Good News

New Jewish Museum in Munich

{image_1}For Jewish people, Munich is a city that lives in the shadow of its past: first, as the birthplace of the Nazi party and the nearby Dachau camp, then later as the city where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered during the 1972 Olympic Games. It seemed, until in recent years, as if Munich was hesitant to acknowledge its checkered history with the Jewish people as no formal monument or museum had been erected to their memory some 50 years after the Holocaust.

97-Year-Old Makes Aliyah

{image_1}Herta Lowenthal, a British Jew, has become one of the oldest people to ever make aliyah (immigration to Israel) at 97 years old. She joined her 12 great-grandchildren in Israel in March 2007, emigrating from Britain, where she lived most of her life. Lowenthal told the British Totally Jewish (TJ) Web site that moving to Israel was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

Markets Unlocked: Christian Businesses Bless Israel

“So on behalf of Christians around the world I would like to take this opportunity to say to the people of Israel, that you are so loved. That your God has so touched our hearts with His love for you that we are here to serve you if you will allow us to do so. Markets Unlocked is given as a free gift to you from the Christian community around the world as an act of repentance and reconciliation for what has been done to you through the centuries in the name of Christianity, and as a practical expression of our love and support for you.

We stand together with you at this difficult time, and we would like you to know that you are not alone.”  Julian Watts, at the launch of Markets Unlocked in Israel

25%  Increase in British Immigrants

While 2006 may not have been a particularly impressive year for aliyah [immigration to Israel] due to the war in Lebanon—to which many attribute the 9% drop in immigration figures (19,200 compared to 21,042 in 2005)—the and Nefesh B’Nefesh are still very pleased with this year’s statistics, citing a massive increase in immigration from North America and Britain.

Israel 5th Fastest Growing Economy

Israel has risen 12 places in an international listing to become the world’s 36th largest economy. So reports Globes, based on a survey by The Economist. Israel was also cited as the fifth fastest growing economy. The survey graded nations’ economies in the years 2001–2005 as compared with 20 years earlier.

From Rocks to Fuel

An Israeli company has patented a way to turn oil shale rock into high quality oil and natural gas—a project that may bring jobs to the Negev and low-cost energy to the Jewish state. The Hom Tov (Hebrew for “good heat”) process, the brainchild of A.F.S.K. Hom Tov CEO Yisrael Feldman, involves mixing the bitumen residue left over after refineries produce crude oil together with oil shale rock.

Connecting the Black Sea to the Red Sea

An Azerbaijani news Web site reported that Turkey and Israel have agreed in principle to build a water and gas pipeline system connecting the Black Sea to the port of Eilat on the Red Sea. The ambitious project involves the building of oil, gas, and water pipelines, as well as electricity and fiber optic cables, as part of a seabed pipeline system in the eastern Mediterranean. Passing through Turkey and bypassing Syria and Lebanon—countries which are hostile to Israel—the pipeline will reach the Israeli port of Ashdod, where an existing pipeline terminates at Eilat.

The Nations Come to Learn How the Desert Bloomed

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev hosted a major international conference last November on combating desertification, with experts coming to study Israel’s successes in “making the desert bloom.” The conference was sponsored by the Blaustein Institute of Desert Research (BIDR), Ben-Gurion University, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conference was part of international activities marking 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, as declared by the United Nations in recognition of the acute problem of desertification or land degradation worldwide.

Cleaning Up the Kinneret

Before the winter rains began, while the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was still low, police divers began an underwater clean-up campaign. Over the years, junk—dangerous to both swimmers and the environment—has piled up. Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service, reported that dozens of Kinneret swimmers have been injured by cans, broken bottles, metal pieces, and other items. Plastic bags, boxes, and other environmental hazards were also removed from the underwater beach.

A Lost Tribe Returns

In late 2006, 218 Bnei Menashe immigrants arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on El Al flights from Bombay, the largest group of Bnei Menashe ever to come to Israel at once. The newcomers moved into absorption centers in the northern Israeli towns of Karmiel and Upper Nazareth. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews donated US $1.5 million for their flights.