Archives:
The
Jerusalem Post: Routing For Rachel
By Dave Bender - The Jerusalem Post
We've succeeded in
saving Rahel's Tomb," says Kever Rahel Fund founder and
director Miriam Adani. Adani was responding to the decision
by the High Court of Justice last week to dismiss petitions
by 18 local Palestinians, together with the Bethlehem and Beit
Jala municipalities, against construction of a bypass road leading
to the compound. The new route will annex Rahel's Tomb to Jerusalem's
municipal boundaries and place it within a segment of the planned
"envelope" barrier being constructed along the city's
southern perimeter.
An
Israeli journalist prepares to fight
By David Bender - Open Democracy
Among the thousands
of reservists regularly called up to serve in Israel's army
was one journalist, musician, and writer. David Bender was more
than willing to heed the call of his troubled nation. In this
poignant and revealing account, he offers a glimpse of the daily
life of an Israeli soldier.
Shayna, Pria, and
Shmaya, eight-and-a-half year-old triplets on the tail end of
summer vacation, strolled past the Sbarro
pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem not long before a Palestinian
suicide bomber walked into the restaurant, packed with noontime
diners. Pressing a concealed button on a ten-kilogram charge,
the terrorist slaughtered fifteen Israelis and tourists and
wounded over 130 in a devastating attack. The children, together
with their mother and her infant twins were on a bus making
their way home as scores of local and international correspondents
rushed downtown in the wake of the blast that ripped through
the heart of Jerusalem just after 2 pm.
Hoop
dreams for Israel's Gaza Refugees
By Dave Bender - Israel 21c
While media coverage
of Israel's evacuation of 9,000 Jewish residents from the Gaza
Strip in the summer of 2005 focused on the political and physical
struggle between the government and its citizens, Israeli filmmaker
Yaron Shane and producer Avi Abelow chose to focus on the human
aspect.
Get
Ready for Streaming Video - Everywhere
By Dave Bender - Israel 21c
If you think viewing
fuzzy, slow-downloading news clips on your cellphone, or watching
over-pixillated YouTube Internet posts are the last word in
high tech streaming video, don't touch that dial: a consortium
of seven of Israel's best and brightest companies involved in
developing video infrastructure and applications delivery is
on the case.
(Israel
Foreign Ministry): Telecom 2006 - where Israeli technology and
communication come together
By Dave Bender - Israel 21c
Communications prowess
is a key to technological leadership, and Israel's world-class
telecom/information technology industry combines both to a 'T'.
American consumers
may not be aware of the numerous facets of Israel's technological
prowess in their daily life: Motorola developed original cell
phone technology at their R&D centers here, and a then-unknown
Israeli startup called ICQ first unveiled Internet chat messaging
to the world. Intel's latest Dual Core and earlier Pentium chips
were developed at their Haifa R&D center, and manufactured
at Jerusalem and Kiryat Gat fabrication plants; the NICE company
is an industry byword for security systems, and NDS introduced
simple, easy-to-use, pay-per-view TV to international audiences.
Blue
Suede Jews
By Dave Bender - American Jewish Life
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.
Hot
Orthodox Supermodel
By Dave Bender - American Jewish Life
Havi Mond, a fast-rising
Star of David in London’s modeling firmament, says that
while getting kosher cuisine catered to her photo shoots and
occasionally missing lucrative weekend gigs at first posed limitations,
her clients don’t seem to mind at all, perhaps even spinning
it as some sort of atavistic “ethnic chic”.
Israeli
rescue device promises a 'safe exit' from world's high-rises
By Dave Bender - Israel 21c
Getting people out
of a high-rise office tower or apartment building quickly and
safely in an emergency usually means using the elevator or stairwell.
But what happens when both of those methods are blocked, or
the individual is incapacitated and can't get to them?
Keeping
things in perspective
By Dave Bender - Israel 21c
Yoni Shapira is a
big guy who likes little things; 1:25 scale little things, to
be exact. The 50-year-old native Israeli is the creative visionary
behind Israel's newest and most popular tourist attraction -
Mini Israel - a 15-acre theme park boasting eight acres of exact
miniature replicas of over 300 of the country's most famous
sites and cities.
Angling
for the security market
By Dave Bender - Israel 21c
A tense SWAT team,
masked and clad in body-armor cautiously sidles up to a decrepit
urban warehouse in the dead of night, as terrorists holed-up
inside guard hostages. But until the assault team knows exactly
where the gunmen are hiding the captives, they can't risk casualties
or drawing return fire.
New
Afghan mission for US: Divorce agreement for Israeli
By Dave Bender - The Jerusalem Post
A Beersheba resident has a special request for US forces attacking
Kabul, Afghanistan: Convince her husband to divorce her. Yitzhak
Levi, in his 70s, is one of two Jews remaining in the ancient
community. His wife Chana, 50, lives in Beersheba and wants
out, reports the Yediot Ahronot Hebrew daily. According to Jewish
Law, the two can only divorce if her husband agrees to the process.
Yitzhak is the caretaker at Kabul's sole synagogue, and resides
in the building. Next door to the synagogue lives Zebulon Simantov,
the other Jew remaining in Afghanistan. And true to the cliche,
the two reportedly do not get along. However, there is only
one synagogue.
