Israel Active

Israel marked the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks with its annual memorial ceremony to honor those who perished. For the first time, it included the "Tribute in Light" - 2 beams of light, shining up to 300 meters tall over Jerusalem, similar to the "Ground Zero" tribute in New York.

The Legion of Merit is the United States’ sixth highest honor. It was recently awarded to Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin for his “exceptionally meritorious service” having “enhanced the cooperation and partnership between the United States and Israel.”

Nearly 50 high-ranking American police officers came to Israel as part of their annual Police Unity Tour.  During their 9-day visit, they marked the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and embarked on a 2-day motorbike ride across Israel to honor officers killed in the line of duty.

NGO Shavei Israel organized a leadership and Jewish learning week in Onithsa, Nigeria for more than 250 local youth and 20 adults. These Nigerians are members of the Igbo ethnic group of which some 4,000 practice Judaism, professing descent from a lost tribe.

Dr Noam Gal is curator of “A Modern Love” - photography between 1900 and 1945 at the Israel Museum. He saw the exhibit lacked examples by a prolific group - female photographers. He then through searched the many gifts to the museum to create a much more balanced exhibit.

The diet of the iguanas of the Galapagos islands is dependent on unique algae, native to the islands. But during El-Nino events, the algae die, as do 90% of the iguanas. Scientists from Israel, the US, Germany and Ecuador have found microbes in the gut of surviving iguanas that could save the species.

I reported previously on the recent Tech-Career event for members of the Israeli-Ethiopian community. The winners of the event’s hackathon travelled to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa to showcase their initiatives at Ethiopia’s SolveIT Innovation Competition.

Tel Aviv’s latest accelerator - Women of Startup Nation Accelerator (WOSNA) - launched last week, comprising 11 startups with at least one female founder. Its aim is to change today’s male-orientated domination of top Israeli companies, one female-founded startup at a time.

Israel-based humanitarian group IsraAID is among the Jewish groups providing help the Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian’s devastation. This includes distributing relief supplies, deploying filters to provide drinking water, trauma support and assessing further needs.

KKL-JNF World President Daniel Atar signed a cooperation agreement with Sergio Casas, governor of La Rioja, Argentina. It covers fighting desertification, supporting education about the environment and the efficient use of resources in two Argentinian provinces.