Dispatch from Jerusalem

Double-Decker Tour Bus

This past summer, Jerusalem inaugurated a new “City Tour” bus line, utilizing a bright red double-decker bus. If you have ever visited London, you have probably enjoyed sightseeing from the top of such a bus; now you can have the same kind of experience in Jerusalem.

Cell-Phone Service Tracks Children

With the push of a few buttons on a cellular phone, Israeli parents will soon be able to detect the real-time location of their children. Two Israeli cell-phone companies announced that they will be providing a service through which customers will be able to track the precise location of their child within seconds.

Date Palm Sprouts After 2,000 Years

Israeli researchers have germinated a sapling date palm from seeds 2,000 years old, in a bid to find new medicines that will benefit future generations.

Less “Ouch” When Donating Blood

If the painful pinprick in your finger to determine if you are anemic has kept you from donating blood, you may no longer have an excuse. A noninvasive, Israeli-developed device, worn on the finger for a few seconds to determine hemoglobin levels, is already in use in Israel.

“Annihilate the Infidels” : PA Anti-British Religious Hatred

Less than 24 hours after the July 7 terrorist bombings in London, a Palestinian Authority (PA) television sermon called for the extermination of every single infidel: “Annihilate the infidels and the polytheists! Your [i.e., Allah’s] enemies are the enemies of the religion! Allah, disperse their gathering and break up their unity and turn on them, the evil adversaries. Allah, count them and kill them to the last one and don’t leave even one”
(Suleiman Al-Satari, PA TV, July 8, 2005).

Calling All Engines

An Internet search engine, using voice-recognition software, a microphone, and speakers, has been developed by researchers at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev in Beersheva. The system, which conducts searches in response to spoken instructions rather than words keyed in as text, operates on any personal computer.

The People of the Disengagement

Tears & Prayers: We cried with the people of Gush Katif as we witnessed their lives being ripped apart. There was hardly a dry eye in the country as all, on both the left and right ends of the spectrum, saw the human cost of a government decision. In the aftermath, thousands of people of all ages are left without homes; most are jobless and have limited resources. Many of those who were formerly self-sufficient find themselves joining the ranks of the homeless and needy virtually overnight.

The Case Of The… Missing Hummus

How can one lose 75 tons of hummus (chickpea paste)? That is the question Israeli detectives are asking after a massive consignment of chickpeas disappeared from a kibbutz in central Israel.

The Rite of Celebration: Pomegranate-Orange Salad

By Charleeda Sprinkle

“Celebrate the Feast to the Lord your God …” Deut. 16:15

One of the things I have enjoyed witnessing here in Israel is the way Jews celebrate. Marvin Wilson, in his book Our Father Abraham, notes that while Westerners tend to be reserved with their emotions, “the Hebrews…gave vent unashamedly to their feelings, for each emotion had a time appropriate for its expression…Since Bible times, the various holidays and rites of passage throughout life have provided particular opportunities for Jewish people to rejoice and to celebrate.”

Israeli Arabs Reject Jewish Zionist State

A new poll of Israeli Arabs, conducted by a sociologist from the University of Haifa, shows an overwhelming rejection of Israel’s right to exist as a “Jewish Zionist state.”