Israel Beyond Politics - June 2004 (2)

Israeli scientists help vultures spread their wings

In what is being hailed as a scientific breakthrough that could help preserve an endangered species, two Israeli Griffon vultures with crippled wings have successfully mated and hatched a fledgling.

Scientists had previously believed that vultures that are unable to fly could not mate because they cannot balance properly, according to Yonit Sela, an Israeli ornithologist involved in a project to revive Israel's dwindling Griffon vulture population. The program, Spreading Wings, works to resuscitate the vulture population and has set up 20 feeding and nesting stations around the country.

In addition, Sela and her colleagues have worked over a period of time to provide five crippled vultures optimal mating conditions. They met with success when they discovered an egg in a nest two of them had built. To ensure the egg would hatch, it was placed in an incubator at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, and a fake plaster replacement put in the nest, Sela said. Fifty-seven days later, the egg hatched. The ornithologists were concerned the parents would not accept their offspring because the hatching had not taken place in the nest, but were surprised; within five minutes of the young male being returned to the nest, the mother had brought him food. "He was welcomed in exceptional way," Sela told Israel's Army Radio.

Griffon vultures, once a common sight in the Mideast, have nearly disappeared. In the past, the vultures were an integral part of the natural landscape of the country. Israel's Griffon vultures are the only large vultures that are pale colored. They live in mountainous areas, nesting on cliff ledges. With a wingspan of up to seven feet, they soar to great heights looking for food. When food is located, a large noisy group forms, and what seems like fighting, is in fact, each vulture helping the other to tear loose strips of meat.

It was estimated that in the late 1880s, Griffon vultures numbered in the thousands. In the mid-1950s, there were still approximately 1000 couples. Today there are only 70 breeding pairs in the country, a drop of 95%. In whole areas of the country, vultures have totally disappeared. The reasons for the disappearance include the use of pesticides and toxic ecological pollution, the destruction of breeding sites or disturbances by man, a drop in the availability of food sources due to changes in agricultural markets and farming methods.

The Nature Reserves Authority, the Israel Electric Company, and the leading zoos in the country are all working return the vultures to Israel, from which they have almost disappeared. In this project all the vultures have been marked and their mates have been identified. Breeding cages have been built, like the large predatory bird cage at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. Their genetic profile has been checked, and new methods of treating the eggs and chicks have been developed. Since 1989, over 60 chicks have been raised in Israel and 43 have been released. The Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem has been a part of this project since 1994, when a large breeding aviary was built.

Israel is not alone in the effort. Across Asia, bird-conservation groups, in cooperation with government officials, are racing to establish captive-breeding facilities in a final bid to rescue the vultures from the brink of extinction, by encouraging the birds to breed and raise young. In India, organizations such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is working in India with the Bombay Natural History are working to save various breeds of vulture by setting up such centers, which are also designed to look after sick and injured birds.

The effort is being fueled by the impact of the vulture decline, which is already being felt throughout Asia. Rotting carcasses left uneaten by vultures pose a health hazard. Such carcasses are linked to the spread of diseases such as anthrax, according to the conservationists. Other animals, such as rats, cats, and dogs, are filling the niche once filled by vultures. Wild dog populations in particular have increased substantially, leading to an increase in the spread of rabies and physical attacks on people.

The enclosure at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo operates in close conjunction with all the authorities throughout the country that are participating in the Spreading Wings program to save the vultures. The Israel Raptor Breeding Center operates behind the scenes in the program, by taking the eggs of rare species such as the Griffon vultures for the purpose of incubation. Eventually, the chicks are either returned to their biological parents or deposited with adoptive parents.

Courtesy http://www.israel21c.org/

Sub-Saharan Africa blooms with Israel's cooperation
By Nahum Finkelstein

One wouldn't necessarily imagine a Jewish Israeli professor and a Moslem African vegetable farmer striking up a friendship. But Prof. Dov Pasternak, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has formed a unique partnership and a special personal relationship with Issaka Dandakoye from Niamey, Niger.

For the past five years, Pasternak has been busy in Niger - in the sub-Saharan area of Africa called the Sahel - developing a horticultural production system called the African Market Garden (AMG) for farmers with small parcels of land. Known throughout the land affectionately as 'Professor Dov', the former head of the university's Institute for Agriculture and Biology developed the system based mainly on vegetables with a few fruit trees placed in the field. It is irrigated with a gravity (low-pressure) drip irrigation system, with field size is limited to about 500 square meters.

When 'Professor Dov' was looking for farmers to experiment with the AMG, he approached Dandakoya, a 4th generation vegetable farmer in the area. Dandakoya volunteered to set one up in one of his fields, and was duly impressed with the results. As a result of that experiment, at the end of April, Pasternak and Dandakoya inaugurated a four-acre AMG vegetable farm in the presence of the General Secretary of the Ministry of Agricultural Development of Niger featuring the first farmer operated pressurized drip irrigation system in Niger, and probably in all of West Africa.

The inauguration provided dramatic proof of the success of a three-year campaign to demonstrate the AMG concept in one of the poorest countries in the beleaguered continent faced with grinding poverty and lack of food security.

Pasternak sees the AMG as a way a way of optimizing the use of scarce arable land through the production of high-valued crops, such as vegetables and fruit, with high efficiency, thereby providing the farmer and his family with a steady source of income.

The AMG is based on drip irrigation, which Israeli farmers developed in the early years of the State, when it was faced with the challenge of feeding the flood of impoverished immigrants from its arid lands, and scarce water resources. The variant of drip irrigation used in the AMGs, Gravity Drip Irrigation, is adapted to the primitive conditions found in much of Africa - no electricity, no pumps, technically unsophisticated farmers. The design of the system was carried out in the light of a wide experience of drip irrigation and the deep knowledge of the requirements of the particular crops. The water flows under gravity from a simple tank standing one meter (40 inches) above the level of the field, and fitted with a filter and a tap. The tank is designed to deliver the exact amount of water that the crop loses by evaporation, and the flow rate of the water is controlled to prevent its leaching nutrients from the soil.

The World Bank provided the funds for a two-year demonstration of the AMG in Niger. According to Pasternak, 80 percent of the original 850 AMG's are still operating a year after the end of the two-year demonstration period. He pointed out that the yield and the quality of the produce of the AMGs is markedly higher, and the revenue at least four times that given by traditional farming methods - a single farmer working a one-eighth acre lot can earn $4,000 per annum in a country where the per capita GDP is $800.

USAID is sponsoring the introduction of the system in neighboring Bukina Fasso and Ghana. A total of 400 of the one-eighth-acre AMGs will be installed. The training of the NGO agents and the first group of farmers started at towards the end of this month.

From the beginning, Yitzhak Abt of Mashav, of the Foreign Ministry's Center for International Cooperation, grasped the significance of the concept and threw the Ministry's weight behind the project. At the other end of the continent, Mashav, and the South African NGO, Ikamva Labantu have introduced AMGs in a depressed, semi-arid region near the town of Cradock. 140 members of the Masizakhe Farmers Association work separate eighth-acre AMGs, and collaborate in marketing the surplus produce. The early results are impressive.

The guiding spirits behind Israel's efforts to improve agricultural practice in Africa, Pasternak and Abt, agree that the introduction of AMGs only represents the first stage of the work that requires to be done. The next stage is to introduce fruit trees and optimal varieties of the traditional crops. To this end, IPALC has set up an experimental station in Niger with the aim of selecting the strains of vegetables and fruit best adapted to the climate and soil conditions of the region. A similar function will be performed in South Africa by the Israeli agronomist who is responsible for the technical management of what promises to be a large enterprise.

Yitzhak Abt put the AMG potential in a broader context. "Subsistence farming, on which 45% of Africa's rural population depends, is less sustainable than it once was. Because of population pressure, farmers can no longer allow their land to recover its fertility by lying fallow for several years between crops." Abt believes that the technology will also alleviate another of Africa's growing problems, the exodus of rural people to the cities. By revitalizing the rural areas it will lessen the need to seek work elsewhere; if it is adopted in the peri-urban areas, will help increase the food security of the growing urban populations, and provide employment for some of the migrants.

Courtesy http://www.israel21c.org/

Professor Shabtai Rosenne receives The Hague Prize for International Law

The Board of The Hague Prize Foundation has decided to award the first Hague Prize to Israeli Professor Shabtai Rosenne, in recognition of his long and illustrious career as a scholar, diplomat, educator and arbitrator, and one of the leading experts on the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The Hague Prize for International law was established in 2002 and is awarded periodically to persons who  have made a special contribution to the development of international law or to the advancement of the rule of law in the world. The Prize was presented by the Mayor of The Hague in the Peace Palace on June 18, 2004. (More...)

Yachts from around the world visit Israel

On Tuesday, June 15, 2004 all 85 yachts and vessels of the East Mediterranean Yacht Rally (EMYR), entered the marina in Herzliya. The rally left Kemer port in Turkey and on its way stopped over in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Cyprus.

The EMYR is a two-month voyage in the East Mediterranean and is being held for the 15th consecutive year, under Turkish and international initiative and organization. The number of participants this year has been surprising in its scope – 100 yachts and vessels and 300 yachtsmen – three times the participation in the 2002 rally.

In Israel the Rally stopped at three ports of call: Haifa, Ashkelon and with the Herzliya Marina the final destination of the rally. During their stay the participants toured Jerusalem, Nazareth, the Dead Sea and the Negev Desert. In Ashkelon, The participants were welcomed with flowers, hats and stickers by representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.

Ms. Yael German, Mayor of Herzliya, congratulated the rally participants in a letter, saying, "This is an exceptional event in its scope. While the yachtsmen are in Israel we will do our utmost to show them the beauty of Herzliya and Israel, and so to turn them into goodwill ambassadors once they return to their respective countries.” 

Mr. Pini Milo, of the Ministry of Tourism, pointed out that the EMYR demonstrates that in spite of the images shown in the media, it is safe to sale throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region, and added that the event lends moral support to Israel and shows that Israel has friends in Europe and is not as isolated as it may seem sometimes.

The Herzliya Marina commenced operating in June 1995, and since then hundreds of sailing vessels have moored here. The largest, most modern and most unique marina in the East Mediterranean, it has 750 slips for different sized vessels of 30 meters and more.

American audiences to experience an Israeli 'bridge' to theater

One of Israel's most respected artistic institutions will be on display for American audiences when Israel's Gesher Theater performs at the Lincoln Center Festival next month. The troupe has been invited to mark the Centennial of Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer's birth by performing two plays based on his novels at the prestigious festival - The Slave and Shosha.

Founded in 1991 in Jaffa, Gesher is one of the only bi-lingual theaters in the world performing with the same cast in Hebrew and in Russian alternately. Artistic Director Yevgeny Arye, who was a reputable and successful stage and screen director in Moscow, laureate of many prizes in Russia, together with a group of his former students and actors, immigrated to Israel together and founded Gesher with $40,000 in seed money obtained for them by government minister, former refusenik and fellow immigrant Natan Sharansky. Their idea was to perform in Russian for the half a million culture-hungry immigrants from the Soviet Union. But Arye soon realized that if they were an Israeli theater, they'd also have to perform in Hebrew.

Gesher means bridge in Hebrew, and the theater has done its part to bridge the Russian and Israeli cultures. While the Gesher has helped Russian speakers integrate themselves into Israeli society, it has also influenced other Israeli theaters to move away from a method-acting style and to follow Arye's lead in his use of music in his productions. Gesher has also attracted several young Israeli actors who grew up speaking Hebrew.

In April 1991, Gesher formally opened in Tel Aviv with a Russian translation of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead. And since, it has received nonstop accolades. Within a few short years Gesher catapulted to the world's stage when the London Times hailed it as "one of the greatest and most important troupes in the world." Arye relishes the chance to perform Singer in the author's own backyard - New York City - which was Singer's home for much of his adult life.

Gesher will present The Slave, based on one of Singer's best-known novels, and Shosha, published in 1978, the year he won the coveted prize. In 2003, Gesher's version of The Slave swept five prizes at the Israeli Theater Academy Awards, including best play, best director and best leading actress.

The Slave tells the story of a yeshiva student who escapes a brutal pogrom in 17th century Poland only to be caught and enslaved on a Polish peasant farm. Wanda, his master's daughter, falls in love with him. Later, after fellow Jews ransom him from slavery, he returns for Wanda and takes her to a small Jewish village where they live as husband and wife. Wanda changes her name to Sarah and pretends to be mute to disguise her Christian identity. The couple finds that life among Jews is not much easier than life among the Poles. The play deals with issues of anti-Semitism and xenophobia but it is also a story of faith in human nature.

Shosha is the story of unique characters in unique circumstances, as Singer himself described his novel. The play unfolds in 1930s Warsaw under the ominous shadow of Hitler's ascent to power. Aaron (Tsutsik) Greidinger is a young writer surrounded by a colorful society of bohemians, philosophers, Communist revolutionists, Jews and gentiles. There are five women in his life including his childhood love, Shosha.

Arye says the 120-strong troupe always gets excited when it performs abroad, especially in the U.S. "We represent a certain type of culture from Israel and it's very important to expose it around the world."

Courtesy http://www.israel21c.org/

Kaye Innovation Awards to Hebrew University students

Novel 'delivery' method for nutrients wins Kaye Innovation Award for Hebrew University students

Increasingly, the public wants to “eat healthy,” consuming  foods that are high in the nutrients that are considered beneficial. The problem is that many of these food components are ultimately ineffective because their absorption via the digestive system is very limited.

In order to solve this problem, two Ph.D. students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have contributed to the development of “nanovehicles” that can successfully transport the desired components through the digestive system. For their successful work, the two students, Aviram Spernath and Idit Yuli-Amar are first-prize student winners of this year’s Kaye Innovation Awards at the Hebrew University.

Spernath and Yuli-Amar have been working under the supervision of Prof. Nissim Garti and Dr. Abraham Aserin at the Hebrew University’s Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry in developing nanodroplets and tiny liquid crystals that are effective in binding with, dissolving, stabilizing and retaining food or medicinal chemicals, thereby creating microemulsions. These nanodroplets or liquid-crystals, each bearing the desired bioactive chemicals, can be  incorporated into liquid or solid food, capsules, powders or tablets. The vehicles’ retentive qualities and nanostructure enable them to be successfully absorbed through digestive membranes. The method has significant health implications for both better nutrition and

The work carried out in Prof. Garti and Dr. Aserin’s laboratory at the Casali Institute has been further developed commercially through an Israeli company, NutraLease, started in cooperation with the Hebrew University’s Yissum Technology Transfer Company. One result has been the production and sale in food markets of a nutritionally-enhanced canola oil product.

Cancer cell detection technology wins Kaye Award

A unique technology for optoelectronic detection of the presence of cancer cells has been developed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem by a team of researchers headed by  Itamar Willner, Enrique Berman Professor of Solar Energy at the Institute of Chemistry.

The technology detects the presence of telomerase, an active enzyme appearing in cancer cells that is considered a general marker for different types of cancers.

For their work in development of this technology, the research team has been chosen as one of the winners of a Kaye Innovation Award. Working with Prof. Willner on this project have been Dr. Eugenii Katz, Dr. Fernando Patolsky and Yossi Weizmann.

The technology developed by the researchers works as follows:

When chemically-modified magnetic particles are brought into contact with cancer cell samples, the telomerase performs on the magnetic particles the same bioprocess that has occurred in the cancer cells. In this process, a chemically-modified nucleotide base is incorporated into the telomers. 

The modified magnetic particles are then separated from the cancer cell sample, and the incorporated material is used to bind a second enzyme that leads to the formation of light by the system. When this happens, it is an indication that cancer was detected on the particles. 

The method is highly sensitive, indicating the presence of even miniscule numbers of cancer cells in pathological samples. It has been successfully applied thus far to detect a variety of cancers in tissues and body fluids.

The technology has provided a basis for the formation of a joint venture company involving the university’s Yissum Technology Transfer Company and an Australian company. Under development through this joint venture is a diagnostic kit for the detection of cancer cells in urine samples. Further development is also expected to lead to kits for detecting colon cancer and leukemia in stool and blood samples, respectively.

The Kaye Innovation Awards have been given annually since 1994. Isaac Kaye of England, a prominent industrialist in the pharmaceutical industry, established the awards to encourage faculty, staff, and students of the Hebrew University to develop innovative methods and inventions with good commercial potential which will benefit the university and society.