RUTHFULLY YOURS

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

Yesterday Christmas Day was also the penultimate day of Hannukah, both holidays of lights, history, and faith which  inspire the best human instincts. When the menorahs are put away, and trees and decorations are taken down, both faiths pray for a brighter future with good deeds and benevolence in the coming year.

As Michael Ordman details, researchers and scientist in Israel, return to their laboratories to unravel innovations in medical and scientific technologies which will make life longer and better for billions of people in 2023. The new year also promises growing relations and cooperation among Israel and Moslem nations.  rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Novel cancer treatment begins trials. Israel’s Nectin Therapeutics (see here previously) has started human trials of its NTX1088 cancer treatment. NTX1088 blocks the protein PVR expressed by tumors to suppress the immune system. The treatment also restores DNAM-1, needed to activate anti-cancer T & NK cells.
https://nocamels.com/2022/12/treatment-for-resistant-cancer-patients-raises-25m/
 
Cystic fibrosis treatment begins trials. (TY Dr Salem) Israel’s SpliSense (see here previously) has begun a first Phase 1/2 human trial of its SPL84 treatment for a specific genetic mutation that causes cystic fibrosis. SpliSense utilizes proprietary RNA therapies called ASOs (antisense oligonucleotides) to correct mutations.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/splisense-initiates-phase-12-study-of-spl84-rna-based-therapy-for-the-treatment-of-cystic-fibrosis-301702837.html
 
It’s a wrap. Tel Aviv University researchers have developed a new technology to encapsulate (i.e., wrap) molecules and then release them within the body. They designed a peptide that forms compartments for the molecules and then UV light to break up the compartments. It can deliver therapies to wherever it is needed.
https://english.tau.ac.il/encapsulation_molecules_2022  https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.1c21006
 
Warning – impending heart failure. A new tool developed at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center and the US’ Mayo Clinic is saving the lives of patients with myositis (weak, painful, and inflamed heart muscle). Using 20 years of ECG data, the AI system has an 80% accuracy of predicting and preventing impending heart failure.
https://nocamels.com/2022/12/lifesaving-ai-warns-of-patient-heart-failure/
 
Warning – your medication may harm you.  Israel’s MDI Health Technologies (see here previously) is now up and running in the USA and Israel with its AI-based system to detect adverse interactions of medication. 20% of patients 65+ take dangerous combinations of medicines, causing 12 million hospitalizations in the US.
https://nocamels.com/2022/12/ai-protects-patients-from-dangerous-drug-interactions/
 
Infusion at home. The Covid pandemic has impacted positively on many of the patients using infusion systems from Israel’s Eitan Medical (see here previously). What was once regularly a long visit to hospital is often now a 5-minute procedure performed at home. Earlier this year Eitan received Israel’s Outstanding Exporter’ award.
https://eitanmedical.com/eitan-medical-receives-2020-outstanding-exporter-award-from-israeli-ministry-of-economy-and-industry/  https://www.israel21c.org/devices-that-deliver-injectable-drugs-right-at-home/
 
A mattress to decompress your spine. Israeli startup Daily Backup has developed the CogniSpine – a semi-inflatable mattress that returns your spine to its natural curvature when lying on it in a prone position. It also stimulates the vagus nerve, which regulates heart rate, etc., switching it into “relaxed mode”.
https://nocamels.com/2022/12/relax-lying-face-down-could-be-the-best-stress-buster/  https://cognispine.com/
 
New research center for autoimmune diseases. Thanks to a generous donor, Tel Aviv University is to establish a multidisciplinary center for the research of autoimmune diseases. The new Colton Center will focus on big data analytics, sourced by Israeli medical institutions, to direct traditional scientific lab work.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-725197
 

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19248/biden-two-state-delusion

The results of several public opinion polls, including the most recent one, demonstrate that Blinken and his team are either engaging in self-deception or simply fail to understand or see what most Palestinians want: Killing more Jews and the obliteration of Israel.

This is not the first poll to show that a majority of Palestinians oppose the “two-state solution.” That is because they are clamoring for a Palestinian state not alongside Israel, but instead of Israel.

The rising popularity of Hamas among the Palestinians is a clear sign that most of them identify with the Islamist group’s goal of destroying Israel.

According to the latest poll, if new presidential elections were held today, the Biden administration’s favorite Palestinian interlocutor, Mahmoud Abbas, would receive 36% and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would get 54%. In addition, 75% said they want the 87-year-old Abbas to resign.

The Palestinians, in short, are telling Blinken and the Biden administration that they can keep dreaming about the two-state fantasy for as long as they wish, but that they prefer “armed struggle” and terrorism to peace negotiations with Israel.

It would have been a good idea if Blinken had listened to what Hamas leaders clearly said in the past few days during rallies to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of their group.

Marking the anniversary occasion, Hamas issued a statement on December 14 that basically refutes claims by some Westerners that it has become a “moderate” group that is ready to accept the “two-state solution.”

Anyone who supports the establishment of a Palestinian state would be paving the way for the Palestinians to use the West Bank and Gaza Strip as launching pads to attack and destroy Israel.

The way for the international community – starting with the US — to turn the problem around is through insisting that any aid is strictly conditioned upon the Palestinians abandoning their calls for terrorism…,If there is any non-compliance, payments must actually be withheld….Otherwise, all of the aid that does not “disappear” is openly being used to bankroll terrorism, jihad and killing Jews.

Days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the Biden administration’s commitment to the “two-state solution,” the Palestinians responded by repeating their rejection of the idea and their support for more terrorism against Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Hannukah is the festival of lights.

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:3

“ You light up my life, You give me hope to carry on. You light up my days and fill my nights with song. American songwriter Joe Brooks 1970.

Israel’s incredible contributions to science, medicine, agriculture and water technology, bring the light of hope to billions of people throughout the world. Here is another dazzling list from Michael Ordman. rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
AI to diagnose cancerous biopsies. Many tumors express the protein PD-L1, which allows them to circumvent the immune system. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have developed neural networks that use “deep learning” AI to recognize PD-L1 in biopsies, alerting oncologists to apply appropriate immunotherapy.
https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2022/11/deep-learning-breast-cancer-ai-immunotherapy/
 
Reducing stress pre-surgery reduces spread of cancer. Confirming a previous study (see here) Tel Aviv researchers revisited patients five years after cancer surgery and found only 12.5% of the patients who received pre-surgery anti-anxiety therapy developed cancer metastases, compared to 50% in the control group.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-724290  https://english.tau.ac.il/colon_rectal_cancer_2022
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0748798322007053
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41568-021-00395-5  
 
Depression treatment for bipolar disorder. 20% of some 7 million US patients with bipolar disorder commit suicide. US-Israeli company NRx is currently undergoing a US trial on 72 bipolar patients involving the simultaneous administering of two anti-depression treatments that do not have hallucinogenic side effects.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/b1kv2lfwo  https://www.nrxpharma.com/nrx-100-nrx-101/
 
A new kind of facemask. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have invented the Air-screen fluidic facemask. It blocks virus-laden aerosols and droplets by use of a tiny fan to produce a rectangular air jet, or screen, in front of the wearer’s face. An Israeli startup Wisdom Wearables will commercialize the mask.
https://worldisraelnews.com/invisible-air-screen-israeli-researchers-find-trailblazing-alternative-to-face-masks/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-scientists-invent-face-mask-made-of-thin-air-which-blows-virus-away/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D_H8VHWtH8
 
Help an Israeli hospital save babies’ lives.  (TY UWI) Israel’s Sheba Medical Center has developed a realistic baby simulator for advanced medical training that will help medical professionals save babies’ lives. They are now asking for funds to help pay for the cost of the equipment needed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPEC-dN1RBM  https://give.afsmc.org/give/446626/#!/donation/checkout
 
Two lives saved. A Jerusalem woman in her ninth month of pregnancy suffered a stroke while giving a public presentation. Luckily, a member of the audience recognized the stroke symptoms. Seven doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center saved the mother’s life and delivered her healthy baby by Caesarian section.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/two-lives-saved-israeli-doctors-save-mother-from-stroke-during-babys-delivery/

https://www.commentary.org/articles/matthew-continetti/fbi-israel-shireen-abu-akleh/\

Last spring, after terrorist attacks killed more than a dozen Israelis, the Israel Defense Forces conducted counterterrorism operations throughout the West Bank. On May 11, during a raid in the city of Jenin, a bullet struck and killed Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh. What happened next is a case study in selective indignation that continues to damage the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Suddenly—and all too predictably—the 51-year-old Akleh, who held U.S. and Palestinian Authority passports and covered the Israeli–Palestinian conflict from her base in Jerusalem, became a martyr for the Palestinian cause and a rallying cry for critics and enemies of Israel. Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, 18 years into his four-year term, described Akleh’s death as an “execution” at the hands of the Israeli army. A Hamas spokesman said that Israel had “deliberately assassinated” her. Such language reverberated in the United States, where Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) said that Israel “murdered” Akleh.

The rush to judgment was as dizzying as it was grotesque. The usual suspects charged Israel with murder before either an autopsy or an official inquiry had been performed. And the imputation that the Israeli military had killed Akleh on purpose was simply slanderous. Israel has the freest press in the Middle East, and the Israel Defense Forces operates under strict rules of engagement that are meant to limit civilian casualties. To argue that what happened in Jenin could have been anything more than a terrible accident is to argue in bad faith.

Yet there is plenty of bad faith to go around, so far as Israel is concerned. Not only did the Palestinian Authority refuse to conduct a joint inquiry with Israel into Akleh’s death, it also would not allow the Israelis to examine the bullet that had killed her. Akleh’s funeral erupted in violence when Israeli riot police clashed with a mob that attempted to turn the sacred rite into a nationalist rally by carrying her casket through the streets of Jerusalem. Global media and nongovernmental organizations issued reports feeding the conspiracy theories surrounding Akleh’s death. And U.S. Democrats looking to court pro-Palestinian constituencies insisted that the Biden administration take a hard line against the armed forces of an American ally.

https://virtualjerusalem.com/inside_news.php?xlinks=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/364337

Thanks to Victor Sharpe for this inspiring story….rsk

Inspiring words of Ethiopia-born MK Moshe Solomon (Rel.Zionist Party): ‘The boy who was once a shepherd is today in the Knesset of Israel.’

By MK Moshe Mousia Solomon   

Honored Prime Minister, Honored Knesset Ministers, My friends, Members of the Knesset

I, Moses Mousia Solomon, son of the late Zlalo Shimon z”l and Asgadesh, may she be granted long life, stand here before you, filled with emotion, addressing you from this august site.

Before my eyes float images, life memories, not mine alone, but generation after generation of the people of my community, of the members of my family who dreamed of reaching the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. I stand here today, proud to realize their dream, but fully aware that the journey is not over, and that in many ways, it has just begun.

I do not know for certain on what day I was born, and I was not given a name at my circumcision. “A man’s name contains the secret of his life, its essence,” my father explained to me years later, “and can we look at a newborn infant and know his essence?” My father observed me for a long time, saw my traits, my personality and hopes, until one night he declared: “Mousia, you name will be Mousia.”

The young boy who was once a shepherd in Shira, Ethiopia, stands here today in the Knesset of Israel, one of the 120 members of the Great Assembly of our time. The child who trekked for more than a month from Ethiopia to Sudan, the refugee who waited three years to reach his longed-for land – this young boy is now an elected Member of Knesset in the Land of Israel, the land of the Jewish people.

I remember how during the journey through the deserts of Sudan, after days without rain, when we were on the verge of collapse from lack of water, Divine Providence brought us to the Tekeze River. I remember how our great thirst met a river of flowing water, the hundreds of people slaking that thirst, and their desire to continue drinking more and more. As King David wrote in the Book of Psalms: “My soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you, in dry and desiccated lands, weary and without water.”

I stand here in Israel’s Knesset – and have the right to formulate the laws of this state, the way of life of its citizens, life itself. I am filled with thirst – ideas, hopes, plans – all filling my head with the thought of parliamentary activity in this house. I wish myself – and you – for this activity to be blessed.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-making-of-a-palestinian-martyr/

 For the powers-that-be in the Palestinian Authority, the death on Sunday night of 16-year-old Jana Zakarneh couldn’t have come at a better time, mere hours before the arrival in the region of U.N. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba.

Gamba kicked off her visit, a fact-finding mission to garner fodder for her annual report on harm to kids in the Israeli-Palestinian “conflict,” in Ramallah. According to the Wafa news agency, her first meeting was with P.A. Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Riyad al-Maliki, who presented her with detailed documentation of “Israel’s systematic and deliberate crimes against Palestinian children,” including “killing and maiming, targeting of schools and hospitals, sexual assaults, kidnapping and denying access to humanitarian and medical aid.”

It must have been music to Gamba’s ears. In the guise of neutrality, however, she will convene with and hear Jerusalem’s version of events (in other words, the truth): that Israel is in a defensive war against terrorists and goes out of its way to avoid civilian casualties, often to the point of imperiling its own troops.

But the deck of the international body, as always, is stacked against Israel, regardless of the reality on the ground. Zakarneh’s death is but a case in point. Incidents such as the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was caught in a crossfire between the IDF and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists on May 11, are rare. In fact, considering the cynical use by terrorists of non-combatants as human shields, it’s a miracle not more of them are killed.

Furthermore, Zakarneh’s presence next to an armed terrorist during a firefight with the Israeli military raises serious questions about her degree of involvement. Initial investigations indicate, for instance, that she regularly served as a photographer for gunmen in her neighborhood. And cellphone footage from her camera isn’t the only evidence.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19218/israel-apartheid

Recently… however, with the UNHRC’s persistent allegations that Israel is an apartheid state, that label is being pushed even further in an apparent effort to make it stick. The complicity of recent reports from NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch appear to be trying to ensure that their libel will be complete.

The campaign emboldens the radicals among the Palestinians, including the Iranian-backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), whose declared goal is to eliminate Israel and replace it with an Islamist state.

Terrorist groups such as Hamas and PIJ are undoubtedly happy to see non-Arabs and non-Muslims — and even ostensible human rights organizations — join their effort to falsely depict Israel as an apartheid state.

Former UNHRC chief Navi Pillay, despite extensive evidence of massive anti-Israel bias, was recently appointed to chair the UNHRC’s first and only open-ended Commission of Inquiry.

Basically, [the New York Times] is saying that although the two countries cannot be equated, the comparison is being forced and twisted into place for the sake of furthering an alternate agenda which has little to do with the facts on the ground.

Israel’s founding charter pledges to safeguard the equal rights of all residents: “… It will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Among many of South Africa’s Apartheid laws, the Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act effectively stripped all Blacks of their South African citizenship and of the right to vote.

Israeli Arabs, however, have full citizenship, including the right to vote and to public demonstration. They are represented in all levels of government, including positions as members of Knesset (parliament), in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as Supreme Court justices. Israeli Arabs hold positions as high-ranking officers in the Israel Defense Forces, including that of major-general in the Central Command.

Israeli Arabs are deans, department heads, scientists, and professors at prestigious universities and hospitals. They are news anchors, journalists, actors, athletes, and are represented in every aspect of Israeli society.

The false allegations also come from incorrectly confusing the nearly two million Israeli Arabs — who make up about 21% of Israel’s population and are full citizens of Israel — with thousands of Arabs whose families left Israel when five Arab counties attacked Israel in 1948. After the Arab armies lost the war they had started, they were surprised to find that they were not welcomed back. They have since settled in other countries – such as Lebanon, Jordan, and the West — as “Palestinians,” but are not citizens of Israel and therefore, of course, not subject to Israeli laws… If all the Arabs in the area are called “Palestinians,” however, it makes it easier to claim grievances, merited or not.

Both [the West Bank and Gaza] are now disputed territories where the Arabs totally run their own affairs, and have officially committed to direct, bilateral negotiations with Israel about “final status” issues, including where the borders should be. Lately, the Palestinians have refused to negotiate, apparently in the hope that the international community will hand them a better deal. They have been offered their own Palestinian state three times, and each time have said no, without so much as a counteroffer.

As Navi Pillay herself conceded (in reference to the US, certainly not Israel), “There isn’t a country in the world which has a perfect human rights record…”. Israel is certainly no exception.

If you are looking for real apartheid against Arabs, try Lebanon or Jordan.

The “limitations” referred to above are actually the limitations of the facts. What is missing is that Israel does not fit the legal definition of apartheid; therefore, some are forcibly attempting to recreate the legal definition with an “alternative definition” to fit Israel, to ram a square peg into a round hole. The “alternative definition” is, sadly, just a political maneuver to gather unwarranted international cover for still another attempt to replace Israel.