Israel Active

Israeli actress and model Agam Rudberg donated bone marrow in an effort to save the life of a woman with leukemia who urgently needed a transplant. Agam was automatically added to the national bone marrow donor registry Ezer Mizion in 2005 when she was drafted into the IDF. The transplant was successful.

More than 400 participants came to Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center at Mt Scopus, Jerusalem for World Down Syndrome Day. Israel and Singapore established the event in 2006 and it was subsequently adopted by the United Nations internationally.

(Thanks to Israel21c) To celebrate Israel’s 65th Independence Day, here is Israel21c’s list of the top 65 solutions that Israel has provided to some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Yityish Aynaw wants to use her “Miss Israel” title to showcase Israel’s diversity. Along with her, several African-Israeli women have recently made a pop culture impact. Ethiopian-Israeli actress Ester Rada, 28, has just released her first solo rock record to positive reviews. And Ahtaliyah Pierce, a 17-year-old Black Hebrew Israeli, reached the semi-finals on Israel’s edition of “The Voice”.

You may have read that three sons of Hassan Sariye drowned off Ashkelon, but you may have missed that Yaakov Bruchim jumped into the dangerous currents to save two others. The emotional father Hassan said, “God took away three sons but gave us another.”

Muawiya Qabha saved Adele Briton, aged 3, who was critically injured by Palestinian Arabs throwing rocks. Qabha rushed to the scene of the attack, even though he was not on duty at the time. This week, he was a guest of honor at the Briton family’s Mimouna (post-Passover) celebration. Qabha also visited Adele in hospital.

60 youth villages in Israel educate an estimated 25,000 students per year, putting them on a path toward becoming productive members of Israeli society, despite troubled pasts and higher rates of unemployment and poverty among their families.

This is the title of an article by Mahdi Majid Abdullah, writing in “Elaph”, a pan-Arab newspaper based in the UK and Saudi Arabia. He begins “I regret with most remorse the daily hate I had of Israelis” and then includes a long list of Israel’s positive activities.

(Originally in Ha’aretz) Pupils at the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium are perfecting a growth system for Spirulina, an algae that’s been dubbed the “superfood” because it contains 70% protein. The algae growing system was developed in Kibbutz Ein Shemer to wipe out malnutrition in Africa.

The theme of the Milan Fair is “Feeding the Planet – Energy for Life”. Expo’s CEO Giuseppe Sala said, "The outstanding innovative expertise of Israel in the field of technology for agriculture in arid areas undoubtedly represents a huge added value for the development of the Expo's theme".