Jews from around the English-speaking world are showing their support and identification with Israel by coming here under various programs and auspices. The United Jewish Communities (UJC), from the United States, sent a 500 person "Israel Now and Forever" delegation here last week, Bnai Brith Canada elected to send community representatives to Israel in recent days and 130 Jewish students from South Africa arrived here last week for a special Jewish Agency educational program.
The US delegation ?represented 37 different communities from across the United States, with special emphasis on western and central USA,? reports the Jewish Global Agenda of the Jewish Agency. Beginning their stay in Israel at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, with a special nighttime ceremony, the UJC representatives assembled walkers for a Yad Sarah rehabilitation center, visited the embattled Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, met with Minister Natan Sharansky and held a candle-lighting memorial ceremony at the Ben-Yehuda Jerusalem pedestrian mall, where two suicide bombers murdered ten youngsters on Saturday night, December 2nd. Outside of Jerusalem, the delegation traveled to Netanya, partnered with Cincinnati through the Partnership 2000 project, since Cincinnati, according to the Jewish Agency, sent the second largest contingent with 65 representatives. Nebraskan Joel Alperson, Chairman of the UJC ? Israel Now Solidarity Mission, said "Today, it is our duty to get the message out and tell our people back home to visit Israel and support Israel now."
Bnai Brith Canada leaders decided to come to Israel, in the wake of the multiple suicide attacks last week, and conduct strategy talks with Israeli government ministers in Jerusalem. They were to have met with Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau. Like their southern brothers in the US, Bnai Brith leaders stated that ??the community's overall response should include visits to Israel to express solidarity with its citizens, meet with victims of terror and keep lines of communication open between Israelis and Canadians.?
For its part, the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency have decided, according to a Jewish Agency publication, ?to give the South African Jewish community priority with regard to education and aliyah activity in coming years? due to the community?s difficult situation.? In that context, 130 Jewish high school students came to Israel last week for an educational program designed ?to help Jewish high-school graduates in South Africa to strengthen their Jewish identity through a extended stay in Israel, combining academic studies with activities benefiting Israel and Israeli society.?
The high school seniors will be visiting various educational institutions in Israel, including universities and yeshivas, where they will meet former South Africans and others who have recently immigrated to the country. The students, from the King David and Yeshiva College high schools in Johannesburg, will not just be here to lend passive support and learn, but they will also be assisting in the teaching of English at various state schools.
The US delegation ?represented 37 different communities from across the United States, with special emphasis on western and central USA,? reports the Jewish Global Agenda of the Jewish Agency. Beginning their stay in Israel at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, with a special nighttime ceremony, the UJC representatives assembled walkers for a Yad Sarah rehabilitation center, visited the embattled Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, met with Minister Natan Sharansky and held a candle-lighting memorial ceremony at the Ben-Yehuda Jerusalem pedestrian mall, where two suicide bombers murdered ten youngsters on Saturday night, December 2nd. Outside of Jerusalem, the delegation traveled to Netanya, partnered with Cincinnati through the Partnership 2000 project, since Cincinnati, according to the Jewish Agency, sent the second largest contingent with 65 representatives. Nebraskan Joel Alperson, Chairman of the UJC ? Israel Now Solidarity Mission, said "Today, it is our duty to get the message out and tell our people back home to visit Israel and support Israel now."
Bnai Brith Canada leaders decided to come to Israel, in the wake of the multiple suicide attacks last week, and conduct strategy talks with Israeli government ministers in Jerusalem. They were to have met with Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau. Like their southern brothers in the US, Bnai Brith leaders stated that ??the community's overall response should include visits to Israel to express solidarity with its citizens, meet with victims of terror and keep lines of communication open between Israelis and Canadians.?
For its part, the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency have decided, according to a Jewish Agency publication, ?to give the South African Jewish community priority with regard to education and aliyah activity in coming years? due to the community?s difficult situation.? In that context, 130 Jewish high school students came to Israel last week for an educational program designed ?to help Jewish high-school graduates in South Africa to strengthen their Jewish identity through a extended stay in Israel, combining academic studies with activities benefiting Israel and Israeli society.?
The high school seniors will be visiting various educational institutions in Israel, including universities and yeshivas, where they will meet former South Africans and others who have recently immigrated to the country. The students, from the King David and Yeshiva College high schools in Johannesburg, will not just be here to lend passive support and learn, but they will also be assisting in the teaching of English at various state schools.