by Jonathan Rosenblum
An intolerable, intractable situation.
Two things are ever clearer about the current situation in Sderot. The first is that it is intolerable; the second, that nobody has any clear idea of what to do about it. "There are no good answers, no good options," says Gerald Steinberg, director of Bar Ilan University's Center of Conflict Resolution.
Two weeks ago, under heavy Kassam fire from Gaza, over half of Sderot's 24,000 citizens had fled the city. Three-quarters of the city's children are suffering from some form of post-traumatic stress, and over a dozen Jews have been killed by Kassams. In peak season, residents find themselves scurrying for cover, after the sounding of the Red Dawn alert system, five or more times a day. In short, Sderot has become a place that no one would continue to live in, if they had the slightest alternative.
The great fear hovering over Israel's Jews is that this border town, populated mostly by immigrants from Arab lands, who were shunted to the periphery of the country over half a century ago and newer Russian immigrants, could easily become a model for other Israeli towns and cities.
Already Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin ...   more »

Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs said he has received approval from the U.S. and Europe for an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
"If we start military operations against Iran alone, then Europe and the U.S. will support us,” Avigdor Lieberman said following a meeting with NATO and European Union officials.
Lieberman said the Western powers recognized the Iranian nuclear threat to Israel, Israel Today magazine reported. But military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are "going to prevent the leaders of countries in Europe and America from deciding on the use of force to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities,” and they are sending the message that Israel should "prevent the threat herself.”
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By Zev Wallack
Land of My Birth - Sixty years ago, on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Av 5707 (1947), an immigration ship by the name of "Leaving Europe 5707" (also known as "Exodus 1947") arrived in Eretz Yisrael. This was a fairly small ship that the Hagannah had bought from US Navy surplus, and 4,500 refugees from Europe had been packed into it. As soon as the ship left France British warships began to follow it, with a fighter plane flying overhead at all times.
Any reasonable person could see that this was not going to be a fair fight. It was clear that the "illegal immigrants" would be able to use only hand weapons, in order to avoid giving the British an excuse to use live ammunition, which might have led to a terrible slaughter. Here is how the struggle was described by Aharon David Kurtz (Adar):
"We began our preparations for a `battle` against seven British destroyers. Our small and creaky vessel, when compared to their warships, clearly demonstrated the great par between the forces, giving us the feeling that 'we were like grasshoppers... in their eyes' [Bamidbar 13:33]. But we still did not say, 'Let us ...   more »

An Israeli biopharmaceutical start-up is developing a treatment for cancer patients designed to harness the power of the patient's immune system in order to destroy cancer cells in the body.
The potentially revolutionary immunotherapy drug, developed by Shoham-based company Immunovative Therapies, incorporates living immune cells as the active ingredient in the treatment, stimulating the body's own immune system to fight the tumor. The drug, AlloStim, has already been successfully tested in animal trials, and Phase I/II clinical trials on patients with advanced blood cancer will begin at the end of this year, or the start of 2008.
Cancer is a growing problem worldwide. Over recent decades, the incidence of cancer has escalated dramatically, now striking nearly one in two men, and more than one in three women. In the US alone, 1.2 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year, and half of them die as a result of the disease. The National Cancer Institute estimates that the number of cancer cases will increase further as the population ages.
"The battle against cancer is a battle we are losing," admits Michael Har-Noy, founder and CEO of Immunovative Therapies. But he hopes to be part of the change in the battle ...   more »

Jordan's King Abdullah II arrived in Canada on Thursday to discuss greater involvement by Canada in Middle East peace talks and a potential new trade deal between the two countries.
The 45-year-old monarch is expected to ask Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to consider a role for Canada as a broker, particularly in talks to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Jordan is one of the few Arab states that recognizes Israel, and is actively trying to kick-start a new peace process.
The Conservative Canadian government's more pro-Israeli stance is not perceived as an obstacle to Canada's participation, said Nabil Barto, Jordan's ambassador to Canada.
"The Canadian government is very strong in its commitments to both sides, the Israeli side and the Palestinian side," Barto said.
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