Thursday, December 24, 2015

IDF Christian recruits on rise as soldiers gather for Christmas party




Father Gabriel Naddaf of Nazareth recently gathered some of these Israeli Christian soldiers for a Christmas party at an IDF base in northern Israel, delivering treats and thanking them for their service to Israel.  Father Gabriel Naddaf of Nazareth recently gathered some of these Israeli Christian soldiers for a Christmas party at an IDF base in northern Israel, delivering treats and thanking them for their service to Israel.  Naddaf's Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum, with support from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, seeks to increase the number of Christian Arabs enlisting in the IDF.According to figures provided by the IFCJ, the number of Christians drafted into the IDF has steadily increased from just 40 in 2012 to more than 100 in 2014 and in March of 2015 alone, 102 Christian Arabs were inducted into the army, through the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum.  “I believe Israel's Christian community should integrate more into mainstream Israeli society,” Naddaf recently said. “Why do the Druse serve? Why do the Beduin serve? But not the Christians? It's because they're scared. This has to change. It's time to say in a loud and clear voice: Enough," he added.  At a recent Jerusalem ceremony, Naddaf, who prefers to call Arab Christians Israeli Christians, thanked “Christian donors around the world” for supporting him through IFCJ.  IFCJ's founder and president, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, told Naddaf at the ceremony: “You're at the forefront of a just cause. Trust, equality and mutual assistance between citizens is crucial for the continued existence of a just and strong Israeli society.”IFCJ estimates that there are an estimated 165,000 Arab Christians in Israel. 

In historic first, Israel to award academic prizes to 40 IDF Christian veterans

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Study shows Arab caregivers lead in compassion, humanity


http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Study-shows-Arab-caregivers-lead-in-compassion-humanity-436741

The difference is so significant, the researchers said, that it would be worthwhile for the Arab caregivers to train others to make their own care more humane.


Arab caregivers treat elderly people with dementia in the most humane and compassionate way – more than native Israelis and Russian- born Jewish immigrants, according to a study by researchers at Bar-Ilan University’s Galilee Medical Faculty and Poriya Hospital near Tiberias.The difference is so significant, the researchers said, that it would be worthwhile for the Arab caregivers to train others to make their own care more humane.Poriya’s Dr. Amitai Oberman and Bar-Ilan’s Dr. Miri Bentwich and Dr. Naomi Dickman, interviewed 20 caregivers with the three different backgrounds and analyzed questionnaires on autonomy of patients and human dignity that were answered by 200 people who give care to those with dementia in geriatric institutions belonging to each sector.All of them live and work in the Galilee.The difference is so significant, the researchers said, that it would be worthwhile for the Arab caregivers to train others to make their own care more humane.Poriya’s Dr. Amitai Oberman and Bar-Ilan’s Dr. Miri Bentwich and Dr. Naomi Dickman, interviewed 20 caregivers with the three different backgrounds and analyzed questionnaires on autonomy of patients and human dignity that were answered by 200 people who give care to those with dementia in geriatric institutions belonging to each sector.All of them live and work in the Galilee.The caregivers from the groups were presented with theoretical cases much like those they encounter at their workplaces. They were asked how they would react in routine situations. The Arab caregivers – whether female or male – were found to give better treatment to those who have Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia than the other group. This is apparently due to different cultural concepts, including respect for the elderly. This was followed by questionnaires about honoring privacy, religious beliefs and ceremonies and giving explanations, encouraging independence of patients, consideration for families, effective communication and giving time to the individual.Treatment by Arabs was most humane, followed quite closely by native Israelis and, far behind, by Russian immigrants.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Yad Vashem honors American GI who told Nazis 'We are all Jews'


Captured by the Germans during the battle of the bulge, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds instructed all of the soldiers in the camp to show up alongside their Jewish comrades.

http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Yad-Vashem-honors-American-GI-who-told-Nazis-We-are-all-Jews-436103


An American non-commissioned officer who defied the Nazis while in captivity by refusing to identify Jewish POWs was posthumously honored with the title of Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem on Wednesday. (02.nov.2015)
The title, granted after extensive research and corroboration, is intended to honor those who risked their own lives to rescue Jews during the Holocaust.
Captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds of the US 422nd Infantry Regiment was the senior officer in the American section of the Stalag IXA prisoner of war camp.
When Nazi guards demanded all Jewish prisoners report the following morning, in a move reminiscent of the movie Spartacus, Edmonds instructed all soldier inmates in the camp to show up alongside their Jewish comrades.
When camp commandant Major Siegmann saw the entire American contingent standing and identifying as Jews he exclaimed, “they cannot all be Jews,” and Edmonds replied, “we are all Jews.”
Siegmann then drew his pistol on Edmonds, who coolly responded that “according to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank and serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us, and after the war you will be tried for war crimes.”
Outfaced by Edmonds, the commandant turned and walked away.