Zionism is Humanization - Israel the land of Zion

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IsraAID to send team to devastated Philippines​

IsraAID will send a team this week to assist local NGOs and UN agencies in treating hundreds of thousands of people affected by a powerful typhoon that hit the Philippines Friday.


The IsraAID team, supported by the AJC and Jewish communities in North America, will be comprised of medical, trauma and relief professionals. The team will work primarily in Tacloban City in Leyte, according to a statement released by IsraAID Saturday.

Rescuers in the central Philippines on Saturday counted hundreds of people dead — with estimates of a death toll topping 1,000 — a day after one of the most powerful typhoons on record ripped through the region, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes with massive storm surges.

With communications and roads still cut off, Capt. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority, said he had received "reliable information" by radio from his staff that more than 100 bodies were lying in the streets of the city of Tacloban on hardest-hit Leyte Island. It was one of six islands that Typhoon Haiyan slammed into Friday.

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said that the casualty figure "probably will increase," after viewing aerial photographs of the widespread devastation caused by the typhoon, which was heading toward Vietnam after moving away from the Philippines.

Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, a senior aide to President Benigno Aquino III, said that the number of casualties could not be immediately determined, but that the figure was probably in the range given by Andrews. Government troops were helping recover bodies, he said.

Civil aviation authorities in Tacloban, a city of 200,000 located about 580 kilometers (360 miles) southeast of Manila, reported that the seaside airport terminal was "ruined" by storm surges, Andrews said.

U.S. Marine Col. Mike Wylie, who surveyed the damage in Tacloban prior to possible American assistance, said that the damage to the runway was significant. Military planes were still able to land with relief aid.

"The storm surge came in fairly high and there is significant structural damage and trees blown over," said Wylie, who is a member of the U.S.-Philippines Military Assistance Group based in Manila.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that America "stands ready to help."

Joseph de la Cruz, who was attending a meeting in Tacloban when the typhoon struck and hitched a ride on a military plane back to Manila, said he had counted at least 15 bodies.

"A lot of the dead were scattered," he said, adding that he walked for about eight hours to reach the Tacloban airport.

Weather officials said Haiyan had sustained winds of 235 kph with gusts of 275 kph when it made landfall. By those measurements, Haiyan would be comparable to a strong Category 4 hurricane in the US, nearly in the top category, a 5.

Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are the same thing. They are just called different names in different parts of the world.

Fresh reports emerged Saturday from the devastated areas.

Vice Mayor Jim Pe of Coron town on Busuanga, the last island battered by the typhoon before it blew away to the South China Sea, said most of the houses and buildings there had been destroyed or damaged. Five people drowned in the storm surge and three others are missing, he said by phone.

"It was like a 747 flying just above my roof," he said, describing the sound of the winds. He said his family and some of his neighbors whose houses were destroyed took shelter in his basement.

Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN showed fierce winds whipping buildings and vehicles as storm surges swamped Tacloban with debris-laden floodwaters.

In the aftermath, people were seen weeping while retrieving bodies of loved ones inside buildings and on a street that was littered with fallen trees, roofing material and other building parts torn off in the typhoon's fury. All that was left of one large building whose walls were smashed in were the skeletal remains of its rafters.

ABS-CBN television anchor Ted Failon, who was able to report only briefly Friday from Tacloban, said the storm surge was "like the tsunami in Japan."

"The sea engulfed Tacloban," he said, explaining that a major part of the city is surrounded on three sides by the waters between Leyte and Samar islands.

The Philippine television station GMA reported that its news team saw 11 bodies, including that of a child, washed ashore Friday and 20 more bodies at a pier in Tacloban hours after the typhoon ripped through the coastal city.

At least 20 more bodies were taken to a church in nearby Palo town that was used as an evacuation center but had to be abandoned when its roofs were blown away, the TV network reported. TV images showed howling winds peeling off tin roof sheets during heavy rain.

Ferocious winds felled large branches and snapped coconut trees. A man was shown carrying the body of his 6-year-old daughter who drowned, and another image showed vehicles piled up in debris.

Nearly 800,000 people were forced to flee their homes and damage was believed to be extensive. About 4 million people were affected by the typhoon, the national disaster agency said.

Relief workers said they were struggling to find ways to deliver food and other supplies, with roads blocked by landslides and fallen trees.

In western Palawan province, disaster officials said three fishermen died in Coron township after jumping off their anchored boat, which was battered by big waves. One fisherman survived.

The typhoon's sustained winds weakened Saturday to 163 kph (101 mph) with stronger gusts as it blew farther away from the Philippines toward Vietnam.

Vietnamese authorities in four central provinces began evacuating more than 500,000 people from high risk areas to government buildings, schools and other concrete homes able to withstand strong winds.

"The evacuation is being conducted with urgency," disaster official Nguyen Thi Yen Linh said from central Danang City, where some 76,000 were being moved to safety.

Hundreds of thousands of others were being taken to shelters in the provinces of Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue. Schools were closed and two deputy prime ministers were sent to the region to direct the preparations.

The typhoon was forecast to make landfall in Vietnam at around 10 a.m. Sunday between Danang and Quang Ngai and move northwest.

IsraAID to send team to devastated Philippines | The Times of Israel

 

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Morocco's King Mohammed Asks Jews To Pray For Rain​

When a Muslim king asks the Jews to pray for rain you know that the world is not so out of kilter, but who gets the credit when the rains fall?


Jews throughout Morocco this past Sabbath responded to a plea by King Mohammed VI and prayed for rain. Muslims did the same in Friday prayers at their mosques. "In conformity with the high instructions of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, commander of the faithful, these prayers will be called for in all the synagogues to implore the Almighty to spread ample rain throughout the territory of the Kingdom," the Council of the Jewish community stated.

The Moroccan World News reported, "Moroccan Jews performed prayers in all the synagogues in the country, imploring God to spread bountiful rain on the entire territory of the Kingdom." The lack of rain this year has threatened the agricultural sector of Morocco, and the economy will be severely damaged if crop production drops because of the drought.

» Morocco's King Mohammed Asks Jews To Pray For Rain

 

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Meanwhile in Israel ..how the Arabs and Jews lives together

 

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Thank Indians for saving Jewish toddler-survivor of 26/11: Israeli envoy ​

Moshe Holtzberg, the Jewish toddler who survived the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, is "doing well", growing up in a "complicated situation" with his grandparents, and Tel Aviv thanks Indians for saving him, the Israeli envoy here has said.

"He is going to school. He is a very healthy, happy and a strong kid, growing up under a very complicated situation," Ambassador Alon Ushpiz said during an hour-long meeting with editors at the IANS office here.

"He is growing up without his parents. This obviously isn't easy. He's staying with his grandparents," the envoy said. "Also, in this case, an Israeli was saved by an Indian citizen. His nanny took him out."

Ushpiz recollected he was chief operating officer with the Israeli foreign ministry in Jerusalem when the 26/11 attack took place. He did not go home for three days but stayed on to monitor the developments.

"It was under very complicated circumstances. I have to tell you I have a lot of admiration for your agencies in 26/11. Israel is very realistic and sober when it comes to these situations because of our own horrible experiences," he said.

"There were two big terrorist actions against Israelis in India - 26/11 by the Pakistan agencies, the other one was Iran. In both cases Israelis were saved by Indians."

The second attack he referred to was one on an Israeli diplomat in the capital in February 2012.

When IANS spoke on phone to Moshe's grandparents in November, he was with them in Afula, a city in north Israel, 140 km from Jerusalem. They said he was growing into a self-assured lad and was like any other seven-year-old boy.

Moshe was just two when Pakistani terrorists laid siege at the five-storey Chabad House, also called Nariman House, during the 26/11 carnage. Six Israelis, including Moshe's parents - Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his pregnant wife Rivka - were killed.

But Moshe had a miraculous escape thanks to his Indian nanny, Sandra Samuel. She risked her life to rescue the toddler who was sitting beside the blood-soaked bodies of his parents, crying. Since then she hasn't left him and was given Israeli citizenship.

Thank Indians for saving Jewish toddler-survivor of 26/11: Israeli envoy | NDTV.com

 

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Ancient Chinese Jewish Community to Hold First Traditional Seder in China​

Tzuri (Heng) Shi (far left) with Michael Freund (right) and Kaifeng Jewish community members

The Seder, which is being sponsored by the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization, will be conducted for the first time by 28-year-old Tzuri (Heng) Shi, who made Aliyah from Kaifeng a few years ago with the help of Shavei Israel and completed his formal return to Judaism last year


Nearly 100 members of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, are expected to attend a first-of-its-kind traditional Passover Seder that will take place next Monday, April 14, at the start of the holiday in Kaifeng. The Seder, which is being sponsored by the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization, will be conducted for the first time by 28-year-old Tzuri (Heng) Shi, who made Aliyah from Kaifeng a few years ago with the help of Shavei Israel and completed his formal return to Judaism last year.

As part of the preparation for the upcoming Seder, Tzuri was sent to Kaifeng by the Shavei Israel organization with all of the traditional Passover items including: Kosher Matzah packages from Israel, Kosher for Passover wine, Passover Haggadahs, which were prepared especially in Hebrew and Chinese, Kosher for Passover cakes, traditional red horseradish, and traditional Charoset.

"We are proud and excited to organize this historic event," said Shavei Israel Chairman and Founder Michael Freund. "Kaifeng's Jewish descendants are a living link between China and the Jewish people, and it is very moving to see the remnants of this community returning to their Jewish roots as they prepare for Passover," he added.

Scholars believe the first Jews settled in Kaifeng, which was one of China's imperial capitals, during the 8th or 9th Century. They are said to have been Sephardic Jewish merchants from Persia or Iraq who made their way eastward along the Silk Route and established themselves in the city with the blessing of the Chinese emperor.

In 1163, Kaifeng's Jews built a large and beautiful synagogue, which was subsequently renovated and rebuilt on numerous occasions throughout the centuries. At its peak, during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Kaifeng Jewish community may have numbered as many as 5,000 people. But widespread intermarriage and assimilation, as well as the death of the community's last rabbi, brought about its demise by the middle of the 19th century.

Nevertheless, many of the families sought to preserve their Jewish identity and pass it down to their descendants, who continued to observe various Jewish customs. Currently, there are estimated to be approximately 1,000 Jewish descendants in Kaifeng.

"In recent years, many members of the community have begun to explore their heritage – thanks in part to the Internet, which opened up new worlds for them and provided access to information about Judaism and Israel that was previously inaccessible to them," Freund noted.

Shavei Israel is a non-profit organization founded by Michael Freund, who immigrated to Israel from the United States, with the aim of strengthening the ties between the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the descendants of Jews around the world. The organization is currently active in nine countries and provides assistance to a variety of different communities such as the Bnei Menashe of India, the Bnei Anousim (referred to as the derogatory "Marranos" by historians) in Spain, Portugal and South America, the Subbotnik Jews of Russia, the Jewish community of Kaifeng in China, descendants of Jews living in Poland, and others.

Watch the video of the Kaifeng community preparing for Pesach, being led in v'hi sh'amda by Ram, a chazan from the Kaifeng Jewish community.

The Jewish Press » » Ancient Chinese Jewish Community to Hold First Traditional Seder in China

 

[Razor]

Former Israeli Minister: "Anti-semitic - It's a Trick. We Always Use it."

Unbelievably frank

 

[amoy]

ANCIENT Jewish community? LOL I seriously doubt theres any leftover. Ancient Chinese couldnt tell Jews apart from Muslims and ironically as early as early Qing Dynasty synogogues were recorded as mosques , and Jews mixed up as Hui too (only separated by hat pattern perhaps). The reignited affinity with Judaism and Jewish identity of these Kaifeng descendants is very dubious.

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Israeli company develops 'radiation belt' for nuclear emergencies ​

[video]http://bcove.me/wx6debym[/video]

Called the "StemRad 360 Gamma" belt, it shields the body from the effects of gamma radiation.

It doesn't look like cutting edge technology, but this belt could be a life saver for first responders to a nuclear accident.

Called the "StemRad 360 Gamma" belt, it shields the body from the effects of gamma radiation.

"It may look simplistic on the outside but the structure inside is three dimensional and very unique. The idea here was to create a product that on the one hand protects but on the other hand is not over burdened weight."

Oren Milstein is co-founder of Stemrad, the company behind the belt. He won't give much away about its key technology, but says it's partially comprised of lead and has been designed to protect the pelvic area, where most of the the body's renewable bone marrow is concentrated.

Milstein says protecting that bone marrow can be crucial to ensuring survival after radiation exposure.

"Conceptually, it's agreeable that the bone marrow is the most radiation sensitive tissue and that bone marrow is able to regenerate itself. So kind of like adding one plus one, we know that if we perform partial shielding on bone marrow, we get an increased survivability of the individual."

The belt hasn't yet been tested in real radiation situations - like the recent disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant - but simulations using mannequins have demonstrated its effectiveness in absorbing radiation.

"When I was first told about it, I was at first skeptical."

Nobel laureates Roger D. Kornberg and Michael Levitt were quickly persuaded of the belt's capabilities and now serve on Stemrad's scientific advisory board.

"I think to make a full body suite with this level of protection would weigh something like 200 kilos so it wouldn't work for most people. This I think weighs 15 Kilos or something like that so you can certainly be free and move with it and so on."

But the belt doesn't offer full protection from radiation or allow an unlimited stay in an irradiated area - and at least one expert has said the device leaves critical organs like the liver and thyroid exposed.

But Milstein says the belt can protect the wearer from a dose of up to a 1,000 rads, a level of poisoning that can cause serious illness, even death.

Orders have already come from Japan, Israel and Russia. And Stemrad hopes to gain even more exposure in the coming year.

Israeli company develops 'radiation belt' for nuclear emergencies | JPost | Israel News

 

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Israeli medical students treat wounded in Odessa​

After hostilities engulf Ukrainian city, Israelis studying abroad set up command center to help casualties in fighting between Ukrainians and pro-Russian militants.

A few hundred Israelis studying abroad in Ukraine have been treating victims of the violence between government forces and pro-Russian militants.

Gonen, a 25-year-old from southern Israel studying medicine in Odessa, described the mayhem that has engulfed the city since Friday. "Yesterday noon the hostilities started. An activist friend of mine asked me and my friends to help treat the wounded.

"We set up a command and control center just like Magen David Adom (emergency personnel) and brought in the victims. We were three Israelis and four Turkish nationals. We treated about 30 people across the city."

Gonen, a second-year medical students who served as a medic in the IDF, said local residents bought the team bandages and disinfectants: "You can't rely on the Ukrainian authorities from a medical point of view. There were few ambulances so we arrived at different places and simply treated people in the street.

"We treated them until nighttime. We saw fatalities; this usually-pastoral scene became a war zone. I treated one wounded man while he was surrounded by corpses and people crying and screaming."

more @

Israeli medical students treat wounded in Odessa - Israel News, Ynetnews

 

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Backstreet Boys headed to Israel ​

World's most successful boy to perform at Raanana Amphitheater on July 29.


The Backstreet Boys, the world's most successful boy band, will perform in Israel in a one-off concert this summer. Barring any last-minute surprises, the vocal harmony group is expected to perform at the Raanana Amphitheater on July 29.

The band will visit Israel as part of the "In a World Like This" concert tour, named for its latest album, which was released in 2013.

The Backstreet Boys was founded in 1993 and consists of Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. The band boasts sales of more than 130 million albums.

The band's eponymous debut album was a huge success, including hits such as "I'll Never Break Your Heart" and "Get Down," as was the second album, "Backstreet's Back," which included the huge hit "As Long As You Love Me."

The success continued with the third album, "Millennium," which included the band's most popular song, the worldwide hit single "I Want It That Way."

Like other 1990s boy bands, the Backstreet Boys found it difficult to repeat their success in the 2000s, although they remained popular in the United States.

Backstreet Boys headed to Israel - Israel Culture, Ynetnews

 

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INCREDIBLE POTENTIAL DISCOVERY IN ISRAEL: Archaelogist claims to have found King David's Citadel​

An Israeli archaeologist says he has found the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to identifying ancient ruins.

The claim by Eli Shukron, like many such claims in the field of biblical archaeology, has run into criticism. It joins a string of announcements by Israeli archaeologists saying they have unearthed palaces of the legendary biblical king, who is revered in Jewish religious tradition for establishing Jerusalem as its central holy city — but who has long eluded historians looking for clear-cut evidence of his existence and reign.

The present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also wrapped up in the subject. The $10 million excavation, made accessible to tourists last month, took place in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem and was financed by an organization that settles Jews in guarded homes in Arab areas of east Jerusalem in an attempt to prevent the city from being divided. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of a future independent state.

Shukron, who excavated at the City of David archaeological site for nearly two decades, says he believes strong evidence supports his theory.

"This is the citadel of King David, this is the Citadel of Zion, and this is what King David took from the Jebusites," said Shukron, who said he recently left Israel's Antiquities Authority to work as a lecturer and tour guide. "The whole site we can compare to the Bible perfectly."

Most archaeologists in Israel do not dispute that King David was a historical figure, and a written reference to the "House of David" was found in an archaeological site in northern Israel. But archaeologists are divided on identifying Davidic sites in Jerusalem, which he is said to have made his capital.

Shukron's dig, which began in 1995, uncovered a massive fortification of five-ton stones stacked 21 feet (6 meters) wide. Pottery shards helped date the fortification walls to be 3,800 years old. They are the largest walls found in the region from before the time of King Herod, the ambitious builder who expanded the Second Jewish Temple complex in Jerusalem almost 2,100 years ago. The fortification surrounded a water spring and is thought to have protected the ancient city's water source.

The fortification was built 800 years before King David would have captured it from its Jebusite rulers. Shukron says the biblical story of David's conquest of Jerusalem provides clues that point to this particular fortification as David's entry point into the city.

In the second Book of Samuel, David orders the capture of the walled city by entering it through the water shaft. Shukron's excavation uncovered a narrow shaft where spring water flowed into a carved pool, thought to be where city inhabitants would gather to draw water. Excess water would have flowed out of the walled city through another section of the shaft Shukron said he discovered — where he believes the city was penetrated.

Shukron says no other structure in the area of ancient Jerusalem matches what David would have captured to take the city. The biblical account names it the "Citadel of David" and the "Citadel of Zion."

Ronny Reich, who was Shukron's collaborator at the site until 2008, disagrees with the theory. He said more broken pottery found from the 10th century BC, presumably King David's reign, should have been found if the fortification had been in use then.

Shukron said he only found two shards that date close to that time. He believes the reason he didn't find more is because the site was in continuous use and old pottery would have been cleared out by David's successors. Much larger quantities of shards found at the site date to about 100 years after King David's reign.

Reich said it was not possible to reach definitive conclusions about biblical connections without more direct archaeological evidence.

"The connection between archaeology and the Bible has become very, very problematic in recent years," Reich said.

More @

» INCREDIBLE POTENTIAL DISCOVERY IN ISRAEL: Archaelogist claims to have found King David’s Citadel

 

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Israel Sending Aid to Serbia and Bosnia Flood Victims​

Israel is sending aid to help rescue efforts in Serbia and Bosnia, where record floods have submerged cities and left more than two dozen dead and thousands homeless.

Local media reported that Israel sent a first shipment of emergency aid this weekend including medicine, food, blankets and rain gear, and will soon send pumps. The aid was delivered by helicopter because cities were cut off by the flooding.

The town of Doboj in Bosnia's Republic of Serbia region, which has a small Jewish community, was especially hard hit, with the city center totally under water and at least 20 dead, the town mayor told local media. Doboj's Jewish community building, which has a synagogue on an upper floor, is located in the town center.

Jasna Ciric, the president of the Jewish community in Nis, Serbia, said that she understood that all members of the Doboj Jewish community were safe but some were trapped in their homes without electricity, water or telephones.

Aleksander Nikolic, the assistant chief representative of the Republic of Serbia in Israel, said the Israeli aid was a "very human gesture" and "proof of friendship in a most difficult moment," according to local media.

» Israel Sending Aid to Serbia and Bosnia Flood Victims

 

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Backstreet Boys add third and final show in Israel​

After their first-ever concert in Israel sold out within an hour and a half, and after adding a second concert which quickly sold out too, the Backstreet Boys have added yet another show in the Holy Land.

The world's most successful boy band will perform at the Raanana Amphitheater on July 29, 30 and 31 as part of the "In a World Like This" concert tour, named for its latest album, which was released in 2013.

Like with the first two shows, only 8,000 tickets are available for the third one, which the production said would be the band's final performance in Israel.

The available tickets for the July 31 show include 500 standing tickets which will be sold for NIS 269 (about $77). The rest of the tickets' prices will range from NIS 359 ($103) to NIS 995 ($285).

The ticket sale will begin at 10 am Tuesday on the קופת תל אביב website.

The Backstreet Boys was founded in 1993 and consists of Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. The band boasts sales of more than 130 million albums.

Backstreet Boys add third and final show in Israel - Israel Culture, Ynetnews