Blogger Kim Milrell has for years watched public opinion in his home country of Sweden grow more hostile towards Israel as the Swedish “media always find a way to turn things around and in the end, in one way or another, they manage to blame Israel.” According to Milrell, everything in the Swedish media that is remotely related to Israel automatically takes a hostile tone against the Jewish State; apparently objective journalism isn’t prized in this Nordic nation.

As an example Milrell cites a newsletter written about the improvement of animal rights in Israel that goes on to say “Israel is not known for its engagement in human rights.” Milrell points out that the letter was most likely written by someone who’s never visited Israel, an assumption that we at Act For Israel agree with. For we know that if the writer were more informed about Israel he or she would know all about what Israel has done in the name of human rights for the steady stream of African refugees who risk their lives fleeing conflict and trekking by foot, bypassing Arab countries, to seek shelter in Israel. The writer also likely hasn’t heard about how Iraqi, Jordanian and Palestinian children are brought to Israeli hospitals, at Israelis expense, to undergo lifesaving procedures that they would not otherwise have access to.

For all these reasons Milrell has bravely risen up and started his own project to make sure Swedes are properly informed about what Israel really is. Milrell created a new website, LettersFromIsrael.com,  to collect letters, stories, views, opinions, etc. by Israelis, and share them with his fellow countrymen and women. This way, Milrell hopes to bypass the highly biased Swedish media to give Swedes a more accurate view of the Middle East’s only true democracy.

Act For Israel commends Kim Milrell for his praiseworthy project and encourage all to check it out.

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90% of Israeli homes have solar powered water heaters

A recent global report by the Cleantech Group and the World Wildlife Fund ranks Israel second in the world in its clean technology prowess. Ranked just behind Denmark, Israel actually surpasses the nordic nation in the subcategory titled “Evidence of Emerging Clean-tech Innovation” suggesting that Israel may possibly become the World leader in the field.

Israel’s lead in clean technology should come as no surprise to anyone who is familiar with the country. The tiny nation, with precious few natural resources of its own, is a highly modernized society with extensive energy demands. Securing a safe and reliable source of energy from abroad has always been a difficult task for Israel with extreme national security implications.

Much like how in the United States there is a growing realization that dependence on foreign oil is not only bad for our environment, but it also hurts our pocket books and our national security, Israel has come to this realization as well and has invested heavily to correct this systematic problem. Focusing on what it does have, and what it can achieve, Israeli entrepreneurs and innovators, aided in part by the state, have quickly shifted their focus to making Israel self-sustainable.

Thus Israeli companies are developing at a breakneck pace innovations such as treating sewage water with “fuel-cell” like algae containers that not only fully clean the water but actually creates energy while doing so. They have developed windows for office buildings that double as solar panels. Electric cars that have “switchable” batteries, hence not needing eight hours to recharge, are now on Israeli highways. Israeli farmers have mastered the art of creating the most productive farms in the world using the least amount of water.

All these technologies pay dividends not just to Israel but to the world. By creating clean processes for doing the things we do every day, such as driving, we will all soon have the tools to continue to live the lives we live, but do so in such a way that our children, grandchildren and beyond will be able to do so as well.

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The first is a story about the former White House reporter Helen Thomas who resigned in disgrace after making extreme anti-Semitic comments on camera. Since her embarrassing resignation she has not backed down from or apologized for her comments and has even continued to espouse anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks.

Thomas’ own peers have distanced themselves from her and her entire career has been tainted by the more than likely possibility that her reporting has been highly biased. The Society of Professional Journalists even decided to discontinue a yearly award bearing Thomas’ name due to her bigoted comments.  So why then did Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas honor her with an award “recognizing” her long career in the field of journalism?

Apparently Abbas and the entire Palestinian Authority openly embrace offensive and anti-Semitic comments. Hopefully, this embrace ends at the level of rhetoric and doesn’t extend to anti-Semitic actions, however rare that possibility may be. If the Palestinian Authority is truly interested in peace and advancing the Palestinian cause one would think that they would not embrace the extremist racist ideology promulgated by the discredited reporter.

The second story that struck me reported that medical workers for the Palestinian Red Crescent, the equivalent of the Red Cross in the United States, have been arrested as suspects in an attack. If true this wouldn’t be the first time that elements of the Palestinian Red Crescent have been involved in a violent attack in some way.

Medical workers across the world uphold a Hippocratic oath obliging them to respect life. Yet it seems that for some Palestinian medical workers this oath, and a common compassion to mankind, doesn’t apply equally to everybody. Contrast this with Israeli hospitals that treat Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims, and everyone else according to their need and regardless of their disposition. On a daily basis Israeli doctors and other medical workers save lives of Palestinian men, women and children who need medical care that is not available to them in the Palestinian territories. So as Israeli medical workers treat everyone equally and according to their needs, all the while reaching out at their own expense to help their neighbors who lack proper medical care, some Palestinian workers actively work to inflict harm on their neighbors.

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Photo credit: Jerusalem Post

The post The West Bank Today: Disgraced Journalists and Medical Violence appeared first on Act for Israel.

Simultaneously, the military was preparing for what was thought could be a massive march on Israel’s borders, violent protests in the West Bank and Gaza, there was at least one thwarted attack from Gaza and on the diplomatic front Israel stood up to inappropriately named UN Human Rights Council which abandoned its mission of safeguarding human rights in order to demonize Israel.

These two seemingly conflicting chain of events serve to prove one thing- that no amount of illegitimate, illegal and violent attacks against Israel can stop the country and the people from thriving. By trusting in a strong national defense, a vibrant democratic process, individual accomplishments and the collective spirit, Israelis know they can triumph over any challenges.

This is how Israel can continue to flourish despite the unique, unprecedented and unrelenting challenges it faces. Israelis may disagree among themselves on government policies and such. However, knowing that they have a right to the land, a right to a free and prosperous life, and a generous and innovative spirit that supports the basic principles of democracy and humanitarianism, gives Israelis the wherewithal to understand that illegitimate and immoral attacks against them are ultimately doomed to fail.

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Photo credit: Tel Aviv Marathon

The post How Israel Thrives appeared first on Act for Israel.

I told him of my reason for being in San Francisco and he told me about being a cab driver, we then talked about traveling in general and inevitably got to talking about Israel. The cab driver, who as a young adult in the 1960′s spent time on a kibbutz in northern Israel, said he was “sorry” once I mentioned that I was born in Israel. Upon inquiring why he would be sorry for such a thing he responded by telling me how he believes Israel is a renegade state that acts above international law.

So I immediately countered his argument by asking if he is anti-Syria. He said no, but he doesn’t like the Assad regime. I asked why he doesn’t like the Assad regime and he answered with basically the same answer he gave me as to why he doesn’t like Israel.

So then I asked why in the case of Syria he can differentiate and show distaste for the regime and its policies while not being against the existence of the country itself whereas with Israel he cannot separate the two. He responded by not really responding, essentially ranting on by saying that in his eyes Israel is a criminal entity and so forth.

I thought then to respond by saying that unlike Assad and his father, Israel has never sent its army to its major cities to kill its own unarmed civilians by the thousands and continue along that line of reasoning. However I stopped myself, realizing that his lack of logic so far would make any further relevant points I present futile. His mind was set, and he was not looking to be open minded towards opposing viewpoints as he made clear when he stated that he usually hates having Israeli riders in his cab.

I realized that his argument wasn’t truly based on reason, logic or facts, at least not fully. Rather it was the result of his environment. The cab driver and myself have both been to Israel, both spent time on a kibbutz and yet we have vastly different views on the country. Further, his criticisms of Israel are not applied equally, or at all, to any other country in the world. This last point is by his own admission, he openly stated that.

So what was the real difference between us that would causes him to apply unfair standards to Israel while allowing me to judge all countries equally by their actions? My best guess is the environments in which we live and the people we associate with. Before exiting the BART system and hopping in the cab I saw an ad funded by hostile anti-Israel groups calling for an end to US aid to Israel. The cab driver also mentioned that most of the other drivers he knows are “Middle Eastern,” and I’m guessing by that he means from countries in the Middle East that aren’t Israel. And of course, the San Francisco area doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being pro-Israel.

As I see it, by surrounding himself with one point of view like that for the past thirty years he has adopted it fully. Whereas I on the other hand have not limited my interactions to one point of view. No, I do not limit myself to interacting with only pro-Israel individuals. In fact I have made many friends who hold negative views of Israel and even made it a point to actively engage with and learn from my Arab peers while at graduate school in Chicago.

This thought led me to my last realization, that the efforts to delegitimize Israel will not subside so long as the voice of reason, advocating for peace between Israel and its neighbors, does not speak louder than the hostile voice delegitimization. When people surround themselves, intentionally or unintentionally, with one point of view they miss at least half of the story.

The organizations that work towards delegimitizing Israel do not present multiple viewpoints and even actively seek to silence those they oppose. We’ve seen this in the recent “One State” conference at Harvard that claimed to “expand academic debate” about the subject but in fact only invited like minded speakers. We’ve also see this with continuous “heckling” incidents that aim to silence pro-Israel speakers on college campuses and beyond. This environment can only lead to a further radicalization of their views and misunderstanding of Israel.

If these negative voices speak louder than the voices of reason, and succeed in silencing our voices, than that is what most people will hear. This is why it is important for us all to speak up and make sure the truth about Israel is heard. Because if we don’t, thanks to hostile anti-Israel and anti-Semitic organizations, something about Israel will be heard and it likely won’t be conducive to peace.

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By taking this bold action against a council that disguises bias for the Jewish state under the name of human rights Israel now stands alone as the World’s most prominent defender human rights. For reference, of the 51 condemnations issued by Council a full 35 of them were against Israel. The UNHRC’s inability or refusal to address the World’s most pressing human rights issues, together with its championing of the World’s most notorious human rights abusers such as Muammar Qaddafi, is an affront to people everywhere who face true injustices.

By ignoring the ongoing human rights abuses in Syria, China, Iran, Sudan and many more places across the globe the Council is itself abusing the human rights of the oppressed. The existence of the UNHRC should imply that human rights abuses are at least being discussed, yet by failing to do its duty of addressing such crimes the Council gives de facto legitimization to the abuses and the abusers.

Essentially, the Council is saying to the starving, unarmed people in the Nuba region of Sudan that it is “okay” for the al-Bashir government to be bombing them with Iranian supplied arms. It is telling the people of Syria who are dying by the thousands that they are just as guilty for the violence as the heavily armed and increasingly brutal Syrian army. By praising the Qaddafi regime earlier this month the Council told the people of Libya that their popular revolt against the brutal dictator was not justified and that his use of fighter jets on unarmed protesters was not wrong.

As I see it there are two ways for the Council to restore its credibility and to at least perhaps not negatively affect the cause of defending human rights. The first, most obvious way, would be to stop ignoring and legitimizing the mass murder and oppression of people all over the world while constantly condemning the one true democracy of the Middle East. The second option would be for the Council to simply change its name to truly reflect its mission of condemning Israel. If it were to call itself, say, the UN Condemn Israel Council (UNCIC) at least it would not offend the World’s neediest and most oppressed by pretending to defend them.

The post The UN’s “Condemn Israel Council” appeared first on Act for Israel.

Coinciding with the vernal equinox, Nowruz is the most celebrated holiday in Iran. Many Nowruz traditions resemble traditions associated with Jewish holidays, highlighting shared values between the two peoples. For example Spring Cleaning, or Khouneh Tekouni in Farsi, is done in preparation for Nowruz, much like how Jews traditionally clean their houses before the springtime holiday of Passover.

Bonfires are also a Nowruz tradition in Persian culture. During the Nowruz period on the night known as Chahārshanbe Suri, bonfires are lit all across Iran much the same way Israel is aglow with bonfires during the springtime holiday of Lag BaOmer.

A traditional table setting known as Haft Sin is how most Iranians feast during the holiday. This traditional setting features seven specific food items all of which have a symbolism associated with them. The Jewish Passover Seder dinner features a similar plate with six specific food items all of which have a traditional symbolism associated with them.

The many similarities and shared values between the historic Jewish and Persian communities led to thousands of years of friendship between these two ancient peoples. Only since the recent rise of the extremist Ayatollah regime during the Iranian revolution of 1979 have their existed tensions between these two communities. The extremist regime which rose to power immediately cut off the country’s previously warm ties with the Jewish State of Israel and began to actively and violent act against it.

Although tensions today between Iran and Israel are perhaps at an all time high due the Islamic regime’s constant saber rattling and violent language, the people of these two great cultures could use this opportunity to focus on their many similarities. If the people can focus on their historic friendship perhaps it can cause the extremists rulers of Iran to tone down their rhetoric, hopefully leading to a more constructive atmosphere that can prevent an outbreak of violence while fostering international cooperation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du1ixVZ6bqg

Video credit: Shimon Peres

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French authorities were quick to condemn the attack, as were Israeli leaders who expressed shock at the targeting of Jewish children. French officials also disclosed that the gun used in today’s attack appears to be the same one used in recent attacks against French soldiers in the area around Toulouse.

Regardless of who carried out the attack, the person’s motives, methods or ideology what is known about the incident thus far highlights again the dangers of anti-Semitism. When many extremists, such as President Ahmedinejad, some radical clerics, neo-Nazis and ignorant people from all backgrounds continue to spew hatred and justify violence they only embolden others to act with such recklessness.

Today’s attack proves that words are dangerous. They can lead to escalations and empower the weak  minded to violently act out by arming them with blatantly false and ethically illogical excuses. However, words can also be used to stop such terrorist acts and spread peace and understanding. If the voices of reason and understanding remain louder and stronger than the voices of hatred and violence, more and more people will understand the error of such heinous acts. This is why people must continue to speak up for peace, justice and understanding. This is why I Act For Israel and this why I encourage all to join me in speaking out and acting against violence and ignorance.

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Photo credit: CNN

The post Terror In Toulouse appeared first on Act for Israel.

IDF soldier shows care, compassion and genuine kindness to Haitians during Israel’s disaster relief effort in Haiti.

How a country treats refugees can be the single most defining issue in understanding a nation’s values and commitment to human rights. After the now yearlong brutal crackdown by the Assad regime in Syria, tens of thousands of refugees have set up camp in neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

Lebanon, which has a long history of mistreatment of refugees, has already showed that it is falling into its old habits when it rebuked the US ambassador’s call to protect Syrian refugees in the country. If Lebanon’s past behavior is any indication of what awaits the country’s newest refugees than the Syrians who fled Assad’s brutal crackdown are likely to face widespread institutionalized discrimination. Palestinian refugees who first fled to Lebanon in 1948 were forced to stay in camps, prevented from many professions, denied education, denied citizenship and faced other discriminatory laws which still apply to their descendents, more than sixty years later.

Israel on the other hand has a long history of showing compassion for refugees and helping them establish a new life. The Jewish Arab refugees that Israel absorbed around the same years Lebanon first received Palestinian refugees were granted citizenship and full and equal rights. These refugees were fully integrated into Israeli society, thrived in government, business and elsewhere, and their descendents are fully Israeli. Currently, African refugees who bypass Egypt and other Arab countries to flee to safety in Israel are afforded protected status and receive compassion from Israeli society.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Israelis are now organizing an aid mission for Syrian refugees in Jordan; or should it? Syria is an enemy country and is technically in a state of war with Israel. Many of the Syrians who are about to be the recipients of Israeli aid and compassion may be the same people who chanted “death to Israel” and burnt Israeli flags at the many anti-Israel demonstrations held in Syria over the years. Despite this, Israelis still maintain compassion for people in need.

That is the difference between a free, moral, just and democratic society and one that is fraught with ethnic strife, power struggles and overrun by terrorist organizations. In a true democracy like Israel, people see people as just that; nothing more, nothing less, we are all equal. A person in need deserves compassion, regardless of their dispositions. That is why Israelis can extend their hand to people who have called for their destruction and that is why Israel has always, and will always, choose peace over hatred and violence.

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Photo credit: Israelli.org

The post Israelis Compassion Towards Syrian Refugees Shines appeared first on Act for Israel.

Take for example an article today that was the main feature on NPR.org with a caption asking “Will Israel Bomb Iran?” Rather than focusing on the root of the problem by asking “will Iran continue to evade international law and hide its secretive nuclear program from IAEA inspectors” the article focuses on Jerusalem and Washington’s reactions to Iran’s intransigence. Completely overlooking that a debate on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program would not even exist if Iran complied with its international obligation, including not threatening the destruction of a fellow UN member state.

A Reuters article about Gaza terrorist’s violation of a cease fire was titled “Israel-Gaza truce mostly observed.” According to the article itself “The number of Palestinian rocket attacks dropped sharply after the deal took effect overnight, with less than 10 rockets reportedly fired since then.” Um, huh? Can the Reuters editor who titled the article please explain to me how firing 10 rockets counts as “mostly observing” a truce? Dictionary.com defines the word truce as “a suspension of hostilities,” not a reduction or continuation of hostilities. Thus even one rocket being fired violates the truce. One cannot mostly observe a truce just like one cannot mostly be pregnant. You either are or you aren’t. The title completely misinforms the readers by claiming that the terrorist groups ceased their hostilities against Israeli civilians. I’m sure the innocent man in Netivot who was injured by a post-truce rocket could explain this point even better.

These are just two examples of the many blatant misleading headlines and articles that dominated the discourse on the recent violence. Many of the other examples include sensational headlines of “Israeli attacks on Gaza” while only mentioning later in the article that the attacks are in response to relentless rocket fire on over one million civilians. In fact, as the above mentioned NPR headline illustrates, many articles about Israel in general have critical implications without mentioning the reasons for Israel’s defensive actions.

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Photo credit: Ynet

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