Israeli singer David D'Or started his professional life as a classically trained tenor, and graduated from the Jerusalem Music Academy. He also worked with the Israeli National Theater Habima for four years, performing in a variety of plays, among them "Blood Marriage" by Lorka, "Cabaret", "Tartuffe", music by Giya Kancheli, "Cry My Beloved County", music by Kurt Weill.

Side by side with his classical education, David D'Or was always drawn by ethnic music, an interest which led him in 1995 to produce his first album with the group Natural Choice, comprised of ethnic musicians. That same year, he recieved an invitation from the Vatican to perform for the Pope. His concert integrated original ethnic music, with European classics.

David D'Or has since been invited to many performances thoughout Italy, has toured the USA's major cities, as well as in Germany, Turkey and Sweden. He has six albums to his name and is a regular guest performer with the world's most prestigious orchestras, among them the Baltimore Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Rome Philharmonic, Budapest Philharmonic, and Vienna Symphony.

In 1997, the Ra'anana Symphony Orchestra commisioned an original work, especially written for D'Or, called "The Children of God". The music comprises sentences appearing in the three religions, Jewish, Moslem and Christian, emphasizing the message of 'love your neighbor'. The work was composed by the famous Georgian composer Josef Bardanashvilli, and subsequently opened a series of concerts of the orchestra in Israel and thoughout the USA. In 2001 David D'Or was named Israel's Singer of the Year and was also awarded Best Vocal Performer.

David D'Or's repertoire includes original music, Jewish traditional songs, Israeli classics, ethnic music, as well as classical music and songs from musicals.

A jury appointed by Israel Broadcasting Authority decided that David D'Or will represent Israel at the Eurovision 2004 song contest, which will open in Istanbul on May 12, performing the song "Lehaamin" - "To Believe":

To have a dream
To have a dream that maybe one day we can find the way
To have a dream
To have a dream that people help each other on a cloudy day
To have a dream of you and me
Living together feeling free
To have a dream of love
To have a dream...

I do believe I do believe that maybe one day we can find the way
I do believe that love will rise and shine again before our eyes
I still believe in life.

Lyrics: David D’Or
Music: David D’Or and Ofer Meiri
Musical arrangement and production: Ofer Meiri

Biological computer diagnoses cancer and produces and drug - in a test tube

Weizmann Institute scientist’s vision: Microscopic computers will function inside living tissues, performing diagnosis and administering treatment.

The world’s smallest computer (around a trillion can fit in a drop of water) might one day go on record again as the tiniest medical kit. Made entirely of biological molecules, this computer was successfully programmed to identify - in a test tube - changes in the balance of molecules in the body that indicate the presence of certain cancers, to diagnose the type of cancer, and to react by producing a drug molecule to fight the cancer cells. The Weizmann Institute of Science team that developed the computer published these results today in Nature. Headed by Prof. Ehud Shapiro, of the Departments of Computer Sciences and Applied Mathematics, and Biological Chemistry, the team included research students Yaakov Benenson, Binyamin Gil, Uri Ben-Dor and Dr. Rivka Adar. Shapiro presented the team’s findings today at the Brussels symposium “Life, a Nobel Story,” in which Nobel Laureates and others addressed the future of the life sciences. As in previous biological computers produced in Shapiro’s lab, input, output and “software” are all composed of DNA, the material of genes, while DNA-manipulating enzymes are used as “hardware.” The newest version’s input apparatus is designed to assess concentrations of specific RNA molecules, which may be overproduced or under produced, depending on the type of cancer.

Clockwise from top left: Binyamin Gil, Prof Ehud Shapiro, Uri Ben-Dor, Yaakov Benenson and Rivka Adar

Using pre-programmed medical knowledge, the computer then makes its diagnosis based on the detected RNA levels. In response to a cancer diagnosis, the output unit of the computer can initiate the controlled release of a single-stranded DNA molecule that is known to interfere with the cancer cell’s activities, causing it to self-destruct.

In one series of test-tube experiments, the team programmed the computer to identify RNA molecules that indicate the presence of prostate cancer and, following a correct diagnosis, to release the short DNA strands designed to kill cancer cells. Similarly, they were able to identify, in the test tube, the signs of one form of lung cancer. One day in the future, they hope to create a “doctor in a cell”, which will be able to operate inside a living body, spot disease and apply the necessary treatment before external symptoms even appear.

The original version of the biomolecular computer (also created in a test tube) capable of performing simple mathematical calculations, was introduced by Shapiro and colleagues in 2001.  An improved system, which uses its input DNA molecule as its sole source of energy, was reported in 2003 and was listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest biological computing device.
 
Shapiro: “It is clear that the road to realizing our vision is a long one; it may take decades before such a system operating inside the human body becomes reality. Nevertheless, only two years ago we predicted that it would take another 10 years to reach the point we have reached today.”

Prof. Ehud Shapiro's research is supported by the M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research, the Samuel R. Dweck Foundation, the Dolfi and Lola Ebner Center for Biomedical Research, the Benjamin and Seema Pulier Charitable Foundation, and the Robert Rees Fund for Applied Research.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,500 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Further information can be obtained online at: www.weizmann.ac.il/udi/PressRoom or by contacting the Weizmann Institute Publications and Media Relations Department at 972-8-934-3856.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv Euroleague champions

Euroleague, May 1: It's time to paint the basketballs yellow instead of orange! The Euroleague has a new champion tonight after Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Skipper Bologna 118-74 in a record-breaking show never before seen in European basketball. Maccabi won with the most points by the biggest difference ever, going back almost 50 years since the start of European pro basketball.

Maccabi's spectacular blowout punctuated a season that has lifted European basketball to new and greater heights. Before one of the most euphoric crowds in basketball history, Maccabi made a dream of the entire country of Israel come true without any bit of suspense.

©2004 Reuters/Goran Tomasevic

From the opening tap, Maccabi ruled its home floor at Nokia Arena, soaring to a 25-point halftime lead and never looking back. It marked the fourth time that Maccabi has lifted a cup as a continental champion. Though it had a home crowd of 10,458 was fully behind it, Maccabi took nothing for granted. Its 55 first-half points was a record in the Final Four era, and it's defense was just as impressive. By the middle of the third quarter, it was showtime, as the Final MVP, Anthony Parker, rocked the rim with reverse dunks and Sarunas Jasikevicius dropped triples. The party had long since begun in the stands, and the celebration will not stop anytime soon. Maccabi is champion of Europe, and there was no doubt about it!

There were tears if joy in the stands, while the whole country got ready for a long, long night of celebration. Maccabi Tel Aviv, the team that represents Israel best all around the world, more than a team to most of its citizens, has succeeded in his biggest goal of the season: become the new Euroleague champion on its own court at Nokia Arena!

Full story

Earliest Man-made fire discovered in Israel

(Maariv, May 2): Research headed by Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology has found evidence of the use of fire at a site dating from about 790,000 years ago. The site, Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, is located near the banks of the Jordan River. The findings were published in Science Magazine.

The find "enlarges the scope of our understanding of the behavioral patterns of the early humans," Goren-Inbar said. "It allows us to understand that these hominids were capable of coping with dangers, food, acquire warmth and later on in the history of mankind enabled some very meaningful technological inventions."

The earliest previously known sites in Europe and Asia showing evidence of human use of fire date to about 500,000 years ago. The new finding pushes back the earliest evidence for use of fire by more than a quarter-million years.

Residents of this site have been assumed to be the now extinct Homo Erectus, but may also have been an archaic version of modern humans, Homo Sapiens. Naama Goren-Inbar said that further excavations could perhaps unearth remains of the people who made the fire. Such a find could shed much light on one of evolution’s unsolved mysteries, where, how and when did Homo Erectus or one of the sub-species associated with him evolve into Homo Sapiens.

15 Italian athletes participate in Jerusalem-to-Bethlehem Peace Marathon

Fifteen Italian marathoners arrived in Israel to participate in the Jerusalem-to-Bethlehem Peace Marathon held on April 23. Pope John II gave his blessing to the torch that was carried by the Italian athletes participating in the peace race, running for about 10 kilometers along the walls of Jerusalem's Old City and ending in Bethlehem. The Tourism Ministry has pointed out that the athletes' arrival symbolizes a significant development in Catholic pilgrimage from Italy. The marathon was aimed at encouraging peace in the region and increasing Catholic pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

The runners were accompanied by 200 pilgrims and athletes, led by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar of the Diocese of Rome and president of the Italian Bishops Conference, and Dr. Gianni Petrucci, president of the Italian National Olympic Committee. Cardinal Ruini opened the race and welcomed the runners in Bethlehem.

View video 

The decision to renew Catholic pilgrimage to Israel followed the publication of a letter by the Italian Bishops Conference calling on all bishops to renew pilgrimage to the Holy Land, so that each week pilgrims will arrive from a different diocese, led by its bishop.
 
Catholic pilgrimage to Israel is recovering. In 2003, almost 25,500 tourists arrived from Italy. January and February 2004 saw an increase of 94% in tourist arrivals from Italy in contrast with the same period last year. Israel Tourism Minister Benny Elon said he was pleased with the recovery in Catholic pilgrimage to Israel. The minister welcomed the Italian athletes and bishops arriving for the race.

A Covenant Sealed In Blood
(Communicated by Magen David Adom)
by Merav David, translated by Sasha Cooklin

Courtesy Magen David Adom

May 2: Brothers Ma'azan and Salaam Dana, both doctors, live in East Jerusalem, and volunteer at the Magen David Adom station in the west side of the city. This is how the "intifada" reveals itself to Palestinians, who go from one terrorist attack to the other in order to save lives.

"Salaam was at the attack at Liberty Bell Park. I was at the attack in Rehavia. We were both at the Café Hillel  attack, and at French Hill. We saw the attack on Beth Israel from our parents' house, and we ran there immediately."

Dr. Ma'azan Dana, 48, has the uncomfortable privilege of a first eyewitness recount of nearly every terrorist attack which has taken place in Jerusalem. The two brothers, who are Palestinians and residents of the Beth Hanina neighborhood in East Jerusalem, are both heads of clinics, and have been Magen David Adom volunteers for over twelve years.

All the security and rescue figures in the capital know the two well. "During the first intifada, I was a young doctor," Salaam recalls. "After one of the stabbing attacks, a group of youngsters formed a crowd, yelling 'Death to the Arabs'. I don't know how they guessed I was an Arab, but they quite possibly sensed my fear, and they surrounded me. One of the paramedics protected me with his body, and locked me in the ambulance for protection."

Even today, years later, they still have to make excuses. "People find it hard to comprehend when I go out to the scene of an attack only a day after the IDF bombed Gaza. But I'm not humiliated; it's my work," Ma'azan says. His brother adds: "When we treat someone who is injured we don't start examining their origins. One day, I was in the ambulance, and we were called toTsur-Bahar, where a terrorist had tried to stab a soldier. The soldier was slightly wounded, and the Palestinian was seriously injured by shots fired by another soldier. The wounded soldier was being transferred to the mobile care unit, and I had the Palestinian placed in his stead. The soldiers said: 'What are you doing? He's a terrorist.' It doesn't matter to me; the person suffering the more serious wounds will be the first to receive my attention."

We travel along in the ambulance, and stop near Café Hillel  on Emek Refaim street. "This is where the worst attack took place; I'll never forget it as long as I live," Salaam says. Dr. David Applebaum, head of the Emergency Unit of the Sha'arei Zedek Hospital, who lost his life in the attack, was a close friend. "That evening, I was on call between 18:00 and midnight. I was tired, there were only a few patients, and two more doctors in the clinic, so at a quarter to eleven I announced I was leaving. I got as far as French Hill, and turned back. I thought that something might happen, and I'd be needed. One minute after I returned, the received the alert of the terror attack."

That night, Dr. Applebaum and his daughter Nava were at the Café, having a father-daughter conversation. Nava's wedding was to have taken place the following day.

"Whenever there was a terror attack, Dr. Applebaum would always call in, to make enquiries and organize the emergency unit. He didn't call that night, but I thought it was because he might be busy with the wedding arrangements," Salaam said. "When I arrived on the scene and began attending the wounded, I didn't even look at the bodies. When we finished, I saw Ma'azan had arrived, and I told him to stay on and sign the death certificates. I returned to the clinic, to where I assumed some of the wounded had been transferred. Three people telephoned me on the way, and asked if I'd seen Dr. Applebaum. At the beginning, I didn't quite understand. I thought they meant he was coming to help out because he lived nearby."

We passed Jerusalem's new central bus station, and return to the Magen David station. Salaam points at a traffic light "When I arrived here, Ma'azan called, and told me to return to the scene of the attack. He didn't make any further explanations. I returned. I had to identify Dr. Applebaum, because the body was scorched. I identified him by his clothes and watch, but I was so distraught by the shock and tears, that I couldn't make a definite identification of his daughter. I just couldn't. I drove straight to the Sha'arei Zedek Hospital. When I arrived, all his family were there, waiting. His wife saw me, and she immediately understood what had happened."

At the Magen David Adom station in Jerusalem, there are Arab ambulance drivers, ultra-Orthodox Jewish volunteers and paramedics who are settlers. Everybody seems to accept this mélange quite naturally. "There are 16 Jewish doctors in Magen David Adom, but when the children of my settler friends from Kiryat Arba are having a medical problem, they call me for assistance," Salaam says.

"If it was up to us, there would have been peace long ago." Ma'azan says, and smiles. An ultra-Orthodox Jewish volunteer, the head of the Magen David team of the Geula neighborhood, sits by him and listens. Salaam claims that Magen David Adom should remain detached from politics, but he can't help adding: "We oppose violence."

Upcoming Events

Jerusalem Conference of Mayors: 35 mayors from over 20 countries are expected to visit Jerusalem and tour Israel from May 9-15 as participants of the 22nd Jerusalem Conference of Mayors. The event, which welcomes one of the largest ever delegations of its kind to Israel, and follows the invitation of Mayor of Jerusalem Uri Lupolianski and the Jerusalem Municipality, is sponsored by the American Jewish Congress – Council for World Jewry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Tourism and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The visiting leaders include mayors from cities around the world including Stockholm, Milan, Buenos Aires, and Cleveland, Ohio, as well as the past prime minister of Estonia and president of the US Conference of Mayors. 

The theme of the conference, “The Role of Mayor in Times of Crisis,” is reflected in sessions highlighting disaster preparedness and emergency response, homeland security issues, and will present hi-tech business opportunities for municipality leaders.

Environment 2004: The 3rd International Exhibition & Conference for Environmental Technologies will take place in Israel’s Exhibition Center in Tel Aviv on 8-10 June 2004. The exhibition is sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment in conjunction with the Israel Export Institute, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Manufacturers Association of Israel. Several conferences and seminars  will take place within the framework of the exhibition.

See  http://www.environment-israel.com/about.html

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International Cantorial Concert in Yad Vashem’s Warsaw Ghetto Square: As part of the events being held to mark Yad Vashem’s Jubilee Year, an International Cantorial Concert will be held on June 9, 2004  in Yad Vashem’s Warsaw Ghetto Square. During the concert, restored works by the greatest pre-war cantors, conductors, vocalists and musicians will be heard for the first time, performed by the Yuval Choir and renowned cantors from Israel and around the  world.

See http://www.yad-vashem.org.il/visiting/hazanut.html