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Reporting on the Middle East, Science, and Education for December 31, 2009 - י"ד טבת תש"ע
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JERUSALEM — He can be impulsive. She has a touch of bossiness. Next-door neighbors for nearly a year, they talk, watch television and explore the world together, wandering into each other’s homes without a second thought. She likes his mother’s eggplant dish. He likes her father’s rice and lamb.
Friendship often starts with proximity, but Orel and Marya, both 8, have been thrust together in a way few elsewhere have. Their playground is a hospital corridor. He is an Israeli Jew severely wounded by a Hamas rocket. She is a Palestinian Muslim from Gaza paralyzed by an Israeli missile. Someone forgot to tell them that they are enemies.
“He’s a naughty boy,” Marya likes to say of Orel with an appreciative smile when he gets a little wild.
When Orel arrived here a year ago, he could not hear, see, talk or walk. Now he does them all haltingly. Half his brain is gone. Doctors were deeply pessimistic about his survival. Today they are amazed at his progress although unclear how much more can be made.
Marya’s spinal cord was broken at the neck and she can move only her head. Smart, sunny and strong-willed, she moves her wheelchair by pushing a button with her chin. Nothing escapes her gaze. She knows that Orel is starting to prefer boys as playmates and she makes room. But their bond remains strong. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Islam, Judaism, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts, Special Education on December 31, 2009 - י"ד טבת תש"ע at 6:46 pm
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Dr. Nirit Bourla, Dr. Nadav Belfair, December 31, 2009
MANDALAY, MYANMAR – It was 8 pm when we came out of the operating room exhausted, but satisfied. A woman came up to us and although we were unable to understand what she was saying, we could tell from her expression that she was thanking us. We had just operated on her daughter.
This scene was destined to be one of many; gratitude expressed by people who would have lost their eyesight and their place within an impoverished society that cannot care for its poor– if not for us.
The Hippocratic Oath we took when we graduated from medical school takes on a new meaning in a place like this.
We were part of a seven-person mission to Myanmar, sponsored by Eye from Zion, a non-profit humanitarian organization, founded by Israeli businessman Nati Marcus, with aim of providing medical assistance to the world’s needy.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Judaism, Middle East, Recent Posts on December 31, 2009 - י"ד טבת תש"ע at 9:35 am
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by Hana Levi Julian, Tevet 14, 5770, 31 December 2009
(Israelnationalnews.com) Jewish children released hundreds of colorful balloons bearing messages of hope for the future in the direction of their peers in Gaza – while at the same time, anti-Israel protests were being held in response at the Erez Crossing to Gaza and in Egypt.
Public Information and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein traveled to the south to participate in the “March of Freedom and Hope" by the residents of Sderot and southern Israel on Thursday. The parade was held to mark the one-year anniversary of the IDF’s counterterrorism Operation Cast Lead and "hopefully the start of a new decade of hope, security and peace," organizers said. In response, marches against Israel took place simultaneously in Egypt and at the Erez Crossing into Gaza.
The Sderot event was initiated by the Sderot Community Media Center, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Information and Diaspora Affairs. Students from all over Israel streamed into the city, and some even flew in from abroad to attend the march. A number of international officials also attended, including Zambian presidential candidate Dr. Sbior C. Ishimba.
Edelstein noted that the counterterrorism operation was launched a year ago specifically to remove the threat of rocket attacks constantly fired at the southern Israeli communities. “We have had a year of relative quiet following the operation,” he noted, “with only 286 missiles fired at areas within the State of Israel.” The military operation, Edelstein said, was intended to “give hope a chance for peace in our region and the rest of the world. Unfortunately, while we are calling for peace, at the Erez Crossing there is a protest going on against Israel, rejecting our very existence.”
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, Monotheistic Religions, News Articles, Recent Posts on December 31, 2009 - י"ד טבת תש"ע at 7:56 am
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By Susan Taylor Martin, St. Petersburg Times Senior Correspondent
Published Wednesday, December 30, 2009
In mid January, three weeks after a terrorist suspect boarded a flight for Detroit with explosives taped to his underwear, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport will start using "millimeter-wave” body scanners on all U.S.-bound passengers.
"The introduction of these body scanners would certainly have helped in detecting that he was carrying something on his body,” Dutch Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst said Wednesday.
Yes, it would have helped, just as it would have helped if all passengers had been required to take off their footwear before "shoe bomber” Richard Reid tried to blow up a Miami-bound jet in 2001. Just as it would have helped if there had been limits on carry-on liquids before two dozen people were arrested in a 2006 London-based plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners using liquid explosives.
Instead, aviation officials seem to be in a perpetual state of catch-up, implementing stringent, after-the-fact airport security measures that result in screeners patting down even people in their 70s and 80s.
"I agree it’s ridiculous when it is done blindly the way it is done today. It’s a waste of time and resources,” says Rafi Ron, a security consultant to Miami International and other airports.
"But at the same time, if you really run a professional program that identifies high-risk passengers, that high-risk passenger could be an old guy.”
It’s an approach successfully used in Ron’s native Israel.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Business and Commerce, Middle East, News Articles, Recent Posts on December 30, 2009 - י"ג טבת תש"ע at 10:36 pm
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By Joel Zinberg, Daily Star Lebanon
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Joel Zinberg is a physician (surgeon) and lawyer in New York City. He is president elect at New York County Medical Society, and taught at Columbia Law School. This is a response to Chibli Mallat’s article “Is Israel a democracy?” published in The Daily Star on December 10.
After recounting the dubious, critical conclusions of an Israeli human rights organization, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) Professor Mallat asks, “… can Israel be considered a democracy, in the same way we consider the US, France or India democracies?” His answer is seriously flawed.
Mallat doesn’t address three features of a democracy that I think most people would agree Israel has: a free press, an independent, fair judiciary, and free and fair elections. One of the country’s most influential newspapers, Haaretz, is left wing and relentlessly critical of the government. Israeli academics regularly publish works critical of their country. ACRI’s own website boasts that since 1972 “ACRI has been consistently successful in bringing precedent-setting litigation to the Supreme Court and has contributed significantly to the protection of human rights” by “… issuing and disseminating high-profile reports on key human rights issues; offering free legal information and advice through our public hotline; running human rights education programs for school teachers [and security forces]; providing expert opinions before the Knesset …” All of the above belie Mallat’s characterization of Israel as “an authoritarian state.”
Moreover, Mallat’s own critique of Israel is riddled with inaccuracies: He claims Israeli Arabs have no representation – yet Israeli Arabs vote, have political parties and have long served as members of the Knesset (If he believes they are powerless, he should see Republicans in New York City). Israeli Arabs can and do own private property; Mallat is inaccurate both numerically and factually about “4-6 million Palestinians evicted” -– the number of displaced Palestinians was under a million (roughly equal to the Jews displaced from Arab countries after 1948). The fact that they have grown many times over in squalid UN refugee camps where their Arab brethren refuse to resettle or help them is not Israel’s fault. Undoubtedly many fled in fear, others were actively displaced but the bulk left on their own, encouraged to vacate and provide a clear field for the soon to be victorious armies of Egypt and Jordan; What universal right of return is he referring to? Millions of ethnic Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after World War II, Jews expelled (if they were lucky) from Europe or from Arab lands, Palestinians expelled from Jordan in the 1970s, American Indians expelled from their ancestral homes, etc., would like to know. Is Mallat seriously espousing a “right of return” for 100,000 Syrians displaced from the Golan after Syria attacked Israel?
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education, Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on December 30, 2009 - י"ג טבת תש"ע at 10:10 pm
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The start of an Iranian intifada
by MEIR JAVEDANFAR in Tel Aviv, PBS, 28 Dec 2009
An Iranian-style intifada seems to be in the making.
At the beginning of the current period of opposition, which started soon after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s controversial reelection, quiet periods of seeming normalcy occurred between what were less frequent demonstrations.
Judging from the events of Ashura, however, the protests now seem to carry the potential to turn into a full-scale civil disobedience campaign, not unlike the first intifada the Palestinians initiated against Israel in 1987. Such an uprising will mean continuous periods of strikes and civil disobedience, as well as more confrontations between members of the public and security forces.
The main factor contributing to the new status quo is the unrelenting policies of the Supreme Leader, which have pitted his philosophy of the Islamic Republic against longstanding Islamic institutions.
This is a battle that Khamenei will find extremely difficult to win. In fact, if developments continue in their current form, they can result in significant changes to the structure of his regime, or more drastically, lead to its total demise.
His decision to allow the Basij to mount an attack on mourners at Ayatollah Montazeri’s funeral was one factor leading to the spread of opposition in rural areas, faster and more efficiently than any campaign the reformist camp could have orchestrated. Yes, members of the opposition tried to take advantage of the mayhem, but also many genuine mourners had come to pay homage to a Grand Ayatollah. To Ayatollah Khamenei’s forces, they were all the same. To allow attacks against the residents of a holy city where the seeds of the 1979 revolution were planted was not just dead wrong from a religious perspective, it was politically counterproductive as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Middle East, Opinion, Recent Posts on December 28, 2009 - י"א טבת תש"ע at 11:57 am
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33350&Cr=palestin&Cr1=
A young child in Gaza observes damage caused by Israeli air strikes which began on 27 December, 2008
27 December 2009, UN News Service – On the first anniversary of the launch of a three-week Israeli military offensive in Gaza, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced deep concern that neither the issues that led to the conflict nor its worrying aftermath have been addressed.
The military campaign, known as “Operation Cast Lead,” had the stated aim of ending rocket attacks by militants operating in Gaza, and left over 1,400 people dead, injured 5,000 others and reduced homes, schools, hospitals and marketplaces to rubble.
Mr. Ban said that restrictions on building supplies and aid entering Gaza has paralyzed the economy and reconstruction efforts, and is denying Gazans their basic human rights.
“There is a sense of hopelessness in Gaza today for 1.5 million Palestinians, half of whom are under eighteen,” said Mr. Ban, stressing that their “fate and the well-being of Israelis are intimately connected.”
The Secretary-General called on Israel to end the “unacceptable and counterproductive blockade of Gaza.” At the same time, he urged Hamas “to bring an end to violence,” and for both sides to “fully respect and uphold international law.”
He noted efforts to combat illicit trafficking of weapons into Gaza have failed to halt the smuggling, and Egypt’s bid to unify Palestinians has yet to breach the deadlock.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on December 27, 2009 - י' טבת תש"ע at 10:57 pm
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ScienceDaily (Dec. 27, 2009) — The human brain works at a far higher level of complexity than previously thought. What has been given little attention up to now in the information processing of neuronal circuits has been the time factor. "Liquid computing" — a new theory about how these complex networks of nerve cells actually work from computer scientists at Graz University of Technology — has just passed its first test.
An interdisciplinary co-operation with neuroscientists from the Max-Planck Institute (MPI) for Brain Research in Frankfurt managed to show that early processing stages in the brain pool information over a longer period. For the evaluation of the experiments, the researchers also had to crack the neuronal code. The scientists published the new findings of their research work, which is funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF in Austria, in the current edition of PLoS Biology.
The idea that the brain processes information step by step appears out of date. "The human brain does not work on the principle of the assembly line. In processing information, it is possible that time is treated much more flexibly than previously thought," explained Wolfgang Maass, head of the Institute for Theoretical Computer Science at Graz University of Technology. Like waves on a pool
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Evolutionary Biology, Recent Posts, Science on December 27, 2009 - י' טבת תש"ע at 10:00 pm
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Reprinted from Daily Alert.org, December 25, 2009
Halevy: A Palestinian State Won’t Succeed If It’s Built by Outsiders – Yoni Goldstein
Efraim Halevy, former head of the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, said in an interview: “Peace between Israel and the Palestinians hinges on the Palestinians proving the capability of nationhood. I don’t think that nationhood can be thrust upon the Palestinians from without. A nation has to be built from within – and it has to be purely Palestinians who create and build their own nation.”
“The way things are at the moment, the Palestinians are not creating their own nation. The nation is being created from without. The United States is training their military forces; Tony Blair is chaperoning them and helping them build their economic and political institutions; the European Union is helping in other fields. In other words, what is being done is the Palestinian nation is being built with outside help. This, I think, cannot succeed….I think it is in Israel’s interest that there should be a Palestinian people that is capable of sustaining a Palestinian state. But what has been going on in recent years is not very encouraging.”
“I am sure that President Obama recognizes – and I know that he recognizes – that Israel is a very valuable and important partner in most of the endeavors that the U.S. is involved in globally….We are a point of sanity, of democracy, of capability, of devotion. We have common values and aims that transcend one kind of an administration or another. And I know Obama respects this.” (Macleans-Canada) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Recent Posts on December 25, 2009 - ח' טבת תש"ע at 9:50 am
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Aside from recommendations regarding education and inter-communal cooperation, a general lament was voiced regarding how negative attitudes and incidents seem to enjoy widespread coverage and exposure as opposed to positive efforts to combat enmity and conflict. Indeed, this remarkable event itself received little or no coverage in the Israeli dailies. But for those of us who were present, it was an unforgettable scene.
by David Rosen, 24 December 2009
JERUSALEM – The scene was stunning. At the Druze shrine of Nebi Shueib, against the backdrop of a gleaming snow-capped Mount Hermon, the green mountains and blue sea of the Galilee, kaffiyed Muslim imams and ulema, moustachioed Druze sheikhs, black-hatted rabbis and Christian clergy in various colourful garb, mingled together in animated discussion.
This meeting, which took place earlier this week, was the third for the Council of Religious Leaders in Israel, an organisation established two years ago at a founding gathering hosted by the Chief of Rabbis of Israel at the headquarters of the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem. At that meeting, more than a hundred participants—including leaders from six different faiths and more than a dozen different denominations—signed a pledge for interfaith cooperation and mutual respect based upon a recognition of a common humanity flowing from the Faith in One Creator of All. The second meeting had been hosted in Kafr Kara by the Muslim community and focused on the role of religious leadership in combating violence in society. It was similarly attended by the highest official religious leadership and local political authorities.
However this third gathering hosted by Sheikh Muaffaq Tarif and the Druze community differed from the previous two. There were still the necessary formal speeches by the heads of the major faiths, but these were preceded by vibrant interactive workshops. The theme of “the role of religious leaders in times of crisis” was particularly relevant as there have been a number of violent incidents in towns and mixed villages in the Galilee in recent years—arguably the most notable of these having taken place in Acre last year.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Middle East, Monotheistic Religions, News Articles, Recent Posts on December 25, 2009 - ח' טבת תש"ע at 9:42 am
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