Bahrain Delegation Visits Israel with Message of Peace Amid Trump Turmoil

by: AP and United with Israel Arab Staff – Dec 11th

Amid the tension surrounding Trump’s Jerusalem declaration, a group from Bahrain is visiting Israel, taking a step towards better relations with the Jewish state.  

An interfaith group from Bahrain is visiting Israel amid turmoil over President Donald Trump’s historic declaration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, angering some in the island nation who support the Palestinians.

The group’s trip comes after two US-based rabbis have said that Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa thinks that the longtime boycott of Israel by Arab countries should end.

While organizers repeatedly described the trip as nonpolitical, the timing comes as Bahrain increasingly looks like the test case for other Gulf Arab nations in seeing what could happen if they recognize Israel.

A group of 30 people from Bahrain, including Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims, flew to Israel for the event. They plan to visit universities and talk to officials there about topics of common interest, said Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC).

“The goal here is to multiply the interactions and contacts among people doing similar things in the overall region,” the rabbi told The Associated Press on Sunday. “Until now, there was absolutely no chance of having contact.”

King Hamad hosted Cooper and another SWC rabbi in February. In September, King Hamad’s son, Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, went to the center to promote a religious tolerance declaration signed by the king.

Will Arab Boycott on Israel End?

It was at that September event that word spread of King Hamad’s comments about wanting the Arab boycott of Israel to end.

That goes against decades of Arab opposition to Israel, which at its heart remains the demand for the creation of a Palestinian state and Israel’s withdrawal from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Only Egypt and Jordan have made separate peace deals with Israel.

However, in recent years, since the forging of the Iran nuclear deal, Sunni Arab states have found themselves on the same side as Israel.

Bahrain, an island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia connected by a 25-kilometer (15.5-mile) causeway, has long been known as more liberal than its ultraconservative neighbor. Its bars and nightclubs attract cross-border traffic, as well as sailors based there with the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The island also hosts a small Jewish community, whose presence occasionally makes waves. An online video last year from Bahrain during Chanukah caused a minor stir when it showed yarmulke-wearing Jews dancing with Arabs in traditional robes and kaffiyeh headdresses.

Betrayal of the Palestinians?

As news of the Bahraini delegation in Israel spread, many took to social media in anger Monday. Already, many had been sending messages of support to Palestinians over Trump’s Jerusalem decision.

“I reject this normalization of relations with the usurping enemy’s entity,” Ebrahim Sharif, a secularist politician, wrote on Twitter. “I consider this visit by the delegation a betrayal of the Palestinian people.”

Living With the Palestinians? ‘NO?’

By  Moshe Dann  Dec 4th 

Full article at http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Living-with-the-Palestinian-No-517000 

Awaiting a Trump administration “peace plan,” hoping to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, it would be wise to recall foreign minister Abba Eban’s observation that “the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” It is important, however, to understand that this persistent failure is not because of poor judgments or unintended mistakes; it is deliberate PLO policy, strategy and ideology.

Rejecting peace with Israel is and has always been fundamental to what Palestinians demand – an independent state – and what Palestinianism means: the struggle against Zionism in any form. Any compromise based on accepting Zionism and the State of Israel is, for Arab Palestinians, a non-starter.

The reason is simple: Palestinian nationalism – according to PLO and Hamas charters – is dedicated to wiping out Israel. Accepting Israel would be denying the PLO/Hamas raison d’etre and admitting that those who sacrificed themselves in terrorist attacks died in vain, that Palestinian “martyrdom” was a fraud. It means the end of the Palestinian revolution and its ideology.

Arab Palestinian leaders recognized this nearly a hundred years ago, when, led by the pro-Nazi Mufti Haj Amin Husseini, they rampaged in murderous attacks against Jews. After the State of Israel was established, many Israeli Arabs accepted the new reality, but many did not and never will. The reason is simple: Arabs view Jewish success as their defeat. Moreover, unlike Arabs who migrated to what was called Palestine, Jewish nationalism, Zionism, is rooted in a historical and biblical attachment to the land. Nor did local Arabs imitate Zionist institution-building during the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s. Jews built hospitals and agricultural settlements; Arabs raided them. Jews built schools and parks; Arabs initiated pogroms.

What determines – and will determine – the future of Israel and Arab communities on both sides of the “Green Line” (the armistice lines of 1949) is not “Palestinian self-determination” politically, but the imperative of working together economically. The flourishing of Jewish communities in Area C of Judea and Samaria (“settlements”) is irreversible. Arabs can sabotage and try to slow the settlement movement, but they cannot stop it because it has become a committed national policy.

Despite this, the PLO hopes that the international community, led by the EU and UN, will stop Israel from expanding, and that a Palestinian state in some form will emerge. Most experts agree, however, that a Palestinian state is not viable. And political pressure is no substitute for economic development. Economists have concluded that the Palestinian economy is a “basket case,” unsustainable, dependent on foreign aid and Israeli markets, technology and infrastructure. No “peace proposal” can replace that bottom line.

Ironically, the very countries, institutions, organizations and individuals which provide generous funding and are dedicated to Palestinianism have misled and impaired Palestinians. Like it or not, the Palestinian and Israeli economies are bound together. In 2014, officially 12% of employed Palestinians in the West Bank worked in Israel, mostly in construction; many more work illegally and even more work in West Bank settlements. Currently, about 60,000 Palestinians from the West Bank possess Israeli work permits, though estimates are that about twice that number are actually employed and that number is increasing. Two-thirds of all goods imported into the Palestinian Authority come from Israel; sales to Israel account for 80% of PA exports; the PA is Israel’s biggest export market after the US. The Palestinian GDP is only 7.4% of Israel’s. The Palestinian economy relies entirely on the Israeli, Egyptian, Jordanian currencies – and the US dollar; their banks depend on Israel’s banking system. Without monetary independence, political independence is meaningless. The Palestinians simply can’t survive without Israel – and they know it.

This leaves Arab Palestinians only three realistic options: 1) federation with Jordan, 2) peace with Israel, or 3) moving to another country. They can continue building their communities, economy and infrastructure; defeating Israel and/or establishing a separate state  is not possible.

Beyond Deception Strategy

BDS... three letters to de-ligitimize Israel through defamation. Hatred, anti-Semitism, sometimes Nazism, often terrorism, feed the BDS behind a veil of "humanity". It is time to expose them, while showing the reality of Israeli society.

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