B’nai B’rith World Center Award for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportaģe for 2011
The B’nai B’rith World Center conferred its Award for Journalism Recognizing Diaspora Reportaģe for 2011 on Journalist Bambi Sheleg, editor of Eretz Acheret and film director Meni Elias at a ceremony on October 31  in Jerusalem. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to veteran Yedioth Ahronot journalist Noah Klieger. US Ambassador to Israel, H.E. Daniel B. Shapiro opened his keynote address in Hebrew to condemn ongoing rocket attack against Israeli Civilians from Gaza.  “The United States condemns these terror attacks from Gaza. There is no excuse for firing rockets at innocent civilians. The United States supports the right of Israel to defend itself and its citizens.” The ambassador added that “Our thoughts at this time must be with the residents of Ashkelon and Ashdod and other cities in southern Israel, and our prayers must be with the bereaved Ami family who lost their loved one” killed in a Grad rocket attack last week. In his address, the Ambassador stressed the strong alliance between the two countries and America’s commitment to Israel’s security. More>>>	r. to l.: Dr. Haim Katz, Noah Klieger, Bambi Sheleg, Meni Elias, Ambassador Shapiro and Alan Schneider Amb. Daniel Shapiro
World Center Instrumental in Establishing Fire Scouts Clubhouse in Haifa; Latest in the Post-Carmel Fire Disaster Relief Effort
L to r: Yona Yahav, Mayor of Haifa; Dan Mariaschin; Rivan and Alan Schneider On Oct. 23, nearly 11 months after the Great Carmel Fire in northern Israel, B’nai B’rith and the Haifa Fire Department inaugurated the B’nai B’rith Fire Scouts Clubhouse at the central Haifa Fire Station. About 100 people—50 of them fire scouts—attended the opening of the clubhouse, built in memory of 16-year-old fire scout Elad Riven who was killed in the fire. BBI EVP Daniel Mariaschin and World Center Director Alan Schneider represented B’nai B’rith at the moving ceremony. Others who attended the inauguration included Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav; Haifa Region Fire Department Chairman Brig. Gen. Rami Dotan; Fire Chief Arie Regev and Elad’s mother Tzvia Riven.  B’nai B’rith invested $80,000 in the project from fund raised after the blaze by the BBI Israel Emergency Fund and B’nai B’rith Europe. The clubhouse includes space for meetings, training and recreation. The World Center was charged with implementing aid projects following the Carmel Fire. Shortly after Riven’s tragic death, the World Center learned that Haifa Region Fire Scouts officer Captain Avi Cohen had long wanted a clubhouse for the fire scouts in Haifa, a project that allows teenagers to volunteer with fire departments across the country. The World Center and the Haifa Region Fire Department cooperated closely for nearly a year to see the project to fruition.  More>>>
World Center Executive Committee member feted with School naming
Avigdor Warsha with family  Longtime B’nai B’rith leader and current International Advisory Council and World Center Executive Committee member Avigdor Warsha was feted on September 26 with the dedication of a school bearing his name in his home city of Kiryat Ono in central Israel. The ceremony took place  with the participation of Mayor Yossi Neshri and members of the city council. The audience included incoming Director General of the Ministry of Education Dr. Dalit Stauber and other dignitaries, B'nai B'rith World Center director Alan Schneider, former BBI Young Leadership Action Network chair Dr. Elana Heideman and hundreds of students, teachers, friends, past and present employees of the Kiryat Ono municipality and family members. More>>>
B'nai B'rith World Center hosts Melanie Phillips for "Jerusalem Address"
L to r: Melanie Phillips, Asher Schapiro, Haim V. Katz and David Horovitz Over 600 people packed Heichal Shlomo hall in Jerusalem on September 12 to attend the 2011 B'nai B'rith World Center "Jerusalem Address" delivered by renowned award-winning Jewish British journalist and author Melanie Phillips. Phillips spoke on 'The War Against Israel: the Defining Issue of Our Time”. In her address Phillips discussed the multi-front war being waged against the State of Israel, including from within Britain, Europe and the US.  The “Jerusalem Address" was established by the B’nai B’rith World Center in 1985 as its most prestigious forum for addressing fundamental challenges facing Israel and the Jewish People. More>>>
World Center and Ecumenical Fraternity convene fifth Liaison Committee session
The B’nai B’rith World Center and the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity in Israel convened on June 14 the fifth session of their joint “Liaison Committee” - an informal Jewish-Christian initiative aimed at fostering better mutual respect and understanding between key local Jews and Christians. The session, entitled “With God on our Side: Drawing Palestinian Support from the Evangelical Christian Community” focused on recent efforts to undermine the traditional support of Fundamentalist Christian for the State of Israel. Featured speakers at the meeting were Mr. Dexter Van Zile, Christian media analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Report in America (CAMERA) and Dr. Don Stanley, Director of the Israel Trust of the Anglican Church. An edited version of  Zile’s speech is available here.  More>>>
B’nai B’rith Edith “Pat” Wolfson Endowment Fund grant made to Fogel children
The Fogal family B’nai B’rith World Center Director Alan Schneider presented on June 15 the annual B’nai B’rith Edith “Pat” Wolfson Endowment Fund for Israeli Youth grant to Rabbi Yehuda Ben-Yishai, grandfather of Tamar (12), Roi (8) and Yishai (2 ½)  Fogel whose parents Udi (36) and Ruth (35) and three siblings Yoav (11), Elad (4) and Hadas (3) were brutally stabbed to death in their beds on Friday night, March 11 by two Palestinian terrorists in their home in the northern Samarian community of Itamar. Schneider conveyed condolences on behalf of B’nai B’rith to Rabbi Ben-Yishai who, along with his wife Tali, are boarding and caring for their grandchildren in their Jerusalem apartment. More>>>
World Center Director appointed to Israel National Commission for UNESCO
B'nai B'rith World Center Director Alan Schneider was appointed in July to the Executive Committee of the Israel National Commission for UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - by the Commission's president, Minister of Education Gideon Saar. In his letter, Saar wrote that the appointment was being made in recognition of B'nai B'rith's official NGO status at UN agency. More>>>
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