September - October 2011 No. 478

Peace process Jerusalem Christian Churches declaration on the occasion of the bid for

Palestinian statehood in the UN ........................................................................... 2 Vatican and a Palestine State in UN ..................................................................... 2 Palestinian Authority's UN bid heightening tension ............................................ 3 Pilgrims Patriarch encourages pilgrimages to bolster Jerusalem's Christians .................... 4 Custos: Arab Spring no reason to cancel Holy Land trips ................................... 4 Jordan Baptism Site witnesses upturn in visitors ................................................. 5 Social Welfare Israeli President and Chief Rabbis visit to the Mosque attacked in Galilee ......... 6 Attacks against mosques in West Bank: paying for our educational failures ...... 6 Multiple acts of vandalism against Jewish, Christian and Muslim places

in Israel ................................................................................................................. 8 Religious leaders of all faiths promotes global tolerance ..................................... 9 Celebrations Christians open celebration of Sukkot in Jerusalem .......................................... 10 Samaritans celebrate Succot atop Mount Gerizim ............................................. 12 Archaeology Discover of a ritual bath of Second Temple Period near Jerusalem ................... 12 Dead Sea Scrolls online ...................................................................................... 13 Engineers vows again to demolish temporary bridge leading

to the Temple Mount .......................................................................................... 15 Israeli researchers: Jerusalem's trendiest street built over biblical site .............. 16 Modern ills threaten ancient Judean Hills springs .............................................. 17 Israel archaeologists say find 1,400-year-old Christian relic ............................. 18 Education Kick-off for the University of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Madaba .. 19 Focus on the Religious Studies Department of Bethlehem’s University ........... 20 Miscellaneous More than 60 % of Israelis Jews in favor of buses traveling on Shabbat

and civil marriage ............................................................................................... 21 Restrictions on rabbis from conducting weddings removed .............................. 24 Rabbis urge religious public to volunteer as organ donors ................................ 25 Thousands of notes to God removed from Western Wall in Old City

of Jerusalem ........................................................................................................ 26 A Jew and a Gypsy in Jerusalem ........................................................................ 27 Bethlehem-Jerusalem peace run ......................................................................... 29 Jewish immigration to Israel increases by almost 20%

in the last Jewish year ......................................................................................... 30 Two cities: East Jerusalem in numbers .............................................................. 31

Editor: Jerzy KRAJ, ofm

Editor: Jerzy KRAJ, ofm

Population/ Statistics

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Jerusalem  Christian  Churches  declaration  on  the  occasion   of  the  bid  for  Palestinian  statehood  in  the  UN  

13 September, 2011 - Declaration of eleven Chiefs of the Christian Churches in Jerusalem Looking ahead to the upcoming General Assembly of the United Nations this

September 2011 and the bid for Palestinian statehood, the Heads of Christian Churches in Jerusalem feel the need to intensify our prayers and diplomatic efforts for peace between Palestinians and Israelis, to consider this as the most appropriate time for such an opportunity, and thus wish to reiterate the following principles upon which we agree: 1. A two-state solution serves the cause of peace and justice. 2. Israelis and Palestinians must live each in their own independent state with peace and

justice, respecting human rights according to international law. 3. Negotiations are the best way to resolve all outstanding problems between the two sides. 4. Palestinians and Israelis should exercise restraint, whatever the outcome of the vote at the

United Nations. 5. Jerusalem is a Holy City to the followers of all three Abrahamic faiths, in which all people

should be able to live in peace and tranquility, a city to be shared by the two peoples and the three faiths.

Thus, we call upon decision makers and people of good will, to do their utmost to achieve the long awaited justice, peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians so that the prophecy of Prophet David is lived again: « Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.» (Ps. 85: 10)

† Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate † Patriarch Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarchate

† Patriarch Tarkom II Manoogian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate Very Rev. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land

† Archbishop Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate † Archbishop Swerios Malki Mourad, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate

† Archbishop Abune Mathias, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate † Archbishop Joseph Jules Zreyi, Greek Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

† Bishop Suheil Dawani, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem † Bishop Mounib Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and Holy Land

† Bishop Pierre Melki, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

Vatican  and  a  Palestine  State  in  UN:    "The  UN  response,  will  not  constitute  a  complete  solution"  

At the United Nations in New York, Bishop Dominique Mamberti asked for "courageous decisions" on September 27th, 2011, referring to the application for membership of a State of Palestine to the UN. Bishop Mamberti is the Secretary for Relations Between States and the Holy See. Bishop Shomali, Auxiliary Bishop for Jerusalem, is delighted that "the statement of the Churches of Jerusalem, issued on September 13th and the speech of Bishop Mamberti are in harmony and share the same moderation."

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Here is the part of the speech of Bishop Mamberti referring to the Palestinian issue: “One last observation concerns the application for recognition of Palestine as a Member

State of the United Nations made right here on September 23rd by the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas.

The Holy See considers this initiative in the perspective of attempts to find a definitive solution, with support from the international community, to a question that was already faced by the Resolution 181 of the General Assembly of the United Nations on November 29, 1947. This fundamental document raises the legal basis for the existence of two states. One of the states has already been created, while the other has not been established yet, although nearly sixty-four years have passed.

The Holy See is convinced that if we want peace, courageous decisions have to be made. It hopes that the bodies of the United Nations will take a commitment to help in the effective implementation of the ultimate objective, that is to say, the realization of the right of Palestinians to have their own independent and sovereign state and the right of Israelis to guarantee their security, both states being provided with internationally recognized borders. The UN response, will not constitute a complete solution and we will not achieve lasting peace without negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, avoiding actions or conditions that contradict the statements of goodwill.

The Holy See, therefore, urges the parties to resume negotiations with determination and address an urgent appeal to the international community to increase its commitment and to stimulate its creativity and its initiative, so that we could arrive at a lasting peace, respecting the rights of Israelis and Palestinians.

Thank you, Mr. President! ”

Source: Radio Vatican, The Jerusalem Post – September 28, 2011

Palestinian  Authority's  UN  bid  heightening  tension  Bishop  urges  prayer  for  peace  in  the  Holy  Land  

ROME, SEPT. 18, 2011 (Zenit.org).– The auxiliary bishop of Jerusalem is calling the faithful to pray for peace, as tensions and conflict have increased in the Holy Land since the Palestinian Authority announced its plan to request full U.N. membership.

Bishop William Shomali said that God is needed to bring peace to the Holy Land since politicians are not enough, reported Aid to the Church in Need.

The bishop's appeal was relayed to staff of the charity in the Holy Land on a fact-finding trip.

"The Lord told us to pray for peace," the 61-year-old bishop said. "Jerusalem will attain peace through the power of God, and not merely through the acts of politicians."

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, announced last Friday that he would seek membership for a state of Palestine from the U.N. Security Council when he addresses the body this Friday, Sept. 23.

Violence in Gaza had already intensified as Israel began aerial attacks last month in response to the Popular Resistance Committee attack of a bus carrying Israeli soldiers, killing 14 people.

Bishop Shomali, who comes from Beit Sahour near Bethlehem, described the importance of Christian faithful remaining in the region: "The mission and calling of

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Christians is to remain in the Holy Land and work toward change. We want change, but we want peaceful change." He also reiterated a call for pilgrimages to the Holy Land

"The Holy Land needs you, and you need the Holy Land," he said. Aid to the Church in Need will be leading a pilgrimage for benefactors next year. "The Holy Land needs peace," the bishop said, "the Holy Land needs you."

Zenit – September 18, 2011

Patriarch  encourages  pilgrimages    to  bolster  Jerusalem's  Christians  

BETHESDA, Md. (CNS) – The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem says the dwindling population of Christians in his city needs to be bolstered by the support of Christians around the world and by their visits as pilgrims. In an interview Sept. 20 at the suburban Washington offices of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, Patriarch Fouad Twal told Catholic News Service that the Christian population in Jerusalem is about 10,000 -- Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Christians combined.

There are about 240,000 Muslims and 455,000 Jews. He said the small number of Christians "reminds us about the words of the Lord, 'You will be the salt of the earth,' and salt is the small quantity." Just as only a small amount of salt is needed to flavor food, he said, "I hope we can do our work as a small, small group, to be an example of witness, of charity, to be a bridge between these people, to be an element of peace, an element of tolerance."

A significant portion of his work as patriarch of Jerusalem -- the equivalent of an archbishop for a patriarchate that includes all Latin-rite Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Cyprus -- includes traveling the world to visit the displaced Christians of the region. He noted that last year's Synod for Bishops on the Middle East included a focus on the diaspora "and our obligation to visit them and their obligation to come back or to help with a project as much as possible."

Catholic News Service – September 27, 2011

Custos:  Arab  Spring  no  reason  to  cancel  Holy  Land  trips  Pilgrims Are Safer Than Ever, Says Franciscan Father

ROME - There is nothing to fear in the Holy Land and no reason to halt pilgrimages, according to the Franciscan Custos, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

Father Pizzaballa stressed safety when he made an appeal on Vatican Radio on Wednesday to increase the number of pilgrimages to the land of Jesus' birth.

The Franciscan recalled that a large percentage of Christians of the region depend on religious tourism, so pilgrimages are not only an experience of faith for the pilgrim, but also a sign of solidarity with the local Church, which "as everyone knows, is a very small community in need of help."

There has been a marked decrease in the number of pilgrims over the past four months, the priest reported.

He proposed that the reasons for this can be traced to the global economic situation, but also to false perceptions linked to the political instability in Arab countries.

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"Despite what is happening in the Arab world, the Holy Land and pilgrimages to the Holy Land are absolutely safe," he explained. "There is no danger, no risk of any sort and, as in the past, there must be no fear of coming to have this experience."

Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of the Latin Patriarchy of Jerusalem echoed Father Pizzaballa's appeal.

"The Holy Land and the pilgrims' sites are safer than ever," he said. He added that to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Places implies "a sign of solidarity with

all the inhabitants, because a pilgrim is a figure of peace, a welcome figure, loved by all -- Muslims, Christians and Jews. And I can say, without exaggerating, that the figure of the pilgrim is a bridge between all: He carries out a work of peace, not only with his prayer, but also with his presence."

Zenit – September 1, 2011

Jordan  Baptism  site  witnesses  upturn  in  visitors  

AMMAN - The Baptism Site is witnessing an upturn in the number of visitors, with figures expected to double by the end of this month compared to August.

Baptism Site Commission Director Dia Madani said some 400 pilgrims have been visiting the site daily since the beginning of September, compared to 200 or 250 in previous months.

The majority of these tourists are from Europe and North America, according to Madani, who attributed the increase in tourist numbers to promoting the site as part of religious tourism packages with Palestine.

In the past, some tourist spots in the Kingdom, including the Baptism Site used to be promoted as part of joint packages with Syria and Egypt, he noted.

“The Baptism Site is one of the locations which witnessed a downturn in tourist numbers - reaching 70 per cent in some months - as it was part of joint packages with both Syria and Egypt,” Madani said, adding that the site is currently promoted as a stand-alone destination or part of joint religious package tours with Palestine.

Approximately 6,000 tourists visited the site in August 2011, a 40 per cent drop compared to the same month in 2010, according to figures he presented.

Meanwhile, construction work on the Russian Pilgrimage House at the site is almost completed and the facility is expected to be inaugurated in December 2011, according to Madani.

The 40-room guest house is being built on a 10-dunum plot of land donated by His Majesty King Abdullah. The Russian government financed the construction of the facility, which will be managed by the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Baptism Site, also known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan and Al Maghtas in Arabic, is the site where Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist

This point on the eastern bank of the Jordan River is considered one of the most significant religious discoveries in biblical archaeology. Excavations have already uncovered more than 20 churches, caves and baptismal pools dating from the Roman and Byzantine periods.

By Khetam Malkawi, The Jordan Times – 18 September 2011

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Israeli  President  and  Chief  Rabbis    visit  to  the  Mosque  attacked  in  Galilee  

"I am filled with shame for this hateful act" President Shimon Peres visited the Mosque that was attacked today in Tuba Zangria. He

was accompanied by Israel’s Chief Rabbis and a delegation of senior religious leaders representing the Muslim, Christian, and Druse faiths. The President, together with the Chief Rabbis, reviewed the damage and destruction, in particular the burnt walls of the Mosque and the holy writings that were torched. Together, they asked forgiveness for this heinous act.

The President said to Sheikh Muhmad Ciwan, who hosted the delegation, and to the hundreds of villagers, who were at the Mosque during the visit: "I am filled with shame for this hateful act. I came here, to this burnt Mosque, and I am shocked to the depths of my soul. This is desecrating the holy. One cannot put up with this abomination and I believe that there is not one Israeli who is not ashamed by this arson attack. This evil act is not only against the law, it is against Judaism, morality and spirit. We will not rest and will not be silent until we apprehend the culprits and they will be punished." The President warmly thanked the Chief Rabbis and other religious leaders for joining him on the visit to the Mosque and for the forceful and unanimous criticism for this crime.

The Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Amar emphasized in his remarks that nothing is more contradictory to Judaism than acts like this. "The religious leaders and myself are loudly calling out to catch the wicked person responsible for this. The police should use the full force of the law against the perpetrators. This is a desecration of G-d’s name, a desecration of the State of Israel, and a desecration of all peoples and religions. All of us must raise our voices against terror," said Amar. He concluded with the prayer: "He who makes peace above, he will make peace upon us."

The Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger stressed that specifically the Jews are obligated to be sensitive and meticulous in their relations with other religions. "70 years ago our Synagogues and Torah scrolls were burnt. We cannot allow something like this to happen to any other religion. The Mosque, like a Synagogue and Church are embassies of G-d, and as a result must not be harmed."

Source: Communications Department office of the President of Israel The Jerusalem Post – October 3, 2011

Attacks  against  mosques  in  West  Bank    –  paying  for  our  educational  failures  

Though mainstream Religious Zionists do not support acts of violence, what their children are being taught may be contributing to it.

After the Israeli army destroyed homes in the illegal Migron outpost, the level of tag mechir (price tag) responses escalated. “Tag mechir” is a policy of making others, usually Arabs, pay the price when the government acts to close an unauthorized settlement. Following the home demolitions in Migron, two mosques were vandalized, as was, for the first time, an IDF base.

The official leadership of the settler movement and the political leadership of the Habayit Hayehudi party criticized the actions and pointed out the perpetrators were a fringe

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group, not representative of the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding citizens living in Judah and Samaria.

While the statements were sincere and accurate, they ignored the education that the teenagers who openly support “tag mechir” receive in schools affiliated with the Religious Zionist system.

In many ways the criticized actions flow directly from what these adolescents have been taught. The roots of their behavior can be found in a number of ideas, some taught in a more widespread fashion than others, promulgated by broad sections of the dati leumi (Religious Zionist) world.

Thus even those who do not support revenge or violence may actually contribute to it. One of these ideas is that Jews are intrinsically superior beings of a higher order than

non-Jews. This axiom leads to the conclusion that a Jewish life is worth more than that of a non-

Jew. The Arabs in particular are viewed as intractable enemies of the Jews and often equated with Amalek, whom the Jews were commanded to wipe out.

According to this view, Islam is the source of hatred to Jews, and in fact the Israeli-Arab (the term “Palestinian” is avoided) conflict is fundamentally a war between religions.

In this school of thought the commandment to settle the land of Israel falls into the category of “yei’hareig ve’al ya’avor” (be willing to be killed rather than transgress). It is placed on the level of the most serious sins, such as idolatry, murder and incest, although no early sources mention it. Any Israeli government that supports territorial compromise automatically loses legitimacy. The army and the police who are used to remove people from their homes are considered to be enemies.

From this perspective, a Jewish state has no responsibility for non-Jewish citizens. Leftist Jews – the term includes the political leadership, the Israeli media, and people who live in Tel Aviv – are Hellenists and barely Jewish.

YOUNG PEOPLE are attracted to absolutes, black and white: all Arabs are potential terrorists; there is no need to respond to their human needs because they should not be living on our land.

The actual process of resettling them in Arab countries will somehow happen. Knowing that God’s will is clear and that settling the land will bring the Messiah

removes any need to make pragmatic compromises. All problems come from diverging from the path of building in all areas of the full Israel. There is no need for political alliances and the support of the United States. When the Jews follow the commandments they have no reason to fear enemies.

During demonstrations in recent years the primary participants are teenagers, with the majority often being women. The high schools encourage their attendance; those who resist arrest are heroes. The message communicated is that demonstrating is more important than learning, certainly for girls.

While adults are inhibited from acting totally on their principles and are constrained by family and other obligations, many young people are prepared to act. What can be more appealing than a rebellion that is religiously sanctified? Highly educated parents do not object to their sixteen year old children dropping out of school and living on a hilltop because they admire the idealism and commitment of their daughters and sons.

When some of these youngsters act on these beliefs and show no restraint, the adult community is suddenly shocked. Adults understand that there is a larger society that does not share these assumptions and compromises have to be made.

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Yet it is not certain that this message has been transmitted. If other views have not been taught as equally legitimate, adult compromise will be viewed by adolescents as weakness.

MY DESCRIPTION does not apply to all Religious Zionist schools or rabbis. The percentage that fully articulate the positions I have described is not a majority, but it is not insignificant. This growing phenomenon of “tag mechir” should be a wake-up call to the majority that opposes radical behavior. While admiring the youngsters’ idealism, we must remember that living in a democratic state requires teaching tolerance of other views. More importantly, normative Judaism has not been rooted in hatred or revenge. Symptomatically, David the warrior king does not build the temple, his peaceful son Shlomo does. This should lead to the understanding that Judaism and Halachah have always been based on the interaction of many principles. Land is important and has been neglected because of the nineteen hundred years of exile, but it is not more important than people.

If I were not aware of some of what is being taught, I would have dismissed the jejune analysis as a caricature of the complex and profound teachings of Judaism. But I am worried that this is what many students are hearing and that this version of Judaism motivates their behavior. Seeing consequences is a key element leading to change.

By Rabbi Yosef Blau The Jerusalem Post – September 12, 2011.

Multiple  acts  of  vandalism  against  Jewish,  Christian  and  Muslim  places  in  Israel  

Hours after far-right-wing graffiti was reported to police in Muslim and Christian cemeteries in Jaffa, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a synagogue in the area on Saturday. The projectile struck the roof of the Rabbi Meir synagogue in the city. No damage or injuries were reported in the attack.

Earlier on Saturday night, police said that graffiti was found spray painted in cemeteries in Jaffa, but later said they were not convinced the graffiti was actually spray-painted by right-wing extremists.

Police had beefed up presence in Jaffa and held talks with community leaders to try and reduce the likelihood of more attacks or vandalism. The messages "price tag" and "death to Arabs" were written on the tombstones. However, police later reported that the slogan "death to Russians - G.A. 02" was also spray painted in the cemetery, adding that this graffiti was "linked to a soccer group."

Police denied media reports that some 25 graves were damaged in the incident. "We have not seen any smashed stones," a Tel Aviv police spokeswoman told The

Jerusalem Post. "An investigation is underway," she added. "This is not a new incident. We believe it occurred several days ago," she said. "The

graffiti has been erased." The head of the Islamic Movement in Jaffa, Sheikh Ahmed Abu Ajawa, told Channel

10 news that he had issued a call to all Arab groups in the city to "act with caution and avoid being dragged into a violent response."

He described the incident as "an attempt by an extremist group to blackmail the Arab masses in the city."

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police were looking "at a number of possibilities" regarding the cemetery defacement.

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A separate investigation is underway into the Molotov cocktail attack, he added. On Saturday night, around 200 people took part in a protest in the Ajami neighborhood

of Jaffa against the vandalism. Head of the Ajami neighborhood committee in Jaffa, Kamal Agbariya, said Saturday

night, “this is a terrible and offensive action to desecrate a cemetery, but we say that the writing was on the wall. There were two cases in the past month where people wrote “death to Arabs” on walls in Jaffa and probably people saw that there was no response from the police so they did it again.”

Agbariya called on police to act against the vandalism and said that Jaffa residents would visit the police headquarters on Salameh street in South Tel Aviv on Sunday to demand that they take further actions to prevent such incidents from happening again.

Throughout the rally, protesters chanted against “settlers” and “fascists” and pointed an accusatory finger at the Netanyahu government, which they claimed is not taking enough actions against Jewish extremism.

Tel-Aviv Jaffa city councilman Sami Abu-Shehada blamed the government for not taking what he said were strong enough steps against such actions, saying “the government gives these people a green light to commit such acts. If people were to pay a serious price after the first price tag operation, it wouldn’t happen again.”

On Thursday, police announced the arrest of a yeshiva student from northern Israel on suspicion of being behind an arson attack on a mosque in a Beduin village in the Galilee.

A night of rioting broke out in the village of Tuba Zanghariya after the incident, followed by waves of arrests of suspected rioters.

By Yaakov Lappin and Ben Hartma The Jerusalem Post – October 8, 2011

Religious  leaders  of  all  faiths  promotes  global  tolerance  Jewish, Muslim clerics, Christian clergy and those of the Bahai and Hindu faiths, conference focuses on promoting peace and tolerance.

Religious leaders of all stripes, gowns and headgear gathered in Jerusalem’s Mishkenot Sha’ananim neighborhood Wednesday to attend the third annual Interfaith Ethics and Tolerance conference.

Bringing together Jewish and Muslim clerics, as well as clergy from numerous Christian denominations and those of the Bahai and Hindu faiths, the conference this year focused on the role of spiritual leaders in promoting peace and tolerance as well as the challenges of religious leadership in today’s globalized world.

“Our organization has taken on the task of working to improve the ethical behavior of all peoples and all the adherents of all religions,” said Rabbi Yuval Cherlow of the Jerusalem Center for Ethics and head of the Petah Tikva Hesder yeshiva.

Unfortunately, the world is full of religious leaders who are part of the problem at the moment, so we are looking for ways in which religious leaders can be part of the solution.”

The day of lectures, panel sessions and roundtable discussions, which included debate on the impact of the Internet on religion, ethical behavior of religious leaders and the challenges of globalization to religion, culminated with a ceremony at the Tolerance Park and

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Monument in Armon Hanatziv involving a troupe of saxophonists, a police band and an eclectic ethnic ensemble entreating the audience to embrace tolerance, humanity and peace.

A series of blessings was also intoned by the assembled clergy, followed by the release of dozens of white balloons into the azure blue sky, some of which didn’t get stuck in a nearby tree.

“The problems of tolerance and intolerance are universal,” said Father Aleksander Archdeacon of Poland and representative of the Polish Orthodox Church to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

“In general, religion had done more to promote intolerance, warfare and hatred throughout history than anything else,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “As a religious person, I have to ask myself ‘How do I not compromise myself and my faith while at the same time not be guilty, as others have in the past, of promoting intolerance.’” Rabbi Cherlow was more circumspect about the notion of an ethical world without religion when relating to the claims of modern secularists that religion has caused division and conflict in the modern world.

“Stalin, Hitler and Mao Tsetung, leaders with expressly anti-religious convictions, each killed tens of millions of people,” he argued. “Yes, religion can cause tension and war but I believe that it can also make this world a better place and guide us in all aspects of life.”

By Jeremy Sharon The Jerusalem Post – September 15, 2011

Christians  open  celebration  of  Sukkot  in  Jerusalem  ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles hosts thousands from 80 nations

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem launched its annual celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem on Thursday night with an Opening Gala featuring the traditional Roll Call of the Nations. More than 6,000 Christians from over 80 countries have arrived in Israel to mark Sukkot with a full week of festivities, culminating in the Jerusalem March next Tuesday afternoon through the streets of the capital.

The opening event roared to life this evening with the Feast orchestra, choir and dance team leading pilgrims from around the globe in a dynamic worship experience from a colorful stage designed to resemble a large Menorah – in keeping with this year’s Feast theme of “Israel: A Light to the Nations.”

“We welcome all our national delegates from across the globe to the City of the Great King, the city of Messiah,” said Dr. Juergen Buehler, the ICEJ’s newly installed Executive Director. “We also welcome the rich presence of God in our midst, as this is indeed ‘the Feast of the Lord.’”

Rev. Malcolm Hedding, the predecessor to Buehler as ICEJ Executive Director, delivered the main address on Opening Night. When Hedding was introduced, he was honored for his ten years of service as head of the global ministry, considered the largest pro-Israel Christian organization in the world due to its broad reach into more than 130 nations.

Earlier in the evening, a stream of pilgrims representing some 80 countries paraded across the stage with their national flags, ending with a local Israeli bearing the blue-and-white Star of David, drawing the loudest cheers from the packed hall at Jerusalem’s Convention Center.

This year’s attendees include large delegations from Australia, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Norway, Russia, South Africa,

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Thailand and the United States. Pilgrims were enthused about being in Israel for this biblical autumn feast.

“There are about 200 Chinese at the Feast this year, which is a record for us,” said Deborah, a first time pilgrim from Beijing. “Many churches are praying and working to help Israel. You would be amazed how many Chinese people’s hearts are being prepared by the Lord, and they love Israel. They’re on fire for this country!”

“It’s been beautiful! It’s a great honor to represent India,” said Sujanta. “In India, people are very pro-Israel, especially the Christians, not so much the government. But I hope that will change soon because of the growing influence of the Christians.”

“I love to be in Israel, to be in Jerusalem,” said Marilyn from Cuba, on her second visit to Israel.

“Most of the Christians in Latvia are pro-Israel, but the people need to be educated and we’re working on that,” said Rosa from Latvia, here for her fourth Feast.

“I came here to Jerusalem for the Feast because I know that God is fulfilling His promises to Israel,” said Rev. Eloka Otto Zachee from Gabon, a country currently on the United Nations Security Council and maintaining a surprisingly neutral stance so far on the Palestinian petition for statehood.

Besides their interest in the on-going diplomatic struggle involving Israel at the United Nations, the Christian visitors are also following closely the breaking news of a phased prisoner release that will hopefully see abducted IDF soldier Gilad Schalit returned home by next Tuesday.

Responding to news of the Schalit deal, ICEJ media spokesman David Parsons said, “We will not be weighing in on the specific terms of the prisoner release now underway, as we respect the right of the Israeli people to decide the price they will pay for the return of sons and daughters called to serve in a citizen’s army. But this is actually a good time for our Christian pilgrims to be here, to see up close the very difficult and even painful issues this nation has to constantly wrestle with, like no other nation on earth.”

The Feast will wind up on Tuesday with the annual Jerusalem March through the streets of the Israeli capital, just as Schalit is expected to arrive home to his family in northern Israel.

The colorful event is once again the largest solidarity mission to Israel this year as well as the nation’s largest annual tourist event, injecting an estimated $15 to $18 million into the local economy.

“This year’s gathering is again underlining our message that Israel is not isolated but has millions of Christian advocates and admirers worldwide. Large delegations from some exciting new countries show this support is growing, and we all look forward to celebrating the joyous festival of Sukkot with our Jewish friends,” concluded Dr. Buehler.

On Friday, the featured speakers will include Angus Buchan, a South African farmer-turned-evangelist whose inspiring story is told in the book and movie, “Faith Like Potatoes.” Also appearing will be Pastor Werner Oder, the son of a Nazi war criminal from Austria who is today a Christian minister in England and an outspoken friend of Israel.

The Feast then moves down to Ein Gedi for a desert celebration along the shores of the Dead Sea on Friday night. A greeting from Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov will encourage the pilgrims to vote for the Dead Sea as one of the new seven wonders of nature.

By week’s end, a number of other Israeli dignitaries will also address the Feast gathering, including Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon, MK David Rotem, Chairman of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, and Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat.

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The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was founded during the very first public Christian celebration of the Feast in September 1980, at a time when the last remaining thirteen national embassies had just left the city for Tel Aviv. In response, some 1,000 pilgrims from 40 nations decided to open a Christian Embassy in Jerusalem as an act of comfort and solidarity with the 3000-year old Jewish claim and connection to this city.

Source: International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem The Jerusalem Post – October 14, 2011

Samaritans  celebrate  Succot  atop  Mount  Gerizim  Members of the Samaritan community took part in a traditional pilgrimage marking the holiday of Succot near the West Bank city of Nablus.

Members of the Samaritan community took part on Tuesday in a traditional pilgrimage marking the holiday of Succot atop Mount Gerizim near the West Bank city of Nablus.

The Samaritan religion closely resembles Judaism, though it has several marked differences, including its own Samaritan Torah, written in the ancient Hebrew that is their language of liturgy. In addition, they believe that Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, is the holiest place on earth and the site of the temple, as well as where Abraham offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God.

Samaritans believe that their religion is closer than Judaism to that of the original Israelites from before the Babylonian Exile. Their religion is free of the rabbinical interpretations and commentary, such as the Talmud, that became part of Judaism in the Diaspora.

Samaritans believe that they are descendants of the original Israelites who never left during the Babylonian Exile. Though they trace their lineage to Samaria, their name comes from the Hebrew term shomrim, to designate them as “keepers of the law.”

By Ben Hartman The Jerusalem Post – October 13, 2011

Discover  of  a  ritual  bath  of  Second  Temple  Period    near  Jerusalem  

A Ritual Bath (Miqve) dating to the Second Temple Period was Discovered near Kibbutz Zor’a

Within the framework of an archaeological excavation of the Israel Antiquities Authority, prior to the installation of a water line by the Mekorot Company.

The exposure of the bath corroborates historical sources that indicated the existence of a Jewish settlement in the region.

A plastered building, probably a ritual bath (miqve), dating to the Second Temple period (first century BCE-first century CE) was exposed in an archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted prior to the installation of a water line by the Mekorot Company at an antiquities site, c. 2 kilometers north of Kibbutz Zor’a.

The excavation revealed a square structure that has three walls treated with a thin layer of plaster that facilitated the storage of water. A channel used to drain water into the ritual

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bath was installed in a corner. In addition, a plaster floor and three stairs that descend from it to the west (toward the hewn openings in the bedrock) were exposed.

According to archaeologist Pablo Betzer, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is the first time that any remains dating to the Second Temple period have been exposed in this region. We knew from the Talmud and from non-Jewish sources that on this ridge, as in most of the Judean Shephelah, there was an extensive Jewish community 2,000 years ago that existed until the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Yet despite the many surveys and excavations that have been carried out to date no remains from this period have been discovered so far”. According to Betzer the name of the Jewish settlement that the ritual bath belonged to is still unknown.

Mekorot reports that the building was discovered while modernizing the water supply system first built in the 1950s in the region between Kefar Uriyya and Moshav Yish’i, in a project slated to cost 20 million NIS. During the course of all the infrastructure work Mekorot fully cooperated with the Israel Antiquities Authority out of a commitment to the values of tradition and history. Mekorot also stated that the discovery will not affect the project’s timetable and that the work will be completed on schedule.

In order to preserve the discovery Mekorot has agreed to change the location of the slated water line.

Source: Israel Antiquities Authority The Jerusalem Post – October 14, 2011

Dead  Sea  Scrolls  online  Dead Sea Scrolls Go Digital on New Interactive Website Created by the Israel Museum and Google Ultra Hi-Res Imagery and Google Technology Enable Users Worldwide to Explore Oldest Known Biblical Manuscript as Never Before

The Israel Museum launches today its Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Project, allowing users to examine and explore these ancient manuscripts from Second Temple times at a level of detail never before possible. Developed in partnership with Google, the new website gives users access to searchable, fast-loading, high-resolution images of the scrolls, as well as short explanatory videos and background information on the texts and their history. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence, offer critical insight into Jewish society in the Land of Israel during the Second Temple Period, the time of the birth of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. Five complete scrolls from the Israel Museum have been digitized for the project at this stage and are accessible online at dss.collections.imj.org.il.

“We are privileged to house in the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book the best preserved and most complete Dead Sea Scrolls ever discovered,” said James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum. "They are of paramount importance among the touchstones of monotheistic world heritage, and they represent unique highlights of our Museum’s encyclopedic holdings. Now, through our partnership with Google, we are able to bring these treasures to the broadest possible public."

The five Dead Sea Scrolls that have been digitized thus far include the Great Isaiah Scroll, the Community Rule Scroll, the Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll, the Temple Scroll, and the War Scroll, with search queries on Google.com sending users directly to the online scrolls. All five scrolls can be magnified so that users may examine texts in exacting detail.

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Details invisible to the naked eye are made visible through ultra-high resolution digital photography by photographer Ardon Bar-Hama– at up to 1,200 mega pixels each, these images are almost two hundred times higher in resolution than those produced by a standard camera. Each picture utilized UV-protected flash tubes with an exposure of 1/4000th of a second to minimize damage to the fragile manuscripts. In addition, the Great Isaiah Scroll may be searched by column, chapter, and verse, and is accompanied by an English translation tool and by an option for users to submit translations of verses in their own languages.

“The Dead Sea Scrolls Project with the Israel Museum enriches and preserves an important part of world heritage by making it accessible to all on the internet,” said Professor Yossi Matias, Managing Director of Google’s R&D Center in Israel. “Having been involved in similar projects in the past, including the Google Art Project, Yad Vashem Holocaust Collection, and the Prado Museum in Madrid, we have seen how people around the world can enhance their knowledge and understanding of key historical events by accessing documents and collections online. We hope to make all existing knowledge in historical archives and collections available to all, including helping to put additional Dead Sea Scroll documents online.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Project is funded by George Blumenthal and the Center for Online Judaic Studies, which first envisioned the project in order to make these manuscripts widely accessible and to create an innovative resource for scholars and the public alike. Dr. Adolfo D. Roitman, Lizbeth and George Krupp Curator of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Head of the Shrine of the Book, and Dr. Susan Hazan, Curator of New Media and Head of the Museum’s Internet Office, directed the project for the Israel Museum, working in collaboration with Eyal Fink, Technical Lead, and Eyal Miller, New Business Development Manager, at Google’s R&D Center in Israel.

About the Dead Sea Scrolls Dating from the third century BCE to the first century CE, the Dead Sea Scrolls were

discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves on the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea. The manuscripts are generally attributed to an isolated Jewish sect, referred to in the scrolls as “the Community,” who settled in Qumran in the Judean desert.

The Israel Museum has been home to the Dead Sea Scrolls since its opening in 1965. The light-sensitive scrolls are housed and exhibited in the Shrine of the Book, designed by Armand Bartos and Frederic Kiesler, whose signature dome evokes the lids of the jars in which the scrolls were found. The scrolls that are now digitized and accessible through the Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Project include:

§ The Great Isaiah Scroll, inscribed with the Book of Isaiah and dating from ca. 125 BCE, is the only complete ancient copy of any biblical book in existence.

§ The War Scroll dates to the late first century BCE or early first century CE and describes a confrontation between the “Sons of Light” and the “Sons of Darkness”, which would last forty-nine years, ending with the victory of the “Sons of Light” and the restoration of Temple practice according to their beliefs.

§ The Temple Scroll, from the early first century CE, claims to provide the details of God’s instructions for the construction and operation of the Temple in Jerusalem. Written on animal skin only one-tenth of a millimeter thick, the Temple Scroll is the thinnest parchment scroll ever found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

§ The Community Rule sheds light on the Community’s way of life, dealing with subjects such as the admission of new members, conduct at communal meals, prayer, cleansing rituals, and theological doctrines.

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§ The Commentary on Habakkuk interprets the first two chapters of the biblical book of the prophet Habakkuk in a unique style that makes it a key source of knowledge of the spiritual life of the secluded Qumran community, shedding light on the community’s perception of itself.

The Jerusalem Post – September 27, 2011

Engineers  vows  again  to  demolish  temporary  bridge  leading  to  the  Temple  Mount  

Structure leading to the Temple Mount is dangerous, says the Jerusalem city engineer. For the second time in six months, Jerusalem’s city engineer has threatened to destroy

the temporary bridge connecting the Western Wall Plaza to the Temple Mount in an effort to force the Western Wall Heritage Fund to replace the aging structure.

City Engineer Shlomo Eshkol said the bridge, used by non-Muslims, was in danger of collapse and gave the Western Wall Heritage Fund 30 days to work on a replacement plan.

Eshkol made similar threats in May, when he said the Fund had two weeks to remove the bridge or the city would destroy it. The Fund said that the decision depended on the Prime Minister’s Office, and since then no plans were made to demolish the bridge.

The covered ramp has been used since 2004, when a small earthquake and winter storm caused part of the original bridge to collapse. The Mughrabi Bridge is the main entry point for non-Muslim tourists to access the Temple Mount from the Western Wall plaza, as well as for security forces entering the area in times of unrest.

“The bridge was not intended to provide a permanent solution and is not suitable for security and civilian needs, and as well may be hazardous due to deteriorating physical conditions and its flammability,” a spokeswoman for the municipality told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

“Use of the bridge should be halted by destroying it, as the city engineer has noted,” the spokeswoman said.

The Western Wall Heritage Fund said it had received the letter from the municipality and was examining the consequences of the announcement. The Fund refused to elaborate on possible courses of action.

The Wakf Department in Jerusalem, which is in charge of the Islamic religious sites, said that the Mughrabi Bridge belongs to Muslims and Israel does not have any jurisdiction over the area.

Madeline Lavine, a private tour guide, vowed never to bring a group on the bridge again after she felt the bridge rocking and swaying while ascending with a large group last May. “It should be closed down immediately, we shouldn’t be taking people up there,” she said on Tuesday. “We’re waiting for a disaster. If it’s dangerous, you close it, I don’t understand why it’s so difficult.”

Lavine added that while the city deals with political concerns about construction in such a sensitive area, a security checkpoint should be set up at the Gate of Chains to allow tourists to enter into the plaza without using the bridge. Currently, non-Muslims may only enter through Mughrabi Gate unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Israeli construction of a replacement bridge started in 2007 but was halted because the project lacked the necessary permits. Legal challenges from the Council for Muslim Interests,

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the Ir Amim organization and city councillor Pepe Alalu (Meretz) froze the work until the municipality could approve the project though the regular process that all construction in the city must undergo.

That process, which includes approval by the Interior Ministry, was concluded at the beginning of March.

Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran accused Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat of “playing with fire in the most sensitive place.” She said that handled poorly, without coordination and discussion with Muslim authorities, the issue could cause massive disturbances.

The construction in 2007 sparked protest marches in Jordan, as well as calls for a third intifada and violence in the Holy Basin, the area immediately surrounding the Old City.

UNESCO investigated the site in an attempt to defuse religious tensions, and found that the construction was not damaging holy sites.

However, it called on Israel to halt construction until a team of international observers could get involved. The Council for Muslim Interests has demanded that any construction be done in cooperation with the Wakf Islamic trust or other Muslim organizations. The issue of a replacement bridge and coordination with Muslim authorities was set to be discussed by the High Court of Justice in June, but the case was pushed off until December.

The construction of a new bridge will be carried out in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority.

By Melanie Lidman The Jerusalem Post – October 26, 2011

Israeli  researchers:  Jerusalem's  trendiest  street    built  over  biblical  site  

Two researchers see in the special topography of Jerusalem evidence that would require that we redraw our understanding of the geography of the city in ancient times.

There's an old cliché in Jerusalem that the city's most Tel Aviv-like street is Emek Refaim in the German Colony, with its wealth of cafes and boutiques. The reason, according to the cliché, is that the street is almost completely flat, like Tel Aviv streets.

True, the city's other main streets require some exertion on the uphill portions, but there are actually two researchers who see in the special topography evidence that would require that we redraw our understanding of the geography of Jerusalem in ancient times.

Writing in the publication "Beit Hamikra" ("House of the Bible"), two Tel Aviv University professors, Oded Lipschits and Nadav Na'aman, propose a view of ancient Jerusalem that is a substantial departure from the accepted wisdom up to now about the city.

Major change The most major change in conception relates to the area called "Gan Hamelech" ("The

King's Garden") south of the current Old City walls in the lower portion of the Silwan neighborhood. The area has been in the news over the past couple of years since Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat announced plans to create an archaeological park there, at a site which is considered among the most ancient biblical areas of the city. Tradition has it that Gan Hamelech was the site at which King Solomon wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes ("Kohelet" ). The garden's beauty is also noted in the biblical Song of Songs.

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The accepted site of the garden is the intersection of the Kidron and Hinnom valleys, which is today the lower section of the Silwan neighborhood. Over the past 20 years, an Arab neighborhood known as Al-Bustan has developed there, consisting of about 90 homes, all of which were constructed without building permits.

Mayor Barkat's plan for the archaeological park calls for the demolition of 22 of the homes, but the two Tel Aviv University academics now argue that the ancient Gan Hamelech was not located in present-day Silwan but rather at one end of Emek Refaim Street. Lipschits' and Na'aman's hypothesis is based on archaeological digs that Lipschits led in collaboration with Germany's Heidelberg University at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, which overlooks Emek Refaim from the east. The kibbutz adjoins Jerusalem's municipal boundaries.

The Ramat Rachel excavations revealed an important ancient government center there dating from the 8th century B.C.E., the period of the independent Judean kingdom. Lipschits says agricultural produce was apparently collected there as a source of government tax revenue.

The two Tel Aviv University researchers also point to work done in the 1950s by archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni, who identified Ramat Rachel as the site of the ancient "Beit Hakerem," which is not to be confused with the current Jerusalem neighborhood of the same name. There are repeated references in ancient sources to Beit Hakerem as a high spot between Jerusalem and Tekoa.

Based on the identification of Ramat Rachel as Beit Hakerem and bearing in mind the unique, flat topography of Emek Refaim, the two academics suggest that Emek Refaim, which means "Ghost Valley," is really the valley of the king in which Gan Hamelech, the King's Garden, was located in biblical times. The first reference to the valley of the king is in the 14th chapter of the Book of Genesis, where it is said the king of Sodom set out from there, referring to it also as the Valley of Shaveh, to meet Abraham.

The Tel Aviv University researches contend that the word "shaveh" means plain. That would imply level ground, making Emek Refaim, they say, the logical site of the valley of the king. They also say that before Ramat Rachel was known as Beit Hakerem, it appears to be the site of Baal-Perazim mentioned in Chapter 5 of the second book of Samuel.

The numerous archaeological finds relating to agricultural in what is now the German Colony reinforce the contention that the ancient Judean kingdom established farms there. That would put Gan Hamelech, the King's Garden, somewhere between what is today Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park and the city's old railway station and several hundred meters away from the more widely accepted site in Silwan.

By Nir Hasson Haaretz- October 23, 2011

Modern  ills  threaten  ancient  Judean  Hills  springs  

Surveyors pointed to several consecutive low-rainfall years as the main reason for the low water levels.

Springs in the Judean Hills that were the basis for agriculture as far back as the Second Temple era are drying up due to successive drought years and have become polluted, according to a study carried out this year.

The study, conducted this spring by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority under the direction of the Water Authority, was the first of its kind in 30 years. It included 67 of the almost 90 springs in an area from Jerusalem in the east westward almost to Beit Shemesh.

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Water quality and quantity, as well as the area surrounding each spring, were examined. The survey included the Sataf, Ein Hindak and Ein Lavan springs, all popular hiking spots, as well as the spring in the center of Abu Gosh.

The surveyors found water in only two-thirds of the springs. Of the springs with water, the flow rates were lower than in previous years and in one out of three springs the water quality was poor or fair.

The surveyors pointed to several consecutive low-rainfall years as the main reason for the low water levels.

Six of the past eight years met the criteria for drought years. Last winter, for example, saw only 60 percent of the average annual rainfall in the region.

In some cases, intensive construction near the springs contributed to the dearth of water: The increase in paved surfaces, such as roads and even gas stations, means rainwater cannot percolate through concrete and asphalt on the surface down to the water-bearing layer from which it would otherwise emerge as a spring.

Water quality is affected by pollution, mainly sewage. The surveyors say they believe fertilizer runoff has compromised the water quality in the Ein Kobi spring.

The springs in the Judean Hills have been essential for traditional agriculture for thousands of years, beginning with the first inhabitants who dug tunnels and channels to bring the water to the crops they grew on the terraced hillsides.

Last year the Israel World Heritage Committee recommended that the terraced fields in the Judean Hills be classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The proposal has not yet been submitted.

The authors of the spring survey want the health and environmental protection ministries to improve sewage treatment facilities to minimize contamination of the springs. They also recommend increased protection of the vegetation near the springs as well as conservation management.

By Zafrir Rinat Haaretz – October 27, 2011

Israel  archaeologists  say  find  1,400-­‐year-­‐old  Christian  relic  A small box with a cross carved on its lid found in Jerusalem, containing what may have been portraits of Jesus and Mary.

Israeli archaeologists said Sunday they have found a tiny 1,400-year-old relic of Christian faith among the remains of an ancient road in Jerusalem.

The finding, an exquisitely made 2 centimeter by 1.5 centimeter box of bone with a cross carved on the lid, was likely carried by a Christian believer around the end of the 6th century A.D.

When its lid is removed, the remains of two portraits are still visible in gold and paint a man and a woman, possibly Jesus and Mary.

Archaeologist Yana Tchekhanovets of the Israel Antiquities Authority said Sunday that the box is the first well preserved example of its kind and is important because it shows that icon use was not limited to church ceremonies in Byzantine times.

By The Associated Press Haaretz – October 30, 2011

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Kick-­‐off  for  the  University  of  the  Latin  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem  in  Madaba  

The American University of Madaba (AUM), located 35 km from Amman in Jordan, started its first official academic year, on October 17th. Designed to welcome 8000 students, AUM opens its doors, six years after the High Council for Education granted permission to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to establish its own University in 2005. This project is now becoming a reality.

The High Council for Education gave permission to open its own university to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 2005. Important works then began to obtain today a huge complex for up to 8000 students. His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in a statement in 2005 said: “Everyone now wants to open a University in Jordan, and the fact that the government gave the license to us and not to others is a recognition of the work of our schools operating here since 1849. We have over a hundred schools with 70,000 students, which are always open to everyone, Christians and Muslims. To complete this offer of training, my predecessor, H. B. Michel Sabbah, wanted this University: actually there is no Catholic University in Jordan.” Pope Benedict XVI supports this project and has donated 15 million Euros and blessed the foundation stone of the campus during his visit in May 2009: “By developing talents and right attitudes of each successive generation of students, the University will prepare them to serve the community more broadly and to increase their standard of living (...). Transmitting knowledge and giving students love of truth will help them strengthen their adherence to sound values and to fulfill their personal freedom. Finally, this intellectual formation will sharpen their critical skills, dispel ignorance and prejudice, and help everyone to break the attraction for old and new ideologies.” The University was named the American University of Madaba (AUM) because of its partnership with the University of New Hampshire, which strongly supported this initiative

The first University orientation day was held on October 10th. Present were Bishop Salim Sayegh, Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan; Farouq El Qadi, Governor of Madaba; and Dr. Ayman Ma’aytah, President of the University. Professors and students were able to meet and share about the coming years they will spend together.

A delegation of the Grand Magisterium of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, including Dr. Christa von Siemens, who largely funded this project visited the AUM on October 13th.

Students 200 students have so far registered. They are Christians and Muslims. 1,000 students are

expected for the next academic year. Most are Jordanian and others come from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and the Holy Land. There are also upcoming cooperative projects of exchange between students with eight foreign universities: two American (Notre Dame and Gannon), five Italian (Catholic University, Polytechnic of Milan, and Universities of Pavia, Genoa and Enna) and one Hungarian (The Catholic University Peter Pazmany).

Education Training offers a high scientific level while providing a clear vision of society. “We

want, says the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to create an environment based on the culture of sincerity and openness to others; an institution that prepares leaders for a peaceful and serene

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society open to everyone. I firmly believe in the role of education to prepare for peace and coexistence.” The University has seven faculties, all taught in English: science, engineering, information technology, health sciences, business and finance, art and design, languages and communications. For the year 2011-2012 students will begin with 18 specialties and 32 are planned for next year. The 50 teachers have excellent educational background and come from Jordanian and European Universities. Some are American and all are renowned in their fields.

Campus Once the entire project is completed, students will benefit from a modern campus with

laboratories, meeting rooms, free internet access with wireless networking and sports facilities.

A new generation of leaders is forthcoming.

For more information, visit the University of Madaba website at www.aum.edu.jo

Source: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem The Jerusalem Post – October 20, 2011

Focus  on  the  Religious  Studies  Department  of  Bethlehem’s  University  

Bethlehem University’s Religious Studies Department includes three levels: baccalaureate degree (4 years), diplomas, and theological program. For this new year, 18 students are in the program.

The Religious Studies Department focuses on the study of Christianity from a Catholic and ecumenical perspective. The program promotes an appreciation of the religious culture of the Holy Land in an ecumenical and interreligious spirit. The instruction language is Arabic with English as second language. This year, as explained by Bishop Giacinto Boulos Marcuzzo, Patriarchal Vicar for Israel “the first semester program offers courses in Arabic literature, courses about theological thought of native Arabic, and Arabic Patristics (Arab Christian heritage, ed.).” These courses are dear to the Bishop of Nazareth as they were the guiding principles he chose for his thesis.

The purpose of this semester of education is “to discover the evident heritage and not to ignore the theology of the Arab world,” insists Bishop Marcuzzo. During the 7th and 8th centuries, Christians of the Middle East produced a real “Arab theology” and an “Arab Christian literature.” According to the Bishop, this Arabic theology is “unfortunately” not known and taught. Arab Christian Heritage (or Arab Christian Patristics) is the best historical example of a well done cultural mediation of faith.

This semester allows the thinking about the process of Arabization of theology in the Muslim context. It also allows students to experience the holy places within the Biblical perspective to include this experience in their lives and religious education. The course includes an introduction to the spirituality of the Fathers of the Holy Land and excursions to the Holy Places (mainly in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee).

Father Jamal Khader, a priest of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, President of the Religious Studies Department, administers this program. He is also a professor of theology at the Latin Patriarchal Seminary in Beit Jala.

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We keep in mind that Bethlehem University is a Catholic institution founded in 1973, open to students from all religious traditions. With more than 3,000 students, it was the first university established in the West Bank. The Religious Studies Department received its first group of students, religious and laity for a four-year bachelor’s degree in 1998. In recent years, Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Maronites, Chaldeans and Armenians are able to receive this degree. But even beyond this ecumenical exchange, the Department offers courses for all university students regardless of their academic affiliation, giving Christian and Muslim students the unique opportunity to engage in religious dialogue and to know the other religion from within.

Source: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem The Jerusalem Post – September 28, 2011

More  than  60  %  of  Israelis  Jews  in  favor    of  buses  traveling  on  Shabbat  and  civil  marriage  

State and Religion Index, conducted by Smith Institute ahead of Rosh Hashana, reveals 62% of public support civil marriage, 52% back same-sex marriage, 87% want everyone to serve in IDF, 79% call for yeshiva budget cuts. Rabbi Uri Regev: Israelis demand equal share of burden.

The Israeli society is filled with conflicts and tensions: Between Sephardim and Ashkenazim, between Right and Left, and between rich and poor. But one of the deepest rifts relates to state and religion – public transportation on Shabbat, conversion, marriage and divorce, IDF draft and other burning issues.

The past year was also filled with heated debates over religion’s place in the Israeli society, focusing on military conversions, women’s singing in the army, civil marriage, and rabbis’ letters against tenting apartments to Arabs and foreign workers.

Ahead of the Jewish New Year, the Hiddush association for religious freedom and equality released its 2011 State and Religion Index, which looks into public opinions on key issues.

The index is based on a comprehensive survey conducted by the Smith Institute among 800 respondents – a representative sample of Israel’s adult Jewish population (maximum sampling error: 3.4%).

Who wants freedom of religion? The survey’s findings reveal that 56% of Jews in Israel believe state and religion should

be separated. Thirty-five percent support this stand "very much" and 21% support it "pretty much". On the other hand, 28% are strongly against it and 16% are somewhat against it.

An analysis according to religious definitions reveals that 85% of haredim, 87% of religious Jews and 54% of traditional Jews oppose separating state and religion, while 80% of seculars are in favor.

Respondents were asked, "Do you agree or disagree that the State of Israel should conduct freedom of religion and conscience – in other words, giving secular and religious Jews the option to act in accordance with their world-view?" Eighty-three percent said yes (60% "very much agree" and 23% "somewhat agree") and 17% said no (10% "strongly disagree" and 7% "slightly disagree").

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The haredim are the only sector with a majority opposed to freedom of religion in Israel (51%), while the majority of religious, traditional and secular Jews expressed their support (68%, 84% and 91%, respectively).

What are you afraid of? The survey’s respondents were asked to rate the internal tensions in Israel’s Jewish

society according to their seriousness – and placed the haredi-secular tensions first (37% of respondents), following by the tensions between Right and Left (33%), rich and poor (14%), Sephardim and Ashkenazim (4%) and immigrants and veteran Israelis (2%).

The majority in all sectors noted haredi-secular tensions as one of the most serious internal tensions in Israel’s Jewish society: 58% of haredim, 59% of religious Jews, 63% of traditional Jews and 68% of seculars.

The respondents were also presented with a list of state and religion issues, and asked which one concerns them the most. Twenty-two percent chose the absence of core subject from the haredi curriculum and haredi men’s failure to integrate into the labor market as the most urgent issue.

Nineteen percent chose the enlistment of yeshiva students to the IDF, 16% said the main problem was state budgets transferred to yeshiva students, 14% claimed that the main difficulty was the religious-Orthodox monopoly on marriage and divorce, 11% mentioned the conversion issue and 7% noted the Shabbat wars.

Eighty percent believe the core issues should be imposed on the haredim (90% of seculars, 81% of traditional Jews and 75% of religious Jews), while 20% objected (82% of haredim).

Sixty-four percent of the respondents were in favor of revoking the budgets of schools which fail to teach the core subjects (74% of seculars and 67% of traditional Jews), and 28% supported legislation placing a considerable fine on such an offense. Eighteen percent would settle for the current situation in which these schools are partially supported (31% of religious Jews).

Hiddush’s State and Religion Index also includes an extensive chapter on parts of the State Budget enjoyed mainly by haredim.

Seventy-nine percent of the respondents (including 92% of seculars, 84% of traditional Jews and 57% of religious Jews) expressed their support for cutting the funds funneled to yeshivot and large families in a bid to encourage haredi men to go out to work. Twenty-one percent (including 85% of haredim) were against this proposal.

Who enlists with IDF? An examination of the responses to the "urgent issue" in terms of state and religion

according to sectors reveals that 51% of traditional Jews and 50% of seculars believe the most serious problem resulting in religious tensions is haredi enlistment.

In light of the number of haredim choosing to study in a yeshiva instead of joining the IDF, 40% of the respondents said all of them should be drafted to full compulsory service (52% of seculars), 37% said they must do national service at the very least (41% of religious and traditional Jews), and 10% said the State must set a quota of exemptions and draft the rest.

Thirteen percent of the respondents (85% of haredim) said the current situation was just fine.

As opposed to secular and traditional Jews, the haredim (74%) and religious Jews (43%) believe that the most serious problem in terms of state and religion is the conversion

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issue, which surfaced this year when Lithuanian rabbis refused to recognize conversions performed by the army. The issue was solved thanks to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s intervention.

Hiddush’s State and Religion Index reveals that 39% of the respondents believe the State must only recognize Orthodox conversions, 32% are in favor of recognizing any religious conversion from Israel and abroad (including Conservative and Reform conversions), and 29% are willing to accept secular conversions as well, including studies and a ceremony of admission into the Jewish people.

An analysis according to religious definitions reveals that haredi, religious and traditional Jews are mostly in favor of Orthodox conversion (92%, 72% and 47%, respectively), while seculars are divided between religious conversion (any type) and secular conversion (43% each).

Who will marry you? Another issue which has been making headlines is the Orthodox monopoly on marriage

and divorce in Israel. The survey’s results show that 62% of Israelis (including 91% of seculars) want the

State to recognize any type of marriage – religious (including Conservative and Reform) and civil. Thirty-eight percent (92% of haredim, 81% of religious Jews and 54% of traditional Jews) object.

Fifty-two percent support marriage or a partnership between two people of the same sex (including 69% of seculars), while 48% object (91% of haredim, 84% of religious Jews and 51% of traditional Jews).

Shabbat debate Another heated debate in the Israeli society is the nature of Shabbat - is it a regular

vacation day or should the Jewish state give it a different touch? Should shopping centers be open? Must everyone not work on Shabbat of all days? And what about public transportation?

The State and Religion Index revealed that a majority of Israeli Jews supports public transportation on Shabbat. Sixty-three percent of the public want to see more bus lines operating over the weekend, while 36% want full public transportation and 27% seek to increase the current volume of activity with buses traveling to nightclubs, medical centers, etc.

Twenty-seven percent are against changing the status-quo and 10% want to cancel the bus lines operating today as well.

Most haredim (57%) demand that public transportation be halted completely on Shabbat. Religious (57%) and traditional Jews (45%) want the current situation to continue, while seculars are in favor of increasing the activity slightly (48%) or fully (45%).

Women respondents were asked what they do, or would do, about segregated buses. Thirty-five percent said they would sit in the back (27% "because it’s customary" and 8% "for fear of the passengers’ reactions), 18% would act as if it were a regular bus line, and 47% would avoid traveling that way and search for alternative ways to reach their destination.

Ninety-four percent of haredi women and 56% of religious women said they would sit in the back. Fifty-seven percent of secular women and 51% of traditional women would not get on the bus.

According to Hiddush president, Rabbi Uri Regev, "The public has expressed its desire for freedom of religion and conscience in Israel. In order to achieve social justice, the State must apply military or civil service for all, cut yeshiva budgets, integrate yeshiva students into the labor market and force haredi institutions to teach the core subjects.

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"The public understands that without sharing the burden it just won’t work, and conveys a clear message: Don’t be afraid of confronting the haredi parties. Otherwise, the burden on the middle class won’t grow smaller – but bigger."

By Kobi Nahshoni Yediot Aharonot – September 28, 2011

Restrictions  on  rabbis  from  conducting  weddings  removed  Tzohar rabbis authorized as long as they supply proof of rabbinic ordination, know laws of marriage, currently serve as rabbi, teacher.

The religious-Zionist rabbinical group Tzohar, which provides rabbis free of charge to perform weddings, announced on Tuesday that it has succeeded in gaining approval from the Council of the Chief Rabbinate to conduct wedding ceremonies.

On Sunday, the Council of the Chief Rabbinate decided to remove its restrictions and will now instruct local rabbinates and rabbis to permit Tzohar rabbis to perform wedding ceremonies as long as they supply proof of their rabbinic ordination, demonstrate knowledge of the laws of marriage, and currently serve as a rabbi or teacher.

Due to a number of exceptions and ongoing pressure, Tzohar has nevertheless managed to perform 3,000 weddings a year, approximately 20% of all secular weddings.

Executive Vice-President of Tzohar, Nachman Rosenberg, said that Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar in particular was critical to advancing the necessary changes for this reform.

“Tzohar praises this decision and especially the work of Rabbi Amar in succeeding to bring about this dramatic change, despite the opposition of some of the extremists on the Council of the Chief Rabbinate who oppose us,” Rosenberg told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

“Rabbi Amar’s efforts will help many young people and allow them to marry in a Jewish wedding and not run away to get married in civil ceremony in Cyprus,” he added.

Tzohar established a project in 1996 to reach out to secular Israelis who had negative experiences with the Chief Rabbinate and provide them with the opportunity to have a rabbi more sympathetic to their level of religious observance marry them without charge or expectation of any other kind of remuneration.

According to Rosenberg, this led the rabbinate to enact a series of restrictions making it virtually impossible for a rabbi to marry a couple who registered for marriage in a particular city without the permission of the rabbinate of that specific city or a rabbi on the Chief Rabbinate’s payroll.

Opponents of Tzohar claim that the group is too lenient regarding the numerous Jewish laws surrounding marriage ceremonies, and so rabbis from the organization would invariably be refused a license to perform weddings.

“There’s no reason why Zionist rabbis in Israel should have to fight so hard to help secular couples interested in a Jewish wedding to get married,” Rosenberg said.

“We hope that this victory will help thousands of secular Jews to get married according to Jewish law and allow many other rabbis to volunteer for Tzohar to further this goal.”

By Jeremy Sharon The Jerusalem Post – September 21, 2011

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Rabbis  urge  religious  public  to  volunteer  as  organ  donors  40 rabbis from Tzohar religious organization vote to approve new organ donor card, assuring donors that procedures are in accordance with Jewish law.

A new initiative designed to raise the number of people signing up for organ donation cards has been formally approved by Tzohar, the religious- Zionist rabbinical group.

In a meeting last week at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, 40 rabbis from the organization voted to approve a new organ donor card and framework which seeks to reduce any concerns potential religious organ donors may have that their organs will be harvested in a manner in keeping with Jewish law.

“We want to encourage Israeli society to acknowledge and embrace the importance of saving someone else’s life,” Tzohar chairman Rabbi David Stav told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. “We also believe that it is immoral to be willing to accept organs from others while at the same time not be willing to donate your own organs if such circumstances should arise.”

Currently, the “Edi” organ donor card is the only such system in use in the country and is issued by the National Center for Transplants and authorized by the Ministry of Health. According to Tzohar however, only 10 percent of the adult population have signed up for the card.

The new “Bilvavi” framework seeks to assuage the doubts of potential donors, thereby increasing the number of people volunteering for organ donation, by guaranteeing to them and their families that transplants will be carried out according to Jewish law, specifically that brain death will be firmly established by a doctor with knowledge of the pertinent laws, before organs are removed.

Brain death was established by the most respected arbiter of Jewish law of recent times, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, to be the relevant criterion for declaring death, although he stipulated that tests be conducted to confirm.

For this purpose, an organization called Arevim, comprising more than 30 doctors around the country competent in the Jewish laws regarding the issue, was set up.

Director of the Bilvavi system, Haim Falk, told the Post that being a signatory to the new system will mean that a doctor from Arevim will be present when the time of death is pronounced to provide an extra guarantee that any transplants will be in accordance with Jewish law.

Rabbi Stav said that one of the main reasons for Israel’s low rate of organ donation was because of religious concerns, most often completely unfounded.

“Many people are not willing to become organ donors because of religious sentiments, although these are not people that are necessarily observant,” he said. “It’s just that regarding the matter of death, people become more religious than the religion requires.”

Opposition has been expressed to the new Bilvavi card by members of the National Center for Transplants, specifically that the establishment of an alternative framework may deter secular people from signing up even for the current system.

Stav states that it is for this reason that Tzohar and Bilvavi are recommending the new card specifically for people who have not signed up for the “Edi card, and that the most important thing is not which system to register with, but simply to register as an organ donor.”

There are three halachic concerns regarding organ donation: a prohibition against desecrating a corpse; delaying burial; and deriving any kind of benefit from a corpse. Most

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rabbis today accept that the life-saving possibilities made possible by organ donation outweigh these concerns.

By Jeremy Sharon The Jerusalem Post – September 26, 2011

Thousands  of  notes  to  God  removed  from  Western  Wall    in  Old  City  of  Jerusalem  

JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Jerusalem’s Western Wall’s chief rabbi on Sunday cleared notes sent to God by worshipers, making room for new pleads-on-paper to be shoved into the cracks of the ancient stones.

Millions of people visit the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, every year, leaving written prayers on pieces of paper wedged into the cracks of the ancient worship site.

As Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall, it is up to Shmuel Rabinowitz to make sure there’s room for future paper wishes. Twice a year his team collects hundreds of thousands of notes — ahead of the Jewish New Year and ahead of Passover.

"We remove these notes at the eve of the (Jewish) new year, with the message of ’let this year and its curses end, let a new year and its blessings begin’. There are millions of notes here between the cracks of the Western Wall. There is also a very large increase in the (number) of notes. More visitors to the Western Wall mean more notes in the Western Wall and we clear them in order to allow people to place new notes," Rabinowitz told Reuters.

A handful of men using wooden sticks so as not to harm the ancient stones, extracted the thousands of small notes from the cracks in the wall.

They never read the notes and have never counted the number of scripted prayers, but in each collection there are enough to fill about 100 shopping bags, each with thousands of notes, Rabinowitz said.

Some letters are sent to the wall by fax or email — often for a small fee. Rabinowitz said he receives hundreds of letters a year received by the post office addressed simply to "God in Jerusalem".

At most hours of the day the Western Wall is lined with people deep in prayer. Many lean forward and touch their foreheads to the stones. With eyes closed, they whisper their wishes and kiss the wall when they have finished praying.

Leaving notes of prayers and pleads, has been adopted by members of many faiths around the world. It is very common for Christian pilgrims traveling through the Old City of Jerusalem to stop by the Western Wall and leave a note, the rabbi says.

The Western Wall is believed to be a remnant of the compound of the Second Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD. It stands today beneath a religious plaza known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

The entire wall stretches about 500 meters, although much of it is concealed underground. The exposed part where people gather to pray is about 50 meters long and about 15 meters high.

Israel captured the Western Wall together with East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Source: Reuters The Jerusalem Post – September 26, 2011

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A  Jew  and  a  Gypsy  in  Jerusalem    

An encounter between a Jewish tour guide and a once nomadic people, now living in poverty in the east part of the city, changed the lives of both.

The story the Gypsies of Jerusalem tell about themselves begins with a camel. Many years ago, according to the mythology of the community, a powerful tribe called Bnei Mora lived in the Arab Peninsula. The tribe was known for its tough and fearful fighters. One day someone from another tribe, named Koleib bin Rabia, killed the valuable camel of Albasus, one of the well-connected girls of the Bnei Mora.

The murder of the camel caused a bloody war between the Bnei Mora and all the surrounding tribes. "The war lasted four years," says the present mukhtar of the community, Abed Salim. "All the men died and the members of the tribe scattered all over the world and became Gypsies."

Years later, continues Salim, the members of the tribe arrived in Jerusalem, as fighters in the army of Saladdin who was, according to the Gypsies, a member of the tribe - to conquer the city from the Crusaders in the late 12th century. Saladdin, according to this tradition, gave the common Arabic name to the Gypsies of Jerusalem "Al Nawar," meaning light. Over the years, say the Gypsies, the original intention was distorted and the name became a derogatory one meaning "dirt."

"From the time we were with Saladdin we became accustomed to being people who are helped rather than people who help themselves or rely on themselves," says Salim. "That's why a large percentage of the Gypsies preferred to go to the unemployment office and to receive income supplements instead of working."

The tradition of dependence on the surroundings and the government has been undergoing a dramatic change in recent years, according to mukhtar Salim. The change began in 2006 with the death of the previous mukhtar, Salim's father, and was accelerated with the entry of one woman, a Jewish Israeli, into the lives of the small community. This process was also documented in the first anthropological study of its kind about the community.

According to the predominant version of events, the Gypsies were originally groups who wandered during the Middle Ages from northern India and split: Some came to Europe and some to the Middle East. The Jerusalem group has lived in the city for hundreds of years. Here they engaged in livelihoods identified with Gypsies elsewhere: fortune telling, entertainment, dancing and training bears, and less prominent trades such as raising sheep and agriculture.

During the British Mandate period the Gypsies began to abandon the nomadic life and settled in the Old City. Gradually they also abandoned their traditional occupations. The last band of Gypsies that wandered around the country was apparently a band that emerged from a small Gypsy group that lived in Gaza and went on a performance tour after the Six-Day War.

The Gypsy community in East Jerusalem today numbers about 150 families or 2,000 individuals. Most live in the Old City, not far from the Lion's Gate. A smaller group lives in the village of Anata in northern Jerusalem. The community has lost many of its cultural symbols and it is difficult today to distinguish between the Gypsies and their Palestinian neighbors. Salim estimates that only about 200 adults still speak the Gypsy language (a dialect of the European Gypsy language ), and there are even fewer people who are familiar with the traditional music and dress.

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In recent decades the most prominent characteristics of the members of the community are egregious poverty, very crowded living conditions, wholesale dropping out from the school system at an early age, and addiction to drugs at a later age.

Enter Ofra Into this world came Ofra Regev, a tour guide specializing in Jerusalem, "a sabra and

the child of sabras, members of Hashomer Hatzair (the leftwing Zionist youth movement ), fighters of 1948," as she puts it. In one of her wanderings in the Old City she came to the small Gypsy community. This encounter apparently changed her life and that of the community. "I arrived very soon after the death of the previous mukhtar. The result was two sleepless nights. I felt that I couldn't continue to live with the fact that here, in the city I love so much, people are living like this," says Regev.

For example, Salim's son, Mohammed, lives in a small room, about 10 square meters in size, with his wife and his five children. A room with a pile of mattresses in the corner is apparently the clearest trademark of the Jerusalem Gypsies.

Regev decided to turn to the establishment for assistance, rather than relying on third-sector non-profit associations. After running after and pestering many people she succeeded in harnessing municipal and government bodies to the project to return the Gypsy children to school. Salim says that "in 2006 an angel came down to us from heaven. I don't know how God sent her. I asked her to help. We went from house to house in the community. Until then there weren't even three children in the community who attended school. They all sat at home. The young people didn't know how to read and write."

The project initiated by the mukhtar and Regev, with the cooperation of the Jerusalem Municipality, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services and the police, succeeded in putting dozens of children in school and fostering communication between the welfare authorities and the Gypsy families. Recently a special social worker was appointed to the community. The project was successful. Today, says Regev, not a single child is known to be outside an educational framework.

Aside from returning children to school, the biggest change, says Regev, is "that the Gypsies have learned to ask for help and to cooperate with whoever comes to help them. We have a decision that if a family stretches out a hand, we will pull it as hard as possible." Salim is optimistic about the future of the community. He trusts the municipality and the government." "We're Gypsies who belong to the country," he says.

Three and a half years ago Noga Buber-Ben David, a young researcher from the sociology department at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, entered the picture. Regev introduced her to the members of the community and she began field work and observations of the community, investigated its self identification and how the community is seen by others. The members of the community opened their homes and Buber-Ben David was like a family member for almost two years.

Marginal members of a marginal group. In her study she diagnoses the situation of the community as "multidimensional

marginality" - both in Palestinian society, which considers Gypsies foreigners and even objectionable; and as part of Palestinian society, which is also deprived and excluded by Israeli society. Salim is now trying to extricate his community from this deep pit of discrimination and exclusion.

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The study reveals the racism and suspicion of Palestinian society towards the Gypsies. "You know that you're going to hell, be careful," said a resident of the Muslim Quarter, who is quoted in the study, to a Gypsy woman. The poverty and hardship are also reflected in the study.

"The entire household activity took place in the small house," wrote Buber-Ben David in her field notebook. "In the morning the mattresses on which they slept are piled up in the corner, and the room becomes a living room. The kitchen is very small, and contains piles of utensils, like the piles of mattresses. The walls of the house, which are full of pictures of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and close relatives, are peeling, the dampness can be seen everywhere, and the cold of February penetrates your bones."

Buber-Ben David analyzes the dilemma of the Gypsies, who on the one hand want to become part of the Arab surroundings, and on the other hand to preserve the vestiges of their ethnic and cultural identity and to receive recognition as a separate group in need of assistance. "It's a double-edged sword. The community wants to get out of its present situation and understands that the way is to be differentiated, so that the institutions will recognize it as a separate community; but that also separates it from the surroundings," she says. Intermarriages between Gypsies and Palestinian take place but are not common.

Buber-Ben David expresses cautious optimism about the future. She says that thanks to the activity of Salim and Regev the community is beginning to develop an awareness of status. "I observed a process that is taking place in a place where there is hope," she says. "A place that you can aspire to and not only on the level of daily survival. There is hope not for a major revolution, but for an internal revolution, in your community and the people alongside you. A revolution in the ability to live with dignity and to give the children an education."

By Nir Hasson Haaretz – October 1, 2011

Bethlehem-­‐Jerusalem  peace  run  

Hundreds of Israeli, Palestinian and Italian sprinters participated yesterday, 24 October 2011 in the JPII Bethlehem-Jerusalem Peace Run organized by the Vatican pilgrimage organization Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, and the Ministry of Tourism. Participants ran together from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, stopping at Rachel’s Crossing for a soccer tournament between the Italian, Palestinian and Israeli runners. Following the tournament, the marathon continued to the Notre Dame Church in Jerusalem where certificates were given to the various participants.

Participants in the soccer game and the marathon, named after Pope John Paul II, included Italian football stars - Demetrio Albertini, Luigi Di Biagio, Damiano Tommasi, Angelo Peruzzi and Diego Bonavina. Other participants include Giusy Versace, an international sprinter who lost her legs in a car accident and runs with prosthetics. Upon exiting Bethlehem, Versace handed over the peace torch to Ms. Ahuva Zaken, Senior Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Tourism.

Source: Israeli Tourism Ministry The Jerusalem Post – October 25, 2011

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Jewish  immigration  to  Israel  increases   by  almost  20%  in  the  last  Jewish  year  

“This is a trend that has been increasing: Aliya is younger and better educated,“ Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Sharansky says.

Some 21,300 people made aliya during the Jewish year of 5771, the Jewish Agency for Israel announced on Wednesday – an increase of about 19 percent over the previous year.

For the third year in a row Jewish immigration from North America was up, reaching 4,070, opposed to 3,720 in 5770.

“We’re very happy with Nefesh B’Nefesh which has made aliya from North America a lot more attractive, but we haven’t seen a dramatic rise in the numbers and that’s why we believe strengthening Jewish identity will bring more people from North America to Israel,” said JAFI Chairman Natan Sharansky in response to the new numbers.

The largest single group of olim this year, like the one before, came from the former Soviet Union. Some 8,200 people made aliya over the past 12 months from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, the Baltic states and Central Asian countries. But the JAFI chairman shrugged off suggestions this might be the start of a new exodus of Jews from the region.

“Then there were three-million Jews in the USSR,” said the former Refusnik, who was imprisoned by Soviet authorities for years because he wanted to make aliya. “A million went to Israel, a million went elsewhere and now there’s about a million left. Still, it’s one of the biggest Jewish communities that is being both assimilated and strengthening its Jewish identity through summer camps, masa programs and other programs at the same time. I don’t want to get hopes up, but we’ll see immigration like this in years to come, but not like during the 90s.”

While aliya from the FSU today may indeed pale in comparison to the great wave of Jewish immigration that took place two decades ago, when hundreds of thousands of Jews left mostly for Israel, the modest resurgence in recent years is surprising considering the overall number of Jews in the region is shrinking.

Another factor setting the current immigration apart from earlier ones is the immigrants’ average age. According to JAFI, over 60% of those who moved to Israel from the FSU over the past 12 months are under the age of 34 – almost double the figures reported in 2005.

“This is a trend that has been increasing: Aliya is younger and better educated,“ Sharansky said. “That’s why JAFI’s activities in the FSU focuses on the young.”

While the largest group of olim may have been from the FSU, the largest proportionate rise in immigration came from Ethiopia. According to JAFI, 2,780 immigrants made aliya from the African country – a hike of 210% from the year before.

The vast majority of Ethiopians making aliya are members of the Falashmura, an ethnic group which claims it was forcibly converted from Judaism to Christianity generations ago. While they would not be eligible to immigrate to the Jewish state under the Law of Return, the government has set up a special track allowing them to immigrate as long as they undergo Orthodox Jewish conversions.

Some 8,000 Falashmura members are expected to make aliya under the current plan, after which the government has said immigration policy from the African country will be the same as the rest of the world.

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“We promised this will be the last batch and have all the groups in agreement for the first time,” Sharansky said.

“After that the policy in Ethiopia will be the same as the one we have elsewhere.” So far, about 2,500 of the 8,000 quota have arrived. The rest are expected to come

gradually over the next few years. Minister of Immigrant Absorption Sofa Landver on Thursday welcomed the rise in the

number of olim saying it helped strengthen the Jewish state. “This data demonstrates the continuing trend of rising aliya and the strengthening of

Zionism,” said Landver. “In recent years we have seen consistent aliya, and at this important time the State of

Israel must work to maintain the trend and continue to encourage Jews in the Diaspora to immigrate to Israel.”

By Gil Shefler The Jerusalem Post – September 22, 2011

Two  cities:  East  Jerusalem  in  numbers    

"Ninety percent of Israeli citizens who speak of the exalted nature of an eternally united Greater Jerusalem don't know what they are talking about and about what they are taking an oath. The other 10 percent are familiar with the situation but are trying to change it 'in favor' of the Jews."

(Writer Eyal Megged in ACRI report, "Human Rights in East Jerusalem: Facts and Figures," May 2010 .)

§ Number of residents: 303,249 - 36 percent of Jerusalem residents (as of the end of

2009). § People living below the poverty line: 65.1 percent, compared to 30.8 percent of the Jews

in the city (2008 ). § Children living below the poverty line: 74.4 percent of Arab children in the city,

compared to 45.1 percent of Jewish children (2008 ). § Expropriation of land: Since the annexation of the city, Israel has expropriated 24,500

dunams, over one third of the area of East Jerusalem, which were privately owned by Arabs.

§ Construction: Up until the end of 2007, 50,197 residential units were built for Jews on the expropriated land, and not a single one for Palestinians.

§ Connection to the water system: About 160,000 residents are not connected. § Sewage system: 50 kilometers of main sewage lines are missing. § Summary: Discrimination in the areas of planning and construction, expropriation of

land and minimal investment in physical infrastructure and in government and municipal services. These are the practical expressions of Israeli policy, whose objective is to maintain a Jewish majority in the city.

From the ACRI report: "Human Rights in East Jerusalem: Facts and Figures," May 2010 Haaretz – September 9, 2011

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To all our CIC Bulletin subscribers

Dear subscribers of the CIC Associated Christian Press Bulletin,

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