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Israel at 55 - National Statistics
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics reported that Israel's population grew by 2 percent in the past 12 months, reaching 6.7 million, which is eight times its size of May 15, 1948, the first Independence Day. Since the state of Israel was founded in 1948, 3 million people from all over the world have immigrated. However, only 31,000 people arrived in 2002, the lowest number in 13 years, perhaps due to the shrinking pool of Jewish immigrants coming from the former Soviet Union. The report also noted that Israel accounts for 38 percent of the world's Jewish population. (Ha'aretz)

Secretary Powell Arrives in Mideast to Push Peace "Road Map"
"We said more than once that we share the vision of President Bush, as outlined in his speech of June 24th," calling for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict and an end to terrorism, Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said in welcoming Sec. of State Powell to Israel on Saturday night. (Jerusalem Post)

See also:

• The Roadblock on the Road Map by Charles Krauthammer (Washington Post)
• Israel's Friends Should Support Bush 'Road Map' by Yoram Peri and Shira Herzog (Boston Globe)

Documents on Israel Found in Baghdad by Judith Miller
While searching for an ancient copy of the Talmud dating from the seventh century in the basement of Iraqi intelligence headquarters, U.S. soldiers have found a trove of Iraqi intelligence documents and maps relating to Israel.  The finds included a map of Israel highlighted with the locations of Iraqi Scud missile strikes during the Persian Gulf war of 1991, a perfect mock-up of the Knesset and other official Israeli buildings, and a satellite picture of Israel's nuclear complex at Dimona. (New York Times)

Israeli Musicians Jazz Up New York Music
The impact Israeli musicians are having on the New York jazz scene is nothing short of remarkable. Double bass player Avishai Cohen relocated from a village in the Jerusalem Hills to New York, in 1992 and has made it big in the epicenter of the jazz world. Cohen, primarily known across the world as sideman to stellar pianist-keyboardist Chick Corea, was in the vanguard of what eventually became something of a mini-invasion of Israeli jazzmen and jazzwomen seeking their fortune in the Land of Opportunity. (Israel21C)

Issues on Campus:

Israeli Independence Day Celebrated Last Week

Campus Roundup from Hillel:

• San Francisco State University, where anti-Israel activities stunned the campus last year, Hillel students handed out strawberries in honor of Israel's agricultural achievements and pursuit of peace.
• The University of California, San Diego Hillel activists provided educational materials around the theme Got Israel?
• The University of Oklahoma Hillel hosted an Israel bloc party of more than 600 students that was addressed by the governor.
• University of Pennsylvania Hillel brought former Prime Minister Shimon Peres to campus.
• Stanford University Hillel played host to ZOA President Morton Klein.
• Arizona State Hillel sponsored an event called "Laughing toward Peace."
• Ohio State University Hillel brought the King David Drummer's Circle to campus.
• Yale University Hillel published the new Yale Israel Journal.
• Central Florida Hillel held an Israel Advocacy Teach-In.

UCLA: Bruins for Israel Holds Memorial for Terror Victims
Photocopied faces and biographies of victims of terrorist attacks in Israel lined the border of Bruin Walk last week as Bruins for Israel led a service for Israeli Memorial Day. Israeli Memorial Day is a time for people of all cultures and ethnicities to remember fallen Israeli and U.S. soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks, said Jennifer Dekel, a fourth-year communication studies student and member of Bruins for Israel. Many students pointed out the conflicting joy and grief that are present in Israeli Independence Week. Dekel also spoke of Israeli Memorial Day as a significant opportunity for students and faculty to stand in unity. "I'm Israeli, and every day I worry about my family's safety," said Tamar Spieler, a third-year history student. "So I want to take this day to remember those we have lost and stand unified with others who are doing the same," Spieler said. (Daily Bruin)

U of Illinois: Documentary Shows Israel through Eyes of Students
Nim Sharon, Josh Sandler, and Foster Lewin embarked on a trip to Israel during winter break with a goal - to make a film showing the beauty of Israel through the eyes of a student. The three students went with Alan Potash, Hillel Foundation director at the University. The film, titled Zero Degrees of Separation, played last week at the Illini Union. The film documents the students' journey as they interview University alumni living in Israel. According to Lewin, he and his friends wanted to make a film that showed Israel's true side. "A lot of us Jewish students at the University feel that most media outlets don't really show what life is like in Israel," Lewin said. "We see the bad things but don't see the beautiful. A lot of our alumni live incredible lives in Israel." View the film trailer. (Daily Illini)

Northwestern: Israel Week Starts with a Bang
The King David's Peace Drummers integrated drumming and singing to signify their hope for a peaceful world. Students read poems to honor the memory of soldiers who have died defending Israel and to celebrate the state's founding. "We can't understand the emotions of people who are in Israel right now," said Meredith Kesner, president of Students for Israel and a junior. "But we can take a moment to honor those who have defended and continue to defend the state of Israel." (Daily Northwestern)

Kansas: Jewish Students Celebrate Israeli Independence Day
Jewish students at the University of Kansas and members and leaders of the Jewish community gathered for a concert and barbecue last night. About 125 people gathered for the end of the year barbecue. "Itīs just really cool to see all these people together," said Tomas Ancelovici, Santiago, Chile, junior. "Itīs the last chance to be with a lot of Jewish students." Ancelovici also came as part of the KU Israeli Alliance. Ancelovici and Meghan Traxler, Dallas freshman, circulated the crowd collecting names and contact information for those interested in more information about their group. The Alliance was formed to educate students and community members about the relationship between the United States and Israel. (The Kansan)

Maryland: Camels, Students Celebrate Israel's Birth
What do you get when you put a pair of camels, a climbing wall, golf carts, 800 servings of falafel, tents and a half-dozen Israeli vendors on Hornbake Mall? Not a punchline to a politically incorrect joke, but instead the Jewish Student Union's "shuk," which is Hebrew for "market." The event - which coincided with yesterday's 55th Yom Ha'atzmaut, which is Israel's independence day - was meant to celebrate Israeli culture and help vendors who rely on the country's fickle tourism industry for their livelihood. (Diamondback)

UC Berkeley: Jewish Campus Paper Links Berkeley Donors to Al-Qaida
Funders of the University of California at Berkeley's Center for Middle Eastern Studies have links to Al-Qaida, according to a campus Jewish newspaper. Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud, who funds the center's Sultan Endowment for Arab studies, is a primary defendant in the $100 trillion lawsuit filed in U.S. District court by families of victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the Berkeley Jewish Journal wrote in a special investigative report. The paper also implicates Xenel Industries, a chief donor to the center's Al-Falah Program, which "supports better understanding of Islam, Muslim culture in the U.S. and economic development in the Islamic world," according to the Center for Middle Eastern Studies' Web site. Xenel's CEO, Abdullah Alireza, has links to the Swiss bank Dar al-Maal al-Islami, which has financed Al-Qaida through the bank's subsidiaries, the campus paper writes. Berkeley's Center for Middle Eastern Studies rejected the Jewish Journal's charges. (JTA)

Voices from the Campus:

Cornell: Searching for Peace by Matthew Cohen
Now that Saddam Hussein's regime is history, it is all but certain that the international community will focus on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The ultimate decision for peace clearly lies with the Palestinians. For the first time since Yasser Arafat seized control of the PLO in 1965, the Palestinians will have new leadership in Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. Regime change - the removal of Arafat - is the first step in the right direction. For the roadmap to be a starter, Abu Mazen and his new government must take many bold steps, which Chairman Arafat was unwilling to do. First and foremost, Abbas must call for the immediate cessation of violence and reject the use of terrorism as a mean for political gain. Second, the Palestinian government must recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State. There can be no right of return for the Palestinian refugees who fled Israel in 1948. Third, Abu Mazen must overhaul Palestinian infrastructure and coordinate effective security services. (Cornell Daily Sun)

U of Illinois: Jewish, Muslim Students Celebrate Common Ground
On the eve of Israeli Independence Day students gathered at the Illini Union not to protest, but to celebrate the similarities between Muslims and Jews at a symposium titled "Common Ground in the Holy Land." Co-creators Alison Siegel, Jewish and student president of the Hillel Foundation, and Sara Bokhari, Muslim and a senior in anthropology, said "common" was the key word for the event. Heated protests have taken place in past years on Israeli Independence Day on the part of Israeli and Palestinian students. Savva Amusin, junior in business, said the event was an ongoing process of the leaders of both communities to do something that was not typical. "Sometimes people think there's only one way to do things. This event is an effort to show that there are other ways," Amusin said. The event featured several booths set up to show different aspects of Muslim and Jewish culture such as poetry, architecture and language. Booths also explored the Jewish, Muslim, Baha'i and Christian religions. Several students sang songs from their own culture and told stories. (Daily Illini)

U of Chicago: Israeli Inequality Addressed
Shalom Dichter, an Israeli Jew, and Dr. As'ad Ghanem, a Palestinian, shared their unique perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the first event ever sponsored by the Jewish-Muslim dialogue group. Both men are co-directors of Sikkuy, an organization owned and run by both Jews and Palestinians. Founded in 1991, Sikkuy is an organization that advocates the cause of civic equality between Jews and Palestinians in Israel to Israeli governmental institutions. "I am a Zionist, a Jew, and a humanist," said Dichter, "and I have come to believe that advancing civic equality in Israel between Jews and Palestinians is in the very best interest of both peoples." (Chicago Maroon)

U of Washington: Bringing Mideast Conflict into Focus
Ask Muslim and Jewish student activists at the University of Washington if there is mounting tension on campus because of the current events surrounding the Middle East, and most will give you a resounding no. It's always been tense. The two groups converged last week when Ra'anan Gissin, senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, spoke to a crowd of more than 300. Although the majority of the attendees and those protesting the lecture were peaceful, some in the audience engaged in shoving and shouting matches. Campus police were on hand to pull both sides away from each other. About 15 members of local and campus Jewish groups peacefully protested at last night's lecture by Columbia University professor and author Edward Said, which was attended by more than 750. Some Jewish student activists characterize Said's writings as anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian. Though both sides agree to disagree on the philosophy of how to reach peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people, they say that creating a dialogue is the first step. (Seattle Times)

Students in Israel:

Israel: Not Just a War Zone by Micah Spellman
Someday, maybe the news will reveal the flowing hills of Golan overlooking luscious farm land, the bright lights of Tiberius reflecting off of the Sea of Galilee at night, the vibrant beaches of Tel Aviv at midday, the tranquil shores of the Dead Sea circumscribing the Judea Desert, the intense sun appearing above the towering Mount Masada at dawn, a massive cruise liner docking at a port in Haifa, the vast sands of the Negev Desert, or the antique residences lining the hills of Jerusalem. These are only a few scenes that portray the true Israel. The rich culture and history offered in the mystifying landscape of Israel cannot begin to be explained in one article, nor a thousand articles. It can only be understood by visiting the magnificent country. Micah Spellman attended the Summer 2002 birthright trip with Oranim Travel Israel.

Jewish Organizations on Campus:

Hillel's Interim President: Avraham Infeld
Hillel named veteran Jewish educator Avraham Infeld as interim president to guide the world's largest Jewish campus group for one year while it searches for a permanent president and international director. Infeld has served as Hillel's Counsel for Jewish Affairs for the last two years, visiting dozens of campuses around the world to address students, professionals and lay leaders. (Hillel)

Observations:

Celebrating Freedom on Israel Independence Day
by Dan Kaganovich

• 55 years ago, Israelis realized their age-old dream to live as a free people in their own land. Yom Ha'atzmaut is a celebration of freedom, falafel and an assertion of the right of the Jewish people, like every people, to self-determination.
• When I was 10 years old, my family and I fled from the Estonian Republic of the Soviet Union, a place where the word "Jew" was itself a grossly derogatory term and where affiliation with a Jewish national or religious movement - even the mere study of our Hebrew language - was punishable by imprisonment. Along with a group of other refugees, we left with the few belongings that could fit into a small suitcase and a duffel bag (which sometimes doubled as a bed for me and my five-year-old brother when we were stranded at various train stations in Austria, Hungary and Italy).
• There are two radically different ways to view and commemorate that freedom. Either, as Jews, we can remember our release from slavery by viewing ourselves as victims of terrible oppression, or we can celebrate our miraculous passage from slavery to freedom as the ultimate affirmation of human dignity, a pinnacle of human achievement.
• Yom Ha'atzmaut is a celebration of the Jewish people's refusal to see themselves as victims.
• While, many societies have historically used the fact that many of their people are refugees as an excuse for failure and belligerence, Israel has absorbed over a million refugees from the former Soviet Union and another million from surrounding Middle Eastern countries in less than a generation.
• One of the reasons that the propaganda against Israel and the Jewish people is so ubiquitous and overwhelming is that Israel poses an existential challenge to ideologies that identify themselves primarily with victimhood. How else does one explain that while the Jews claim only the smallest of lands as their own, they are accused of wanting too much - merely a piece of real estate the size of New Jersey?