Another Israeli Hero

Here is another bit of good news about Israel on a difficult day.  An Israeli medic travelling in  Morocco saved the life of a Moroccan girl injured in a jeep accident.
An excerpt from the story:
“He found a pair of jeeps, one upright and the second crumpled off the side of a nearly indiscernible path. Huddled [...]

Two Heroes Stop the Bulldozer in Today’s Terror Attack

A Golani Brigade off-duty soldier was one of the heroes who jumped onto the bulldozer to try to stop today’s attack in Jerusalem.
Here are the details of the actions of the Golani soldier and an off-duty police officer according to Connections Israel. (Connections Israel sends emails with the day’s news from Israel.  To subscribe try [...]

A New Kind of Terrorist Attack in Israel

Terror has again struck central Jerusalem. This time it appears that a terrorist used (it is still unknown if the terrorist stole the tractor or worked on a construction site or how he got it) a buldozer as his terrorist weapon.  As the story is coming out now (it is only an hour or so [...]

Give tzedakah, help injured kids and push Gila

I’ve been reading Gila Weiss’s blog My Shrapnel for some time now.  I found her blog through a link (sorry, don’t remember where) and was so inspired by what I read that I went back and read every post.  She is a gifted writer and an interesting woman. The tag line to her blog is [...]

Olmert on Annapolis, Rabin (z”l) and Sharon

Ehud Olmert made a speech yesterday in which he remembered Rabin on the secular calendar’s 12th anniversary of his assasination, set goals for Annapolis, and spoke of his teacher Ariel Sharon.
Read the text of the speech here, at the Ministry website.

New layout - Ein Gedi

I’m trying another new layout (thanks Word Press for making it so easy.) The picture at the top is from Ein Gedi nature reserve, the third waterfall on the hike.  I took it in December.  Enjoy.

Israeli Ingenuity Does It Again - Turning Rocks into OIL!

Yes, you read that correctly - Israeli scientists have figured out a way to turn rocks, specifically shale, into oil. Read all about it on Israel21c by Stuart Winer.
Here is a brief excerpt from the article:
Haifa-based A.F.S.K Hom Tov recently demonstrated its patented method of extracting high quality oil and natural gas from a mixture [...]

Teddy Kollek z”l

Teddy Kollek, long-time (former) mayor of Jerusalem has died at age 95.   He was a well-respected, dedicated and popular mayor.  I once met him and found him kind.  May his memory be a blessing and may his family find comfort from G-d at this difficult time.
Coverage (including articles and analysis on his life):
Ha’aretz
Jerusalem Post 
Walla (Hebrew) 
Ynet

Upcoming Book to Read

Michael Oren has a new book coming out soon,
Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present (W. W. Norton & Company, January 15, 2007) “The first comprehensive history of America’s military, political, and intellectual involvement
in the Middle East from George Washington to George W. Bush.
Oren’s website has summaries, comments of [...]

Wow! Same-Sex Marriages to Be Recognized in Israel!

Wow! A red letter day of the good kind. According to Yuval Yoaz in Haaretz,

“In a precedent-setting ruling, the High Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled that five gay couples wedded outside of Israel can be registered as married couples, Army Radio reported. A sweeping majority of six Justices in favor and one [...]

Remembering Rabin z”l

Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of Prime Minister Rabin’s assassination at the hands of Yigal Amir. 11 years since an act of extreme hatred and murder that change the course of the history of Israel and her relationship with herself and her neighbors. A great warrior had turned peace maker and a murderer stopped [...]

A Sharon Scoop?

Nushyman at Nushworld is reporting,
I have it on good authority (although I still hope it is not true) that Sharon has just passed away. Apparently there is a media block on the story until further notice.
If this is true, it is a sad day for his family and for many others. I have to [...]

On Hour To Go

It is 11 o’clock, 4 am GMT. The cease fire officially begins in one hour. May peace descend on Lebanon and Israel and may all know peace and safety.
UPDATE: How does Israel plan to implement the cease fire? Take a look at a YNet article in English.
Update 2: CNN has the [...]

The Disaster in Lebanon

A few days ago Nizar Abdel-Kader published an online article “ Out of the Quagmire” on a Middle-East roundtalbe website called Bitter Lemons.  In the middle of the article he writes, 
To circumscribe the Lebanese disaster, now is the opportune moment for the five permanent members of the Security Council and Israel to alter [...]

Hoping & Praying for a Week of Peace & Safety

Friday was filled with news of the UN discussion on the current conflict/war between Israel and Hizbollah/Iran. (I name the conflict this way because although the fighting is occurring in Israel and Lebanon, the people of Lebanon are more victim than aggressor. It seems to me that those who are not part of Hizbollah are [...]

A sad day that could have been much worse

I woke up this morning to the news of the foiled terror plot in London. Frightening stuff that once again gives us the choice between letting terror and terrorists keep us from living our lives or choosing to add in additional security measures and keep going. I am glad that for the most [...]

New War Blog - Israel-Hezbollah Blog

David Lisboa has an interesting blog on the war - Israel-Hezbollah Blog, writing from Haifa. He posts include numbers of katushas fallen and deep, critical analysis of the situation, reality and getting out of this mess.
Yesterday, a post titled The Accidental War concluded with these words,
What is needed now is a way for both [...]

Free Care for Lebanese Wounded in the Current Crisis - in Israel

The Jerusalem Post writes that
Lebanese children and adults wounded in the Hizbullah-Israeli crossfire in Lebanon have been invited to receive free treatment at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. The cost will be paid by Jewish and non-Jewish donors in Israel and abroad, hospital director-general Prof. Zev Rothstein said on Sunday.
“We are not to blame [...]

Video You Must See

What is the reaction of an average Israeli to what is happnening in Israel?  Take a look at a video posted on Current for an answer and for the recording of an experience you won’t soon forget. The piece is called “Dodging Katyushas” Thanks to If You Will it for the original link.
May peace, security [...]

Lebanese Bloggers

Lisa of On the Face links to some Lebanese bloggers in her post “The Most Blogged War?”
Some of the blogs mentioned are:
Lebanese Bloggers Forum Lebanese Political Journal
Read the lengthy back and forth in Hebrew and Arabic called Hello Lebanon, Hello Isarel.
Eyal Niv writes in Haaretz about conversations he had with some Lebanese over coffee.Please suggest [...]