Weekly News Items from the Israeli Press, April 28, 2011

JFNA Partners in the Israeli Press

Taglit honors Sharansky in Argentina

(YNet) Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky was welcomed to Buenos Aires on April 1 by the Argentine team of Taglit-Birthright Israel, at a lunch held in his honor, in partnership with the World Jewish Congress, and then toured the city with a group of local Taglit-Birthright Israel alumni.

Conversion

Activist Jews use Passover festival to protest ultra-Orthodox conversion stance

(Haaretz) Moroccan Jewish leader Sam Ben-Sheetrit looks to lend his support to Jewish converts at this year's Mimouna celebration.

‘Think of non-Jewish immigrants from FSU as close kin’

(JPost) "If I had a cousin who... needed to convert – wouldn’t I do anything in my power to help her? They are all our cousins," Druckman tells conversion conference.

Welfare and Social Issues

Food aid agency concerned about summer heat's effects

(JPost) The country’s neediest may be hardest hit by shortages due to heat waves, agency warns; last year's drought caused prices to skyrocket.

Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl project ‘as vital as ever'

(JPost) It’s been 25 years since explosion at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear station; health implications facing the next generation are still serious.

Israel's new squadron of fire-fighting planes is now ready for action

(Haaretz) A new squadron of fire-fighting planes purchased after a massive wildfire ravaged Israel's Carmel region last year successfully completed its first training exercise and is thus now able to be used.

The average Israeli

(YNet) Op-ed: Most Israelis want to be ‘good guys,’ but prefer to stay away from the tough questions.

Jerusalem forum for at-risk youth teaches coping skills

(JPost) Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat was joined by teachers, youth groups, youth advocates, city councilors and students for the first-ever “Forum for At-Risk Youth” on Wednesday evening, in the municipality’s first attempt to unite the city’s various educational programs to solve some of the most pressing problems faced by the city’s teens

Economy

Gallup poll finds Israel 7th-most thriving country

(JPost) Sixty-three percent of Israelis consider themselves to be "thriving" versus only 14% of those in the Palestinian territories; Denmark tops list.

Jewish World

Europe votes to label kosher slaughter ‘unstunned'

(JPost) LONDON – The European Parliament in Brussels last week voted through an amendment to a new European Union food-labeling bill that would require animals not stunned before being slaughtered to be labeled on food packaging.

More Birthright grads are marrying in, says new study

(Haaretz) A follow-up study of the impact of Taglit-Birthright Israel suggests that more participants are marrying within Judaism but are less concerned with the religion of their children.

Moroccan Jews to get Holocaust compensation

(YNet) For the first time since the end of the Second World War nearly 70 years ago, thousands of Moroccan Jews will be recognized as Holocaust survivors and receive compensation from the German government.

Reform Jews: No to 'kosher' bus lines

(YNet) Following a High Court ruling that sex segregation must not be imposed on public transportation, the battle against "strictly kosher" bus lines is now using the weapon most identified with the ultra-Orthodox public – pashkevils.

Groups seek to coordinate care for Holocaust survivors

(JPost) Fifteen organizations discuss ways to improve their service to some 200,000 survivors living in Israel, and how to work better together.

Budapest Glass House sanctuary to be duplicated near Ashdod

(JPost) Bet Haedut, a Holocaust museum created by moshav members at Nir Galim 20 years ago, launched an initiative aimed at reconstructing the house as an exhibit.

Yad Vashem collecting personal items from Holocaust

(JPost) In anticipation of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, Yad Vashem has launched its first campaign to collect personal artifacts related to the Holocaust.

Israeli Aid

Israel becomes a ‘contributing nation’ to UN’s AIDS fight

(JPost) The Health and Foreign ministries have for the first time signed an agreement between the State of Israel on the one hand and the World Health Organization and UNAIDS on the other – turning this country into a “contributing nation,” providing both funding and knowhow to the fight against AIDS.

Op-Eds from the Hebrew Press

Yediot Ahronot professes that, "In order to extradite himself from his current crisis and to return to Iran its regional prowess, Assad and his partners in Teheran are liable to create a crisis in Lebanon or Gaza."  The author reminds that, "The cause of the crisis that led to the Six-Day War was Syrian instability, and the willingness of its rulers to act against Israel in order to maintain their rule."

Ma'ariv opines that, "The Obama plan includes a central article which should be self evident, but the very fact that it has been mentioned is no marginal matter – voiding the right to return."

Yisrael Hayom notes that, "Paradoxically, the Independence faction's leaving the Labor Party has imbued the dead with living spirit: There is competition, people are signing up, and it could be that we are witnessing one of the most interesting medical miracles in history."