Muslim Girls in Israel Army

Still think Israel is a racist, apartheid state? You wouldn’t know it to listen to these young Muslim and Christian Arab girls, who are joining the Israeli army in ever greater numbers.

Young Muslim girls are joining the fight, on Israel’s side! These courageous young women have a unique and important story to tell, and together with a growing number of Christian Arab girls, they are breaking new ground joining ranks with the Israeli army.

When Private ‘A’, one of the Muslim girls now serving in the IDF decided to enlist, her parents refused to support her. She had to leave home and received support from the army as a lone soldier.

“I need to support myself,” she says, “and it’s really difficult, even with the help I get from the army. It is rare for a Muslim girl to join the army, because our families will not accept it. Even so, I would still recommend others to enlist. It is a great, life-changing experience.”

Private ‘G’, a devout Muslim, grew up in a Jewish neighborhood. She decided to enlist after she saw all of her neighbors going to serve. “The army is an important part of everyone’s life in my neighborhood,” she explained. “I wanted to serve just like everyone else. I want to give something back to Israel, my country.”

She added that her mother has been very supportive and sends her regular letters for moral support. “Mom said that she would have enlisted also if it had been possible when she was my age.”

According to Private ‘G’, recent tensions in Israel caused by young Muslims running through the streets attacking Israeli soldiers with knives does not influence her commitment to serve in the army. “I am so angry, just like the other soldiers, with these attacks. I am angry that anyone would try to harm these soldiers who are supporting me,” she said.

Private ‘S’ also grew up in a Jewish neighborhood. “My whole life I went to school with Jewish girls, so I wanted to finish high school, and enlist in the army, just like my friends,” she noted.

“I have never been ashamed of my [Muslim] faith, not even in the army. I wanted to enlist because it is my duty to serve and protect my country,” she added. “I want to serve in a way that makes a significant contribution.”

According to Private ‘S’, the army allows her to practice her religious traditions during her army service. “They allow me to go home during the Muslim Ramadan fast, once a week to be with my family,” she explained. “Some may think it is strange, but at home we actually celebrate some of the Jewish holidays like Purim.”

Corporal ‘M’ is a Christian Arab serving in a sensitive operational unit. “One day I saw a group of girl soldiers walking by carrying machine guns. I asked them about their army service, and it sounded really interesting. I didn’t even know where one would go to sign up, so they told me what I needed to do to enlist,” she recounted.

“After I enlisted,” continued the corporal, “I was walking around the [Arab] neighborhood where I live in uniform. When people saw me they deleted me from their Facebook and erased my number from their telephone. It was very hard, but a few friends still supported me, and I have made a lot of new friends in the army,” she shared.

All the young Muslim and Christian soldiers say that other girls are asking them about enlisting too. “I tell them that I feel like I am doing something important for my country,” said Corporal ‘M’. “And when I explain to the Jewish soldiers why I decided to enlist, they all show real respect for the decision that I made.”

View article at  http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/28547/Default.aspx 

Israel Tests Tunnel Detection

Since the feature of tunnel warfare erupted in the Gaza 2014 campaign, there has been much speculation on Israel's ability to counter this problem.

Now it is reported that Israel has overseen the development of a system that detect and destroy enemy tunnels.

The Israeli Defense Ministry has been working with the United States to develop a cross-border tunnel detection system. Israeli sources said the system, dubbed "Underground Iron Dome," underwent testing in 2016 near the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

"We are doing a lot, but many of the things we do are hidden from the public," Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said.

The sources said the development of the system took more than a decade but was accelerated over the last two years. They said the Defense Ministry was working with Israeli companies to design seismic sensors that could identify digging.

 The sources said Israel spent more than $250 million since the project was launched in 2004. They said Washington has allocated $40 million in fiscal 2016 and could do the same over the subsequent two years.

 "We have dozens, if not a hundred, engineering vehicles on the Gaza border," Eisenkot said.

http://www.menewsline.com/article-1173,36600-Israel-Tests-Tunnel-Detection.aspx

Arab-Israeli School Principal Criticises Arab MKs

(What a pity that more Arab Israeli citizens are not prepared to speak their minds like this headmaster)

http://tinyurl.com/jjx8uyw  

Nael Zoabi, principal of the Tamra Ha’emek elementary school

 and an activist for Jewish-Arab coexistence. Photo: Mida.

The Arab-Israeli leadership prefers investing energy in and siding with Palestinian nationalism to confronting the internal problems of the sector it is supposed to represent, said Nael Zoabi, an Arab-Israeli school principal in the north of the Israel.

In an extensive interview with a Hebrew newspaper, Zoabi — part of the large clan that includes controversial MK Haneen Zoabi of Mavi Marmara fame — insisted that many, if not most, Arabs in the Jewish state would like to work on peaceful coexistence and in bettering their societal standing. But, he asserted harshly, “Their voices are stolen from them” by their own Knesset representatives.

Zoabi bemoaned the fact that his philosophy of education at his school is antithetical to what the Arab politicians are preaching, accusing them of seeking “higher ratings.”

“I meet with Arab and Jewish youth, religious and secular; I speak at home gatherings. Jews from the Diaspora come to visit me, and I introduce them to our people. I raise the issue of coexistence at every opportunity at the school, and write op-eds for Israeli newspapers. I came to educate the kids at the school to be good people and citizens, and not just any citizens, but effective ones. We don’t have another state or country — not us and not you,” he told interviewer.

Slamming the Arab politicians in Israel for what he considers their shameful behavior (i.e. failing to condemn terrorist attacks against Jews and visiting the families of slain Palestinian terrorists), Zoabi said, “I won’t allow people like that to stain my reputation or that of my family or my religion [Islam]. More and more people from the Arab sector are distancing themselves from the ideas and actions of the politicians, who do not represent us,” he said. “They are feeding our public with lies. 

The leaders are selling the [false story] that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger and that Jews want to attack it. This is unacceptable to me. The state of Israel does not want to do such a thing, and if there were an extremist even considering it, the state would know how to handle him. I trust in [Israel].”

According to the newspaper, Zoabi said that though he has criticism of Israel, everything begins within the Arab sector internally. “We want leaders who worry about their public,” he said. “There are serious problems in our sector – relating to education, housing, employment, academic studies, violence and other issues.”

But, he asked rhetorically and then answered, “Who is addressing this? Nobody. The only issues our leaders concern themselves with are anti-Israel ones.”

Imams and Other Muslims Visit Israel

Rather than isolation, as some in the media would have the world believe, more and more representatives of more and more countries are visiting or making contact with Israel.

Many countries are waking up to the fact that they need to seek help and Israel can do just that.

Another example of this is the arrival of Imams and other Muslim religious leaders from a number of central African states in Israel on Sunday for a four-day visit (13-17 March 2016). The visit was arranged by the Africa Division and the World Jewish and Interreligious Affairs Bureau of the Israel Foreign Ministry, in conjunction with the American Jewish Committee. The visit aims to familiarize the visitors with socio-political aspects of Israel; to generate an interreligious, intercultural dialogue; and to explore possibilities for economic and agricultural development cooperation.

The delegation is comprised of senior religious leaders and imams from six African states spread throughout the continent, which gives the visit high strategic importance with regional implications and media impact beyond the states represented by the delegates. In most cases, the Muslim religious leaders serve also as community leaders and have broad political influence; their visit will contribute to strengthening the diplomatic ties between Israel and Africa.

The agenda for the visit includes meetings with senior officials; diplomatic and strategic briefings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; meetings at the Knesset; meetings between the imams and the chief rabbis on the subject of coexistence; a visit to the holy sites of the three religions, including Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem; and tours of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa and Acre - cities that serve as models for interreligious coexistence in Israel.

At the present time, when African states are confronting threats from Islamic jihadist terrorism, we attach prime importance to meetings with moderate Muslim religious leaders. These meetings could serve as a stabilizing factor and boost Israel's connection to these sectors of African society.

Background:

The delegation numbers nine leading Muslim religious figures from South Sudan, Zambia, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Interreligious dialogue holds a central place on Israel's diplomatic agenda in Africa. Israel's ambassadors to Africa are involved in activities to strengthen ties with the Muslim community, such as donating sheep for the Eid al-Adha holiday, engaging in interreligious dialogues, and more.

Delegations of Senegalese imams and senior clergy visited Israel several years ago (2013 and 2014). The visits were very successful, showing the visitors different aspects of Israeli life and Jewish-Arab coexistence. The visitors returned to their country with high motivation to strengthen diplomatic ties with Israel and improve Israel's public image through the media and academia. Long after the delegation returned, the media continued to portray Israel as a multifaceted and open society.

Better Messaging can help Israel's Public Diplomacy?

In an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/How-Israel-will-win-the-public-diplomacy-war-446871 Dov Lipman a former Member of the Israeli Knesset is suggest that better diplomacy for Israel would result from better messaging.

In my opinion there are more fundamental problems and my letter to him below has still not even resulted in an acknowledgement.

With reference to your op-ed in the Jerusalem Post Friday 4^{th   “}How Israel Will Win the Public Diplomacy War”, there is little in your article with which to take exception.

However, permit me to remind you that soon after you first entered the Knesset as an MK, you organized a meeting with a number of grass roots organisations, in order to “familiarize yourself with the activities of such groups”. Nothing evolved from that meeting.

Whilst messaging such as you a suggesting is important, this avoids the fundamental faults in the structure of Public Diplomacy at all levels.

The Foreign Office has failed to recognize that many, if not the majority, of major battles today are at grass roots level. Our enemies are investing in getting their message across in schools, universities, trade unions, churches and the like and consequently efforts by the Foreign Office are doomed to failure.

There has to be an understanding of the need for a joint coordinated effort whereby the MFA deals with those issues for which it is well equipped and the grass roots organisations  are coordinated and funded in the activities at grass roots level.

The messaging should be a coordinated effort. How many times have the members of grass roots organisations tried to get the powers that be in the MFA to issue strict guidelines regarding terminology, to no avail. How many times has there been an “initiative” to coordinate actions in the field of social media, all of which have failed to get off the ground.

There is a long list of success stories achieved by the many groups operating independently of government; Palestinian Media Watch, NGO Monitor, UK Lawyers for Israel,  Elder of Zion and during the last two conflicts in Gaza, the War Rooms established in a number of Universities.

Haifa University recently held a conference “Rethinking the Challenges of Israel’s PR” (I am a member of the advisory committee of the Comper Institute which was responsible for this conference). Four pillars of Israel’s PR  were discussed; Academia, Law, Diplomacy and Media. An action plan was developed and this is being used as a basis for future work.

In addition, this University is currently in its 5^th cycle of a course “Ambassadors Online” with students of varying academic and ethnic backgrounds. The concept of this course has also been transposed in schools for 15-16 year olds as “Young Ambassadors” and the latest school, Raanana, will be completing this year’s course later this month.

The University and schools programs are preparing students to be effective grass roots advocates in the future. Their effectiveness will be limited if we fail to solve the fundamental problem.

Until the fundamental faults are rectified, the chances of success for coordinated messaging is unlikely to succeed.

Why BDS Still Targets SodaStream

Zahava Raymond 2nd Mar 2016 for Honest Reporting

When SodaStream moved out of the West Bank in October 2015 under pressure from BDS, 500 Palestinian employees lost their jobs. Another 74 were able to continue working at the new factory close to the southern town of Rahat, but only on temporary work permits. On Monday, those permits expired and SodaStream was forced to let its last Palestinian employees go.

Thanks to the BDS movement’s actions, close to 600 Palestinians have now lost their jobs.

BDS activists have clearly demonstrated beyond all doubt that their only goal is to harm Israel, and they don’t care one iota if that causes Palestinians to suffer. Mahmoud Nawajaa, the BDS coordinator in Ramallah, called the loss of the Palestinian jobs at SodaStream

“ part of the price that should be paid in the process of ending the occupation.”

BDS caused  irrevocable damage by costing 600 Palestinians their livelihoods, but the movement got what it wanted. BDS supporters claim they are against “the occupation,” and SodaStream has moved out of the West Bank. What more could there possibly be left for them to do now?

Join the Fighting BDS Facebook page and follow @FightingBDS on Twitter and stand up against the delegitimization of Israel.

The boycott movement will still be targeting SodaStream as leaders claim that operating from the Negev “amounts to participation in Israel’s plans to forcibly displace at least 40,000 Palestinian Bedouins into townships,” and according to BDS leader Omar Barghouti, “colluding in the ethnic cleansing of Bedouin Palestinian citizens.” Except the Bedouins are not Palestinians, and BDS is simply hijacking their identity to fit their narrative portraying Israel as an occupier of Palestinian land.

This is in reference to the contentious Prawer-Begin plan which was dropped while the government sought to formulate a new version, but aimed to resolve the issues of illegal Bedouin settlements and to more fully integrate them into Israeli society.

The SodaStream factory was built in a new industrial zone in the Negev administered by the Bedouin city of Rahat, the Jewish town of Lahavim and the Bnei Shimon Regional Council. Around 40 factories will be based in this industrial zone when it is fully developed, providing employment for hundreds of workers, including many Bedouins from nearby towns. A college and hospital are also being built. The Negev is uncontested land under Israeli sovereignty, but to BDS it is another area that can be used in the attempt to delegitimize Israel altogether.

Just like the 600 Palestinians who lost their jobs, the plight of the Bedouins and the reality of the situation are irrelevant to BDS. The movement will take any opportunity to demonize Israel, even if it is to the detriment of the people it claims to care about.

Israeli scientific discoveries that affected the world

A new exhibit at Ben-Gurion Airport will feature approximately 60 discoveries and developments selected for the innovative and pioneering qualities, and their direct and indirect influence on the lives of millions of people around the world.

ReWalk - an exoskeleton invented by Dr. Amit Gopher that allows

people with paralyzed legs to walk again.

(Copyright: Ministry of Science, Technology and Space) 

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Space will, on Monday, 7 March 2016, at Ben-Gurion International (BGI) Airport, launch a year-long wall exhibit of approximately 60 Israeli developments and discoveries that have affected the world. Nobel laureates, featured researchers and university presidents and vice-presidents for research will also attend.

The exhibit will be displayed on a giant wall just past passport control and will have the potential of reaching approximately 8 million people. The exhibit is designed for public diplomacy and to increase domestic public awareness of science. A recent survey shows that 43% of Israelis are unaware that Israel's first President, Chaim Weizmann, was originally a chemist. Approximately 50% of Israelis were unable to name even one Israeli Nobel laureate scientist. The Science Technology and Space Ministry, in cooperation with the Israel Young Academy, initiated the Ben-Gurion Airport exhibit to present Israeli science.

The exhibit will feature approximately 60 discoveries and developments - chosen by a selection committee composed of representatives from the Israel Young Academy and the Science, Technology and Space Ministry Chief Scientist's office - that were selected for the innovative and pioneering qualities, and their direct and indirect influence on the lives of millions of people around the world.

 Sections of the exhibit will be devoted to Israel's eight Nobel science laureates, three Turing laureates and one Fields Medal winner, as well as to such prominent scientists as Chaim Weizmann, Aaron Aaronsohn and Albert Einstein.

According to the Science, Technology and Space Minister Akounis: "The exhibit is a major public diplomacy asset for Israel. We are showing the vast contributions of Israeli science and technology to the world and all humanity. 

We have what and who to be proud of. Israel is a pioneering country and innovative leader. The entire world admires, and is amazed by,  our achievements; therefore, it is fitting that they be shown at the gateway into and out of Israel."