Aid comes to rocket attack victims

JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL-PRESS
RELEASE

Monday, December 29, 2008

Jewish Agency provides emergency assistance to victims of rocket attacks
Emergency hotline for residents, new immigrants at absorption centers

Since the start of Israel's operation in Gaza Saturday, the Jewish Agency
has begun to aid residents of the area under attack by providing immediate
financial grants through its Victims of Terror Fund, which is underwritten
by the United Jewish Communities (US Federations) and Keren Hayesod.

As of Monday (Dec. 29), the Jewish Agency received 45 requests for
assistance and is already issuing checks to 14 families. Those eligible for
the assistance are people who have been physically injured or whose home was
badly damaged in a rocket attack. The grant, usually $1,000 per family, is
used for immediate needs such as paying for temporary housing, clothes and
other incidentals.

The Jewish Agency also set up a hotline 1800-200-183 for residents of the
area who need assistance. The hotline will serve residents interested in
being hosted by families living in the center of the country, away from the
area under fire as well as those needing to apply for Victims of Terror
funding.

The hotline will also serve the 1,200 immigrants living at five Jewish
Agency absorption centers in the area under fire. The Jewish Agency is
working to put the new immigrants in touch with relatives living abroad, and
has augmented staff and assigned additional social workers to the absorption
centers.

The Jewish Agency is supported by founding constituent partners:
Keren Hayesod, United
Jewish Communities and Jewish federations around the world; and primary
funders: Keren Hayesod,
United Jewish Communities and major Jewish Federations in North America,
International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Immigration to Israel in 2008

According to Jewish Agency figures 16,500 Immigrate to Israel in 2008, 3,150 from North America 500 immigrants arrive in final week of year




Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Michael Jankelowitz Spokesman to Foreign Press Jewish Agency for Israel


The Jewish Agency for Israel announced that over 16,500 new immigrants will have moved to Israel in 2008, 3,150 of them from North America.

The number of total immigration reflects a drop compared with last year which saw 19,700 immigrants, due mainly to the slowing in the immigration of Falashmura from Ethiopia and a decrease in the number of immigrants from France.

The number of new immigrants from North America increased slightly this year from 3,074 in 2007 to 3,150, of them, 2,750 of the new immigrants from the United States and 400 from Canada.

The number of immigrants to Israel from South Africa nearly doubled compared with last year, to 370, and a second special flight from South Africa will arrive in Israel on December 31 with 80 new immigrants. South African Jews have expressed increased interest in aliyah, in part a result of growing political instability and rising levels of violence and crime in the country.A welcoming ceremony for the 80 new immigrants from South Africa will take place at Jerusalem`s Western Wall at 10:15am on Thursday, January 1st.

A special flight from Moscow with nearly 100 new immigrants arrived Tuesday (Dec. 23) at Ben Gurion Airport, to be followed by flights from the UK, US (in a collaborative venture with Nefesh B'Nefesh), and South Africa - bringing, in all, nearly 500 new immigrants between now and year's end.

Aliyah Department Director Eli Cohen estimates that immigration will increase next year, particularly from the West, where the economic downturn will spur potential immigrants to move to Israel in the coming year. Cohen noted that the Jewish Agency would work with the Ministry of Absorption as well as its partner organizations Nefesh B'Nefesh, in North America, and AMI, in France, to develop new employment and special absorption initiatives to attract more olim from North America and Western Europe.

The Jewish Agency is supported by founding constituent partners: Keren Hayesod, United Jewish Communities and Jewish federations around the world; and primary funders: Keren Hayesod, United Jewish Communities and major Jewish Federations in North America, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

No Rest for the shell-shocked in Ashkelon Shelters

Last update - 14:57 30/12/2008
No rest for the shell-shocked in Ashkelon shelters
By Fadi Eyadat


December 30, 2008
No rest for the shell-shocked in Ashkelon shelters
By Fadi Eyadat



Dozens of bomb shelters in Ashkelon designed to serve hundreds of individuals and families are not ready for even short-term habitation. The shelters are foul-smelling, dark and decrepit. Some of the residents have resorted to taking shelter in stairwell, even though they are unfortified, and others simply choose to remain in their homes.

At issue are private shelters located in the city's poorer neighborhoods. A residential building on Hagalil Street holds eight households for the elderly, new immigrants and single-parent families.

"We don't go down to the shelters," said Miri Levy, a disabled mother of two young girls. "We stay at home and pray that the rockets don't fall on us. The girls go to the stairwell sometimes, but it's open and unprotected."

Yelena Glick, who lives with her chronically ill mother in the same building, has entered the shelter only once. "You can't be down there even for a second," she said. "Since then, I've gone into the stairwell and my mother has stayed in bed." Many of the shelters do not have light or ventilation. Iron bars protrude from the ceiling, and the floor tiles are cracked. According to Ashkelon municipal law, responsibility for maintaining the shelters falls on residents themselves, as the buildings are private property.

"Tenants here don't have money. Home Front Command came here three months ago, saw the shelters, wrote in their notebooks and promised to come back. Since then we haven't seen them," said resident Eli Kronfeld, who moved his family to stay with relatives in Hadera. The closest shelter to Kronfeld's home is 200 meters away. "I'm not at the age that I can get there in 30 seconds, certainly not when I have to go down four floors," he said. For now, he descends to the third floor every time an alert is sounded. Ashkelon municipal representatives said 640 private shelters exist in the city's shared residential buildings, of which 350 in poorer neighborhoods have been renovated in recent months with contributions from the non-profit International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051018.html

Defending Israel!

Contact: Josh Block (202) 997-4614
AIPAC URGES CONGRESS AND THE ADMINISTRATION TO SUPPORT ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO SELF DEFENSE

AIPAC urges Congress and the Administration to stand firmly with Israel as it strives to defend itself against a renewed assault by Hamas terrorists.

"AIPAC is outraged that the U.N. Security Council failed to recognize Israel's right to self-defense in its statement on Sunday, a right enshrined in the U.N.'s founding charter," said AIPAC President David Victor. "Moving forward, we urge the administration to stand with Israel at the United Nations as it acts to defend itself in the face of continued violence from Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. It is important that we never equate Israeli defensive measures with Hamas terrorism."

"We applaud the bipartisan coalition of American leaders who have stood up in support of Israel's right to defend its citizens, a clear sign of the strong ties between the United States and Israel," Victor added.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was one of the first members of Congress to speak out in support of the Jewish state's right to protect its citizens: "...when Israel is attacked, the United States must continue to stand strongly with its friend and democratic ally." House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) rebuked Hamas for its continued attacks and said the terrorist group "has once again demonstrated its willingness to murder innocent Israelis and Palestinian civilians to achieve their political goals."

In addition, David Axelrod, senior advisor to President-elect Barack Obama, reiterated statements made by the then-senator during a July visit to Sderot, that Israel has a right to defend itself and "when bombs are ... raining down on your citizens, it is—it's obviously unacceptable."

Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 in an effort to reduce violence and lay the groundwork for a future Palestinian state. Since then, the Iranian-backed Hamas has wrested control of the territory from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a violent coup, kidnapped an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid and has overseen a major military buildup, acquiring weapons that now threaten a quarter-million Israelis.

Since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, Palestinian terrorists have fired more than 6,300 rockets and mortars at the Jewish state, killing a dozen Israelis and wounding countless others. Even after an Egyptian-brokered "period of calm" was put in place between Israel and Hamas, rocket fire continued. In recent weeks alone, Hamas has fired some 600 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians—as many as 80 in a single day—destroying Israeli homes and infrastructure, and claiming three Israeli lives.
###
Among the strong congressional statements of support for Israel are the following:

"I strongly support Israel's right to defend its citizens against rocket and mortar attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza, which have killed and injured Israeli citizens, and to restore security to its residents." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), December 29, 2008

"When Israel is attacked, the United States must continue to stand strongly with its friend and democratic ally." Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), December 27, 2008

"Israel is acting in clear self-defense in response to heinous rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), December 29, 2008

"The Israelis have proven time and time again their willingness to work with their neighbors for peace. Despite their best efforts, the Israelis have been forced to respond to terrorism with justifiable and understandable force to ensure their security." House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), December 28, 2008

"Israel has a right, indeed a duty, to defend itself in response to the hundreds of rockets and mortars fired from Gaza over the past week. No government in the world would sit by and allow its citizens to be subjected to this kind of indiscriminate bombardment." Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee, December 27, 2008

"We stand with the Jewish State of Israel in its ongoing efforts to protect its citizens from those who seek its destruction." Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Member of House Foreign Affairs Committee, December 28, 2008

"It is regrettable that in response to Hamas' refusal to negotiate with Israel and continue its ceasefire, Israel was forced into this situation. Hamas has chosen war over peace. Israel has but no other choice to respond and protect its citizens." Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Co-Chair of Congressional Democratic Israel Working Group, December 29, 2008

"Israel has taken actions to defend itself and its people in an effort to restore security in the region." Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, December 29, 2008

"Hamas is abusing the people of Gaza by using their homes as a base for terror operations. The world should no longer tolerate a terrorist government in the Gaza Strip." Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Member of Senate Appropriations Committee, December 29, 2008

"[Israel] is very much like we are and, if we turn our back on Israel, I believe that the equation will be so bad for America, so bad for the world, that we simply don't understand." Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), Member of House Armed Services Committee, December 28, 2008

"As a sovereign nation, it is clearly within Israel's rights to act in its own self-defense against all terrorist actions." Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), December 29, 2008

Special Update! Gaza Situation

Dozens of rockets have hit Israeli communities today (Saturday, December 27) as Israel launched a military operation against Hamas' recent escalation of attacks. Thus far today, rockets have hit a large number of Israel's southern communities including Sderot, Ashkelon, Netivot, and Ofakim. One person has been killed and four wounded in Netivot alone. Another man was wounded seriously during Shabbat morning services as his synagogue took a direct hit.

For residents of the Gaza perimeter, even the "relative calm" of the six-month cease-fire with Hamas had its moments of threatening and damaging Kassam attacks. For many, it was an occurrence they learned to deal with – repressing post-traumatic anxieties from earlier intensified periods and beginning to piece back together semblances of normal lives. But that was before December 24th when, just days after the cease-fire ended, 80 rockets and mortar shells struck homes, schools, outdoor public spaces, businesses and more across the region. 80 rockets in 24 hours; practically 1 rocket every 18 minutes. By 9:00 a.m., 25 rockets had already begun terrorizing the lives of residents in Sderot and nearby communities as far ranging as Ashkelon. From small businesses and factories, to kindergartens, community centers and schools, the incessant strikes have caused damage on every level – physically and psychologically; communally and individually. Widespread panic and hysteria have ensued as post-traumatic sentiments have resurfaced and intensified. First responders, working with local authorities, have frantically raced toward attack sites to offer on-the-scene assistance ranging from the emotional to the structural.

Unfortunately, none of this is a new reality for Israel's southern communities. And the Jewish Agency has been standing by the citizens of Sderot and the Gaza Perimeter for the past several years. Responding to their crisis is our utmost priority – then and now. Our response framework strives to not only show our solidarity for their plight, but also work to strengthen their communities from within – fortifying and mobilizing human resources to respond to crises as they unfold. As the situation escalates, the Jewish Agency is already on the ground, responding with a range of immediate and long-term assistance programs:

Immediate financial aid for victims of Kassam attacks through our Fund for Victims of Terror and its SOS Emergency Fund, created by United Jewish Communities' Israel Emergency Campaign (IEC) and Keren Hayesod.

Cultural and recreational activities for the hundreds of children and youth in Sderot and surrounding communities, including a week-long program of entertainment during Hanukkah vacation and educational trips and summer camps in central and northern Israel.
Business coaching and loans for small- and medium-sized business facing financial ruin as a result of the situation in the region.

Trauma training that enables local community members to serve as first responders, and additional resources for psychological support including a hotline and mobile response unit.
Scholarships for students studying in southern colleges and institutions of higher education and incentive programs that encourage students and young adults in the south to stay and give back to their communities. As the needs on the ground intensify, the Jewish Agency stands ready to respond. Our programming and staff are already working with local authorities, organizations and individuals and actively making a difference for these beleaguered communities. Sadly, the news from Israel's south comes at a time that is already fraught with turmoil for Jews the world over. The global economic crisis took a more direct – and menacing – turn when it struck into the heart of Jewish philanthropy. Our efforts to strengthen and empower Israeli communities by reaching out to and helping individuals and communities under fire continue. And we know this wouldn't be possible without your collective and individual efforts to help, give and mobilize. Your partnership has been – and continues to be – a shining light in the darkness that hovers over Israel's southern communities during this week of Hanukkah and beyond.