Israel Active

The Jerusalem Municipality just launched a new website in French that includes all municipal services, information on absorption in Jerusalem, information on immigrant activities and additional services for French speakers. There is already an English site.

Israeli humanitarian aid organizations IsraAID and iAID have gone to Texas to help residents of Austin and Dallas suffering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.  IsraAID will offer trauma counseling and help clean up debris and salvage belongings from flooded homes, whereas iAID will support the National Guard.

I reported previously on Israelis with cerebral palsy who applied to and were accepted into the Israel Defense Forces.  Here is a 4th “Special in Uniform” – Lotan Aroch, who has just completed her 18 months’ service in the IDF. And Daniel Defur became the first blind Israeli to serve in the IDF.

The Israel Rescue Coalition has just flown a team of the United Hatzalah Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit to Houston, Texas. It is led by Jerusalem therapist Miriam Ballin, a Haredi woman who founded the pioneering psychological first aid unit.

Israel’s Embassy in Vietnam is donating 100 innovative wheelchairs especially designed for children with disabilities. The Embassy used the budget for Israeli Independence Day celebrations to buy the lightweight wheelchairs from Israel’s “Wheelchairs of Hope.”

StandWithUs sponsored the 2017 Israeli High School Debate Team which recently competed in the 29th annual World Schools Debating Championship in Bali, in (Muslim) Indonesia. The team finished 13th in the world, winning 6 out of 8 initial debates.

75 Jewish and Arab six-graders attended a 3-day Soccer for Peace summer camp at the Center for a Shared Society in Givat Haviva,

I reported previously about a Backgammon tournament held in Jerusalem that brought together Jews and Arabs. The games have become a city-wide Championship involving about 500 Jews, Christians, Muslims and others, supported by both private and municipality funding.

Jerusalem’s Kivun Center helps the capital’s Haredim find employment.  It is currently offering to pay 30% of the salary for new employees for 30 months.

Charity Leket Israel has purchased a field near Binyamina for the sole purpose of growing food for the poor. Leket plans to grow some 500 tons of produce per year, to feed around 2,700 people daily.  Leket distributes 15,000 tons of unsold crops to the needy.