you’re still stuck with it, because there’s nothing to do with the bacteria. So, what we are trying to do is really decompose this waste using our agent. So far, initial experiments show it is working but, of course, we have to substantiate it and develop it into larger scale.”

At press time, Sasson was still waiting to hear from the Ministry of the Environment if the process they developed will be chosen to clean up the Arava spill.

***

The Evrona Nature Reserve rehabilitation team began its work on Jan. 12, 2015, with a meeting headed by Deputy Environmental Protection Minister Ofir Akunis. Air quality tests found that there has been a 90 percent reduction of pollution in Evrona, one of the sites most harmed by the December 2014 oil spill in Israel’s southern Arava region. Some 30 companies are now vying to be selected to decontaminate the soil that was contaminated by the oil spill. The reserve, noted Akunis, will open once there is no fear that the health of visitors could be affected. The hope is that this will be in the near future.

– Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection (sviva.gov.il)

Patent lawyer feeds Israelis

Leket provides 25,000 volunteers every year to pick crops in the field of Sandy Colb. (photo from israel21c.org)

Along with his Ivy League diplomas, a second-grade “master gardener” certificate hangs on the wall of Rehovot patent attorney Sandy Colb’s office. Now 66, the former Cleveland schoolboy went on to cultivate a unique farm-based philanthropy.

Through his Tov V’Hameitiv Foundation, Colb partners with 70 Israeli social service agencies to distribute 100 tons of fruits and vegetables every week, harvested from a total of 250 acres of fields he has leased, bought and borrowed.

Along with seeds and fertilizer, Colb contributes a significant sum of shekels to the project. The return on his investment is the satisfaction of nourishing Israel’s most vulnerable citizens while feeding his own love of the land. “It’s expensive, but this is my veggie habit,” he said.

Although Colb spends considerable time traveling for business and pleasure, and typically works 16-hour days, when he’s home in Rehovot he devotes two mornings a week to planting and picking with his 60 paid workers.

Forty of those workers are older Ethiopian Israelis with few employment opportunities. Eight others have special needs. In coordination with Leket, Israel’s national food bank, Colb hopes to bring more people with various challenges to work in the fields.

As one of Colb’s distribution partners, Leket also provides some 25,000 volunteers to pick crops every year. Many of the volunteers are tourists who devote a morning to the charitable project.

“Wherever I go around the world, I meet people who have picked in our fields, and they always remember what they picked,” Colb said.

A few people have considered trying to duplicate Colb’s enterprise in other countries, “but I don’t know of anyone actually doing it. You need a place where you can plant and grow all year round,” he explained.

Even in Israel, of course, each kind of vegetation has its season. Depending on the time of year, Colb’s workers are planting, tending and gathering citrus fruits, pecans, avocados, peaches, plums, apples, root vegetables, leeks, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and more – altogether about 40 varieties of produce.

Tomatoes for everyone

Colb moved to Israel in 1974, just after earning his law degree at Harvard. Two years later, he founded Sanford T. Colb and Co. Intellectual Property Law.

Right from the start, he planted a vegetable patch in his backyard because. In fact, ever since second grade, he has never stopped gardening – even as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, Cambridge and Harvard universities.

“I would find a piece of land and start digging,” he said. “It’s wonderful to see stuff grow, especially big zucchinis. I have a picture of my older son, who is now 40, holding a zucchini that’s bigger than he is.”

When Colb’s crops in Rehovot became too plentiful for the family of six, a neighbor offered to take excess produce for clients in the food-distribution program run by Ezer Mizion.

“When the winter came, I had no tomatoes to give her, [but] she said people needed them. So, a friend and I started going once a week to the wholesale market in Rehovot and buying veggies to donate,” said Colb.

Realizing the vast need, he slowly began acquiring farming equipment, personnel and land. Some fields he bought, some he leases from nearby kibbutz and moshav communities, and some he borrows from owners of unused or underused fields. Recently, the Weizmann Institute of Science – not far from where he lives – offered 50 unused acres for him to till.

photo - Sandy Colb grows crops for state’s most vulnerable, and others — Sandy Colb grows crops for state’s most vulnerable. *(photo by Amitai Gazit/Ofek-Israel via israel21c.org)*

Colb’s biggest single plot is 350 dunams (86-plus acres). He was outbid on this plot when he tried to buy it about 10 years ago, but arranged with the buyer to pay $60,000 per year to lease it. However, when the owner came from New York and saw Colb picking cabbages for the needy, he decided on the spot to issue a refund. The $60,000 still changes hands annually, going back to Colb to plow into his foundation.

The Rehovot municipality has encouraged his efforts and provided land for a greenhouse. One advantage of the greenhouse is that Colb can use it to grow vegetables during sabbatical years such as this one, when open fields are not sown but only harvested in keeping with biblical and rabbinic agricultural laws.

Following every Shmita year, Colb and his workers plant wheat designated for Passover matzah for the next eight years. Colb and his wife, Paula, invite “tons of people” to join them in annual baking sessions at a facility run by Jerusalem’s Karlin Chassidim.

With four grown children and 13 grandchildren in whom they hope to instil an appreciation of agriculture, the Colbs have not neglected their home vegetable patch. “We have a little asparagus and carrots, fennel and various exotic fruits,” said Colb, and even this gets shared; he takes much of the produce to his synagogue for fellow worshippers to enjoy after Shabbat services.

Israel21C is a nonprofit educational foundation with a mission to focus media and public attention on the 21st-century Israel that exists beyond the conflict. For more, or to donate, visit israel21c.org.

3-D compass in the brain

Researchers have shown that the brains of bats contain neurons that sense which way the bat’s head is pointed and could, therefore, support the animal’s navigation in 3-D space. (photo from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il)

Pilots are trained to guard against vertigo: a sudden loss of the sense of vertical direction that renders them unable to tell up from down, and can lead to crashes. Coming up out of a subway station can produce similar confusion: for a few moments, you are unsure which way to go, until you regain your sense of direction. In both cases, the disorientation is thought to be caused by the temporary malfunction of a brain circuit that operates as a three-dimensional compass.

Weizmann Institute scientists have now for the first time demonstrated the existence of such a 3-D compass in the mammalian brain. The study was performed by graduate student Arseny Finkelstein in the laboratory of Prof. Nachum Ulanovsky of the neurobiology department, together with Dr. Dori Derdikman, Dr. Alon Rubin, Jakob N. Foerster and Dr. Liora Las. As reported in Nature on Dec. 3, the researchers have shown that the brains of bats contain neurons that sense which way the bat’s head is pointed and could, therefore, support the animal’s navigation in 3-D space.

Navigation relies on spatial memory: past experience of different locations. This memory is formed primarily in a deep-seated brain structure called the hippocampal formation. In mammals, three types of brain cells, located in different areas of the hippocampal formation, form key components of the navigation system: “place” and “grid” cells, which work like a GPS, allowing animals to keep track of their position; and “head-direction” cells, which respond whenever the animal’s head points in a specific direction, acting like a compass. Much research has been conducted on place and grid cells, whose discoverers were awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, but until recently, head-direction cells have been studied only in two-dimensional settings, in rats, and very little was known about the encoding of 3-D head direction in the brain.

To study the functioning of head-direction cells in three dimensions, Weizmann Institute scientists developed a tracking apparatus that allowed them to video-monitor all the three angles of head rotation – in flight terminology, yaw, pitch and roll – and to observe the movements of freely behaving Egyptian fruit bats. At the same time, the bats’ neuronal activity was monitored via implanted microelectrodes. Recordings made with the help of these microelectrodes revealed that in a specific sub-region of the hippocampal formation, neurons are tuned to a particular 3-D angle of the head: certain neurons became activated only when the animal’s head was pointed at that 3-D angle.

The study also revealed for the first time how the brain computes a sense of the vertical direction, integrating it with the horizontal. It turns out that, in the neural compass, these directions are computed separately, at different levels of complexity. The scientists found that head-direction cells in one region of the hippocampal formation became activated in response to the bat’s orientation relative to the horizontal surface, that is, facilitating the animal’s orientation in two dimensions, whereas cells responding to the vertical component of the bat’s movement – that is, a 3-D orientation – were located in another region. The researchers believe that the 2-D head-direction cells could serve for locomotion along surfaces, as happens in humans when driving a car, whereas the 3-D cells could be important for complex manoeuvres in space, such as climbing tree branches or, in the case of humans, moving through multi-storey buildings or piloting an aircraft.

By further experimenting on inverted bats, those hanging head-down, the scientists were able to clarify how exactly the head-direction signals are computed in the bat brain. It turned out that these computations are performed in a way that can be described by an exceptionally efficient system of mathematical coordinates (the technical term is toroidal). Thanks to this computational approach used by their brain, the bats can efficiently orient themselves in space whether they are moving head up or down.

This research supports the idea that head-direction cells in the hippocampal formation serve as a 3-D neural compass. Though the study was conducted in bats, the scientists believe their findings should also apply to non-flying mammals, including squirrels and monkeys that jump between tree branches, as well as humans.

“Now this blueprint can be applied to other species that experience

3-D in a more limited sense,” writes Prof. May-Britt Moser, one of the 2014 Nobel laureates, in the News and Views opinion piece that accompanies the Weizmann study in Nature.

Weizmann Institute news releases are posted at wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il, and are also available at eurekalert.org.

Major skull discovery

A skull found at the Dan David-Manot Cave supports other evidence that modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved in Africa or in the Middle East, not in Europe. (photo by Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Francesco Berna, a Simon Fraser University assistant professor of archeology, is part of an Israeli-led team of scientists that has unearthed major clues about the first modern humans in northern Israel.

A paper published in Nature on Jan. 28 – co-authored by Berna – documents the discovery of a 55,000-year-old, partial human skull with a distinctive modern human, bun-shaped “occipital” region, at the Dan David-Manot Cave in the western Galilee.

The study involved researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority, Geological Survey of Israel, Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Hebrew University, University of Haifa, University of Vienna, Harvard University, Case-Western University, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Columbia University and SFU. It is headed by Prof. Israel Hershkovitz, Dr. Omry Barzilai and Dr. Ofer Marder, and funded by the Dan David Foundation, Israel Academy of Sciences, Irene Levi Sala CARE Archeological Foundation, Leakey Foundation and IAA.

Berna and his colleagues believe that this skull’s date of origin and where it was found support other evidence that modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved in Africa or in the Middle East, and migrated from there about 65,000 years ago. This contrasts with the hypothesis that the human species first evolved in Europe.

One of the migration routes by which modern humans spread out across the world passes through the Levant (the Mediterranean basin), which is the only land crossing between Africa and Europe, but until now, no modern human remains that date to the period between 65-45 thousand years ago had been discovered.

The Manot skull’s inner and outer surfaces were covered with cave deposits that were dated by means of uranium-thorium to 55,000 YBP (years before present). A morphometric analysis showed it is that of a modern human being with similarities to modern skulls from Africa on the one hand and the ancient skulls of modern humans from Europe on the other.

Berna helped the scientific team understand how ancient humans used Manot Cave at the time of the skull’s origin and how the cave, its archeological remains and the skull got to their present state.

Megan Thibodeau, one of Berna’s graduate students, explored the use of fire in this cave. Their work is helping scientists confirm whether this skull is from the most recent evolution of anatomically modern humans, which showed up in Europe first, and eventually the rest of the world.

“The skull found at Manot is absolutely comparable to ours and different from other skulls of early modern humans previously found in Israel and dated to 100,000 years ago,” explained Berna. “This earlier group of humans had some slight anatomical differences from us.

“But, most importantly, they didn’t produce stone tools, mobile sculptures and cave paintings such as the one that our direct ancestor produced in Europe and the Middle East, starting at around 40,000 years ago. Earlier modern humans apparently hadn’t yet developed our brain.”

To date, five excavation seasons (2010–2014) on behalf of IAA, TAU and BGU have been conducted in the cave, which is located 40 kilometres northeast of the Mt. Carmel prehistoric caves. Preparations are being made by the Ma’ale Yosef Regional Council, Moshav Manot and the Jewish National Fund for the development of the cave for visits by the public.

Friendships via music

The YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus prior to their 10-day tour of Japan in August 2014. (photo from Micah Hendler)

There are many creative ways to bring about a peaceful dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. In one particular case, an American Jew by the name of Micah Hendler combined choral singing and dialogue to help bring Palestinian and Israeli teens to a place of trust in Jerusalem.

Hendler, originally from Bethesda, Md., has been singing for as long as he can remember.

“For me, singing is a very powerful way of connecting to other people and creating communities, a sense of common identities, all the things that make people feel close to one another,” he said.

photo - YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus founder and conductor Micah Hendler — YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus founder and conductor Micah Hendler. *(photo from Micah Hendler)*

In his high school years, Hendler participated in Seeds of Peace, a program for teens from conflict regions around the world. For the first time, he had the opportunity to hear the stories of both Palestinians and Israelis.

“It made me realize the power of talking to others who are different, the power of showing people there are other ways to see things, more complete ways to see things,” he said of Seeds of Peace. “That’s what really got me interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In many ways, this was in contrast to the education I’d received.”

Over the years that followed, as Hendler continued his involvement with Seeds of Peace, he thought about ways in which he could create a new community, and decided on a singing group.

“I thought that would be really cool,” said Hendler, now in his 30s. “I could empower people and show them that they could sing and be part of something like this. For me, I thought … this is a way I can do things I really love to do in the context of needing ways for people to come together.”

When Hendler was ready to kick things off, he had just graduated from Yale. “I thought, if I’m ever going to do this, now’s the time.”

With degrees in music and international studies, and a host of other experience, both in music and in conflict transformation, Hendler moved to Jerusalem. He spent the first couple of months having coffee with anyone and everyone. He also spent a lot of time at high schools, sharing information about the choir, the YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus. Eighty youth auditioned, with the majority coming from East Jerusalem.

“There were so few extracurricular options in East Jerusalem at all, let alone singing options,” said Hendler. “For kids that liked to sing, I was one of the very few possibilities around.”

Hendler accepted 30 kids (ages 14-18), an even split of Israelis and Palestinians.

A friend connected Hendler with Israeli singer/songwriter David Broza, who was working on the album East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem at the time. Broza invited the chorus to be part of it. “It’s pretty amazing – that was three months into the choir, and we were recording with David Broza in the studio,” said Hendler.

The YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus program begins and ends with singing, with dialogue embedded in the middle. It does not take long for the kids to mingle. “They were in a completely unstructured context, already hanging out across linguistic and national lines,” said Hendler. “A lot of girls were singing pop songs on the piano and the guys were doing their thing, and different people were talking.”

The cost for the program is covered by the Jerusalem Foundation and private donors in and outside of Israel; the kids pay a symbolic fee to attend, as long as they are able.

Hendler’s main focus now is on ensuring that the kids feel part of a group, which is a moving target as the chorus grows. Currently, there are 44 kids divided into three dialogue groups, but Hendler is looking at other options. “There’s a limit of how big the choir could be in terms of what is manageable,” he said. “But, it would be possible to have multiple ensembles at different levels.”

When selecting kids for the chorus, Hendler looked for kids who wanted to meet new people and experience new things. As well, potential members needed both to be able to express any opinions they may have, as well as listen to those of others. “We also, of course, wanted people suited for singing,” he added.

Rehearsals are 3.5 hours and take place once a week. From as early as the second rehearsal, he said, “it was amazing that the kids were so open to one another. Obviously, with the linguistic and social challenges, the group had gone through a lot, but fundamentally there’s this openness and a joy that’s pretty inspiring.”

The dialogue is run by professional facilitators, “but I still have a good sense of what goes on,” said Hendler. “And, it’s actually really beyond inspiring, the way they listen to each other and create a space. The kids are real with each other, sharing their fears and hopes … but what’s really been amazing is that even outside the choir, the kids have started to speak up in their communities.”

Israeli high schooler Avital said of the program, “You get to know the other side, you get to be together, to see what it’s like being with kids different than you.” Shifra, another Israeli participant, said, “[Before] I only knew Israelis, I had never met any Arabs before I came here. I didn’t know what I was going to see … I wasn’t sure what I expected, but what I realized was that we’re all the same.”

Palestinian high schooler Alaa commented, “I learned from the sessions how not to stay silent, to express myself.” And Ameer, another Palestinian participant, said, “The choir is beautiful and we enjoy it, because we are Arabs and Jews, together at the same time.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Israel launches campaign to discredit inquiry

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014. (photo from UN photo/Amanda Voisard)

The Israeli government has launched a public diplomacy campaign to discredit the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court’s recent decision to start an inquiry into what the Palestinians call Israeli “war crimes” in the disputed territories.

According to ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, the inquiry – which was initiated after a request by the Palestinian Authority – is not a formal investigation, but rather “a process of examining the information available in order to reach a fully informed determination on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation pursuant to the criteria established by the [ICC’s] Rome Statute.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently signed the Rome Statute in order to join the ICC after failing to get a UN Security Council resolution passed that called for Israel’s withdrawal from the disputed territories by 2017.

Israel’s campaign against the ICC inquiry will focus on the fact that the because the charges were filed by the PA, which is not a state, the court has no authority to act. In addition, the campaign will point out the court’s bias against Israel – a country on the frontline of the war against terrorism that makes sure to abide by international law by way of an independent legal system.

The Israeli government decided to launch the public diplomacy campaign at an emergency meeting in response to the ICC decision that was convened by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The meeting, which took place at Netanyahu’s office, was attended by Israeli security, legal and diplomatic officials.

The ICC’s decision to launch the inquiry into Israeli actions is “the height of hypocrisy and the opposite of justice,” Netanyahu said on Sunday at the start of this week’s cabinet meeting, two days after the court announced the inquiry.

“During my years of public service, both as UN ambassador and as prime minister, I encountered these kinds of events, but this decision by the [ICC] prosecutor is in a league of its own,” Netanyahu said. “It gives international legitimacy to international terrorism.”

The prime minister said Israel would fight the ICC’s decision with every means it has available, including the enlistment of its allies. Along those lines, Israel is lobbying member states of the ICC to cut funding for the tribunal, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday. Israel, which like the United States does not belong to the ICC, hopes to dent funding for the court that is drawn from its 122 member states in accordance with the size of member states’ economies, said Lieberman.

“We will demand of our friends in Canada, in Australia and in Germany simply to stop funding it,” Lieberman told Israel Radio.

Baird’s visit to Israel, Ramallah

Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird, left, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu earlier this week. (photo by Kobi Gideon/GPO)

After a hostile greeting by protesters in the Palestinian Authority capital of Ramallah, who pelted his convoy with shoes and eggs, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird returned to Jerusalem to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and President Reuven Rivlin.

According to reports, Ramallah activists carried signs reading “Baird you are not welcome in Palestine.” Baird has opposed the PA’s bid for war crimes charges against Israel and other moves by the PA at the United Nations. Ottawa has also been vocally supportive of Israel during Stephen Harper’s tenure.

The foreign minister’s visit came on the anniversary of Harper’s tour of the region in 2014. Baird hoped to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to the strategic partnership and agreements forged on that visit. “Canada deeply values its close ties with Israel,” Baird said prior to his trip.

Baird traveled to Ramallah Sunday morning to meet with PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. At that meeting, which Baird called “cordial and constructive,” Baird and Maliki discussed Canada’s “desire for a future of peace and prosperity, stability and security for both Palestinians and Israelis.”

Baird said Canada considers itself a “friend” to both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. “As friends, we have candid and frank exchanges on areas where we differ in opinion,” he said, adding that he asked Maliki to “strongly reconsider the consequences of moving forward with any action that may be counterproductive to a negotiated solution with the state of Israel.”

Last week, the PA brought war crimes charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, along with ongoing efforts to seek sanctions at the UN. Baird said these moves, “will not contribute to peace and security in the region.”

As Canadians, said Baird, “we strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will play our part to defend Israel from international attempts to delegitimize it.”

“Canada believes strongly in a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” Baird said prior to the trip. “Negotiations provide the only viable path to lasting peace.”

Returning from Ramallah Sunday afternoon, Baird met privately with Lieberman.

Lieberman has earned scorn with his plan to annex Israeli Arab villages to the PA. Under Lieberman’s plan, only those Arab citizens who moved to Israeli-controlled areas and pledged loyalty to the state of Israel would retain their current citizenship. Once considered a contender for prime minister, Lieberman’s chances have been diminished considerably by recent corruption allegations.

The ministers jointly signed four memoranda of understanding and agreements, including a declaration of solidarity and friendship, and a declaration on trade that Baird said aims “to double the value of our [countries’] commercial relationship.”

Baird said that with the rise of worldwide terrorism, including October’s attack on the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, “the relationship between Canada and Israel is stronger than ever been, and getting stronger every day.”

Business development between the two countries will be targeted specifically in the area of defence, security and cyber security, Baird said.

Canadian Ambassador Vivian Bercovici and other official representatives from both countries remained after Baird’s departure for award presentations to the 10 finalists of Grand Challenges Israel (GCI). Inspired by Grand Challenges Canada (GCC), which is led by chief executive officer Peter Singer, who received the Order of Canada in 2011, GCI rewards entrepreneurs for advances in affordable health care for the developing world. Finalists, chosen from more than 100 entries, presented innovations in water purification, disease diagnosis and an affordable wheelchair for children. Worldwide, the Grand Challenges initiative was launched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2003.

Baird’s trip to the region included a stop in Egypt, which he visited prior to the Israel leg of his trip. There, he met with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry but failed to ensure the release of Canadian-Egyptian journalist Mohamed Fahmy, convicted for being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that is now banned in Egypt.

A year ago, on Jan. 20, Harper became the first Canadian prime minister to speak in the Knesset. His remarks about Israel’s right to exist and defend itself received a standing ovation, along with jeers and catcalls from Israeli Arab MKs who walked out in protest. On that visit, Harper pledged millions of dollars in increased support for the PA. Although Harper’s visit was well received by the Israeli media, the Canadian press was critical of Harper’s large delegation and “rigid” pro-Israel stance.

Baird’s Israel agenda originally included stops at the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, both atop the Temple Mount area behind the Western Wall in Jerusalem. No reason was given for the decision to cancel visits there. Harper canceled a similar visit a year ago.

Baird met Netanyahu on Monday afternoon before leaving Israel. He continued to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the 2015 World Economic Forum from Jan. 21-24.

– For more national Jewish news, visit cjnews.com.

Israeli representative at UN

Rasha Athamni was the first Israeli selected to represent the nation as a youth delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, serving during the 69th session from September through November 2014. The youth delegates program was started 1981 but, until then, Israel had not chosen to participate.

photo - Rasha Athamni was the Israeli youth delegate to the 69th session of the General Assembly, which ran from September through November 2014 — Rasha Athamni was the Israeli youth delegate to the 69th session of the General Assembly, which ran from September through November 2014. *(photo from undesadspd.org)*

Athamni, 29, was raised in the Israeli Arab town of Baka Al-Gharbiyah, the youngest of nine children and the first in her family to graduate high school and university; her parents do not read or write. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English literature from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University and is currently working on her master’s in English literature. She also guides tours of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. In her first interview with media, Athamni spoke with the Media Line.

TML: What prompted you to apply to become a United Nations youth delegate … and on behalf of the state of Israel, no less?

RA: Ever since I was a child, my biggest dream was to become a member in this UN society because that’s the ideal, the universality, people go out and help others that are in need. I am a citizen of Israel and I have a right to apply and to go through the interviews, and that’s what I did. When I got the acceptance letter, I was just thrilled. Hundreds applied after there was a call for applicants published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website. Only 12 or 13 were invited to go through the interview and I was one of them. And then, after the final decision, I got be the first and only youth delegate for Israel for the UN.

TML: Is there a distinction between Israeli Arabs and Palestinians living in Israel and, if so, what is the difference?

RA: Well, it’s a bit complicated – that’s the best adjective that I can use to describe it. It’s a question every Arab citizen in Israel has to answer sooner or later. On the one hand, my mother’s side is Arabic; my parents are Arabs. On the other hand, I live in the centre of Israel and I have an Israeli ID and passport. But, I’m not Jewish, so it’s very complicated. You really need to establish a sense of yourself that is solid enough to represent Israel, especially at the UN.

TML: How did you end up where you are today, studying for a second degree at Hebrew University?

RA: I was primarily motivated by my mother because, ever since I was a little kid, she told me it was very important for me to go to school because that would be the best [chance] that I would have in our society and that I should appreciate that because she herself couldn’t do it. All she really wants in life is that one of her kids becomes a doctor. I didn’t become a doctor. That was disappointment number one, but I did get a degree in psychology and English literature from the best university in Israel, and now I’m doing my master’s in English literature.

TML: How did you get involved with the Israeli government?

RA: About two years ago, the students association at the Hebrew University was looking for a coordinator for a coexistence project that brought together eight Jewish and eight Arab Israeli women students. I applied and got the job. It was a very fascinating year for me and for each one of those students that participated.

It’s very funny when you think about it. Even though they study the same courses and they go to the same classes, you’d see the majority of Jewish students would sit on one side of the hall and the minority on the other side, so there’s this psychological barrier between them. After they got to learn about each other and meet each other, then the hate recedes. That’s beyond nationality, ethnicity or religion. That’s when that barrier just disappeared and they started to sit and study with each other. The Jewish girl would go and teach the Arab girl Hebrew and the Arab girl would go and teach the Jewish girl English.

One of the girls used to work as a tour guide in the Knesset. I needed to support myself, so I got information from her and I applied for the job, and I still give tours in Arabic, Hebrew and English.

TML: How did your family react to that?

RA: My family is very apolitical. They grew up in a society where it was taboo to talk about politics because for them that meant either jail or exile. For me, now, that sounds like paranoia, being afraid to express your own opinion because of your background. There is some truth in that, but they just took it to the extreme. My family was really scared that my being involved in politics or social change or anything that has to do with the state of Israel could mean the demise of my image in my own community, and that’s a fear that they’re still experiencing. My mother, every time I call her, tells me that I shouldn’t do that and it’s never too late back out.

TML: Was there backlash from other Arabs or from Arabs who happen to be of Israeli descent?

RA: At the UN, no. They’re all very diplomatic. Whenever I introduced myself, they said, “Good job as the youth delegate of Israel,” even though that person was from Jordan, Yemen or Egypt. It just didn’t make any sense because they would attack Israel in the committee for human rights but they had no problem talking to an Israeli in the corridors.

TML: You said you represented Israel, responding to different discussions that go on in the United Nations.

RA: After I was picked to represent the youth of Israel, I had a two-month training period at the Foreign Ministry, then traveled to New York for three months, where my job was to summarize the meetings of the committee on human rights. I attended informal briefings at which UN delegates would discuss the terms and wordings of the resolutions, and would also go to events that the delegation would be invited to.

My most prominent moment came when I delivered a speech on behalf of the youth of Israel. This was at the opening of the first meeting of the human rights committee. When it was time for the youth delegation to speak, they spoke about the rights of the youth, why is it really important. Youth belong to a very strange category because they are not children and are not yet adults, so we tend to disregard their needs. A person needs to get a first degree and a second degree in order to just have the opportunity to apply for a job. These are just some of the topics that we covered, along with health, gender equality and education, which is very basic in our country but in other countries is a goal to strive for.

TML: Two of your passions are human rights and social responsibility. What issues were most challenging?

RA: Whenever I attended meetings of the committee for human rights, I had to sit in Israel’s space and, just sitting there, I felt terrified. On my first day, to my left there was Iran. In front of me was Egypt and Jordan, and behind me was Qatar. I felt what Israel feels like at the international level, being under attack even though this was my first experience hearing the attacks. What was interesting for me was how every country would attack Israel disregarding what they do within their own borders. You’d hear the delegation from Syria attacking Israel for violations on human rights, which doesn’t make much sense. A country representing their own people needs to address their own problems rather than pretending that everything is fine within their own borders, and then attack[ing] another country and join[ing] with others who are against it. That country most of the time happens to be Israel.

TML: As an Israeli citizen, how did that make you feel?

RA: It didn’t feel fair. There are always two sides to a conflict. It seemed that one side is more represented than the other side – that other side is Israel. I just felt that someone needs to be given a floor to express and talk about [the] good things that Israel is doing: the humanitarian assistance that Israel is giving to Gaza and the West Bank. There is a project called Save a Child’s Heart. Every Tuesday, a child from Gaza goes to Israel for heart surgery. There are also negatives, but you can’t just focus on that. There is much hope that is being missed when everyone focuses on the bad stuff.

Aliyah: a 10-year high

According to initial end-of-year figures released by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, aliyah hit a 10-year high in 2014, with the arrival of some 26,500 new immigrants. This marks a 32 percent increase over 2013.

For the first time, France tops the list of countries of origin for immigrants to Israel, with nearly 7,000 new immigrants in 2014, double the 3,400 who came the year before.

Some 5,840 new immigrants came from Ukraine, compared to some 2,020 in 2013. This dramatic 190 percent increase is due primarily to the ongoing instability in the eastern part of the country.

Aliyah from western Europe is up 88 percent, with the arrival of some 8,640 immigrants. Some 620 came to Israel from the United Kingdom, a 20 percent increase over 2013. The number from Italy doubled to some 340. Aliyah from Belgium saw a modest decrease, to 240. German aliyah remained stable, at approximately 120.

Aliyah from the former Soviet Union was up 50 percent, with the arrival of some 11,430 immigrants, with 4,830 from Russia, Belarus and the Baltic states, 300 from the Caucasus and 390 from Central Asia.

Aliyah from Latin America remained stable, with the arrival of some 1,070 immigrants. Aliyah from Brazil saw a 45 percent increase, with 300 immigrants, and approximately 297 came from Argentina, 76 from Mexico, 70 from Venezuela, 62 from Colombia, 58 from Uruguay and 52 from Chile.

Aliyah from North America increased modestly, with the arrival of some 3,870 immigrants compared to 3,600 in 2013. Approximately 3,470 immigrants came from the United States and 400 immigrants came from Canada, compared to 384 the year before.

Eastern Europe saw 232 people make aliyah, compared to approximately 270 in 2013. Approximately 126 came from Hungary, 32 from Poland, 24 from Romania and 24 from Bulgaria.

Some 190 immigrants came to Israel from South Africa, roughly the same as 2013, while 200 came from Australia and New Zealand, a slight decrease from the year before.

More than half of the immigrants who came to Israel in 2014 were under the age of 35. The eldest immigrant was born in 1910 and made aliyah from France at the age of 104. The youngest came from the United States and was only several weeks old. Tel Aviv led the chart of cities receiving new immigrants, with approximately 3,000 new Tel Avivians. The coastal city of Netanya came second and Jerusalem came in third.