|
Shevat 13, 5770, 1/28/2010
Zionism, not Cynicism
Israel has lots challenges: We have two hostile Iranian outposts on our borders, not to mention Iran itself building a bomb with our name on it. When we fight to defend our citizenry we get the Goldstone Report. The world is trying to stop us from building in our capital. We have a hostage in Gaza and we are being asked to release murderers for his freedom. We have very few friends abroad, and inside Israel we are often divided. It is not surprising that in such an atmosphere, some people succumb to cynicism. But just as the darkness seems to have the upper hand, suddenly there are bright moments that delight us, remind us what Israel is all about, and shoo away the cynicism. Aliya is just such a cynicism buster. Aliya shows us that Israel continues to attract Jews from all over the world to take part in the most exciting project of the Jewish people in two-thousand years.However, two recent articles in the Jerusalem Post seem bent on putting a dark spin on aliya as well:
In an op-ed entitled "What American aliya?" (Dec. 16) Haviv Rettig Gur wrote :
...Aliya as a phenomenon, as a movement, as a national project, has come to an end. Some 3,000 American olim come to Israel every year from a community whose population is at least 4.2 million strong... for all intents and purposes, North American aliya is currently at zero.
Then, as a follow up (Dec. 29), Michael Hirsh wrote "American aliya - an exercise in futility" stating:
I ask the well-meaning people at NBN and the Jewish Agency: With which powers of persuasion do you believe you were endowed that will sway someone to whom Israel is an afterthought into leaving everything behind and becoming an oleh? Perhaps that explains the current rate of "success," one-10th of 1 percent.
What negativity! This year was the first time in a decade that there was a rise in the number of new immigrants to Israel: 16,200 compared with the previous year's 15,440. 2009 also saw the largest number of Jews (3,767) make aliyah from North America since 1983. Amazingly, with all of Israel's challenges, aliya is on an upward trajectory - so why knock it? Nay-sayers won't tell you that North American aliya has already become an economic success for Israel. According to a recent Deloitte audit, the entire population of Nefesh B'Nefesh Olim (6,493 households) has generated government revenues of 989 million shekels while the estimated costs of bringing them were only NIS 528 million. Also, the estimated contribution of American aliya (between 2002 and 2008) to the Israeli tourism industry (parents and pals coming to visit olim) is calculated at NIS 347 million, which brings the net contribution of recent North American aliya to a jaw-dropping 808 million shekels! And North American aliya is bound to keep growing because immigration has never been easier: Israel has finally gotten the bureaucratic process right through the advent of Nefesh B'Nefesh. At the same time, amazing Anglo communities like Modiin and Ramat Beit Shemesh have sprouted up, making absorption a walk in an ever-more-manicured park. And as though Providentially, just as Israel's bureaucratic and community infrastructure are in place, the economic climate in the US has made aliya more attractive then ever before. In fact, measurable interest in aliya has more then doubled since the onset of the global economic crisis. The aliya cynics point to the paltry 3,000 Olim a year and conclude that North American aliya is a failure. But since when do we value people as merely numbers? If the dream of gathering in the Exiles is happening only 3000 people at a time is that worthless? When one greets new immigrants one sees the faces of children kissing the ground, the faces of elderly rabbis crying, the faces of El Al pilots glowing with pride. "Total failure"? More like total ecstasy!In the late 70's there were only 3 million Jews in Israel, now we are approaching 6 million. We have doubled in the last 30 years! No other country can claim that. Yes, it's mainly due to Russian Aliya, and a relatively high birthrate. But the point is that Israel wants to grow, and every Jew counts. Therefore, we must tirelessly continue to push aliya from all parts of the globe - and with special focus on American Jewry, the last major bastion of the Diaspora.However, aliya cynics do have a point when they tell us that American Jewry is entrenched. It is. But that is not a reason to give up on our Jewish family back in the old country. To the contrary - it is precisely now, when the wheels of North American aliya are finally turning, that we must redouble our efforts to encourage Western Jews to come home. THREE PRACTICAL IDEASIt is in this spirit that I present three positive ideas of how to help galvanize Western Jews to seriously consider aliya:* Aliya Day. There are well known state holidays which are used as springboards for massive educational undertakings. Yom Haatzmaut is a national celebration, but it is also a day of award ceremonies, concerts, and gatherings. Yom Hazikaron has its cemetery memorials and the siren that so powerfully reminds us of the IDF's sacrifice. Yom Hashoah educates us about the horrors of the Holocaust.The time has arrived to unveil a new state holiday called Aliyah Day. Aliyah Day will be celebrated in Israeli schools with children getting up and telling the tale of their family's aliya. On TV, the stories of the various communal and personal immigrations will be told. Prizes will be given out to aliya activists, absorption workers and immigrants who have made a difference in Israel. Each year a different community will be featured and celebrated.Simultaneously, Aliya Day will be celebrated in all pro-Israel institutions in the Diaspora. There, the discussion will focus on the importance of aliya, and the centrality of Israel. Aliya Day will use the proven model of a State holiday to celebrate the fact that we are all immigrants, and put aliya back onto the national agenda.* Aliya Rally. There is a powerful force in Israel which, so far, has been totally untapped. Western olim, immigrants to Israel, are typically the most vocal supporters of continued Western aliya. If you enter the home of an oleh and broach the topic, you will find that from Raanana to Kiryat Arba, Western olim are highly enthusiastic about aliya and would like to see Jewish emigration expedited. We should harness the great passion of these people, and give them a platform to be heard.Many rallies are held in Israel every year, but most of these rallies are anti-something, like calling for an end to some government policy. However, the aliya rally is different – it is positive and reaches out to Diaspora Jews with love and encouragement. In a large venue in Jerusalem, like Teddy Stadium or the Sultan's Pool, the rally will be a professional production, with musical acts and speeches by well known personalities. Participants taking part in the rally will hold up placards that read: "Come Home My Brother / Sister", or posters of an Israeli passport with the words "Your Name Here" on the front. From the stage and in the crowd, we will call on our fellow Jews to come home and be our neighbors. The rally will raise aliya consciousness amongst Western Jews, empower olim in Israel who feel strongly about aliya, rekindle love of the homeland in native Israelis, and show the world that Israel still calls on all her children to come home. * Aliya Boat. For American Jews in the US, the occasional press article or video clip about American aliya fails to persuade them that aliya is the future. It's just something they can brush off. We need to change that – we need to make the movement of Western aliya so spectacular and evocative that world Jewry will not be able to ignore it.Enter the Aliya Boat. Evoking the nostalgia of old-world Jewish immigration, the Aliya Boat, this generation's 'Exodus', will bring 3000 Olim to Israel in just one journey. A plush cruise liner, the Aliya boat will sail for two weeks from the northeastern coast of the U.S. to one of Israel's port cities. Throughout the journey, an Israeli naval ship will escort the Aliya Boat as both security and honor guard. While on this 'cruise' the almost-new immigrants will be busy: they will begin their Hebrew training at the on-board ulpan, take care of governmental paper work, and begin preparation to deal with their new home and environment. On the boat, children won't be strapped into constrictive seats for hours; instead, they will be 'enrolled' in an Israeli gan. Elderly folks can rest and play shuffleboard. Adults will begin friendships that will last a lifetime. The romantic retro-iconography of the Aliya Boat will make news for two weeks straight. Embedded reporters and a documentary crew will record the epic tale. In Israel, a massive confetti welcome will make the arrival of the Aliya Boat one of the most moving spectacles of our time. It will be just too awesome of an event to minimize, and it will force every Jew in the world to rethink his or her position onaliya. Indeed, this is not the time for cynicism. It is a time for Zionism. It is a time to think big and act big. If you will it, it is no dream.
|
 
|
Kislev 16, 5770, 12/3/2009
Crisis Spurs Migration to Israel
By SARA TOTH STUB of the Wall Street Journal
JERUSALEM -- Immigration into Israel and the Palestinian West Bank is surging after the financial crisis and economic downturn evaporated jobs elsewhere. After years of a brain drain from the region, and despite the lack of a peace settlement, by the end of this month about 4,000 North American Jews will have immigrated to Israel this year, an increase of 33% over 2008 and the most in one year since 1973, according to Nefesh B'Nefesh, an organization that oversees and assists with immigration to Israel from North America. Immigrants to Israel often have a longstanding desire to move, but the economic crisis has pushed them to make the jump this year, said Danny Oberman, executive vice president of Israel operations for Nefesh B'Nefesh. "The economy has a lot to do with it," Mr. Oberman said. The crisis is also having an impact on the West Bank, which is seeing the return of hundreds of Palestinians, mostly from the Persian Gulf, looking for work as the economy there sours. The West Bank economy -- separate from Israel's -- is expected to grow 5% in 2009. No official figures are available yet for how many Palestinians have made the move, but the International Monetary Fund is planning to study the issue over the next month. "The economic crisis worked to our advantage," said Bashar al-Masry, a Palestinian real-estate developer overseeing an $800 million project to build a new Palestinian city north of Ramallah. "We're seeing more and more people willing to come back." Amjad Sandoka, 36 years old, a civil engineer from Jerusalem, said he went to work in Dubai seven years ago, but came back in October and found a job in Ramallah. He took a job in the West Bank because he figured he would likely lose his Dubai post, after watching hundreds of people around him being let go. "I started to feel the crisis there; on the other hand, I heard there was lots of work in the West Bank," Mr. Sandoka said.
More on Israel Israel's economy, fueled mainly by the software, biomedical, weapons-manufacturing and diamond sectors, has grown at least 4% a year from 2004 to 2008. And Israel has a lower unemployment rate than the U.S., at 7.8%, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, next to 10.2% in October in the U.S. The Bank of Israel has raised interest rates twice since August, to its current level of 1%, at a time when banks around the world are cutting rates or leaving them low. Israel also has almost no exposure to Dubai debt because the Arab League boycott prevents Israelis from investing there. That boycott also lessens the impact the Dubai crisis might normally have had on Israeli exports. Palestinian Minister of National Economy Hassan Abu-Libdeh cautions that the Palestinian economy might ultimately suffer from the downturn in Dubai, because many Palestinian families rely on remittances sent from relatives working there. Oussama Kanaan, IMF representative in the West Bank and Gaza, said Palestinian remittances made up 10% of Palestinian gross domestic product in 2008. Income from Palestinians working in Israel makes up an additional 12% of Palestinian GDP. Any impact of lower remittances would most likely be softened if those workers find work in the West Bank. With a building boom under way in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities, fueled partly by international aid money totaling $1.7 billion in 2008, many returning from Dubai are finding jobs. In Israel, North American immigrants are making significant contributions to the economy, according to a recent study by consulting firm Deloitte Information Technologies Israel Ltd. U.S. immigrants who came between 2002 and 2008 have contributed directly 989 million shekels ($262 million) to the Israeli economy, the study said. Zumi Brody immigrated to Israel with his wife and four young children in August. Mr. Brody, a vice president of a bank, said he had to sell his home in St. Louis for less than what he paid for it to make the move, but paying at least $10,000 per child to attend Jewish day school would have been burdensome. In Israel, his children can attend a state-funded school and still learn Hebrew and Jewish studies. The increase in immigration from America also shows a change in the image and economy of Israel. The country is in the process of entering the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and has been upgraded from a developing to a developed economy, said Glenn Yago, an economist at the Milken Institute in Jerusalem. This wave of American immigration suggests that Israel is shifting "from its primary, historical role as a refuge of last resort to a human- and financial-capital destination of first resort," Mr. Yago said. Separately, on Wednesday, Israeli police arrested the mayor of a West Bank Jewish settlement after protesters blocked security forces from entering the community to enforce a construction freeze, the Associated Press reported. The showdown was the most serious incident of settler unrest since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week announced the 10-month building freeze, which bars the construction of new homes in West Bank settlements.
|
|
Kislev 12, 5770, 11/29/2009
NEW POSITIONING OF ISRAEL AS THE HOLY LAND
FINALLY! PRESS RELEASE 25 November 2009
TOURISM MINISTRY TO INVEST 15 MILLION NIS IN DEVELOPING TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE IN JERUSALEM IN 2010, IN LINE WITH THE WORK PLAN AND NEW POSITIONING OF ISRAEL AS THE HOLY LAND WITH JERUSALEM AT ITS CENTER TOURISM MINISTER STAS MISEZHNIKOV: “IN ORDER TO MEET OUR GOAL OF AN ADDITIONAL ONE MILLION TOURISTS WITHIN 3 YEARS, WE WILL INVEST IN THE JERUSALEM BRAND IN ORDER TO MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE FOR NEW MARKETS INTERNATIONALLY AND FOR THE ISRAELI VISITOR.” The Tourism Ministry will invest 15 million NIS in 2010 in developing tourism infrastructure in Jerusalem and promoting tourism events in order to encourage domestic and incoming tourism. This is in line with the new work plan presented by the Tourism Minister which positions Israel as the Holy Land with Jerusalem at its center. In recent years, the Tourism Ministry has invested tens of millions of shekels in developing and improving the tourism infrastructure in Jerusalem, including the center of the city, Ein Kerem and the Old City. The additional 15 million shekel investment in the city in 2010 will facilitate an increase in the scope of tourism activities as well as the implementation of infrastructure works that will facilitate the entry of more tourists and visitors at various sites. In addition, the ministry will encourage domestic and incoming tourism by raising awareness of various tourist events and festivals taking place in Jerusalem. The Tourism Ministry has allocated 350,000 NIS (similar to the investment of the Jerusalem Municipality) to support Hamshushalayim, the three weekend festival taking place in Jerusalem and organized by the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Hotels Association. (www.jerusalem.muni.il/Humshsh/eng/all.htm) Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov: “Jerusalem is Israel’s central tourism brand, representing the main attraction and focus for most incoming tourists. In order to meet our goal of an additional million tourists within three years, we will invest in this important brand over the next few years in order to make it attractive for new markets internationally and for the Israeli visitor.” The festival includes special tours of the city, musical performances, theater, arts and crafts fairs, tourist attractions, a culinary festival and special discounts in restaurants and hotels, with targeted activities for students and youth. Jerusalem is the most visited city in Israel. According to the Tourism Ministry, 74% of all tourists visited Jerusalem, with 53% spending at least one night in the capital and an average of six nights. The most visited sites within Jerusalem are the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter, the Mount of Olives, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Via Dolorosa, the Tower of David and Yad Vashem. === Compair this with what I wrote a while ago:
Bikini-Brand or Holy Land?
Let us market Israel for what it really is: the spiritual capital of the world. Yishai
|
|
Generation Z
by Yishai & Malkah
The New Age of Zionism Has Begun - Join Us!
Yishai and Malkah Fleisher are Zionists, activists and turned-on Jews. They met at Cardozo Law School in Manhattan as students, got engaged, and flew to Israel to get married in Hebron. Malkah is originally from Sherman, Texas and is a graduate of George Washington University with a degree in Political Communication. She hosts a variety of shows at Arutz Sheva's Israel National Radio, including the Eishet Chayil Show. Yishai is an internationally recognized lecturer, show host, and columnist and has been featured on CNN, Al Jazeera, the BBC, and other international and Jewish media. Yishai was an IDF paratrooper and studied Poli-Sci at Yeshiva University. Yishai co-founded Kumah, a grassroots organization dedicated to encouraging American Aliyah. His writing and Zionist efforts landed him a job at Arutz Sheva's Israel National Radio. Today he hosts the "Yishai and Friends" show and is the Director of Programming of the station. Israel National Radio Kumah - The Neo-Zionist Lobby Aliyah Revolution - The Movie Join Yishai on Twitter Join Yishai on Facebook |
