ISRAELISRAEL MATTERS!MATTERS!

Publication of the Affairs Committee of Temple Beth Sholom 1809 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, CT 06517-1401

Issue Number 105 October 2016 Israel’s First-Responders Form Kaleidoscope of Cultures US Police Delegation in Israel to An unusual hug caused thunderous applause at a recent ceremony saluting Israel’s emergency medical first-responders and Learn Counter- Tech- search-and-rescue personnel. Parliamentarian , who niques and Hold 9/11 Ceremony survived an Arab shooting attack two years ago, spontaneously climbed onto the podium to embrace Kabahah Muawhiya, an Arab- Citing Israel’s preeminence in counter- Israeli volunteer EMT with the national volunteer emergency medical terrorism – and the fact that it is the only services organization, United of Israel. “United Hatzalah is country outside the United State to have a not just about emergency first response and medical rescuing, but it is 9/11 memorial honoring every victim – a US literally uniting people from different walks of life and different relig- police delegation visited the country on the ions,” Muawhiya told Israeli lawmakers. “It is a uniting of peoples 15th anniversary of the attack. Fifty-two offi- and a unity of hearts.” cers from seven states arrived in Israel dur- ing September to train with multiple units, Many people are surprised to visit the new state-of-the-art police academy learn that Arab citizens vol- in Beit Shemesh, and hold a ceremony at Je- unteer and work for the Is- rusalem’s 9/11 memorial. raeli emergency response organizations Magen David Commander of Israeli Police National License Adom (MDA); ZAKA and and Permit Unit, Chief Superintendent, Yoni United Hatzalah. [Photo left: Zeitak, said the visit marks the first time Arab and Jewish ZAKA vol- that a police delegation from the US came to unteers in the prepare Israel to hold such a memorial. to rescue victims together] Asked why the relationship is so strong be- For the first-responders, it’s tween the US and Israeli police forces, a only natural that representa- spokesman noted respect for Israel’s effi- tives of all Israel’s population groups would cooperate to save lives. “I ciency and advanced tactics, coupled by its am there to treat people who are hurt, and it doesn’t matter if they ability to enforce the law in a humane man- are Jewish or Arab,” United Hatzalah volunteer medic Khaled Rishek ner, despite dealing with countless depraved said. “It gives me a feeling of satisfaction.” Rishek and Muawhiya are terrorists. among about 300 Muslim, , and Christian United Hatzalah vol- Craig W. Floyd, president and CEO of the unteer EMTs, paramedics, and doctors out of a total of some 3,000 National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memo- who race to calls in their own neighborhoods. rial Fund, said the significance of the US offi- After 10 years in United Hatzalah, Rishek is friends with many of the cers coming to Israel to hold a 9/11 ceremony Jewish volunteers in . He lives on a street with Arabs on during the present international terrorism one side and on the other, along the former border between Jor- wave cannot be overstated. “When you talk dan and Israel. He’s a longtime employee of the Jerusalem Interna- about 9/11,” he continued, “that’s really when tional YMCA, “a place that is also one of coexistence.” “Khaled is one our war on terror began, and Israel, obvi- of our most active volunteers,” says United Hatzalah founder Eli ously, has been dealing with terrorist attacks Beer, who shared a $10,000 peace prize with his Arab coordinator, for many years before, so we can certainly Murad Alyan, in 2013. learn from Israeli experience and expertise here.” [JPost.com] (Continued ) BDS: A Threat to the Entire Middle East threatens the security and stability of not only Israel, but also my country, Jordan, and the entire Middle East. By: Abed Almaala, Jordanian Opposition Coalition BDS seeks to attack and isolate Israel. But what is Is- As a Jordanian politician, I feel obligated to speak out rael’s importance to Jordan, and to the world? Why against the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions should anyone care if Israel is hurt? [T]he president of movement and its effect on the Middle East and the the Jordanian opposition, Mudar Zahran, wrote last year: world. I represent the point of view and interests of the “If the day were to come when Israel falls, Jordan, Egypt Jordanian people. By doing so, I have freedom that many and many others would fall, too, and Westerners would others may not. My views on BDS are unbiased and bal- be begging Iran for oil.” “We can hate Israel as much as anced because I am not an Israeli and nobody could ac- we like, but we must realize that without it, we too would cuse me of being anti-Arab. be gone. ” Let me be clear: BDS is a reckless act of hatred that Israel is at the front of the war against terror in our re- gion, and if Israel is hurt, we all will suffer, and Jordan

(Continued from page 1) will suffer the most. Therefore, BDS is a threat to us all - a threat to America as much as it is a threat to Israel, “Our [Arab] volunteers are dealing with saving lives of Jordan and our Palestinian brothers. their neighbors who have heart attacks and car acci- BDS claims to target Israel because Israel oppresses the dents,” Beer said. “They feel comfortable with what Palestinians. If so, why does BDS never target Jordan’s they’re doing and they feel privileged to do it. When government, which oppresses and destroys the lives of you’re wearing our jacket, you’re a hero and people look to the majority of Jordanians of Palestinian origins, and you for help.” where many of my own people, the Jordanians, In August 2015, MDA senior paramedic Ziad Dawiyat, an go hungry? Why does BDS never boycott Lebanon, where Arab-Israeli, went to assist a laboring mother in Jerusa- Palestinians are banned from working as taxi drivers? lem – the same woman whose fatally injured infant he Why does it not boycott Syria, where President Assad has had transported to the hospital the previous October fol- killed thousands of Palestinians in Yarmouk camp? lowing a terror attack. BDS, admit it: You are racists and anti-Semites. But ZAKA, which retrieves bodily remains following accidents BDS is not alone. It could not survive without support, and violent crimes, and mounts search-and-rescue mis- both financial and political, and we in the Jordanian op- sions in Israel and worldwide, trains Bedouin, Muslim, position have information that BDS receives support of and Druze volunteers to serve their own communities. “It various kinds from Arab dictators. From day one, Arab gives me faith and pride that they depend on me,” Sheikh rulers have been telling us that Israelis are the enemy, Jaffal Abu Sabet, leader of ZAKA’s Muslim unit in the and that we should forget about our own hungry children Negev, told a reporter. “In the end we are all people — and our ruthless governments and focus exclusively on Jews, , Christians — and we all must be taken hating and killing Jews. ... care of the same way.” BDS promotes the very same bankrupt concepts. I say, Yossi Fraenkel, ZAKA’s deputy commander for greater BDS: Shame on you. Shame on you for attacking the only Jerusalem and operations officer for the ZAKA Interna- country that offers jobs to my Palestinian brothers. tional Rescue Unit – as well as a volunteer MDA para- Shame on you for attacking the country that provides medic, volunteer officer and former New free health care for Palestinian cancer patients. Shame York City Police chaplain – says it is “an amazing honor on you for selling your souls to Arab regimes. to be part of an organization that’s so diverse. We don’t And as a Jordanian ..., it is time we stopped talking see color or race; we see human beings. We are there for about peace and began living peace through economic everyone, no matter who and no matter where.” prosperity; this is our promise and our mission. … We Last April, ZAKA held a three-day disaster preparedness Arabs have boycotted Israel for 70 years. Where has it training course in the Dead Sea region for Israeli and Pal- gotten us? We are light-years behind Israel in technology estinian volunteers under the auspices of the Ministry for and the economy. Regional Cooperation, in partnership with the Palestin- … Someday soon, Jordan will be free and we will build a ian volunteer organization Green Land Society for Health new system that will work closely with Israel, through Development (GLSHD). partnership, not competition, and through true coopera- “Natural disasters do not differentiate between peoples; tion rather than just a cold peace. And we will turn Jor- they affect everyone,” said GLSHD Director Dr. Akram dan into a model for Arab countries to follow through Amro. “Therefore, we too, as residents in this region, cooperation with our Israeli brothers and sisters and the must unite in order to be able to help each other, regard- blessings of our American friends. less of religion or nationality.” [Israel21c.org] Am Yisrael Chai. Am Yarden Chai. [Israel Hayom]