Dispatch from Jerusalem

On the Road Again for Old Tires

{image_1} Old, used tires are an environmental nuisance, but now a new “green” project in Israel intends to recycle the rubber from old tires and use as many as 1,400 tires per kilometer of new paved highway. In a pilot trial, a 1.1 kilometer [0.68 mile] section of road was paved using an experimental mixture that included hundreds of recycled tires and a blend of asphalt. At no greater cost than paving a regular road, this new product can increase the life of the pavement by one-third without, the developers believe, compromising safety.

A Hopeful Alzheimer’s Cure

{image_1}Researchers from Tel Aviv University [TAU] are working on a nasal two-in-one vaccine that could protect against both Alzheimer's disease and stroke. The proposed vaccine appears to repair vascular damage in the brain by rounding up “troops” from the body's own immune system. The vaccine not only has a preventative function but could also help fight Alzheimer's symptoms that are already present. This breakthrough is of extraordinary interest to American pharmaceutical makers, given that one in eight Americans will develop the memory-loss disease and because it is often associated with vascular damage in the brain.

Go Mobile with a Touch Free Cell Phone

{image_1} Thumb fatigue and remote controls will be a thing of the past once phones are equipped with totally touch-free technology from Israel's Extreme Reality (XTR). Debuted at the Texas Instruments booth at the Mobile World Congress in Spain recently, XTR's Motion Capture Engine gesture interface software is the Tel Aviv-based company's basis for a whole slew of marketable application possibilities—including controlling your mobile device without touching it.

“Palestine” at the UN: Israeli Nightmare or Arab Pipe Dream?

{image_1}The scenario is presented as dramatic and disturbing: Sometime this September, the United Nations could recognize Palestinian statehood in terms Israel could never accept for historic or security reasons. As a result, it is feared Israel could be cast into a diplomatic tailspin that could culminate in international sanctions and even conflict. It’s presented as one of Israel’s worst nightmares, and opinions expressed in Israeli media from the Left and the Right are already sounding the alarm. But are the fears justified? Is Israel really facing its worst diplomatic crisis in decades? Or is the whole scenario a Palestinian fantasy?

Archaeologists of the Future

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Archaeology is not just for those who have degrees and skillfully direct the digging of ancient treasure. Many volunteers, unschooled in archaeology, join authorized digs as well. When I participated for a week on a summer dig several years ago, I was surprised to see other volunteers there with their young children. Given the proper tools and a little instruction, it’s not too hard for even children, with adult supervision, to be of help to the professionals (though I’m not sure how often it’s allowed).

Senseless Vandalism

{image_1}Sadly, it has been reported that the large, 30-foot long (9-meter) mosaic at Hirbet Madras, which we covered in our April Dispatch issue, was vandalized. In late March, vandals destroyed large sections of the mosaic that was in almost pristine condition, described by archaeologist Amir Ganor as “one of the most beautiful mosaics to be uncovered in Israel in recent years,” and estimated to be about 1,500 years old.

Digging in the West Bank

{image_1} While the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologists do not work in the West Bank, other Israeli archaeologists do. However, finds within the West Bank  (Judea and Samaria) can be problematic. Though the West Bank is currently under Israeli control, it is “disputed” territory, since much of it is supposedly to become a Palestinian state. If that happens, what happens to everything that has been found in archaeological digs there? If Israelis found it, is it theirs, or since it was found in “Palestinian” territory, will it belong to “Palestine”?

Goldstone Retracts War Crimes Claim against Israel

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The chairman of the UN Human Rights Council fact-finding team that accused Israel of possibly committing war crimes during the 23-day, 2008–09 Gaza war effectively retracted those claims on April 1 in an op-ed in The Washington Post. Judge Richard Goldstone, of the UN’s Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead, said that if he had known then what he knew now, the report would have been different. He said Israel’s own investigations into the war, which were recognized in a UN follow-up committee’s report, have indicated that “civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.”

Mideast Arms Buyers Stocking Up

{image_1}The governments of the Middle East and North Africa dug deep into their pockets last year to stock up on weapons, according to the annual study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Experts doubt the current wave of political turmoil will do much to change that.

550 Hizbullah Bunkers Identified

An Israeli security official provided The Washington Post with a map detailing no less than 550 bunkers, 300 surveillance sites, and 100 other facilities the Jewish state believes belong to Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon. Most of the sites marked on the map are located south of the Litani River. [Hizbullah weapons there would be in violation of the United Nations resolution ending the Second Lebanon War.]