Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

MOHNTON, Pa. Dozens of people turned out at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Holocaust education center at the Berks Military History Museum.

"It is going to be connected to the existing building," saidPennsylvania state Rep. Mark Gillen, the museum's president.

Gillen said those associated with the museum got the idea from a similar exhibit that had been set up in the military museum last year.

"More than a year ago, we felt like there was a need for a Holocaust room at the museum," he said.

"The response was so great to our original Holocaust room," Gillen said, "we decided, you know what this community needs is an auditorium for education, more artifacts let's expand what the community is demanding."

However, that costs money and the museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which means it has to come up with the funding.

"We'd like to put the building up as soon as possible but that's going to depend on the community," Gillen said. "It's a $2 million project, to the extent the community steps up, business people, educators, average individuals."

Those at the museum, though, are confident they will find the money. In fact, they are already planning exhibits.

"We have representatives from the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Centerwho have indicated they'd be willing to loan us artifacts," Gillen said.

Organizers aren't sure exactly from where the money will come but they are sure about one thing the exhibit will benefit the entire community for generations to come.

"We have people who come into this building and know nothing about Holocaust education, were simply not aware or have a very distorted view," Gillen explained. "We think this is a void that needs to be filled."

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Berks museum seeks funding to expand Holocaust education center - 69News WFMZ-TV

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

NORTH ADAMS Jordana Lebowitz carefully stretched a tape measure along the length of an enamelware pitcher produced by Oskar Schindlers factory during World War II, calling out measurements to her team as they discussed and indexed items from Darrell K.T. Englishs extensive collection of Holocaust-related artifacts.

The pitcher, along with one of Schindlers datebooks, an oilcloth Kennkarte with a stamp of a large yellow J and a Nazi childrens book, was among 200 artifacts a small part of English's collection cataloged over five days last week at the North Adams Museum of History and Science, which hosted English and Lebowitz's group.

Lebowitz, the founder and executive director of ShadowLight, a Canadian-based Holocaust education nonprofit, is interested in bringing English's collection to a wider audience both online and in-person.

English, a North Adams native, has been seeking the right platform to highlight his collection. For years, hes tried to make connections with local and national institutions with the simple request: Listen, I have this material, can we work together?

But he's had limited success, getting in most cases either a polite no or no response at all. He may have found his chance by partnering with ShadowLight.

Darrell K.T. English holds identification papers used by a Jewish man in Germany during WWII. A nonprofit, ShadowLight, dedicated to Holocaust education is cataloguing some artifacts from English's collection.

ShadowLight travels with a replica of a World War II cattle car exhibit to universities, schools and educational centers across North America. The exhibit, "The Cattle Car: Stepping In and Out of Darkness," includes displays that explore the experiences of European Jews and other persecuted groups who were deported in cattle cars by the Nazis to concentration camps and to extermination camps. The exhibit will tour six Southern states this summer.

The 200 items cataloged over the last week, The Darrell English Collection, are on loan to ShadowLight and will accompany "Cattle Car" as a companion traveling exhibit with a complimentary online database.

Jordana Lebowitz, founder of ShadowLight, a nonprofit Holocaust education center, collects data from a small enamelware pitcher made at Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory.

Lebowitz understands English's struggle for acceptance.Like English, institutions have said no to her. Ive also come head-to-head with different organizations who are like, youre doing it wrong, she said.

English and Lebowitz both feel like outsiders. Im not in the league with them, English said of universities and museums. Im not in the game with them.

Im also not, but that doesnt mean we cant do something amazing, Lebowitz said.

Theres no bureaucracy with Darrell, she added. Its just what it is. [Hes] a good person to make something happen with.

But English and Lebowitz, who connected through Facebook, needed help. Through further Facebook connections, they brought on Aaron Kornblum, a former archivist at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Evelyn Riddell, who is starting her masters degree in history in September.

They met in person for the first time on June 25in North Adams. Riddell and Lebowitz traveled from Canada, and Kornblum from California.

They quickly developed a process for cataloguing each item. Kornblum and Riddell handled the details, noting information like an items dimensions and whether it needed conservation, while Lebowitz and English discussed the history of the Holocaust and their hopes for the exhibit. At one point, Riddell began using her iPhone and two pieces of white poster board to take photos for ShadowLights website.

Aaron Kornblum collects data from a datebook that Oskar Schindler handed out to customers "like a calling card." The datebook is part of Darrell K.T. English's WWII-related collection.

English was particularly proud of one of his artifacts, a datebook that he says Schindler (the German industrialist credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust) passed out to customers like a "calling card," though it has not yet been authenticated by outside sources.

According to English, the datebook is exceedingly rare. When asked if he would ever consider donating it to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, he said, No. Its mine. I bought it. I hunted it down. I trapped it. It came out of an auction in Canada. Nobody wanted it. I got it for opening bid.

When you donate to a museum, or some museums, 99 percent of the stuff will get put away somewhere, and never seen, he added.

Darrell K.T. English holds identification papers used by a Jewish man in Germany during WWII. A nonprofit, ShadowLight, dedicated to Holocaust education is cataloguing some artifacts from English's collection.

English has amassed a collection of an estimated 10,000 artifacts from World War II. The reason why goes back 58 years.

I remember going on a trip with my parents up to Fort Ticonderoga when I was about 5 years old, and seeing the cannons and everything else, and I asked my father, could we buy the place? English said. And I came to the realization that wealthy people did weird and great things. They collected things and they went out and they built things. Of course, I wasnt wealthy but I didnt know that at the time.

When English was growing up, they only had two TV channels in North Adams. On one of those channels he saw a "60 Minutes" program on World War II, and has been fascinated since. As a child, he asked his relatives for artifacts, and they would deliver medals, patches, pins, whatever they had.

As a 16-year-old, he drove his car to antique shops and shows in other states. And, now, as an auctioneer and collector, his business is buying and selling rare items. He keeps any World War II artifacts he happens upon. English hopes one day to create a permanent museum to house his collection.

When English acquires an item, he usually doesnt have much information on it.

By the time I get [an artifact], the story is lost, he said. The story is completely gone. Im sometimes a third or fourth recipient of the item. I dont get it directly from the source.

Theyre still at the stage of taking inventory, but when the time comes to authenticate, Kornblum said he hopes to look at Englishs purchase records and receipts.

Aaron Kornblum and Evelyn Riddell collect data from a datebook that Oskar Schindler would hand out to customers.

You like to know, if possible, its provenance, its history, where it comes from, the chain of ownership and production, whose hands it passed through, in which capacity it was utilized, Kornblum said.

Kornblum is interested in what he has seen so far.

Im really pleased with the breadth of the collection, Kornblum said. It has a lot of things about a lot of different subjects, and it looks like theres a lot of different ways to approach the history, and the portrayal, and the understanding of the Holocaust for people.

Lebowitzs main interest in Englishs collection lies in its educational value. She believes in making Holocaust education accessible for everyone, not just those living in big cities with Holocaust museums.

For Lebowitz, who has a masters in education from the University of Southern California, the Holocaust is an excellent teaching tool for social justice. Since its so far in the past, and feels distant for most North Americans, people dont become defensive about it. Its only a small step, then, to begin thinking about refugees, immigration and other social issues which might hit closer to home.

English has rules about where and how his items should appear. At one point during a day of cataloguing, Lebowitz suggested that items in his collection be included in ShadowLight's "Cattle Car" exhibit.

English quickly responded, No, I think it has to be done separately. I think your cattle car needs to be itself. His exhibit would complement hers, rather than be an element of it.

In 2012, English started a one-room museum, the New England Holocaust Institute, in a 650-square-foot storefront on Eagle Street in North Adams. After three years and several donations that helped keep it open, the museum shut in 2015. English had been in talks years prior, with gallerist Ralph Brill, about the creation of a museum focusing on the art of World War II, but plans never fully materialized. Despite the lack of a permanent space, he's worked with Clarksburg Elementary School students,since the early 2000s, on an annual presentation by Michael Little's eighth grade students about the Holocaust, exhibiting parts of the collection and serving as a presenter.

Darrell K.T. English gestures to a rat poison container made at the Auschwitz concentration camp. ShadowLight, a nonprofit dedicated to Holocaust education, is cataloguing some artifacts from Darrell K.T. English's collection.

Kornblum said he wants to help English realize his goal to build a museum or educational center for his collection.

I would love to see his collection housed in a permanent museum, Kornblum said. I think thats really what needs to happen.

While Kornblum said he cant speculate on the timeline or feasibility of building this museum, he pointed out that it took 13 years to create the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Kornblum said it depends in part on securing a source of funding, and on finding a place for the collection, and what youre able to do on that location. Are you renting a space? Are you building your own space?

Of late, English said he has been more aware of his morality.

He wants to leave a legacy, he said, so that 200 years after Im gone, people are still talking about me.

Aaron Kornblum and Evelyn Riddell collect data from a datebook that Oskar Schindler would hand out to customers.

Aaron Kornblum collects data from a datebook that Oskar Schindler handed out to customers "like a calling card." The datebook is part of Darrell K.T. English's WWII-related collection.

Jordana Lebowitz, founder of ShadowLight, a nonprofit Holocaust education center, collects data from a small enamelware pitcher made at Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory.

Darrell K.T. English gestures to a rat poison container made at the Auschwitz concentration camp. ShadowLight, a nonprofit dedicated to Holocaust education, is cataloguing some artifacts from Darrell K.T. English's collection.

Darrell K.T. English opens a German medical book used at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Jordana Lebowitz, founder of ShadowLight, examines a German medical book with a stamp inside its cover indicating that it was used at Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration camp. The book is part of Darrell K.T. English's collection of WWII-related artifacts.

Darrell K.T. English holds identification papers used by a Jewish man in Germany during WWII. A nonprofit, ShadowLight, dedicated to Holocaust education is cataloguing some artifacts from English's collection.

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Holocaust education nonprofit partners with North Adams WWII artifact hunter to create 'The Darrell English Collection' - Berkshire Eagle

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

The Laconia Human Relations Committee will hold a forum on the Holocaust and genocide education Wednesday, July 21, at 5 p.m. at the Belknap Mill.

Gov. Chris Sununu signed legislation, which passed the Senate unanimously and the House by a vote of 299 in favor, 17 opposed), on July 23, 2020. The legislationrequires that some form of basic Holocaust and genocide education to be taught in all New Hampshire schools. With the enactment of this legislation, NH became the 14th state to require such education.

The nation is experiencing difficult times, with a resurgence of dark, dangerous acts and rhetoric. History in particular, unremembered, and inaccurately remembered history repeats itself. Many remember the horrific images of the Holocaust and other genocides. Unfortunately, fewer remember the causes, origins, and methods of the perpetrators. It is important to remember those of prominence and the many people who at personal risk provided shelter, comfort, and rescued victims. This generation owes this education to the next generation, and the next, and to the memory of those who perished, as well as to the memory of those who fought against and are fighting against genocide.

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Laconia Human Relations Committee to hold forum on the Holocaust, genocide education - The Laconia Daily Sun

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

A 19-year-old man was shot to death Friday night in Nazareth in northern Israel, and police said they have launched an investigation into the suspected murder.

Khaled Nakhashwas first taken to the English Hospital in Nazareth in critical condition and was later pronounced dead.

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Since the beginning of 2021, the Abraham Initiatives NGO has reported 42 deaths due to acts of violence and crimein Israel's Arab community. Of those, 33 were Israeli citizens and nine East Jerusalem residents. Eight of them were women, and 26 of them were aged 30 or below. All victims lost their lives in shootings.

On Wednesday, 28-year-old Maysar Othman was shot in the head in front of two of her children in an apartment in the northern city of Haifa.

Police haven't made any arrests yet. Both Othman's partner and her ex-husband have criminal records, police officials told Haaretz. Othman had an ongoing dispute with her former husband regarding visitation rights, and had complained to the police two weeks ago that her ex-husband did not bring the children back home in time.

On Sunday, JamilZabarka, a 35-year-old father of four from Lod, was shot and killed at a gas station while driving a garbage truck. Zabarka was a member of one of the citys crime families.

Last week, a couple and their teenage daughter were shot dead in their car near the Arab town of Ailabun in northern Israel. Police suspect that the shooting was part of an inter-family conflict.

Yousef Jarushi, 58, and his wife Noel, 46, were pronounced dead after suffering gunshot wounds, as was their 16-year-old daughter.

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19-year-old shot dead in Nazareth is 42nd Arab victim of gun violence in Israel this year - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

Early in the afternoon, shortly after the dozens of invited guests arrived, David Friedy Friedman, chief food technologist of Stybel Flour Mills, and the companys chief baker, Yuval Alhadeff, arranged loaves of bread for tasting on a round table. The handiwork of four bakers, the breads were made of white and whole-wheat flours ground from different varieties of wheat. Three of the latter strains were part of the collection of the Land of Wheat project, whose aim is to revive varieties of heirloom wheat that have disappeared from local fields in recent decades. The fourth loaf was made with a regular, modern type of flour; it was planted, so to speak, among the other breads to provide a basis for comparison during this first of two tasting events organized by Stybel last month.

We received the wheat kernels from the Gilat Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Agricultural Research, and neither we nor the bakers know which of them is the modern commercial variety and which are heirloom varieties, says Friedman, his eyes glittering. In his 80s today, hes someone who seems to be perpetually young and thirsting for knowledge. At the moment, he adds, they are marked by letters E, F, G, H and only after the tasting will we find out which is which.

In the meantime, scientists and other researchers collaborating in the Land of Wheat a joint project of the Agricultural Research Organization at the Volcani Center, the Weizmann Institute of Science and local universities were immersed at the tasting event in intense last-minute discussions, using Excel tables and checking databases. The projects collection, compiled over the past few years from archives of research centers and gene banks in Israel and internationally, currently comprises nearly 1,000 wheat lines or accessions, as experts refer to the different strains. Seeds found within a close geographical radius or those sharing certain common features have been collected and stored in envelopes as part of the project; recently some were discovered by researchers in long-forgotten boxes in a gene bank or in such far-flung places as a research center in Mexico.

The Land of Wheat collection contains 945 lines at the moment, notes doctoral student Sivan Frankin, who is studying the agronomic and genetic characterization of the collections lines of wheat.

In the modern era wheat has become one of a small number of agricultural crops others are rice and corn that supply the majority of humanitys food. Most of todays wheat originates in modern lines cultivated after World War II in the wake of the trauma of widespread hunger that it spurred and forecasts concerning global population growth. The underlying idea was to produce strains that were easy and inexpensive to cultivate, which would feed millions of people. The scientists developing those postwar strains, apparently mostly in Japan, succeeded, with the result being that the new varieties essentially replaced the wheat accessions that had developed over hundreds and thousands of years, in accordance with different terrain conditions. However, the modern strains diminished biological and genetic diversity has rendered the worlds wheat production vulnerable any numbers of diseases or pests can wipe out a whole crop and caused the disappearance of heirloom varieties that had once given rise to fascinating culinary and cultural traditions.

These same processes, occurring over time and around the globe, were particularly evident in Mandatory Palestine and in Israel during its first decades, where significant geopolitical and demographic upheavals were taking place. In this country, unlike other places, modern strains of wheat were not even crossbred with local heritage varieties that would adapt better to the conditions here.

The process of the displacement of the traditional lines from Israels fields was completed almost fully in the 1980s, says Frankin, who joined the Land of Wheat project in 2017, about two years after a group of scientific researchers and non-academic devotees of the heirloom concept inspired by similar initiatives overseas started to search for extinct wheat lines in gene banks and other research institutions here and abroad, in order to bring them together in one place.

In the past four years, the Land of Wheat project has been engaged in the propagation of various lines of wheat seeds, attempting to grow them in diverse conditions and locales, profiling their biological and genetic characteristics, and trying to winnow out certain varieties in order to focus on select ones with commercial and culinary potential.

The two tasting events that took place last month at the Ad Halom flour mill on the outskirts of Ashdod were not the first involving breads baked from local heritage strains. They were preceded by tastings at small artisanal bakeries and at a research center where certain lines were cultivated (in Gilat, for example, baker Doron Dagan worked closely with an agronomist, Dr. David Bonfil, adding culinary insight that would hopefully enrich the scientific developments). The Ad Halom events, though, marked the first time a tasting of breads made from lines of local heritage wheat was held at one of the countrys major industrial mills.

Its significant that Stybel and other large mills are opening their doors to us, says Dr. Roi Ben-David from the Volcani Centers agricultural research organization. The feeling at first was that they were a bit skeptical about the research we were doing along the lines of, Dont bother us with this passing craze but in the past year channels of cooperation opened up.

To which Frankin adds, the big flour mills now also understand that development and cultivation of the modern strains focused on large crops at the expense of flavor and quality, and that the heritage varieties have added value. The fact that a big mill like Stybel is providing us with resources and time gives rise to the hope that a real change can be fomented.

It will take a long time before the five vast silos of the huge mill each of which holds 1,200 tons of wheat fill up with locally grown seeds, not to mention heritage varieties. In fact, that day may never arrive Israel is too small for most of the grains it needs to be grown here but the participation of a mill like Stybel in the search for improved flavors and nutritional values among the traditional varieties is good news. Perhaps this heralds a time when access to the flours produced from those strains will not solely be the preserve of those who can afford to buy bread at boutique bakeries.

At the appointed hour at the first of the two Stybel events, the guests academics involved in research, along with bakers and farmers and heritage enthusiasts (but perhaps too few chefs and culinary experts with tasting experience from other realms) entered the mills premises. The sounds of electronic messages arriving simultaneously over dozens of phones, signaled that the forms to be filled out had come in via WhatsApp. Theres no one who saw the forms who didnt want to change or add something, agronomist Bonfil says.

Internationally, too, bakery-laboratory collaborations have been established in recent years in which farmers, millers and bakers work side by side, but no binding protocol or agreed terminology exists for bread tasting. Everyone has their own method, and we drew up a questionnaire based on wine and olive oil tastings, and we know its not perfect, he adds.

Only after long and precise rounds of tastings and data calculations did the Land of Wheat researchers reveal the names of the three heritage varieties from which the breads had been baked: Diar Alla, Lubnani Kisra and Palestinsaika the latter originally collected by Russian botanist Nikolai Vavilov in southern Lebanon in the 1920s.

The most successful, to my taste, is Lubnani Kisra, according to Anomarel Ogen, one of the four bakers who made the experimental breads for the first, blind tasting.

With modern wheat, in which the protein and starch composition is different, you very quickly get a flexible dough, which stretches easily and resumes its shape easily. Working with traditional wheat is harder. You need to adjust the processes to the wheat itself, which is something contemporary bakers like to do less, because the modern flours have made life easy.

The first tasting, about two weeks ago, focused on heritage strains of non-durum wheat; the second one dealt with heritage varieties of durum wheat, which piqued the curiosity of artisanal bakers and others. The four bakers Alhadeff, Ogen, Dagan and Shaheen Shaheen received from Stybel flours that had been ground from four varieties of durum wheat which has harder kernels and is genetically different from the non-durum type, and are much more typical of the traditional, indigenous strains that once thrived in our region.

Of the almost 1,000 lines in the Land of Wheat collection, attesting to the regions agricultural and cultural history, 700 are durum wheat varieties, says Frankin.

Our climate is better suited to durum wheat, especially in light of global warming, notes Zvi Peleg from the Rehovot-based Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Durum, adds the professor, who is working on ways to cultivate modern types of that kind of wheat that will be better suited to climate change, is the cultured variety of the mother of wheat the wild strain whose origin lies in our region, and there is no doubt that durum was what was grown here 5,000 years ago.

Ogen, the baker who in the past two years has been researching this subject tenaciously, agrees about the potential of durum: My interest in durum wheat sprang from my desire to create truly local breads. When I started to look at the research literature, I realized that it focuses on making flour for pasta. The implicit assumption is that durum wheat is less suited to baking bread, and if at all, only for flat bread. But you dont need to go far in order to understand that this is a mistake: Its enough to hop over to Puglia in southern Italy. In my bakery I discovered that its not a problem to use durum also to bake breads from whole-wheat flours that have volume and presence. I find the profile of the flavors of durum wheats more interesting than that of regular wheats used in bread, and durum wheat has a longer shelf-life and a soft texture that I like.

The two Stybel tastings of the three lines of non-durum bread wheat and the three of durum, all heritage varieties are only an example of the scientific-cultural potential of the Land of Wheat project.

We are just scratching the surface, says Ben-David, of the Volcani Center. We focused, almost randomly, on 13 lines from a huge collection, which allowed us within a relatively short time to arrive at a point where we can supply seeds to small farm plots and to produce flour in a quantity sufficient for us to conduct experimental tastings like the ones at Stybel.

This is only a peek into the treasure chest, Frankin agrees. We wont emerge from it with definitive conclusions, but we want to generate interest among farmers, millers, bakers and also among consumers and perhaps the demand that will grow from below will drive the wheels of change.

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Scientists have revived extinct Israeli wheat strains. Now comes the taste test - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

What journalist Moshe Nussbaum disclosed on Channel 12 News that most Arab criminals are collaborators with the Shin Bet security service and therefore enjoy immunity is something weve sensed after every murder of an Arab, every bomb thrown at a home, every shooting that shattered windows. Our hearts said the police and the security services were to blame, but the Israeli public chose to shut its eyes.

This is an internal Arab issue, they said, a matter of mentality, of people without civic courage. This is a cruel accusation, a lack of civic courage, in the face of criminals with Shin Bet immunity.

Meanwhile, instead of inviting senior law enforcement officials to their studios, TV news shows invited Arab community leaders, rebuked them for not fighting violent crime and asked mayors who have presumably been threatened themselves to beg residents to show civic courage, cooperate with the police and report the people who shoot at them. It appears that only shame kept them from asking residents to lock up the criminals, as well.

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The government, for its part, wanted to draft proposals, find funding 1 billion shekels ($300,000,000) from here, 2 billion from there, 500 million from somewhere else, and public opinion danced to the tune of the blood merchants. The discussion was about how to pay for it. And slowly but surely, the goal of protecting Israels Arab citizens became a matter of coalition negotiations. This was truly trading in the Arab blood flowing in the streets.

Thats how it is now: funding to fight crime in exchange for supporting one government or another. If protecting lives is a matter for coalition negotiations, the structure called the state has collapsed. After all, protecting citizens is what turns a group of individuals into a state.

Protecting the lives of citizens is not bound by economic constraints. First you thwart crime, then you worry about paying the bills. But when it comes to the Arab community, first they find funding for handcuffs and only then make arrests, if at all. Now, even the budgetary issue turns out to have been a sorry excuse.

In other countries, a disclosure like Nussbaums would topple governments and drive people out of their minds, and then out of their homes. But in Israel, everything is permitted as long as the victims are from the non-Jewish sector, to use a term commonly used by state institutions. It turns out that in Israel, no price is too high to protect Shin Bet collaborators not even 100 murdered Arabs a year.

Yes, the sun still shines even when the states main intelligence agency colludes with criminals not behind enemy lines, but among its own citizens, who are supposed to be equal and to enjoy the protection of the state. Who knows, maybe the winds will change and the security services will decide that Arab citizens of the state are the enemy.

The new government, in its entirety, must take clear, swift and courageous action to destroy this evil, and not only for the sake of the Arabs. What begins with the Arabs spreads to the Jews. A state commission of inquiry with jaws, not only with teeth, must be established. What is happening now is the beginning of the collapse of the state, which is cooperating with and protecting criminals.

Soon, not only will Jews and Arabs be incapable of recognizing themselves in the mirror, but what they see will terrify them.

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Protecting Israels Arabs has become a matter of coalition talks - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

Two women in face masks walk along a shopping area on April 19, 2021 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Francois Nel | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Vaccination campaigns in several Middle East nations raced ahead of the rest of the world at the beginning of 2021.

Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain topped the list when it came to doses administered per 100 people at the start of the year.

Six months later, all three are still among the top 10 most vaccinated countries but charts show their Covid infection trends have varied greatly.

As of June 29, 57.8% of Bahrain's population were fully vaccinated and 59.7% of Israel's residents received both doses of the Covid vaccine, according to Our World in Data. The UAE's data on fully vaccinated individuals was last updated on April 20, when the figure stood at 38.8%.

Israel's new daily cases plummeted as its vaccination program ploughed on, and data showed that infections remained largely in the low double-digits for more than a month since the end of April. That was so until a resurgence emerged in late June.

Caseloads are a fraction of previous peaks, but have risen rapidly in recent days.

The highly contagious delta variant is responsible for about half the new cases, according to Nadav Davidovitch, chair of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians.

Still, simulations predict that even with "widespread transmission," there will only be several hundred severe cases, he told CNBC via video call. "Not like it used to be in the third wave," he added, referring to the spike that began late last year.

The United Arab Emirates ranks number one in terms of total doses administered per 100 people, according to Our World in Data. But new infections in the country have stubbornly hovered around 2,000 per day.

Cases have fallen from the record highs reported in January, and temporarily dipped to the mid-1,000 level in May, but have otherwise mostly stayed around the same region.

Still, the cases now remain higher than the average daily cases of about 1,200 reported in the fourth quarter of 2020.

TheUAE's National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority in May announced that it would be offering a third dose of China's Sinopharm vaccine. It came amid questions over the efficacy of the vaccine as there were reports of infections in individuals who had received two shots.

The country later said those inoculated with Sinopharm's vaccine can receive the Pfizer-BioNTech shot as a booster, Reuters reported.

Infections in Bahrain hit record highs in late May even though vaccinations were well underway in the country.

According to Our World in Data, the kingdom reported 3,273 new cases on May 29.

At that point, more than 911,000 people in Bahrain had already received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. It has a population of around 1.76 million people.

New daily cases have since fallen to the hundreds.

Bahrain is also offering third doses of Sinopharm's vaccine. Booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are available to more vulnerable groups such as those above the age of 50, three months after they receive a second dose of Sinopharm.

Infections are not the only indicator of a country's coronavirus situation, and vaccinations are not the only factor at play.

Besides inoculation, a country's demographics and Covid restrictions also play a part in the severity of illness and how quickly the virus spreads.

Deaths in Israel and the UAE have fallen and stayed low, while daily newCovid-related deaths per million in Bahrain went as high as 17 in June.

The outbreaks in the Middle East countries are not worrying, said Paul Tambyah, president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection.

"I do not think that we should be too concerned," he told CNBC in an email. "The majority, or at least a significant proportion of cases have reportedly been in those who have not been vaccinated."

"The main concern is that it does not look like we can get away without vaccinating a very significant proportion of the population," he said.

I think that as long as the virus is circulating globally and borders remain open, there will be occasional outbreaks of the virus even in highly vaccinated populations.

Paul Tambyah

Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection

High vaccination rates will not rule out clusters of cases in future, medical experts said.

"I think that as long as the virus is circulating globally and borders remain open, there will be occasional outbreaks of the virus even in highly vaccinated populations," said Tambyah.

Davidovitch said "localized outbreaks" among children who are not vaccinated will probably continue.

He said it's "hard to tell" if a reliance on Chinese vaccines as seen in the UAE and Bahrain may be linked to dramatic spikes in Covid cases.

Tambyah noted that Israel, which has used mainly Pfizer vaccines, is seeing a resurgence in cases as well.

He said there are no scientific publications comparing traditional vaccines developed by China against vaccines that rely on messenger RNA technology, which instructs the body to produce a harmless piece of the virus that helps trigger an immune response.

"I think that, unfortunately, higher vaccination rates are required," Tambyah said.

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Three Middle East countries led the world on vaccines early. Then they went in different directions - CNBC

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

Violence erupted after the demolition of a Palestinian business by Israeli forces began in the al-Bustan area of the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan on Tuesday.

Israeli forces accompanied by bulldozers entered the Palestinian neighbourhood and destroyed a butchers shop in Silwan. Soldiers used tear gas and batons to push back residents and Palestinian activists as they carried out the demolition.

At least four Palestinians were injured in the confrontations, according to the Palestine Red Crescent.

Al Jazeeras Harry Fawcett, reporting from Silwan, said Israeli soldiers arrived in large numbers early on Tuesday and there were significant confrontations.

We spoke to the family [that owned the butchery] and they said Israeli forces came in and attacked them using tear gas and other means a violent start to these demolitions. But this is not just about one shop. There are 20 other units that are in the same situation in this neighbourhood, he said.

An Israeli security force member during clashes which erupted over Israels demolition of a shop in the neighbourhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem [Ammar Awad/Reuters]Israeli forces also fired rubber-coated steel bullets to disperse angry Palestinians amid calls through mosque loudspeakers for residents to gather to protect their homes, witnesses said.

On June 7, the Jerusalem municipality issued a series of demolition orders to residents of the al-Bustan area in Silwan.

The 13 families affected, consisting of some 130 people, were given 21 days to evacuate and demolish their houses themselves. Failure to do so would mean the municipality would destroy the houses and families would have to cover the demolition costs an estimated $6,000.

This is how it works in occupied East Jerusalem, said Fawcett. Families are given a 21-day order which says either demolish your own home once this order has lapsed, or we will do it and then charge you a fine for the trouble of having to demolish your home.

He added an Israeli law has made it difficult for Palestinian families to appeal the demolition orders before the courts.

Since 2005, residents of al-Bustan have received warnings to demolish nearly 90 homes under the pretext of building without a permit, in favour of an Israeli settler organisation that seeks to turn the land into a national park and link it to the archaeological City of David area.

According to Grassroots Jerusalem, a Palestinian NGO, both home demolitions and court-ordered forced displacements are tactics used to expel Palestinian residents.

In a statement earlier this month, Palestinian rights organisation Al-Haq said Palestinians in East Jerusalem make up the majority of the population, but Israeli zoning laws have allocated 35 percent of the land area for the construction of illegal settlements by Israeli settlers.

Another 52 percent of the land area has been allocated as green areas and unplanned areas in which construction is prohibited, it said.

Silwan is located to the south of Jerusalems Old City, adjacent to its walls.

At least 33,000 Palestinians live in the neighbourhood, which has been targeted by Israeli settler organisations for years. In some cases, Palestinian residents have been forced to share homes with settlers.

Some of these Palestinian families have been living in Silwan for more than 50 years since they were displaced from the Old City in the 1960s.

In 2001, Ateret Cohanim, an Israeli settler organisation that aims to acquire land and increase the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, took control of a historic Jewish land trust.

Established in the 19th century, the trust bought land in the area to relocate Yemeni Jews at the time. The settler organisation has claimed in court the trust it controls owns the land.

Under Israeli law, if Jews can prove that their families lived in East Jerusalem before the establishment of Israel in 1948, they can request the return of their property, even if Palestinian families have been living there for decades.

The law only applies to Israelis, and Palestinians do not have the same rights under it.

Theres a clear discrimination here where Jews can claim back any property that they claim they owned in the past prior to 1948, while Palestinians who lost their homeland in 500 villages inside Israel, including West Jerusalem, cannot claim back their property, Mohammed Dahleh, a lawyer representing some of the Silwan families, told Al Jazeera.

Those families cannot claim back their properties, although they hold Israeli identity cards and are considered as residents of the state of Israel by Israeli law, he continued.

This means that this community, if the Israeli courts eventually approve this kind of forcible displacement, will become refugees for the second time.

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Demolitions begin in occupied East Jerusalems Silwan - Al Jazeera English

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

More than a million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses held in Israel that are due to expire at the end of July may be thrown away after attempts to broker a swap deal with the UK failed.

Israel had reportedly offered the jabs to Britain in return for a similar number of vaccines that the UK is due to receive from Pfizer in September. Health authorities are racing to vaccinate as many of its adult population as possible before Covid restrictions are lifted in England later this month.

On Thursday, Israels Channel 12 said talks on a vaccine swap between the UK and Israel were at an advanced stage. But Israeli officials later said technical problems had scuppered the deal.

There were discussions between Israel and the United Kingdom regarding the possibility of transmitting vaccines, but unfortunately, despite the will of both parties, for technical reasons, this did not succeed, said a foreign ministry spokesperson.

It is understood the UK has no plans to swap vaccine supplies with other countries.

Channel 12 reported that Pfizer had rejected a request from Israel to extend the vaccines expiry date. The company said it could not guarantee the doses would be safe beyond 30 July.

A plan to transfer about 1m Pfizer doses to the occupied West Bank also fell through last month after Palestinian leaders said they could not accept vaccines close to their expiry date.

The government refuses to receive vaccines that are about to expire, said the Palestinian Authority spokesperson, Ibrahim Melhem. The authority would wait for a consignment of vaccines it had ordered directly from Pfizer, he added.

About 30% of eligible Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza have received at least one vaccine dose, according to Palestinian officials, compared with 65% of adult Israelis who have received two doses. With transmission of the Delta variant rising particularly among the unvaccinated population, the Israeli government is encouraging children aged 12 to 15 to be jabbed.

The youth drive has been less successful than the rate at which Israeli adults were vaccinated. There is additional concern that health authorities may be unable to offer first shots after 9 July as there will be insufficient unexpired doses available for a second vaccination three weeks later.

The World Health Organization has advised countries not to throw away any expired Covid-19 doses pending further research into whether they could be viable for longer.

Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said he hoped a solution would be found soon.

If you have been affected or have any information, we'd like to hear from you. You can get in touch by filling in the form below, anonymously if you wish or contact usvia WhatsAppbyclicking hereor adding the contact +44(0)7766780300. Only the Guardian can see your contributions and one of our journalists may contact you to discuss further.

We really want to avoid a scenario where administrative hurdles prevent vaccines from being used because there are clearly shortages throughout the world of these vaccines, and we cant be throwing them away when people desperately need to receive them, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

A UK government spokesperson said: We remain confident in our vaccine supplies and are on target to meet current vaccination targets. We recognise that a global pandemic requires global solutions and we will continue to share learnings and collaborate internationally on the vaccination programme.

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Million Pfizer jabs face being dumped after Israel-UK swap deal fails - The Guardian

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Posted By admin on July 3, 2021

DUBAI, June 29 (Reuters) - Israel's new foreign minister inaugurated its embassy in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and offered an olive branch to other former adversaries, saying: "We're here to stay."

Yair Lapid's two-day visit, in which he will open an Israeli consulate in Dubai on Wednesday, is the first to the Gulf state by an Israeli cabinet minister since the countries established ties last year.

The trip is also an opportunity for the two-week-old Israeli government of Naftali Bennett, a nationalist who heads an improbable cross-partisan coalition, to make diplomatic inroads despite long-stymied talks with the Palestinians.

"Israel wants peace with its neighbours - with all its neighbours. We aren't going anywhere. The Middle East is our home," Lapid said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Abu Dhabi high-rise office serving as a temporary embassy.

"We're here to stay. We call on all the countries of the region to recognise that and to come to talk to us," he said.

Brought together by shared worries about Iran and hopes for commercial boons, the UAE and Bahrain normalised relations with Israel last year under so-called "Abraham Accords" crafted by the administration of then U.S.-President Donald Trump. Sudan and Morocco have since also moved to establish ties with Israel.

Lapid and his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan discussed building on the accords to achieve peace and strengthen security in the region, state news agency WAM said.

They signed an agreement for economic and commercial cooperation, which an Israeli spokesman had earlier said would be the 12th since last year's move to forge ties.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, welcoming Lapid's visit, said Washington "will continue to work with Israel and the UAE as we strengthen all aspects of our partnerships and work to create a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous future for all the peoples of the Middle East", the State Department said.

The regional rapprochement was deplored by the Palestinians, who want their demands for statehood free of Israeli occupation addressed first.

President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the accords as "an illusion" and asserted that colonial powers had "implant(ed) Israel as a foreign body in this region in order to fragment it and keep it weak," according to a report on Tuesday by the official Palestinian news service WAFA.

Lapid's plane transited through Saudi airspace. Riyadh, although not having normalised relations with Israel, last year opened its skies to Israel-UAE flights.

Lapid will on Wednesday visit the site of Expo 2020 Dubai, a world fair opening in October where Israel has built a pavilion.

The UAE formally opened its embassy in Israel, temporarily located in the Tel Aviv stock exchange, this month. read more

Israel's Abu Dhabi embassy still has only three diplomats and a head of mission, Eitan Na'eh, yet to be confirmed as full ambassador. Its Dubai consulate is similarly located in temporary premises.

Lapid was conciliatory toward former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose attempts to organise a trip to the UAE while in office were scotched by COVID-19 restrictions and who has sought to cast his ouster by Bennett as illegitimate.

Thanking Netanyahu as "the architect of the Abraham Accords", Lapid said: "This moment is his, no less than it is ours."

Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Dan Williams;Additional reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi'Writing by Lisa Barrington;Editing by Clarence Fernandez, John Stonestreet, Nick Macfie, William Maclean and Marguerita Choy

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Inaugurating embassy in UAE, Israel tells region: 'We're here to stay' - Reuters

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