Israel Active

Almost all Arabs living in Jerusalem used to opt for permanent resident status in order to identify with other Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria. Now, hundreds apply for Israeli citizenship every year. They are abandoning politics for a better quality of life.

The Christian Empowerment Council, an Israeli Christian group headed by Father Gabriel Naddaf, has released a new guide entitled “Test the spirits: A Christian Guide to the Anti-Israel Boycott Movement”. The guide challenges Christian anti-Zionism at the ideological level. =

I highly recommend for an eye-opening tour of Eastern Jerusalem. Did you know that some 300,000 Jews and 250,000 Arabs now live in the area of Jerusalem that Jordan occupied from 1948 to 1967?

Good news for those needing to work after making Aliya. An OECD study shows that Israeli immigrants have a lower unemployment rate than native-born Israelis. This is the reverse of the situation in similar high immigrant countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

CNN reports that devout Jews are joining Israel’s next wave of hi-tech programmers. With no prior computer knowledge, just one year later they can build web and mobile apps. Years of strict religious study is also good training to help think outside of the box or deeper about a problem.

Archeologists have discovered at Megiddo the remains of the garrison of the Roman Sixth Legion that kept order following the Jewish Revolt of 66-70 CE and the Bar Kochba Revolt of 132 to 135 CE. The Jews then lost sovereignty until 1948 and the modern Jewish State.

Israel held a ceremony to thank the Philippines for facilitating the 1935-41 escape from Nazi Germany and Austria of 1,301 Jews. It was held at the Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv. (I gave feedback on one mistake in the article)

July 4 was the anniversary of the amazing 1976 Israeli commando raid on Uganda’s Entebbe airport to rescue 106 passengers of a hi-jacked Air France plane. This 4-minute animated film captures the events.

The Shimshoni family called in archeologists to investigate and secure a perfectly-preserved 2,000-year-old ritual bath (mikvah) under their living room.

The Jewish National Fund has established a new center for Israel education and advocacy, thanks to a $100 million donation from the estate of John and Dora Boruchin. The JNF Boruchin Israel Education Advocacy Center aims to strengthen Americans’ connection to the Jewish State.