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 |
March 22, 2010
Greeting from the Chairman
 Dear readers,
We have just passed through the calendar's extended holiday and memorial season, one that moves our emotions in the extreme. From Purim in February to Shavuot in May, we marked along the way Pessach, Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah V'Hagvura), Memorial Day (Yom Hazikaron), Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut), Lag B'Omer, and Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim). We feel pain, we feel joy; we mourn our dead, celebrate our religion. But mostly we exalt at the accomplishments of our nation.
And that is what these Real News newsletters highlight: the deeds and actions of Israel and Israelis, whether it's saving the lives of Arab children in Israeli hospitals; leading the world in recycling our planet's most precious commodity, water; inspiring others to fund science in order to better commercialize research; or being home to the biggest generic drug maker in the world that thrives because of its high-quality reputation, I feel privileged to live in a country where every day we accomplish so much. There is also so much more that goes unrecognized. I am sure that when you peruse our Real News that you will be proud too.
This issue leads with an innovation for Real News: an article written in Hebrew for local Israeli readers that we felt merited translation into English for our readers “To Hell and Back when the Earth Moved” is one man's moving personal record of his experiences on a volunteer aid mission to Haiti earlier this year. That mission was funded in part by B’nai B’rith International as part of its ongoing strategic partnership with IsraAID – the Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid – initiated and nurtured by the B’nai B’rith World Center.
Dr. Haim Katz
Chairman, B'nai B'rith World Center
To Hell and Back when the Earth Moved - One man’s personal report on Israeli civil society aid to Haiti
In his normal life Peretz Giladi is an inspector for Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, beekeeper and world traveler. He is also a medic and volunteers in the Golan Search and Rescue team in which capacity he has been called up on dozens of occasions to rescue people injured on hiking accidents. None of this prepared him for a hair raising two week period treating seriously injured people in Haiti beginning just three days after the earthquake devastated much of Port-au-Prince on January 13. His touching personal account shows Israel at its best.
English follows Hebrew here
With water scarce, Israel leads world in recycling
Israel is already the world's leader in water recycling, and is working to get better. A new desalination plant – the largest in the world using reverse osmosis technology - just opened in Hadera, inaugurated by President Shimon Peres who raised a glass of desalinated water to toast the occasion. The reverse osmosis technology means sea water does not have to be heated, as is done in larger plants in the world that are less environmentally friendly. The result? The entire process of desalinating the water takes 35 minutes, from the time it enters pipelines in the sea.
For more information click here
That Pill You Took? Odds are it's from Israel
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries may not be a household name, but everyone in the drug-making business surely knows it, for one simple reason: Teva is the biggest generic drug maker in the world. Last year, the company’s medicines filled nearly 630 million prescriptions in the United States, making it a larger domestic supplier than such pharmaceutical heavyweights as Pfizer, Novartis and Merck — combined. And with dozens of popular drugs about to lose their patent protections, Teva is likely to capture an even greater market share, analysts say, because it has cultivated a reputation for producing high-quality, low-cost drugs. For more information click here
Angola children with heart problems get help
A group of six Angolan children suffering from heart problems – toddlers to five years old - are in Israel for treatment, with the help of the Save a Child’s Heart organization. Accompanied by their relatives, the children will stay in Israel from about 45 days to two months, depending on the seriousness of each case. For more information click here
Israel's success inspires Ontario
Inspired by Israel’s success in commercializing advanced research, Ontario will appoint a chief scientist to advise the government. Israel ranks first in the world in terms of research and development investment as a percentage of gross domestic product, and No. 1 in medical device patents per capita. That is being cited as proof of the benefits of funding science. “Here in Israel they’re all over that because they don’t really have natural resources, they don’t really have a manufacturing sector,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty. “These folks here are on the cutting edge."
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Israel's economy is tops!
Israel’s economy is known to be very strong, minimally affected by the world's economic cycles. But no. 1? Yep, that's where it ranks, according to the Swiss Institute for Management Development (IMD). It's also No. 1 for its expenditure in research and development as a percentage of gross domestic product, as it was last year, and in the innovative capacity of firms to generate new products, processes and services. In the business-efficiency category, Israel scored very high in availability of skilled labor, finance skills, entrepreneurship of managers and venture capital. It also ranked No. 17 for competitiveness, out of 58 countries, placing it after Germany and before China. Last year it was No. 24.
For more information click here
Israeli research to impact Third World children
Iron deficiency, and its attendant anemia, is the most prevalent micronutrient disorder in the world, according to the World Health Organization. And for years the WHO had made a specific recommendation against taking iron supplements in certain cases, where there was a high risk in areas with a high prevalence of malaria. But now, as a result of research by two doctors at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tivka, the WHO is set to change its recommendation, a suggestion that is likely to prevent suffering and complications for millions of children living in Third World countries.
For more information click here
Repopulating Israel - with biblical animals!
There are nearly 100 different types of animals mentioned in the Bible, many of them central characters in well-known stories: the lions in Daniel’s den; the dove that scouted for dry land from Noah’s ark; and the ram that was sacrificed by Abraham to save the life of his son, Isaac. Today, many of them are gone, hunted to the point of extinction or driven away by ongoing conflict. But concerted efforts are being made to repopulate Israel with biblical animals that haven’t been seen since Noah loaded them up, two by two, onto his ark. Yehoshua Shkedy, a chief scientist for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, uses the Bible as a starting point to see what animals were once in Israel, reading the Scriptures with a conservationists’ point of view. While Shkedy would love to bring back lions and hippopotamuses, he focuses on the animals that realistically stand a chance to thrive again, like Persion fallow deer and vultures.
For more information click here
10 reasons Israel is leader in clean technology
Israel, a global cleantech powerhouse, is attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in cleantech investment every year. So why has such a small country been able to position itself as a world leader in cleantech? The president and founder of Atlanta-based Sustainable World Capital has written a column outlining 10 good reasons, which he says are based on history, attitude of the people, ingenuity and challenges to survival.
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Saving the Jordan Valley Eco System
Representatives of Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians recently gathered at an international environmental conference in Amman to work together to solve some of the region's ecological problems. At the top of the list: the Jordan River. Long stretches of the river are expected to be completely dry possibly with in a year, unless urgent action is taken by the parties to return fresh water to the river. A solution to this environmental disaster depends on the ability of the surrounding countries to cooperate. Hopefully, the gathering of the representatives will end up being marked as a turning point for environmental cooperation in the Middle East.
For more information click here
Here's a good idea: Thinking 'inside the box'
A new Israeli device that is put inside your electric box can control your appliances remotely, and program them according to the power company's peak hours and discounts. It enables users to find out if electrical goods like the refrigerator or the air-conditioner are working properly, and how much power they consume. And it can program parts of the house to shut down in order to save money, energy, and wear and tear on appliances when no one's home.
For more information click here
A different Zionist plot: Saving Arab children
There is a cardiac ward in a hospital in Tel Aviv where children lie on cots, as doctors and nurses check charts and adjust advanced medical equipment. There's nothing special about this hospital scene, except this: These children are not Jewish, or hold Israeli citizenship. Many come from China, Russia, Hungary, Yemen and other nations far from Israel. And half the children being treated are Palestinians from the West Bank. All of these kids are receiving some of the best medical care available in the world, to heal their malfunctioning hearts.
For more information click here
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