Hillel Neuer: Georgetown prof: UNHRC ‘killed my candidacy’ for not being ‘partial’ like William Schabas
Georgetown University law professor Christina Cerna said the U.N.’s highest human rights body “killed” her candidacy as its expert on Palestine — despite her selection by a 5-member vetting committee — on account of her not being partial like William Schabas, whom the 47-nation council chose to chair its commission of inquiry on Gaza.German Opposition Party Cancels Event Featuring American Anti-Semite Max Blumenthal
“I was selected as the consensus candidate of the Consultative Committee for the post of UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories earlier this year,” Cerna wrote in a comment on the blog of the European Journal of International Law, “but the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States both officially opposed me, which killed my candidacy.”
“They opposed me… because I had never said anything pro-Palestinian and consequently was not known to be ‘partial’ enough to win their support. The candidate that they officially supported was considered to be partial in their favor.”
The leader of the main opposition party in Germany, the far-left Die Linke (“The Left,”) has shut down a forthcoming party seminar at the German parliament featuring Max Blumenthal, an American writer of Jewish origin whose visceral attacks on Israel are widely regarded as anti-Semitic.Palestinian hate song: “Run over the baby”
Gregor Gysi, the Jewish leader of Die Linke – a successor organization to the former ruling Communist Party in East Germany, and the largest opposition bloc to the governing Christian Democrat/Social Democrat coalition, with 64 parliamentary seats – told the daily Berliner Morgenpost that “the event will not take place.” Gysi reached his decision after Benjamin Weinthal, a Berlin-based journalist who writes for the Jewish and general press, presented him with evidence of Blumenthal’s anti-Semitic activities and writings. (h/t Gastwirt)
A duo of Palestinian singers are provoking Israelis during this tense time by releasing a song in the social media that encourages hit and run terror attacks. “Run over the two month old baby”, they sing. “For Al-Aqsa we will run over settlers”
Propaganda by music: a duo of Palestinian singers joins the animosity and publishes an anti-Israeli song calling for more hit and run terror attacks against Israelis.
“Run over the two month old baby – that is how we get them”, the song by Anas Garadat and Abu Khayad says. “For Al-Aqsa we will run over settlers. Run over settlers. Make the road become a trap, Allah will help you. The whole Arab nation calls you – bless you Akari Ibrahim (The terrorists behind the attack last Wednesday), run over run over!” (h/t Alexi)
Why Rejection of America’s Dictates is Crucial for Israel’s Security
Firstly, the US attacks must be viewed in their wider context. Namely that such harsh language is not used to address most any other country including such gross human rights violators and disturbers of international peace as Iran, Qatar, Turkey, Russia and, of course, the Palestinian Authority. There is no pointed condemnation of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas’s ongoing and broad incitement and his support for terror.With Marmara case closed, Ramallah learns going to ICC not easy as ABC
In rejecting the US criticism, Israel is refusing to accept its one sided nature.
More importantly is the need for Israel to vigorously maintain its right to independence of action on all fronts. It will be very dangerous for Israel if the Palestinians, or Israel’s other enemies, believe that the Jewish state is not prepared to act alone and against the dictates of even its closest allies.
Israel’s proven willingness to act alone, whether in its past wars, its strikes on Iraqi and Syrian nuclear reactors, or its dogged insistence that a withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines will harm its security, serves as a supreme deterrent. It also serves as an antidote to Palestinian recalcitrance, demonstrating that there is no path to peace without engaging and recognizing the Jewish state.
If Israel is seen as being beholden to the Obama Administration’s bidding, its diplomatic currency will be weakened across the board. This is especially true at a time when American diplomatic influence is not what it once was.
Netanyahu knows that vigorously maintaining Israel’s independence even from allies like the US is crucial to secure the Jewish state’s future. Surely the current friction is a relatively small price to pay.
Trying to get Israel condemned at the ICC can easily boomerang, as Israeli officials have warned.European unilateral recognition of Palestinian state irresponsible, Netanyahu tells EU's Mogherini
Once the Palestinians join the Rome Statue and the court, they themselves will be exposed to accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity — and despite their public statements, politicians in Ramallah are aware that the prosecutors would quickly discover multiple violations, in the West Bank and especially in Gaza, from which Hamas fires rockets indiscriminately into Israel.
To be sure, Thursday’s decision by the ICC to drop the Marmara case doesn’t mean that Israel has overcome “lawfare” or pro-Palestinian attempts to blacken the state’s name in the court of public opinion.
Many international bodies sitting in judgment on what is going on in the Middle East are still heavily politicized and could (and will) do Israel much harm. The results of the UN Human Rights Council’s inquiry into this summer’s Gaza war will likely prove a case in point. But Thursday’s decision does show that taking the Israel for a ride in the ICC is not as simple as it may sometimes seem.
Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem will always be part of Israel, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he dismissed international charges that Jewish building over the Green Line was harmful to the peace process.Abbas is busted as a 'partner'
He also chastised as “irresponsible” European politicians who have called for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood.
“Jerusalem is Israel’s capital and it is not a settlement,” Netanyahu said on Friday morning as he met with the new European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini.
“The neighborhoods where Jews live and where we are building, have been in the hands of Israeli governments for the last 50 years,” Netanyahu said.
“Everyone knows they will remain part of Israel in any peace arrangement,” he said.
“I reject the false claim that this settlement or another is the root of the conflict,” he said.
“The issue is not territory, but Israel’s right to exist and the refusal of others to recognize that, no matter what the border,” he said.
So how far can Abbas go in opposing real negotiation and compromise, encouraging violence, venerating terrorists, and pushing the criminalization of Israel internationally -- while still being considered a paragon of peace by the Israeli Left and the Obama administration? What will it take for them to move beyond Abbas and consider other options?Abbas hails ‘peace-loving’ Arafat, says failure to reach deal will inflame region
This is an important question because of a critical historical precedent: Israel suffered similarly with Yasser Arafat during the Oslo process. Then too, the Left and the Clinton administration become so attached to the Palestinian leader and the concept of negotiations with him that they ignored his support for terror and his stoking of hatred for Israelis and Jews.
When critics of the Oslo process brought up evidence of Arafat's actions they were dismissed as enemies of peace. Any attention paid to Arafat's "flaws" was considered to be a distraction from the need to concentrate on advancing peace negotiations.
The same pathetic process is repeating itself with Abbas. His extremism is being ignored, his obstructionism is being overlooked and his critics are being dangerously disregarded.
Speaking to Palestinian TV ahead of the 10th anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat, Abbas said that no peace accord “will worsen the situation in the already inflamed areas of the region,” while an agreement will “extinguish all the fires.”David Singer: Obama Confronts Embarrassing About Face.
Abbas also spoke highly of former PA, PLO and Fatah leader Arafat, calling him “a source of optimism,” as well as “pragmatic and peace-loving,” the report said.
“I remember a time after 1967, what was considered the collapse of the entire Arab nation, I went to Syria and found him [Arafat] in a car dressed in military garb and when I said to him, Abu Ammar the war is over and we lost, he said: ‘No, they were defeated not us,’ then he made up his mind to come to Palestine and he did,” Abbas recalled.
The PA president added that the Palestinian leadership will defend the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees to Israel, and demand Jerusalem be the capital of a Palestinian state.
The Republican Party’s stunning victory in the American mid-term elections offers real hope that President Obama will now be held to honouring the written commitments made to Israel by President George W Bush in his exchange of letters with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on 12 April 2004 – as overwhelmingly endorsed by the House of Representatives 407-9 on 23 June 2004 and the Senate 95-3 the next day.'Obama sent secret letter to Iran leader to join up against IS'
Those commitments were made in support of Israel’s decision to unilaterally disengage from Gaza – which Israel duly honoured in 2005 – when the Israeli Army and 8000 Israeli civilians left Gaza – many after living there for almost forty years.
That withdrawal brought Hamas to power in Gaza’s one and only election – which has since seen three wars, thousands of deaths and casualties, property destruction running into billions of dollars and 11000 rockets being indiscriminately fired into Israeli civilian population centres.
Bush’s Congress-endorsed commitments assured Israel that the United States:Would do its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan other than the Roadmap envisioned by President Bush on 24 June 2002. Reiterated America’s steadfast commitment to Israel’s security, including secure, defensible borders,Was strongly committed to Israel’s security and well-being as a Jewish state.
US President Barack Obama reportedly sent a secret letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month offering to work together against the Islamic State terror group in exchange for a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.White House Ignores Khamenei Response to Letters
The letter, reported on Thursday by the Wall Street Journal, was sent without informing Israel or other Middle Eastern allies, according to unnamed sources familiar with the correspondence cited by the paper.
In the missive, Obama describes a shared interest in working against the Islamic State group, which has seized wide swaths of Iraq and Syria, drawing a military response from a US-led coalition.
However, he said that joint operations against the group, which Iran views as a threat, could only take place after Tehran and six world powers came to a final agreement on curbing the country’s nuclear program.
Refusing to deny or confirm the report, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said: “I’m not in a position to discuss private correspondence between the president and any world leader.”
What struck me, however, was this statement in Solomon and Lee’s report:BDS Experts: Legal Battle Against NGOs 'Like a Street Fight'
"Mr. Khamenei never directly responded to the overtures, according to U.S. officials. And Iran’s security forces cracked down hard that year on nationwide protests that challenged the re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."
Actually, Khamenei did respond. On the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy, he said this, in a mocking tone which is even more apparent in the Persian version of this speech:
"The new US President made some beautiful comments. He also repeatedly asked us in writing and orally to turn a new page and help him change the present situation. He asked us to cooperate with him to solve global issues. He went as far as that."
Now, Khamenei continued to say he gave Obama a chance, but Obama didn’t come around. Khamenei then gloated about the strength of the Islamic Republic, a perception which Obama’s groveling tone has bolstered:
Bar-Ilan University and the Adam V'Adama Institute for Zionist Law held the first annual anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) conference on Thursday.
The event was attended by several noted public figures, including Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home), head of NGO Monitor Professor Gerald Steinberg, and Attorney Nistana Darshan-Leitner, head of rights group Shurat Hadin.
Arutz Sheva spoke to several BDS experts at the conference to learn more about BDS and Israel today.
"Is there something to do? Absolutely," Professor Avi Bell, Professor of Law at San Diego University and at Bar-Ilan University, stated. "There are legal claims we can make, there are institutions where we can actually get a fair hearing for them - for example, international trade organizations - and there are targeted things that we can do against particular groups."
Michael Lumish: The Left and Israel: A Conversation with Jon Haber
Jon Haber, of the Divestthis! blog, and I are beginning a discussion of the western left and its relationship to the Jewish state of Israel that I very much hope that you guys will join in... either here or there or even at the Elder of Ziyon if Ian and the gang decide to promote this conversation.Bay Area BDS. Going from failure to failure
Or even at Jews Down Under if Shirlee and those folk decide to do so.
You should also know that Jon is part of a panel discussion next week on the subject of Defamation of Israel on College Campuses sponsored by CAMERA in Newton, Mass. Other speakers include Richard Cravatts, President of Scholars for Middle East Peace and Gilad Skolnick, CAMERA’s Director of Campus Programming. I am very much hoping that an audio file will be created and uploaded so that others can chew on it.
Although boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) was first introduced at the now notorious Durban Conference in 2001, it took much longer for the ugliness of BDS to clearly manifest itself in the Bay area. In 2009, a handful of anti - Israel activists from a variety of marginalized groups photographed themselves vandalizing Israeli products at Trader Joes, in an effort to intimidate the independent grocer into discontinuing the items.Arab terrorist lied to get US citizenship, jurors told
The reaction from the community and from all levels at Trader Joes was, shall we say “Fast and Furious”?
A statement from Trader Joes Vice President of Marketing, Jon Basalone, in response to inquiries made it clear that the company would not capitulate to a pressure campaign.
“Our response is that we sell products, and do not use our products as political tools or to make any statements about any political causes. We have no intention of removing any products based on pressure from any group, no matter what they support or don’t support. As always, we believe our customers are smart, and they are capable of making decisions about what they purchase. Let me know if you have any more questions or need more information.”
A Chicago Arab activist deceived US officials for years, getting citizenship in 2004 without disclosing that she had spent a decade in an Israeli prison for bombings that damaged the British consulate and killed two people at a supermarket, a prosecutor said at the start of the woman’s trial Wednesday.Welcome to Pallywood. The caged children edition
Rasmieh Odeh answered “no” when asked if she had ever been charged, convicted or imprisoned, first when she applied in 1994 to enter the US from Jordan and then in 2004 when she sought citizenship in Detroit.
Odeh, associate director at the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, had many opportunities to come clean, especially in an interview during the citizenship process, but repeatedly lied, prosecutor Mark Jebson told jurors in federal court.
“She should have never been allowed in the United States from the beginning,” he said. “It’s a simple, straightforward case.”
This photo is making the rounds, lately. Its generally captioned with some vague comment about Palestinian children imprisoned by the brutal and cruel Zionist regime.White House aide Jonathan Greenblatt to succeed Abraham Foxman as ADL director
Here it is again, in its original context
Its been strategically cropped, and the caption and stylized metal work have been removed to make it seem more "prison-like"
More Pallywood lies from the masters.
The Anti-Defamation League’s new national director will be social entrepreneur Jonathan Greenblatt — a special assistant to US President Obama who earlier in his career co-founded the bottled water brand Ethos.Jewish Group Lauds Federal Judge’s Decision on New York School District Anti-Semitism
Greenblatt, 43, will succeed Abraham Foxman, who announced in February that he would be stepping down effective July 2015. Foxman, 74, has been the ADL’s national director since 1987.
A major American Jewish group voiced support on Wednesday for a federal judge’s ruling against New York’s Pine Bush school district, which sought to dismiss a lawsuit regarding children who suffered anti-Semitic bullying.Spanish Jews outraged over local politician's Hitler Halloween costume
“The families of children traumatized by rampant anti-Semitism at Pine Bush schools waited far too long for relief from systematic religious harassment,” said American Jewish Committee General Counsel Marc Stern. “The Pine Bush school district must be held accountable for a longstanding pattern of hatred targeting Jewish students. Even now monetary relief can only provide partial relief for the trauma these students suffered at the hands of their classmates and, worse yet, from indifferent school administrators.”
The parents of five Jewish students filed the lawsuit against the school district last year. They said their children were traumatized psychologically, and harmed physically, by other students.
Toni Rodríguez, a representative of the ruling Popular Party on the council of the municipality of Gandia near Valencia in eastern Spain, posed for pictures with friends while in costume on Oct. 31.Anti-Jewish Attacks Span Europe, Argentina
The Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, or FCJE, on Tuesday wrote to the municipality, to the council member and to the party’s regional representatives “to ask that they issue a public apology,” FCJE’s communications director, Maria Royo, told JTA.
“We complained about the behavior of this council member. We have not received an answer so far,” she said.
The Spanish-language Jewish news website itongadol.com reported, based on a report by the AJN news agency, that Rodriguez’s spokesperson said his boss dressed up as Hitler “not to celebrate the person but to ridicule him and show him as a person connected with horror.”
At least three anti-Semitic incidents were reported in recent days – with incidents recorded in Europe and South America.Investments in Israel Bonds Surged During Operation Protective Edge
In Buenos Aires, vandals sprayed graffiti on a monument in a Jewish area, calling on “Patriots” to “Kill Jews.” Meanwhile, in the city of Cordova in Argentina,vandals drew a swastika on the wall outside the home of a local rabbi. Community officials said that there were several such incidents each week, and Jews were becoming increasingly concerned over the security situation in the country.
In Berlin, meanwhile, an Israeli woman said she was attacked earlier in the week as she was speaking Hebrew on her cellphone. A group of five youths approached her and called her an “Israeli,” and then grabbed her phone. The woman reported the theft to authorities, who said that they were searching for the culprits – who may have been Arabs, they said, because they recognized that she was speaking Hebrew.
Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that sales of Israel bonds surged during Operation Protective Edge this summer. Bloomberg credited the heightened interest in the bonds in part to an advertising campaign masterminded by the CEO of the Israel Development Corporation, Israel Tapoohi, who used the image of Moshe Dayan to appeal to potential investors. The appeal worked—during July and August, when Israel was fighting Hamas, $270 million worth of Israel bonds were sold, significantly more than the $150 million sold over the same time span during the previous three years. The Israel Development Corporation underwrites the bonds.Chinese tech giant Founder to open Israel subsidiary
But the success of Israel Bonds this summer is only part of the story. Over the past three years, Tapoohi, who was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2011, has significantly boosted sales of the bonds. During his tenure, American sales of Israel bonds has increased 74 percent to a record $1.1 billion last year. He also has increased the reinvestment rate from 20 percent in 2010 to 60 percent.
Founder Technologies, a subsidiary of the Founder Group, one of China’s biggest companies, is set to open a subsidiary in Israel, according to documents released by the company. In 2012, Founder it took in $9.9 billion and had a net worth of $5.2 billion, operating in 80 countries.3 Israeli firms get healthy dose of Intel Capital funds
Now it’s adding Israel, the company said in documents filed with local regulatory authorities, establishing a company in Tel Aviv to be called FounderTech (Israel) Limited. The Israeli company will belong to Founder subsidiary Shanghai Founder Technology (HK) Limited, and will concentrate on providing smart cities solutions. Participating in projects to be developed in Israel will be two other Founder organizations, Founder International Software Co. and Founder Broadband Network Service Co.
Staff will be hired locally, and the Israel operation will seek to reach out and work with Israeli start-ups and tech firms to develop its solutions, the Founder documents said, with solutions to be marketed in Israel and abroad.
In its latest investment round, Intel Capital, the tech giant’s investment arm, is pumping $62 million into 16 companies – three of them in Israel. The Israeli companies — Stratoscale, Gigya, and Screenovate – join dozens of other Israeli start-ups and tech companies that Intel has acquired or invested in.Israeli-Americans to hold first unity conference in US
All three are involved in producing technology that Intel has been developing for future services and products.
Stratoscale develops technology to rethink next-generation data centers. It is building the runtime software infrastructure for scalable computing to help customers use all available computing resources and unify computing and storage across the data center. Stratoscale – whose CEO, Ariel Maislos, started Anobit, which was bought out by Apple several years ago – develops solutions for data centers to distribute data on hardware more efficiently using virtual servers and improved infrastructure resource usage. That kind of technology would come in handy for many of Intel’s large enterprise customers, many of whom already use virtual computing solutions for big data.
While the issue of Israeli emigration has grabbed headlines in recent weeks, the Israeli-American Council is preparing to hold a first-of-its-kind conference in Washington this weekend, aimed at unifying Israeli-American communities dispersed throughout the U.S.Netanyahu #26 on Forbes powerful list
Some 800,000 Israelis are estimated to be living in the U.S., and some feel that attitudes have changed toward them in recent years.
"There is a change in the thinking of the Jewish community, and the Israelis in the U.S. are feeling less shame and a greater willingness to step away from the perception of temporariness," IAC head Sagi Balasha told Israel Hayom.
"In Israel, too, the perception is undergoing a revolutionary change. Starting with [late Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin, who described Israelis who left the country as a 'despicable cowards,' and ending with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu calling them a strategic asset," Balasha said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ranked the 26th most-powerful person in the world by Forbes magazine Wednesday.Benjamin Netanyahu lauds India's science prowess
The magazine listed 72 politicians, CEOs, billionaires and philanthropists in its annual “The World’s Most Powerful People.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin topped the list, with US President Barack Obama coming in second. Chinese President Xi Jinping ranked third, with Pope Francis and German Chancellor Angela Merkel rounding out the top five.
Lauding India's capacity for science and innovation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh that the best mathematicians always came from India.A rabbi’s King David goes to Hollywood
"My uncle, who was a mathematician, always used to tell me that the best mathematicians came from India", Netanyahu told Singh.
The Indian Home Minister commended the achievements of Israel and Israeli scientists in different fields sharing with the Israeli Premier a not so well collaboration in the field of science between people from the two old civilisations.
Singh, a former Professor of Physics, also shared with Netanyahu the story of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle being inspired by Rabindranath Tagore.
Heisenberg spent some time in India as the guest of the celebrated poet in 1929 during which he had long conversations about science and philosophy.
Rabbi David Wolpe has never been too far from show business, physically or metaphorically. He is one of the country’s most visible and celebrated rabbis, and his pulpit at Sinai Temple is only a couple of miles from Fox Studios in West Los Angeles.Start-up Nation takes on disabilities
However, the distance just got a lot closer with the news that he has sold the rights to his new biography of King David, “David: The Divided Heart,” to Warner Brothers movie studio. The studio is developing the script in partnership with Gulfstream Pictures, which is co-headed by Mike Karz, a longtime member of Sinai. Wolpe has signed on as a consultant.
If handled properly, the David story should be cinematic gold. It’s brimming with sex and violence, and filled with enough machinations, murders and double-crosses to rival “The Godfather.” If you’ve forgotten how dark it gets, remember that it features one of David’s children raping another, and that David’s deathbed speech is an injunction to Solomon to rub out David’s old capo, Joab.
Voiceitt, an Israeli start-up developing voice-translation technology for people with disabilities, was named recently the audience favorite at a Wall Street Journal-sponsored international technology conference.Israel Daily Picture: WW100: Centenary of World War I -- Historic Pictures of the Armies that Fought in the Holy Land
The company’s new app, called Talkitt, converts the utterances of people with various speech disabilities into more easily understandable elocution. It is slated for release in the middle of 2015.
But Talkitt is hardly the only Israeli tech innovation for people with disabilities. Last year, three Israeli organizations – PresenTense, Beit Issie Shapiro and the Ruderman Family Foundation – teamed to launch what they say is the world’s first “accelerator” focused on addressing the needs of people with disabilities. Called AI3, for Accelerating Inclusion in Israel, the Raanana-based program has enrolled 15 start-up initiatives, such as Sesame Enable, which has created a smartphone that can be controlled with facial and head movements instead of touch for those who are unable to use their hands.
We have often stressed in these posting the huge dimensions of World War I in Palestine. The armies, battles and casualties were often on the same scale as those on the "Western Front" in Europe. The war raged from the Suez Canal to Damascus and Iraq.Pictures: Star-studded event raises record $33 million for IDF
The 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement that carved up the Middle East after the war is being ripped to shreds in the regional fighting today.
Commemorating the centenary of World War I, we present the picture history of the Palestine battles, the soldiers from Turkey, Austria and German on one side and the British army with its contingents from Australia, New Zealand, and India. We will also post pictures showing the Jewish soldiers and volunteers from Great Britain, Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Palestine itself. The Jewish soldiers also provided incredible pictures of the Jewish communities they found in Palestine.
The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) kicked off a fundraiser in Hollywood on Thursday evening to honor Israeli soldiers and the Defense Establishment.From Ebola to Iraqi Refugees, Israeli Aid Group Tackles World’s Worst Crises
A-listers such as Barbra Streisand, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were among the more than 1,200 guests that showed up at the iconic Beverly Hilton Hotel for the annual event.
Pamela Anderson, who also attended, showed her love for the holy land and said that "Israel is magical. It is one of my favorite places to be. A mixture of old and new, arts, music, freedom. The people of Israel are interesting, aware and generous. You can see they are very senstive to the world's problems. Israel is a place everyone must experience."
Israeli celebrities also showed face, including actor Moran Atias, musician Idan Reichel and actor Noa Tishbi.
Haim Saban, the man behind the event, announced that the event raised a record 33.5 million dollars for the IDF.
Known primarily for their military prowess and high-tech ingenuity, Israelis are often overlooked when it comes to their global engagement. But IsraAID, an Israeli non-profit and non-governmental organization founded in 2001, has been on the frontline of every major humanitarian crisis of the 21st century—including today’s most difficult hotspots in Iraq and West Africa.IDF Blog: Operation Islands of Hope
“Our mission is to efficiently support and meet the changing needs of populations as they strive to move from crisis to reconstruction and rehabilitation, and eventually, to sustainable living,” Navonel Glick, IsraAID’s program director, told JNS.org.
Drawing on Israel’s military expertise and robust healthcare system, IsraAID has tackled humanitarian disasters in 22 countries, including the earthquakes in Japan and Haiti, refugee situations in South Sudan and Kenya, and Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy in the United States.
In early October, IsraAID supplied mattresses, blankets, food, and hygiene kits to more than 1,000 people in the Dohuk and Erbil refugee camps in Iraq’s Kurdish region.
Providing aid to refugees in the Arab world is no easy task for an Israeli organization, especially in countries as hostile to the Jewish state as Iraq, which has been overrun by jihadists from the Islamic State terror group.