Hamas, PA Unity Foundering

by  Adam Rasgon  Nov 30, 2017

On Tuesday afternoon, for the first time in more than 10 years, the Ramallah-based PA ordered all of its Gaza-based employees to return to work in ministries and government bodies.

However, Hamas-appointed government employees prevented Palestinian Authority employees from entering government institutions and bodies in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the official PA news site Wafa reported. It was the latest sign that efforts to reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip under one government are foundering. (It should be no surprise)

Hamas-appointed employees barred PA Local Governance Minister Hussein al-Araj and PA Finance Ministry and Religious Endowments Ministry employees from entering Gaza’s government institutions, Wafa reported.

When Hamas forcibly took over Gaza in 2007, the PA instructed its some 55,000 employees there not to report for work. While most of the Gaza-based PA employees have not worked in their government positions for the past 10 and a half years, Hamas has since appointed some 40,000 employees to fill their roles.

In reconciliation talks, the fates of the two groups of employees have become a highly contested issue between Hamas and Fatah.

Fatah officials have said the PA cannot absorb all of the Hamas-appointed employees, while Hamas officials have demanded all of its employees be integrated into the PA.

On Wednesday morning, Hamas accused the PA of “causing chaos and confusion in some of Gaza’s ministries” as a result of its “irresponsible decision... to call on the [PA] employees to return to work.”

As part of a deal signed by Hamas and Fatah in Cairo in mid-October to advance reconciliation efforts, Hamas and Fatah agreed that a PA-formed administrative committee would work “to find a solution to the employees issue” by February 1.

According to PA Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, the two sides agreed that the PA could call up its employees in Gaza to work while the administrative committee searches for a solution to the issue.

However, according to deputy Hamas chief in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas and Fatah agreed that the PA-formed administrative committee could only call up workers.

The dispute between Fatah and Hamas is only one indication in the past week that reconciliation efforts are not succeeding.

Last week, Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian factions met in Cairo to discuss reconciliation efforts. At the conclusion of the meeting, the factions issued a joint statement that called for a number of measures, including elections, but made no mention of specific agreements to move reconciliation forward.

Hamas spokesman Salah Bardaweil called the statement “meaningless” and “lackluster.”

Moreover, earlier this week, Sheikh told Palestinian television that since the mid-October agreement, Hamas had barely enabled the PA to operate in Gaza.

The senior PA official said the PA had not surpassed the 5% marker in terms of taking responsibility for Gaza.

According to the mid-October agreement, the PA is supposed to take complete responsibility for Gaza by December 1.

MY 13-YEAR-OLD HERO

by Dov Lipman  November 23, 2017

Imagine if children throughout Israel spent the year leading up to their bar and bat mitzvas raising funds to bring electricity and water to children in Africa.

The daily news usually covers the negative: scandals, corruption, wars, etc. I once heard a nightly news anchor say that she begins every night with the words “Good evening” and that is usually the last good thing she says for the entire broadcast. But in a country like Israel, filled with so many challenges and hardship, we cannot forget the extraordinary beacons of good and light living in our midst.

Which brings me to my new hero. His name is Eytan Kramer, a 13-year-old boy from Ra’anana.

Eytan and his mother, Liza, with the solar panels prior to their installation. (photo credit:LIZA KRAMER)

As Eytan was approaching his bar mitzva a year ago, he and his mother had a discussion about what it means to “become a man.” Eytan concluded that it means not just taking responsibility for yourself, but for the needs of others as well. So Eytan decided that he wanted to take on a project for his bar mitzva that included helping the less fortunate.

He found out that there are some 600 million people in Africa who live in darkness – no electricity – and another 300 million Africans who do not have access to clean water. Most of us hear these statistics and sigh for a moment, and maybe even appreciate what we have – and then carry on with business as usual.

Eytan heard those numbers and decided to take action. He and his mother contacted Sivan Yaari, founder and CEO of Innovation Africa, and after raising $18,000, Eytan and his mother traveled to Uganda a few weeks ago to see, as a result of Eytan’s efforts, the lights switched on at the Bukalikha Primary School.

That’s right: 959 children now have electricity in their school because of the efforts of a 13-year-old Israeli boy who spent months raising the funds to bring them Israeli solar technology via this non-profit organization. Electricity for that school means they can attract the best teachers and provide the children with a place to study in the nighttime hours. These children now have an opportunity for a high-level education and a brighter future.

The impact that this had on the children could be seen by their reaction when the lights went on: absolute euphoria, cheering, singing, dancing. Sheer joy. And Eytan was there to dance and celebrate with them.

Eytan Kramer reminds us what our society can look like: a world in which people look for ways to help others. Eytan also reminds us of something else – what Israel is, and how much greater it can be.

Imagine if college campuses were filed with students partnering with Israel to solve the problems that worldwide organizations such as the United Nations have not solved.

Innovation Africa has improved the lives of a million people in 160 African villages by installing electricity in their schools and medical clinics, and providing them with clean water. Imagine if we all joined together to bring electricity and water to 1,000 villages, impacting the lives of millions of people who currently live in the dark and in drought.

Aside from the inherent good of transforming lives for the better, such generosity would demonstrate once again that Israel not only stands for human rights, but is leading the world in fighting for it.

Thank you Eytan, for reminding us of who we are and who we can be.

All Aboard the UN Titanic

Israeli laughs last at UNESCO antisemitism

Rambam Doctors Operate On Children In Georgia

Doctors from Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center have become self-appointed ambassadors of good will in the Republic of Georgia. Twice a year for the past five years, they have traveled to capital city of Tbilisi to perform operations on local youngsters with serious congenital defects, making Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili the number-one supporter of the project.

The help is needed because local doctors don’t have the expertise to treat the children, or they have previously tried and failed, explained Dr. Ran Steinberg, director of the pediatric surgery department at Rambam’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital, who heads the Rambam team.

“On the first day of our arrival, we examine the cases and order all the necessary tests. In the days that remain, we operate for many hours in two parallel operating rooms on as many children as possible. These are complex and sometimes very challenging cases, but the intention is to help as many children as possible while we are there.”

Over the years, the Rambam team has amassed a fairly large group of patients at the Georgian hospital. In addition to operating, they take advantage of the visits to examine former patients and monitor their condition.

“The relationship with the Georgian team has been ongoing throughout the year in consultations about patients we treated, as well as for new patients,” Steinberg said. “The fact that we are in an ongoing partnership with the medical staff in Tbilisi has many benefits in terms of patient care. It can be said that this is really an extension of Rambam in Georgia.”

One team member, Dr. Arkadi Vachian, director of the minimally invasive surgery unit at Rambam’s children’s hospital, was born and raised in Tbilisi and came to Israel many years ago as a young doctor. He finds the return to Georgia, where he has the opportunity to perform surgery and train local doctors, a very satisfying emotional experience.

The government of Georgia initiated cooperation between Rambam and Givi Zhvania, the pediatric hospital in Tbilisi, to facilitate the program.

About two years ago, the Israeli doctors were invited to the President’s palace for an official visit. Since then, they have also met with the Georgian health minister and with Israeli Ambassador to Georgia Shabtai Tsur, who once thanked the doctors inside an operating room.

For article go to http://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Rambam-doctors-operate-on-children-in-Georgia-514601 

The Jewish-Arab Demographic Reversal

by Yoram Ettinger,  Nov 10, 2017

For full report see http://www.theettingerreport.com/Demographic-Scare.aspx 

In 2017, Israel is the only advanced economy and Western democracy endowed with a relatively high fertility rate, which facilitates further economic growth with no reliance on migrant labor.  In contrast to conventional demographic wisdom, Israel is not facing a potential Arab demographic time bomb. In fact, the Jewish State benefits from a robust Jewish demographic tailwind.

At the outset of 2017, for the first time - and in defiance of projections made by Israel's demographic establishment since the early 1940s - Israel's Jewish fertility rate (3.16 births per woman) exceeds Israel's Arab rate of fertility (3.11).  Actually, in 2017, Israel's fertility rate is higher than most Arab countries (e.g., Saudi Arabia – 2.1 births per woman, Kuwait – 2.4, Syria – 2.5, Morocco – 2.1, etc.).

The Westernization of the Arab fertility rate has also been in effect in Judea and Samaria: from 5 births per Arab woman in 2000 to about 3 in 2016. 

The substantial, systematic Westernization of Arab fertility – from 9.5 births per woman in 1960 to 3.11 in 2016 – has been a derivative of the accelerated integration of Israeli Arabs into modernity, in general, and the enhanced status of Israel's Arab women, in particular.

For example – as it is among the Arabs of Judea and Samaria, whose fertility rate is similar - almost all Israeli Arab girls complete high school, and are increasingly enrolling in colleges and universities, improving their status within their own communities. This process has expanded their use of contraceptives, delaying wedding-age and reproduction, which used to start at the age of 15-16, to the age of 20 year old and older.

In addition, Arab women are increasingly integrated into Israel's employment market, becoming more career and social-oriented, which terminates their reproductive process at the age of 45, rather than 50-55 as it used to be.  

At the same time, since 1995, there has been an unprecedented rise in the rate of Jewish fertility - especially in the secular sector - resulting from a relatively-high level of optimism, patriotism, attachment to national roots and collective/communal responsibility.

From 80,400 Jewish births in 1995, the number surged to 139,400 in 2016, while the annual number of Arab births remained stable at around 41,000. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the 73% rise in the number of Jewish births took place despite the mild decline of ultra-orthodox fertility (due to expanded integration into the employment market, higher learning and the military) and the stabilized modern-orthodox fertility, but due to the rising fertility of the secular Jewish sector.

The unprecedented tailwind behind Israel's burgeoning Jewish demography is documented by the proportion of Jewish births in the country: 77% of total births in 2016, compared with 69% in 1995. Also, in 2016, there were 3.2 Jewish births per Arab birth, compared to 2.2 births in 1995.  

In 2017, the total number of Arabs in Judea and Samaria is 1.8MN, not 3MN as claimed by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, which includes in its count over 400,000 Palestinians who have been away for over a year; over 300,000 Jerusalem Arabs, who are doubly-counted (by Israel and by the Palestinian Authority); and 100,000 Palestinians who married Israeli Arabs and received Israeli ID cards, who are also doubly-counted. 

Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority claims zero net-migration, ignoring the annual net-emigration of 20,000 in recent years and the systematic net-emigration since 1950. A September 7, 2006 World Bank studydocumented a 32% inflated number of births claimed by the Palestinian Authority.

Israel on the Moon?

Space: the final frontier for Israeli scientists. 21see meets the minds behind SpaceIL - Israel's answer to Google's Lunar X challenge. Join 21see as we hear from the remarkable group of scientists hoping to make Israel the fourth nation to land on the moon.

Palestinian Historian: ‘There Was Nothing Called a Palestinian People’

(with thanks to www.unitedwithisrael.org )

Rather than accepting history and living with it, Palestinian leader Abbas chooses to invent facts, thus perpetuating the Palestinian war against Israel’s existence.   

Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas published an op-ed in the UK’s Guardian on Thursday to mark the 100^th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, in which he disregarded the historical facts and presented a revisionist version of the events.

The Ottoman Empire’s rule of the Land of Israel, as well as most of the Middle East, began in 1512 and lasted for over 400 years. There was never any “Palestinian” entity in the area.

However, Abbas, after castigating Lord Arthur Balfour for promising “a land that was not his to promise” went on to describe the Palestinian people as “a proud nation with a rich heritage of ancient civilisations, and the cradle of the Abrahamic faiths.”

Contradicting Abbas’ historical revision, just a day before, PA official TV broadcast an interview with the historian Abd Al-Ghani Salameh, who explained that in 1917, the time of the Balfour Declaration, there was no Palestinian people.

“There always was a historical struggle over the Mandated Palestine territory, and many wanted to rule it. How did the aspirations to rule affect the Palestinian existence, the Palestinians’ options, and the Palestinians’ possibilities of development?” the host of the program asked Salameh during a special broadcast for the centenary anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

“Before the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) when the Ottoman rule ended (in 1917), Mandated Palestine’s political borders as we know them today did not exist, and there was nothing called a Palestinian people with a political identity as we know today,” Salameh said on Palestinian TV, according to the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a watchdog which monitors Palestinian incitement.

Salameh explained that “Palestine’s lines of administrative division stretched from east to west and included Jordan and southern Lebanon, and like all peoples of the region [the Palestinians] were liberated from the Turkish rule and immediately moved to colonial rule, without forming a Palestinian people’s political identity.”

Please Get Your Historical Facts Straight

In his article in The Guardian, Abbas continued to revise history by claiming that he was 13 years old “at the time of our expulsion from Safed.”

This contradicts Abbas’ own words in 2013, when he admitted on PA TV that the residents of Safed were not expelled but rather left Israel in 1948 on their own.

“The [Arab] Liberation Army retreated from the city [Safed in 1948], causing the [Arab] people to begin emigrating. In Safed, just like Hebron, people were afraid that the Jews would take revenge for the [Arab] massacre [of Jews] in 1929. The 1929 massacre was most severe in Safed and Hebron. The people (of Safed in 1948) were overcome with fear, and it caused the people to leave the city in a disorderly way.”

The IDF did not take revenge for the heinous 1929 massacre, in which 67 Jews were killed in Hebron and 18 in Safed.

100 Years of Arab Rejection

Throughout the 20th century, Arab leaders have rejected Jewish rights, promoted an exclusivist worldview that the land belongs only to them and encouraged violent attacks on the Jewish population.

This rejection of the legitimate and internationally-mandated and recognized claim of the Jewish people to a national homeland in the Holy Land is the cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Even now, the Palestinians, instead of educating and building towards a future of peace, are still looking backwards, trying to turn back the hands of time, re-litigate and deny, and reject the world’s acceptance of the justice of the Jewish people’s claim, the foreign ministry exclaimed.

Abbas announced at the July 2016 Arab League Summit his intention to sue Britain for issuing the Balfour Declaration.

His and other Palestinian leaders’ rejection of the Balfour Declaration reflects their consistent denial of any rights of the Jewish people in their homeland, and thus, drives peace further away.

The vehement opposition to the Balfour Declaration was and has remained rooted in the anti-historical view that Jews are aliens in the land, and in the false assumption that they have no connection to the land and no right of any kind to live there as a people. This attitude of Arab exclusivism continues to drive the Arab-Israeli conflict to this day.