The Mughrabi Ramp Controversy

{image_1}In Jerusalem, cultures and thousands of years of history collide with each other on the most contested piece of real estate in the world, the Temple Mount. Several weeks of Arab riots and protests began this year in February after the Israel Antiquities Authority began their latest dig in an area next to the Temple Mount known as the Mughrabi Ramp.

Heroic Medics Inspire Admiration

{image_1}During times of war, much talk and space is given to missile attacks, bombings, and catastrophe. Wild exchanges on the streets of Gaza crowd the TV news services. Often the service rendered by Magen David Adom (MDA) is taken for granted, but their team of well-trained Israeli professionals are on call whenever and wherever needed. Magen David Adom, which means “Red Star of David,” is the efficient Israeli ambulance service.

Sderot: A City Besieged

{image_1}“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.”
Psalm 121:1–2, NIV

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

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At 36, Sandy Koufax made baseball history by becoming the youngest player ever inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. In his short career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, this left-handed Jewish pitcher managed to earn three Cy Young Awards and was voted the World Series Most Valuable Player in 1963 and 1965, despite refusing to play in the first game of the 1965 Series because it was scheduled on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). At 71, Sandy Koufax has made baseball history again by being symbolically drafted to the Modi’in Miracle, one of six teams that make up the new Israel Baseball League (IBL).

A New Museum at Masada

{image_1}The story of Masada, Herod the Great’s desert fortress (built between 37 and 41 BC), comes to life in a new museum. The display, spanning one century, combines archaeological findings with a theatrical setting, exploring Masada’s cultural, architectural, and artistic place in the Roman–Hellenistic period. Nine scenes are divided into three main topics: the relationship with Rome, Herod’s and the rebels’ Masada, and the Roman army.

Christians Under Islamic Rule

{image_1}Christians can only continue living safely in the Gaza Strip if they accept Islamic law, including a ban on alcohol and on women roaming publicly without proper head coverings, an Islamist militant leader in Gaza told WND (WorldNetDaily). He said Christians in Gaza who engage in “missionary activity” will be “dealt with harshly.”

Pilots Get Virtual View

{image_1}Fighter pilots have a lot to pay attention to. In addition to their targets ahead, they have to focus on an array of complicated flight instruments. Traditionally, this has meant occasional glances away from the destination or target, which can lead to potential distractions when every moment counts. But thanks to the new Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS—developed by Israel’s Elbit Systems and its US subsidiary Vision Systems International (VSI)—pilots can keep their eyes where they should be, on their targets.

A Promise Of Oral Insulin

{image_1}When Dr. Miriam Kidron, a scientist from Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, first announced that she and a group of fellow researchers planned to bring oral insulin for diabetics to market, most people thought the idea was ridiculous. It took 25 years of research, but now Kidron is proving her detractors wrong.

Israeli Engineers Develop Mobile Bomb Shelters

{image_1}With residents of Sderot and its vicinity suffering a daily Kassam bombardment, Israeli ingenuity has developed mobile bomb shelters that can be deployed and redeployed. Josh Adler, the cofounder of Operation Lifeshield, and his partner, recent US immigrant Shep Alster, were volunteering in the north of Israel during last summer’s Second Lebanon War when they saw the need for mobile shelters.

PA Money has “Disappeared”

{image_1}The incoming Finance Minister of the Palestinian Authority [PA] has admitted that hundreds of millions of dollars transferred to the PA have “disappeared.” Salam Fayed, who formerly worked for the World Bank and the US Federal Reserve, told the Daily Telegraph that he has no idea where the more than US $700 million granted the PA since the Hamas terror group rose to power has gone. “Palestinian Authority spending is out of control, salaries are being paid to workers who never turn up, and nobody can track where the money is going,” the paper quoted Fayed as saying.

Thwarting Iran’s Nuclear Efforts… with Diplomacy?

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Diplomatic efforts to resolve a standoff with Iran are working, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said at a press conference with Defense Minister Amir Peretz in Tel Aviv in April. The United States has been one of the leading powers demanding sanctions on Iran. “The international community is united in telling Iran what it needs to do with respect to its nuclear program,” Gates said.

Jordan to Join Nuclear-Power Club

{image_1}Amman is the latest Middle Eastern capital to announce it intends building a nuclear power plant. The country wants an operational facility by 2015. Other countries already embarked on a path toward atomic energy are Iran, Egypt, Yemen, and the Gulf Cooperation Council members (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates). Syria would also like to produce nuclear energy, but admits it is a long way from reaching its goal.

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