Weekly News Items from the Israeli Press, May 5, 2011

JFNA in the Israeli Press

Jewish federations raise $925 million in 2010

(JPost)  The Jewish Federations of North America announced on Thursday it had raised approximately $925 million dollars in 2010, a decrease of $13 million from its intake in 2009.

JFNA Partners in the Israeli Press

Online archives chronicle Jewish history, redress injustice

(JPost) JTA, JDC and Project HEART launch free services.

Welfare and Social Issues

Surviving the Shoah – and beating Israeli bureaucracy

(JPost) Many Holocaust survivors live in severe poverty, unaware of the benefits owed them, and must fight the system to realize their rights.

Study: Needs of aging Holocaust survivors to skyrocket

(JPost) The social and economic needs of Israel’s Holocaust survivor population are expected to increase dramatically in the next four years, according to a study being released Sunday.

66 years later, state still unsure who to call a ‘survivor’

(JPost) Sixty-six years after the fall of the Third Reich, the State of Israel still has no comprehensive database to identify who suffered through the Holocaust and still struggles to clarify exactly who is a survivor, The Jerusalem Post heard on Sunday.

BGU team helps create emergency preparedness website

(JPost) Incorporating battle-tested Israeli know-how, a Ben-Gurion University of the Negev research team has developed a website to improve emergency preparedness, by helping coordinate effective communications with medical and rescue services.

PM's wife fights deportation of foreigners' kids

(Haaretz) Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is taking part in a new campaign against the deportation of children of foreign workers.

Child poverty here highest in OECD

(JPost) Israel has the highest rate of child poverty among the 35 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with more than a quarter of children living in poor households, a report issued by the Paris-based organization has revealed.

Terra Incognita: Is Israel's justice system broken?

(JPost) There are bound to be miscarriages of justice from time to time in any country and under any system. However, the disturbing acquittal of three men on charges of murder after they and seven friends brutally beat a 59-year-old man to death should raise eyebrows.

Lots of young doctors leaving the profession or Israel

(JPost) The dropout rate among 733 physicians who were licensed in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 is relatively high, between 5.5 percent and 12% of those contacted in a telephone survey, a new Ben-Gurion University study shows.

Israel – Diaspora relations

All gone to look for America – Part II

(JPost) We might want to start practicing some of the tolerance that has become a pillar of US society in order to mend the rift between us.

Do Israeli and American Jews need each other?

(JPost) For the two Jewish centers truly to engage one another on all levels, each would have to reach out fully to the other while fully holding its own.

On My Mind: Preparing for the tsunami

(JPost) Unlike military battles, Israelis cannot confront the delegitizimation campaigns alone. Israel and the Diaspora must work together.

A Tale of Two Brothers-Why American Jews Should Not Be Embarrassed by Israel

(Forward) If you’ve felt embarrassed by Israel lately, what follows might really offend you. But first, a parable.

Environment

Recycling on rise in Arab towns

(YNet) Statistics indicate 55% increase in recycling bins across country, including in Arab communities. Environmental Protection Ministry promises to expand plan by 2013 to over 15,000 bins

Mr. Green

(JPost) Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan is thinking globally and acting locally.

City Hall rolls out bike rental network for TA streets

(JPost) Tel-Aviv Yafo has joined a host of European cities by initiating a bike rental program within its borders – allowing commuters to hop on and off at locations scattered throughout the municipality

Education
Shalem Center gets major grant for college

(JPost) The Jerusalem-based Shalem Center think tank got a step closer to realizing its dream of establishing Israel’s first liberal arts college, thanks to a $12.5 million grant from the Tikva Fund, the center announced on Tuesday.

Top education official slams civics curriculum as slanted against Israel

(Haaretz) Zvi Zameret, who heads the ministry's pedagogical secretariat, says that civics courses in Israeli schools do not include enough material relating to 'Jewish history and religion.'

Jewish- Israeli Arab Co-Existence

Study: Jews leaving mixed cities

(YNet) A decline is being recorded in the number of Jews in mixed cities, while the number of Arabs is on the rise, according to a study conducted ahead of the Ramla Conference: Between Israel and the Nations.

Interfaith delegation travels to Istanbul

(JPost) An interdenominational delegation from Israel will meet with a prominent Muslim preacher in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss ways to enhance understanding between the faiths.

Yom HaShoah 2011

Memorializing Anne Frank’s love for nature

(JPost) Likeness of tree mentioned in teenager’s diary to be unveiled for Remembrance Day.

Aging survivors give up precious Holocaust relics

(JPost) For Yad Vashem campaign described as "race against time," thousands of survivors' personal relics are collected and preserved.

Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day with siren, memorial services

(Haaretz) Israelis across the nation paused in memory of the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust, as a siren sounded throughout Israel on Monday.

Israel launches bid to reclaim Holocaust assets

(YNet) Israel on Sunday launched a commission to track down property taken from Holocaust victims across Europe and get compensation for wartime losses.

For Inspiration

From slave to IDF officer: A Guinean's story

(Ynet) At just 15 Avi Be'eri was sold to slave traders who smuggled him into Israel from Guinea, he managed to turn his life around and will now become an IDF officer.

Op-Eds from the Hebrew Press

Yediot Ahronot regrets that Egyptian authorities have made it clear that the Israeli media will not be welcome at today's signing in Cairo of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement.  Regarding the ceremony itself, the author avers that, "This will be a scripted wedding replete with bride, groom and ushers; only the cousins will be absent.  And tomorrow, masses of fervent Egyptian students will go shout and burn flags opposite the Israeli Embassy.  We are promised a demonstration in which 1 million people will demand that the expulsion of the ambassador, the abrogation of the peace and the eradication of whatever signs remain of cooperation."

Ma'ariv writes: "Four transports.  Five selections.  An operation under full anesthesia in a forced labor camp.  He was taken from the Lodz Ghetto to Auschwitz-Birkenau.  And survived.  He immigrated to the Land.  Fought in the War of Independence.  Was wounded in the 1956 war.  He does not leave the country.  Does not board a plane.  Does not embark upon a tour of his roots.  He always says that, 'I have seen enough of classical Europe'.  He is the most ardent Zionist I know.  He does not open doors because - maybe the Gestapo will come.  He listens to the news every hour.  He does not forget and he does not forgive.  He remembers it all.  My father."

Yisrael Hayom believes that, "The Egyptian-sponsored agreement between Abu Mazen and Khaled Mashaal has made it easier for Israel to explain its position," and points out that, "Hamas has reiterated that it is uninterested in a solution of two states for two peoples and if anyone had any doubts, Ismail Haniyeh hastened to condemn the elimination of Osama Bin Laden."  "However," the author cautions, "The benefit is liable to be short-lived," and speculates that Europe may, by September, accept Abu Mazen's blandishments in order to justify the unilateral establishment of a Palestinian state."  The paper warns that the promised Palestinian elections, "are liable to end in a sweeping victory for the Islamic extremists," and adds that, "Such things have happened."  The author says that, "Nobody knows whether the Israeli message that Netanyahu is carrying with him to Europe will fall on attentive ears and for how long," and ventures that, "The results of his European trip will – to a large degree – shape his speech to the US Congress at a time when President Barack Obama has been strengthened, but when Hamas's reprehensible image has been soured over Bin Laden."