RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15232/gay-palestinians

“Israel has always embraced this path [of liberty] in a Middle East that has long rejected it. In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel stands out. It is different.” – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the U.S. Senate, 2011.
Adam and Rami are among scores of Palestinian members of the LTBGQ community who, in the past few decades, have fled their homes to seek shelter in Israel. Yet, their plight is totally ignored not only by human rights organizations, but by but by people who purport to be advocates of gay rights. This is part of a far more malignant story: when Israel looks good, the international community looks away.
Hate for Israel has blinded people to the point where they align themselves with their own executioners.
alQaws pointed out that some Palestinian groups actually celebrated the police threat against the LTBGQ community, “raising (yet again) disturbing questions about the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to human rights.”
Palestinian gays have two choices: hide their sexual preferences and lead double lives in their villages, or flee to Israel and live as normal human beings. Groups such as Queers for Palestine, though, are too busy bashing Israel on college campuses and the streets of San Francisco to take much notice of the sanctuary to which their gay Palestinian friends have chosen to relocate.

Members of the Palestinian LTBGQ community continue to flee to Israel, where, unlike under the Hamas and Palestinian Authority regimes, they are free to lead normal lives.

The gay community in the West, however, has evidently chosen to ignore the plight of their friends living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and under Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Remarkably, rather than reaching out to help the Palestinian LTBGQ members, several gay groups in the West, including in the US, continue to spout hate against Israel, the only country in the Middle East where the LTBGQ community feels safe and secure.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a 2011 speech to the US Senate:

“Israel has always embraced this path [of liberty] in a Middle East that has long rejected it. In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel stands out. It is different.”

Groups such as “Queers for Palestine” and “Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism” have long been inciting against Israel, even as Palestinian gays are fleeing persecution and the threat of death under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Both groups, rather than helping gays, noisily advocate financial divestment from Israel, and their members regularly demonstrate at gay pride marches and collaborate with extremist Muslim organizations.

The Western members of the LTBGQ community are eagerly joining forces with the very parties who are persecuting and killing their Palestinian allies — as long as that advances the anti-Israel agenda of those who hate Israel more than they care about gays.

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Right-from-wrong-Politics-and-indictments-aside-610

Something uncanny is happening in Israel. Though plagued by an unprecedented political deadlock that is almost certain to guarantee a third round of Knesset elections in less than a year, the so-called “interim” government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is engaging in crucial high-level diplomacy and meeting serious military challenges without skipping a beat.

This is no small feat due to a number of factors, chief among them Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit’s announcement that he intends to indict Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. As if this didn’t make the incumbent PM’s job any harder than it already was, it coincided with the failure of Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz to form a coalition – following weeks of negotiations – and a decision within Netanyahu’s Likud Party to hold new leadership primaries.

In other words, Netanyahu has been forced to focus, simultaneously, on interrogations, internal politics and international policy. It is a rare statesman who can pull all that off with such apparent aplomb. But then, Netanyahu is sui generis – as even his fiercest critics grudgingly admit – which is why he has been in power longer than any of his predecessors, including the country’s first and previously most legendary leader, David Ben-Gurion.

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/12/another-opportunity-to-miss-an-opportunity/

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has declared that Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria will, for the US, no longer be regarded as illegal. This reversal of long-standing policy is no less than a change of paradigm. This declaration, however, does not change the US position on Judea’s and Samaria’s jurisdiction – it is for the parties to determine. 

This seemingly unexpected announcement in mid-November triggered a firestorm of condemnation, denunciations and threats around the globe, including from morally upright, ‘woke’ Australians. The shock and ensuing venom with which anti-Israeli mobs reacted cannot be overestimated. It ranged from hysterical proclamations of ‘Death of the peace process, irresponsible behavior and the breach of international law’ by the Palestinian Authority ‘moderates’, to traditionally blunt Iranian threats to annihilate the Jewish State, and to further barrages of the Gaza Strip jihadis’ rockets.

The supposedly pro-Western Jordanian Government’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi,was ‘concerned’ about ‘dangerous consequences’ and warned that “Israeli colonies in occupied Palestine ignore international law and prevent the possibility of conflict resolution by the creation of two states for two people.”

He did not explain under which international law Jordan has occupied Judea and Samaria for 20 years and then settled these areas with then Jordanian citizens. The paradoxical aspect of this hypocrisy is that he will claim that Jordan did not break any international law by moving citizens to disputed areas. He will be correct, because no law prohibits settling in a territory under no-one’s jurisdiction.

Judea and Samaria have always been the historical heartland of the Jewish people. They have maintained an unbroken record of connection to this land since Biblical times, some three thousand years ago. They have never formed part of any Arab state, which could possibly have legitimately claimed them – because there were no Arab states. International law, often cited as being broken by Israel, does not apply to areas under nobody’s jurisdiction, the legal status of these territories when Israel re-conquered them. 

This situation has an historical precedent – the Reconquista of  Spain. The Christian armies, after their loss of the Iberian Peninsula and after centuries of Moorish rule, defeated the  occupiers and retrieved their native land by force of arms.

https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/12/03/rewriting-the-history-of-israels-1948-war/

Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was a great artist. But that doesn’t mean that every world leader he painted deserves our admiration — nor should we assume that Syzk admired every one of them, either.

In a recent essay in The Algemeiner, Samantha Lyons and Irvin Ungar presented Syzk’s 1941 portrait of King Abdullah I of Transjordan. Lyons and Ungar hailed Abdullah as an “Arab peacemaker.” But Abdullah was nothing of the sort.

Lyons and Ungar also claimed that Syzk’s portrait “reveals his admiration for a moderate Middle Eastern leader.” But they present no convincing evidence that Syzk felt that way. The fact that the painting was a “dignified rendering” of Abdullah says nothing about what Szyk thought of him.

Let’s remember that Szyk was an active member of the Bergson Group, which was created and led by activists from the Jabotinsky movement. They regarded Transjordan as a part of historic Eretz Yisrael, which had been illegally and immorally torn from the rest of Mandatory Palestine by the British authorities in 1922.

As the unelected leader of Transjordan, Abdullah was the fascist dictator of a country that was little more than a work of fiction. There were no “Transjordanians.” Their “nation” was concocted by the British in order to give Abdullah a “country” to rule over, after they disappointed him by giving the throne of Iraq to his brother. So they severed the eastern 78 percent of the Palestine Mandate and handed it to him on a silver platter as a consolation prize.

It hardly seems likely that Syzk “admired” the illegal Arab occupier of 78 percent of Israel.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15241/palestinian-leaders-sabotage

The new field hospital in the Gaza Strip is currently being built with the help of Friendship, a US NGO, as well as partial funding from Qatar. The hospital, which is being constructed near the Gaza-Israel border, will provide medical services to thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Jamal Nasr, a representative of the Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA) party went as far as claiming that the new hospital will serve as a center for spying on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “This is a suspicious project,” Nasr said. “It can’t have any humanitarian purposes. It’s actually a base for intelligence gathering.”

As with the hospital, the PA leadership has also come out against the proposed artificial island port, which aims to improve the situation in the Gaza Strip. This is the same PA that has been repeatedly condemning Israel for imposing a “blockade” on the Gaza Strip. Instead of welcoming the Israeli initiative, PA officials are denouncing it as another “conspiracy” against the Palestinians.

Abbas and his senior officials are seeking to prolong the suffering of their people in the Gaza Strip so they can continue to blame Israel alone for the crisis there. By calling the hospital a “spying center,” they are also endangering the lives of the volunteers and medical staff, whose sole “crime” is providing medical treatment to Palestinians.

The next time anyone talks about the harsh conditions in the Gaza Strip, the world needs to realize that those who are trying to block aid to their people are the Palestinian leaders.

As Israel continues to study ways of improving the living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) continue to sabotage the interests of their own people.

These leaders are opposed to the construction of a new hospital in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. They are also opposed to an Israeli initiative to construct an artificial port off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The PA, in other words, is opposed to any move aimed at alleviating the suffering of its people.

Why? Because the PA hates its rivals in Hamas to the point that it is prepared to punish the Palestinians by imposing economic sanctions on the Gaza Strip. These include cutting off payments to thousands of public employees and needy families.

Another reason: the PA is strongly opposed to any plan in which Israel and the US are involved to help the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip. As far as the PA is concerned, anything good coming from Israel or the US is actually bad, simply part of a larger “conspiracy” against the Palestinians.

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Transgender-Palestinian-living-in-Tel-Aviv-attacked-in-Ramallah-609670

Sami, a transgender Palestinian originally from Hebron, who now lives in Tel Aviv, was severely beaten on Monday afternoon in Kfar Aqab, a village close to Ramallah.

Sami and his friend were able to escape after reaching the Kalandia checkpoint, not before the youth damaged his car and destroyed much of its exterior body.Because of his transgender identity, Sami was kicked out his home by his family, later gaining refuge in Tel Aviv. The circumstances surrounding the incident are still unclear.

While Americans have been celebrating thanksgiving, many millions globally can be thankful for the Israeli innovations and activities announced during the past week. They include medical treatments and diagnoses for cancer, Alzheimer’s, aneurysms and strokes. They include life-saving aid to Albania and Chad, increasing food supplies, combating bacteria infections and turning trash into building materials.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Targeting chemo at tumors only. Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a method that delivers chemotherapy drugs directly to malignant cells and bypasses healthy ones. Cancer cells emit the protein TRPV2 into which the scientists inserted a low dose of doxorubicin to destroy the tumor.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272339  
 
Nano-chips help treat Alzheimer’s. Neural growth factor proteins can limit damage from Alzheimer’s disease but are normally blocked by the Blood Brain Barrier. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute and Bar-Ilan University have developed nanoscale silicon chips that deliver these proteins directly to the target brain tissue.
https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Technion-Bar-Ilan-U-create-protein-administration-chip-for-Alzheimers-treatment-608747
 
Human radiation therapy trial successful. Good results of the first multi-center human trials of the Alpha Dart radiation therapy (see here) developed by Israel’s Alpha Tau. Over 78% of the skin cancer tumors were completely cured. Most of the patients had previously received other treatments that failed to kill the tumors.
https://www.alphatau.com/single-post/scc-clinical-study-results
https://www.redjournal.org/article/S0360-3016(19)34040-4/fulltext
 
VR system saves 2-year-old. As reported here previously, the Virtual Reality technology from Israel’s Surgical Theater is saving thousands of lives. Here is one example of two-year-old Ari whose deep brain tumor was removed, thanks to surgeons having practiced the delicate operation using the groundbreaking VR system.
https://www.today.com/video/virtual-reality-helps-surgeons-remove-tumor-from-2-year-old-s-brain-73526853582
 
Using AI to discover treatments. Israeli startup Pepticom uses AI (Artificial Intelligence) to discover new peptide-based candidates that could become the basis of the next big medical treatment. Pepticom was launched as a company by Yissum – the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-AI-start-up-Pepticom-receives-5m-in-Series-A-funding-605752
 
Assisted feeding. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Fidmi has received FDA approval for its low profile gastronomy system / enteral feeding device (see here). Its easily replaceable inner tube which can be changed by patients without the need to visit a doctor or nurse. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fidmi-medical-receives-fda-regulatory-clearance-for-low-profile-enteral-feeding-device-300939572.html
 
Keeping the blood flowing. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Perflow Medical has received the CE Mark (European approval) for its Cascade Agile device that helps surgeons repair ruptured intercranial aneurysms. Its unique net design enables continuous blood flow during cerebral aneurysm operations.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/perflow-medical-receives-ce-mark-approval-of-novel-cascade-agile-300941472.html   https://perflow.com/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m-4gisRbiA
 
Detecting strokes across the US. (TY Atid-EDI) Since US giant Medtronic began marketing the AI brain scan analysis system from Israel’s Viz.ai (see here), it has been installed in 300 US hospitals. Viz.ai has just raised $50 million to help fund its fast growth.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-ai-stroke-diagnosis-co-vizai-raises-50m-1001304401  
 
Diagnosing narrowing of the arteries. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s MedHub is developing AutocathFFR – an automated system that detects stenoses (narrowing) in the coronary arteries surrounding the heart. It has just commenced a pivotal multi-center clinical trial to test the system’s effectiveness.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/medhubs-ai-powered-solutions-are-disrupting-cardiology-300942834.html   https://www.medhub-ai.com/
 
Fighting MRSA resistance. (TY Atid-EDI) As reported (here) previously, Israel’s Biomica is developing microbiome therapies for antibiotic resistant bacteria. It is now partnering with the Weizmann Institute to develop a selective treatment against MRSA – antibiotic resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus infection.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/biomica-to-collaborate-with-weizmann-institute-of-science-to-develop-a-selective-treatment-against-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-300943752.html
https://www.biomicamed.com/