Israel Active

World Vision South Africa has chosen Israel’s WaterGen to help launch a mobile water generation project for communities in the Eastern Cape. WaterGen will provide safe-drinking water to 50 child development centers, up to 79 schools, four clinics and an estimated 3,400 households.

I reported previously on the Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC) non-profit and its life-changing work in the Caribbean, Florida, Boston and Paris. The United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has now awarded the ITC Special Advisor status.

I reported previously on the many thousands of international students who have be helped by Israel’s Arava International Center for Agricultural Training.  This report focuses on 340 Kachin Baptist Convention trainee farmers from Myanmar.

Israel’s President Rivlin met with a delegation of 40 French imams and other French and Belgian Muslims in Jerusalem. They then crossed over the Green Line to meet Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan.

There are excellent relations between Jewish and Arab communities in the Jordan valley. Over 6,000 Palestinian Arabs work in Jewish communities, rising to 12,000 in peak periods.  Arab farmers receive agricultural training and their quality of life has improved dramatically.

Palestinian Arab engineers working for Israeli chip designer Mellanox Technologies are poised to share in a $3.5 million payout when the company’s takeover by U.S. chip supplier Nvidia Corp is completed. They will cash in stock options worth up to $40,000 per person.

Israeli startup Sindyanna of Galilee produces fair trade olive oil. But its aim as a non-profit is to communicate the messages of hope and peace from Arab and Jewish women working together.

Israel’s Council for Higher Education has approved a $40 million plan to encourage academic excellence and leadership among Ethiopian-Israeli students. The initiative aims to increase the number of Ethiopian-Israeli bachelor’s degree students by some 40 percent in five years.

Over 800 people from 22 countries participated in Access Israel’s 7th International Conference. A key focus was accessible technology and included sessions at Tel Aviv’s accessible beaches, the Wingate (sports) Institute near Netanya and Jerusalem’s Old City.

Professor Maoz Fine of Israel’s Bar-Ilan University has set up the Red Sea Transnational Research Center to help try to save global coral reefs. The center brings together experts from Israel and seven Muslim countries - Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen, and Djibouti.