Dispatch from Jerusalem

New Early-warning System for Israel

{image_1} Israel has expanded her missile defense capabilities with an agreement from the United States to connect to the US Early-Warning Radar System. The worldwide system can be used to detect ballistic missile launches. In an e-mail to Bridges for Peace on the subject, the Israeli Ministry of Defense spokesperson would only say that “the subject is in negotiation with the Americans.”

Growing (without) Pains

{image_1} There’s nothing good about a broken leg, or, maybe there is. A technology for resetting fractures and lengthening limbs is being adapted to treat not only severe bone injuries, but disproportionate limbs due to congenital defects, accident, or illness. The new treatment, developed by Israel’s Orthogon, enables limb lengthening without suffering.

Fast Airline Security Checks

{image_1}In a post 9/11 world, the term “airport security” is synonymous with long lines, delays, and random suitcase inspections. Now there is a possibility that the notorious delays will be cut shorter. So hopes Ze’ev Harel, CEO of Israeli company Xurity. Founded in 2003, it is part of an incubator run by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. Harel has an extensive background in X-ray technology, with Xurity being the latest in a series of projects.

The Hurva Rises Again

{image_1}The Hurva Synagogue, in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, was Israel’s largest and central synagogue for 84 years. In 1948, it—along with 28 others—was destroyed by the Jordanians. Now, its famous dome is rising above the city’s skyline to once again become a prominent piece of Jerusalem’s landscape. This house of prayer, as Jewish people call it, has a glorious history that matches its former glorious interior.

Russian Pamphlets: Jews Use Children’s Blood in Matzot

{image_1} Hundreds of anti-Semitic pamphlets were distributed in the Russian city of Novosibirsk warning residents of a supposed Jewish practice of kidnapping children to use their blood for Passover matzot [unleavened bread plural]. “Beware Russian parents. Keep watch over your children before the coming of April 2008, the Jewish holiday of Passover. These disgusting people still engage in ritual practice to their gods. They kidnap small children and remove some of their blood and use it to prepare their holy food [matzah]. They throw the bodies [of the children] out in garbage dumps,” the notices read.

“Iran’s not Stupid”

{image_1} “I think this is more [of a] political slogan than a real political decision to destroy Israel. I don’t think their political leadership is so stupid as to think they can do this [destroy Israel]. Iran wants to lead an international movement against the American presence in the region. They want to be one of the leaders, or maybe the most important leader, in the Muslim world. They need some strong political slogans. One of them [relates] to Israel.”

Why Should Christians Give to Israel Through Bridges for Peace?

{image_1}A recent poll revealed that more than 80% of American Christians say they have a “moral and biblical obligation” to support the State of Israel. We agree! Apostle Paul said, “…For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things” (Romans 15:27). We understand that you have many choices of organizations through whom you can help the people of Israel. You may wonder why you should give to Bridges for Peace. Here are a few reasons:

Jerusalem “A Very Heavy Stone”

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Under the sovereign rule of Israel, Jerusalem has been a holy city for
the world’s major monotheistic faiths:

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Here, all people enjoy freedom of
worship. Across this city in the early hours of the morning, we wake to
the sound of the call to prayer amplified from Muslim mosques.
Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, Christians have fled to Chile to escape the
persecution and brutality of Islamic thuggery. Is this where a divided
Jerusalem will lead us if a portion of it is established as the capital
of the proposed new Palestinian state?

Dramatic Increase in Food Prices

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The United Nations World Food Programme called high food prices a
“silent tsunami,” but it’s not just
hitting Indonesia this time. Israel is also feeling the affect of the
price surges. David Franklin, CEO of Sugat, Israel’s largest
retail importer of rice, sugar, grains and more, said their grain and
rice costs have gone up a minimum of 60% in the last year. Some food
price increases over that time vary, however, since in some cases the
price of sugar actually has declined after rising in cost a year ago.

It’s Time to Bring Them Home!

{image_1}Last month, Israel held their annual
memorial of the Holocaust, honoring the six million Jews who died.
Sixty years ago, Hitler’s anti-Semitic regime was crushed,
but anti-Semitism is far from dead. Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe
recently wrote, “The fires of anti-Semitism are sweeping
across Europe today as it did just prior to the dreadful Holocaust
years.”