Prayers, pleas and broomsticks in Western Wall note-collection ceremony
'After Words We'll Talk' Dave Bender. Click image for full-sized photo.
by Dave Bender
JERUSALEM, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of thousands of small slips of paper are bound tightly together among the crevices of row-upon-row of Herodian-era stones that make up the lower section of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. Read more.
Israelis wary, Palestinians, Americans worried as terror stalks peace talks
By Dave Bender
JERUSALEM, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Hamas officials in Gaza said Thursday that they were behind a second shooting ambush against Israeli civilian motorists in the West Bank late Wednesday night. Unidentified Palestinian gunmen sprayed a car with bullets moderately wounding two passengers near Ramallah. Read more.
By Dave Bender JERUSALEM, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Worshipers and tourists at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism's holiest site, will soon have a new way of approaching the Lord above: an elevator. Read more.
Israel razes security wall at Jerusalem neighborhood
Elderly Jerusalem resident takes a break against the painted wall in Gilo, which protects against sniper fire from Palestinian Beit Jala, seen in the background across a ravine.
By Dave Bender
JERUSALEM, Aug. 15 (Xinhua)-Israel on Sunday began dismantling a concrete security barrier in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood facing Palestinian National Authority areas.
The move came after the army concluded that the near decade- long threat of sniper and mortar fire at Israeli residents in the hilltop neighborhood of Gilo had ended.
Read more.
This abstract structure, at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest known biblical documents.
After three years and 100 million U.S. dollars, the Israel Museum, founded in 1965, is about to pull the wraps off a near-total renovation.
The project, which covered every segment of the 20-acre campus, "is the largest collective philanthropic effort ever undertaken for a single cultural institution in Israel," museum officials said in a statement. Read more.
So-called activists from Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Germany and several other countries are planning on sending waves of blockade-busting sea craft towards Gaza in coming days and weeks.
In an exclusive interview, Dave Bender speaks with an American-Israeli maritime security expert who says Israel must take a harder, clearer tack in averting a humanitarian disaster in the Hamas-led Palestinian enclave - and a possible military one on the high seas between Israel and its sworn enemies.
Palestinian nationalist graffiti showing all of Israel and the West Bank as a Palestinian flag, near the entrance to a home in the al-Bustan/Gan Hamelech (King's Garden) area of the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. More photos here. (Dave Bender - All Rights Reserved)
Israel Okays Plan to Demolish Palestinian Squatters' Homes
By Dave Bender
The Jerusalem Municipality says it wants to move the residents temporarily during construction, and then relocate them at the same location, but in better housing. The master plan includes replacing roads, water and sewer infrastructure, adding municipal services, hotels, and an archaeological park. Palestinians are skeptical of Israel's promises and intentions.Read more.
Israel Eases Gaza Aid Blockade, Naval Siege Continues
By Dave Bender, Geng Xuepeng
JERUSALEM, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Monday began allowing more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, while promising continued enforcement of its naval blockade on the enclave, a spokesman with Israeli Prime Minister's office said. Read more.
Gaza flotilla showdown: both sides vow new confrontations
By Dave Bender, Gur Salomon, Yuan Zhenyu
JERUSALEM, June 1 (Xinhua) -- A day after a deadly Israeli commando raid on a Gaza aid ship, there is no sign of an end to tensions. Both Israeli officials and international activists are standing their ground and say they're preparing for the next round. Read more.
Gaza Flotilla: Israel 'regrets loss of life' but takes no responsibility
By Dave Bender, Huang Heng
JERUSALEM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Monday that "we have lessons learned from this operation" and will make sure that if there are any other flotillas or armadas, Israel will strive to be non-violent (exclusive interview).
Update: An army search of the ship after it was towed to harbor found a store of weapons, including “knives, Molotov cocktails, detonators, wood and metal clubs, slingshots and rocks, large hammers and sharp metal objects,” the IDF said in a statement." Read more. (A full video report of this interview will be posted here soon, so bookmark this page)
Israel Finds 2000-year-old Bridge, Aqueduct in Jerusalem
By Dave Bender
JERUSALEM, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on Tuesday announced the discovery of segments of an arched bridge and aqueduct at an excavation site outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Yehiel Zelinger, the IAA archaeologist responsible for the dig, termed the find "spectacular." Read more.
Israel & Palestinians grapple over restarting talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu ponders a PowerPoint presentation at a press conference touting his government's initiatives during its first year in office. (Photo: Dave Bender - All Rights Reserved).
by Dave Bender
JERUSALEM, May 2 (Xinhua) -- As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are set to meet in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, Israelis and Palestinians are grappling over what restarting talks actually means. Read more.
By Dave Bender Reporter/Producer
"Childhood obesity is a growing problem in Georgia. According to the Georgia Department of Health, one in four third-graders is at risk for being overweight. Today in our childhood obesity series, Dave Bender travels to Mitchell County in south Georgia where one community is trying to reverse the trend."
This feature won the 2009 Georgia Associated Press Broadcaster's Association "Best Series" award, and was part of the Georgia Public Broadcasting radio news team's statewide coverage of the issue.
“Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle” co-author, Saul Singer talks with Dave Bender about the recent Jerusalem Conference, and what America can learn from Israeli hi-tech business prowess.
Israelis, Palestinians 'Lawyer Up' for battle
Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, an Israeli right-wing activist attorney, runs the Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center. She told the recent Jerusalem Conference, and Dave Bender about what is increasingly being used as a courtroom cudgel against the Jewish State: "Lawfare," and how she's turning the legal battle against Israel on it's foes.
(Click here or on the image, to play the narrated audio slideshow)
"With two popular Atlanta restaurants, a catering business, and plans for expansion, Great Food Group Inc’s Owner Patrick Albrecht has a lot more than food on his plate. And to keep his operation running smoothly and cost-effectively, he depends on iPhone." (Dave Bender: Interview, on-site ambient audio for Apple iPhone slideshow)
Clips of these, and other exclusive interviews and reports are also on the radio page. Contact me via the links on the left about producing multimedia packages for your company, website, tv or radio
station, or print publication.
Photojournalism | click for gallery
Online articles | Print
Debacle or success? experts doubt Mossad's role in Dubai assassination
By Dave Bender, Gur Salomon, David Harris
JERUSALEM, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israeli analysts on the Mossad cast doubt on international reports assuming the legendary spook shop is behind the killing of top Hamas commander, Mahmoud al- Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room on January 19, and whether the operation was even a success.Read more.
From Israel With Love - For China
By Dave Bender
SARAH Ross spent 30 years of her life in Shanghai as one of 30,000 refugees during World War II. Now 96, the Jerusalem resident tells Dave Bender and Hao Fangjia of her happy years in China, her second home.Read more.
JNF, Atlanta College Students Spring-Break Together
By Dave Bender
A group of some 35 college students, including eight Atlantans, just returned from an arduous, but deeply fulfilling week in the Negev Desert spent building, digging, hiking, sweating, straining, sharing and most of all, learning about Israel and their connection to the land and people.Read more.
Novartis, Israeli Startup Ink Pharma Deal
Biopharmaceutical firm NasVax has signed a deal with Swiss pharma giant Norvartis to develop new vaccines together, including influenza-fighting strains.
"What's significant is that Novartis is one of the five largest vaccine companies in the world," Dr. Ronald Ellis, NasVax senior vice president and chief technical officer, tells ISRAEL21c, "and they found it attractive to work with us." Read the rest.
By Dave Bender - Georgia
Public Broadcasting Radio
Worshipers link arms, singing "We Shall Overcome," at Ebenezer
Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta, on Sunday, January 18,
on the eve of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day,
and inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama.
Memphis has Graceland. Vegas has impersonators. And Israel - yes, Israel - has the Elvis Inn, a bizarre desert Mecca for Middle East Elvis enthusiasts. It's the Holy Land, people, and the King has risen.
