The sun is shining,
weather a bit warm by still enjoy the view,
The Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, from the Tayelet.
שבת שלום
Jerusalem
20 Years Israel – European Cooperation Celebrated in Jerusalem
Much attention was focused on Paris, France,
which featured a Peace Conference without the main players present.
However, a conference involving the EU in Jerusalem, Israel,
received much less attention and took place
at the Jerusalem Theater.
For 20 years, Israel and Europe have been working
together on science, research, and development
under a program named ISERD,
Israel-Europe Research and Development.
In celebration of 20 years of cooperation
a conference was convened.
The first of three panels was on excellence in science,
and all the participants were women.
The video programs screened between panel presentations
highlighted some of the outstanding and
advanced technologies developed in multiple fields.
If you need a special pump for an experiment,
just make it and use it.
The head of IBM Cyber Security
was on a panel with the Head of Technology of Israel Police.
Many of the discussions sounded like science fiction,
from imagining technology to fuels from waste water and more.
Lars Faaborg-Andersen EU Ambassador to Israel was all smiles.
He often speaks about EU-Israel cooperation.
In Paris it was hard to see,
but whatever they said and did in Paris,
Europeans have been funding projects in Israel for at least 20 years.
Hundreds of researchers and funders gathered,
networked, and talked during the ISERD conference.
Research equipment can be complex and costly.
The EU has a program called Horizon 2020,
which offers billions of Euros to bolster the EU’s
position as a world leader in science.
Europeans want Israeli entrepreneurs to invent
what the EU needs and lacks in areas of development.
The World Economic Forum has named Israel as
second most innovative country in the world after Switzerland.
Israel is opening a new Innovation program next week.
Israeli Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs,
will have more grant opportunities available
for research projects.
The sky is no longer the limit.
Israeli ingenuity is in demand.
Did you see any media coverage anywhere
of the ISERD 20th celebration?
It happened last week in Jerusalem, Israel.
Diplomats make their declarations,
while Israelis are turning amazing ideas into reality.
Jerusalem after Another Terror Attack
There is a spot in Jerusalem, Israel,
with so majestic a view
that tourists from around the world
are brought by the busload to appreciate the sight.
The Sherover Promenade which leads to the Haas Promenade
has a view of the Old City of ancient Jerusalem surrounded by its walls
and all the neighborhoods adjacent to it.
Parties, reunions, weddings and more,
are held along these promenades, called the Tayelet.
On Friday, January 13, 2017,
they were almost deserted.
The lawns by the road were now lined with metal barriers.
Ironically, as I approached,
a large white truck was pulling away.
It was on Sunday, just a few days before,
that a terrorist had rammed his large white truck into a crowd
of young Israeli soldiers on an outing to appreciate the view.
Four were killed and more injured.
On Friday afternoon,
local residents gathered at the spot,
to mourn, to remember.
and to light a candle
at the make-shift memorials.
They also sang songs of peace and hope,
and melodies to welcome the Shabbat.
While community members joined together
to take back their valued space,
Artists4Israel worked on a mural.
One of the organizers shared her thoughts,
“Our neighborhood has been hit
by several terrorist attacks over this past year,
but we continue to rise again and again,
because this is what we do.”
“There should be peace within your borders,
serenity in your palaces.”
What else is there to say?
AMEN.