Hand Sanitizer STOPS Swine Flu

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Photo by Isranet

While people all over the world worry about contracting swine flu, an Israeli company has come up with a product to prevent its spread. Yissum Research Development Company, the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University (HU) of Jerusalem, presents EtoClean, a new antiviral hand sanitizer that stops the swine flu virus in its tracks.

Israel Assesses 2009 Aid to Gaza

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Photo by Isranet

A meeting of international aid agencies has reviewed their Gaza efforts and found, in 2009, their humanitarian goods deliveries rose 28%. The spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (CoGAT) said international organizations were more active in the Gaza Strip despite the complex security situation.

New Ways to Tour Israel

{image_1} Israel has been offering new ways to get around Israel that many people are not yet aware of. I recently tried two of them. If you are one of those adventuresome souls who come to Israel on your own, you may want to consider a different way to see Israel.

Aroma Goes Global

{image_1}Move over Starbucks! There's a new competitor on the block. Israel's popular Aroma coffee chain is exporting its special brand of Israeli coffee culture to cities around the world. “We just opened a third branch in Toronto, Canada and opened a third in New York. We are expanding in Europe. We have branches in Romania, Cyprus… and the next is in Kazakhstan,” Gil Kiriyati, Aroma's COO tells ISRAEL21c.

Try Moroccan! Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad

{image_1}After the destruction of the Temple in AD 70—followed 60 years later by the Bar Kochba rebellion—the practice of Judaism was forbidden in Israel. Although Jewish people who remained continued to practice their religion in secret, it was impossible for Jerusalem to continue as the center of religious creativity. Eventually, it was replaced by Babylon. It was here that the gaonim (geniuses) of Judaic thought developed the standard edition of the Talmud (rabbinic commentary), known to this day as the Babylonian Talmud.

Animal Aliyah

{image_1} It was an emotional moment. Excited by a move to work as a journalist in Israel, my wife and I were taking the little one to the Middle East for the first time. Bringing our “baby” to the Holy Land was hardly painless. Over many months, we had to get her a passport, vaccinations, a kennel, and an abundance of paperwork. But watching as she wolfed down the kosher kebab they gave her on the flight to Tel Aviv, happy as a clam, we figured everything would be okay.

Holocaust Memorials

On January 27, many nations memorialize the Holocaust on International Holocaust {image_1}Remembrance Day, as designated in 2005 by the UN. This date marks the liberation of the largest Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz–Birkenau. Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, Yom HaShoah, falls in April just prior to Memorial Day and Independence Day. These quotes come from speeches made in January.

New Gas Masks Distributed

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Photo by Isranet

In February, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began the long-anticipated distribution of gas masks to all of Israel’s residents, according to a report on the IDF Web site. Though masks have been distributed before—most notably in conjunction with the First Gulf War in 1991 when Saddam Hussein fired Scud missiles at Israel—the masks have needed to be upgraded.

IDF Simulates Biological Attack

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In January, the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] Medical Corps held a drill to simulate a mass casualty biological weapons attack in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

UNIFIL Finds Bombs near Lebanon

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Members of the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon report finding a number of bombs planted near the border with the Israeli town of Metula. Described as sophisticated and well made, the weapons each contained about 660 pounds [272 kilograms] of explosives and are believed to have been set to kill Israeli soldiers entering Lebanese territory, presumably in pursuit of cross-border raiders from Hizbullah.

Keeping a Strong Israeli Border Presence

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Israel will maintain a strong military presence along the eastern border of the Palestinian state—its border with Jordan—once it’s created, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He told foreign reporters in Jerusalem that “the ability to proliferate into contiguous areas thousands of rockets and missiles” creates a “monumental security problem.”

Prehistoric Building Found in Tel Aviv

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Tel Aviv is one of the new generations of Israeli cities, literally built out of the sand in the last century. However, archaeology shows that the Tel Aviv area was inhabited thousands of years ago, thanks in part to the discovery of the remains of a prehistoric building. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) reported that the building is the oldest ever found in the area and is believed to be thousands of years older than the era of Abraham and the patriarchs.

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