The B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem is the hub of B'nai B'rith International's activities in Israel, serving as the key link between the organization's members in over 50 countries around the world and the State of Israel. Through its extensive educational programs and well-established relationships with political leaders of all parties, the diplomatic corps and leading academic institutions, the World Center strengthens Israel-Diaspora relations and offers a unique vantage point on developments concerning the Jewish state. Operating under the aegis of BBI's Center for Human Rights and Public Policy, the World Center serves as the organization's permanent and official presence in Jerusalem and its public affairs arm in Israel - a continuing expression of BBI's 140-year active commitment to Jewish renaissance in Eretz Israel.
Board of Trustees:
Fred S. Worms, OBE Chairman, International Board of Trustees (London)
Murray H. Shusterman Founding President
Richard and Phyllis Heideman Trustees (Washington, DC)
Joseph H. Domberger Trustee (Munich)
Dr. Haim V. Katz Chairman (Jerusalem)
Alan Schneider Director |
December 7, 2010
Greeting from the Chairman
 Dear brothers and sisters,
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, began on Wednesday night. It is the well-known story of how a band of resilient Jews battled against the might of the Greeks to take back the Holy Temple and the Jewish way of life. Today we still celebrate their success nearly 2,100 years ago as a symbol of the strength and character of the Jewish people. Sadly, that fight continues today in the face of those who openly declare their desire to destroy that same Jewish way of life.
As ever, we fight with our brains, our creativity, our resourcefulness, and our ingenuity, while the world looks to us for answers to acute problems, and for inspiration. Israelis have discovered how to conquer mosquitoes that spread malaria using their own sweet teeth; use pomegranate juice to fight kidney disease; and solve water shortages by recycling waste water. And life expectancy in Israel is now the fifth-highest in the world.
So while the enemies of the Jews continue their hate-filled crusade, let us focus on the great worldwide contributions of today’s Maccabees.
Chanukah sameach,
Dr. Haim V. Katz
Chairman, B'nai B'rith World Center
Israeli Civil Society Assist Victims of Earthquake, Hurricane and Cholera in Haiti
Last month, as Hurricane Tomas pummeled Haiti, a team of young Israelis quickly mobilized to help refugees overwhelmed with the added burden of flooding and mud slides. These volunteers were already in the country on a humanitarian mission for IsraAID—the Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid—to assist victims of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. Partnered with B’nai B’rith International and other Diaspora Jewish organizations, IsraAID teams have been stationed in the country since Jan. 16 and have provided critical medical assistance, educational resources, women’s empowerment programs, food production, and community development to thousands of refugees in Port-au-Prince, Leogane, and Jacmel. On Nov. 22, the United Nations designated IsraAID’s medical clinic in Leogane, operated by Tevel B’Tzedek, as one of only two cholera treatment facilities in the city and prepared it to receive hundreds of patients. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, IsraAID physicians have been teaching local communities how to properly deal with the epidemic.
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Life Expectancy Fifth-Highest in the World
In 1980, the life expectancy for Israeli Jews, Americans, and residents of the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was across the board approximately 74 years; however, life expectancy for Arab Israelis was lower by more than two years. Since then, the gains in Israeli life expectancy have far outpaced those of other countries. Life expectancy in the United States grew by four years since 1980, and in the rest of the OECD it grew by six years. But for Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, the gain was more than seven years. As a result, a 2005 country-by-country comparison of life expectancy reveals Israeli Jews are living longer than the residents of all but four countries in the world.
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A World Leader in Water Recycling
Scarcity of water is a global problem, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the Middle East. Indeed, the United Nations' Human Development Report has classified the Middle East as the world's most water-stressed region. Faced with the daunting challenge, Israel long ago designed a technology to recycle waste water. Today, more than 80 percent of household waste water is recycled, amounting to 400 million cubic meters a year, a ratio four times higher than in any other country. The result is that Israel's know-how is now being marketed as part of a billion-dollar industry. For more information click here
Malaria Fighters Exploit Mosquito's Own Sweet Tooth Against Them
Mosquitoes' thirst for sugar could help kill the pests and eradicate the malaria they spread. While it is generally well known that female mosquitoes need a meal of blood before laying their eggs, less has been written about their appetite for sweet snacks between meals. It is this diet of “sweets”—derived from flower nectar and nectaries on plant leaves and stems—that provides mosquitoes with their persistent energy. Hebrew University researcher Prof. Yosef Schlein and his co-researcher, Günter Müller, discovered how to use mosquitoes' thirst for sweets against them. By spraying acacia trees with a sugar solution spiked with the oral insecticide Spinosad, they were able to wipe out virtually the entire mosquito population of a southern Israeli oasis. For more information click here
Pomegranate Juice? Now Good for the Kidneys, Too
Pomegranate has long been hailed as a super fruit, a source of antioxidants that lowers both cholesterol and blood pressure, especially in diabetic and hypertensive patients. A new study says that its juice could also help combat kidney disease. Researchers at the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya have found that drinking pomegranate juice can stave off complications in kidney patients on dialysis, including lowering the death rate from infections and associated heart problems.
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Tel Aviv? It's Number Three Among Top Cities in the World
Ahead of the new year, the widely distributed Lonely Planet travel guide series has put Tel Aviv in third place on its list of "top 10 cities for 2011." While first place was nabbed by New York City, and second place went to the North African city of Tangier, Israel's cultural capital came in third, with the editors praising Israel's leisure, entertainment, and cultural center for its art and music scenes, and relaxed, liberal culture. "Scratch underneath the surface and Tel Aviv, or TLV, reveals itself as a truly diverse 21st-century Mediterranean hub. Thanks to its university and museums, it is also the greenhouse for Israel’s growing art, film and music scenes," it read.
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Israeli Companies Win Five Awards at Paris Food Fair
The Sial Global Food Marketplace convention in Paris bills itself as an event for all those involved in the food industry: retail, trade, manufacturing, catering, and food services. At this year's gathering of 5,700 exhibitors, some 20 Israeli companies came to demonstrate their wares—and five of them won prizes for innovation, beating 1,500 other competitors. Tempo won for its flavored shandies; Sugat for its low sodium salt; Olia for its fig product line, as well as a mix of garlic and kumquat; Roy chocolate for its liqueurs in three flavors, and a praline package that opens up; and Sanlakol, which offered tomato sauces in individual plastic servings.
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Israel Unlikely Champ in Global Real Estate
High-tech and science are well-known as booming businesses in Israel. Now there’s a new claim to fame: despite perennial fears of war, Israel has emerged as one of the hottest—and least likely—retail property markets in the world. According to Global Property Guide, a trade magazine that monitors the housing market, Israeli housing prices in the second quarter of 2010 rose sixth-fastest in a ranking of 36 countries. Four of the top five, including Singapore and Latvia, were rebounding from sharp price drops. During the past two years that ended in June, Israel’s real estate market clocks in at number one.
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Chilean Miners Invited for Christmas in the Holy Land
The 33 Chilean miners who captured the world's attention surviving 69 days in a collapsed mine have accepted an invitation for a week-long all-expense paid sightseeing tour of Christian holy sites for Christmas. "Your bravery and strength of spirit, your great faith that helped you survive so long in the bowels of the earth, was an inspiration to us all," Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov wrote in his invitation. "It would be a great honor for us to welcome you as our guests in the Holy Land." The ministry invitation to the miners and their spouses includes flights, hotels, and full board for seven days, as well as sightseeing tours and visits to holy sites. For more information click here
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