City Notes: 1st neurosurgery department in Galilee

By TAMARA ZIEVE
Sunset at the kinneret 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
Sunset at the kinneret 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
NORTH
A neurosurgery department was opened in the Galilee last week, a goal that various medical officials in the region had spent years working toward. The department was established in the Western Galilee Hospital, the government hospital in Nahariya, and is equipped with advanced technology to treat a variety of diseases and head injuries.
One of the leading brain surgeons in Israel, Prof.
Jean Sustiel, is head of the department.
Hospital director Dr. Masad Barhoum described the opening of the department as a “historic day for medicine in the periphery and another step in the revolution that is taking place at the Western Galilee Hospital.”
The department is the first of its kind in the Galilee and the seventh in Israel.
In line with government policy for the advancement of health services for residents of the peripheries, the Health Ministry advocated the opening of the neurosurgery department for many years. The Western Galilee Hospital stated that until now, northern residents who had suffered head injuries could not receive immediate medical attention and had to be taken to other medical centers in the country.
Last year’s statistics revealed that 150 patients who went to the emergency room at the Nahariya hospital had to be transferred for further treatment at neurosurgery wards in other hospitals.
The hospital emphasized that the new department was expected to be of service to residents of the entire country, but most of all to its northern population.Galilee woman allegedly stabbed by brother dies in hospital A 21-year-old woman who police believed was stabbed by her brother at their home in Ibillin in the Galilee on Sunday succumbed to her wounds at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa on Monday morning. An initial police investigation into the incident found that a family quarrel led to the stabbing.
The 22-year-old suspect was scheduled to face a remand hearing in Nazareth on Monday morning.
Police said on Sunday that the victim’s father admitted that his son was responsible for the stabbing.Man’s corpse found in Haifa near burnt warehouse A man’s burnt corpse was discovered on Saturday near a warehouse that had caught fire in Haifa over the weekend. Magen David Adom paramedics were called to the scene. The man was estimated to be in his 40s. According to the police, he was burned on Friday night, and it was not known whether the cause of the incident was criminal.
Man shot and killed in Nazareth A man who was shot in Nazareth died of his wounds in hospital on Monday morning. Police opened an investigation into the incident; they suspected that the gunman shot the victim from a moving vehicle and fled the scene.CENTER
JDC runs leadership seminar to mark International Women’s Day The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) held a five-day seminar in Israel in honor of International Women’s Day last week.
The event marked the organization’s second International Women’s Leadership Workshop and focused on women as proactive change makers in the fields of education, global development and disaster relief. Seventeen prominent female NGO and civil society leaders participated in the seminar, traveling to Israel from various countries such as Argentina, Bosnia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Russia, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Tanzania and the US.
“One of the most powerful trends we see in humanitarian work today is the unparalleled role of women as trailblazers and forces for good in communities worldwide. We’re very proud to have these leaders join us and be enriched by JDC’s global expertise,” said JDC CEO Alan H. Gill. “This is an important opportunity to further cultivate a growing network of women who can connect, collaborate and innovate across borders and during times of crisis.”
The program included sessions on empowering women, partnership building and best practices training, particularly focusing on the fields of resource development, impact measurement and public speaking. Additionally, the women visited JDC-Israel projects focused on education, employment, community development and helping people with disabilities. All the participants committed themselves to establishing similar networking and peer support undertakings in their home countries, using the knowledge and skills they had developed over the five days of training.
“I think JDC has taken a big risk with us, as it is a very complicated and unusual event – a leadership seminar that is not only for women but from all around the world. Israel is known as a nation-building state, with a creative and ever-developing society – therefore, it was only natural to host this unique seminar here in Israel,” remarked participant Mirai Chatterjee, director of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India.
Drunk driver hits four cars at traffic light A drunk driver in his late 40s caused an accident involving four other vehicles when he drove into the back of one of the cars that was stopped at a red light on Saturday near a gas station on Route 44. Paramedics took two people who were lightly injured to the hospital. Police arrested the driver.
Cleaning woman allegedly steals money from employer A cleaning woman allegedly stole NIS 30,000 from a house she was cleaning in the Sharon region, police said Monday.
Police arrested the woman, who confessed to the crime during questioning and returned some of the stolen money to her employers. The suspect was released on bail.
Two suffer smoke inhalation in Ramat Gan fire Two residents suffered smoke inhalation in a fire that broke out in a residential building in Ramat Gan on Friday evening, according to police. The fire spread to the building’s top floor.
Firefighters were called to the scene and put out the flames.SOUTH
Negev residents campaign in push to make the desert bloom A small group of desert dwellers launched an agricultural campaign last week to make the Mitzpe Ramon region bloom, with argan trees. Projects initiators Yoni and Shoshana Rappaport have fixed their sights on a desert filled with these trees, which are particularly suitable for the desert climate. The trees can go without water for 10 years, Shoshana explains in their campaign video. Argans have been grown in the Negev as a research crop for 25 years. The tree produces oil described as “liquid gold” in its native Morocco, which can be used for food and cosmetics.
As part of a pilot project, the Rappaports and other families are receiving parcels of land just outside Mitzpe Ramon and hope to prove to the government that argan should be added to its list of approved crops and receive funding aid. The Rappaports envision that their venture will develop into a booming industry that will change the face of the region and cause Mitzpe Ramon “to finally come alive.”
Treasure hunters caught red-handed at archeological site Four Beduin Negev residents were caught red-handed, digging up an archeological site last week, while searching for “hidden treasures,” the Local website reported. Supervisors for the Theft Prevention Unit of the Antiquities Authority, with the assistance of Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspectors and Border Police, caught the four suspects near Rahat as they were carrying out excavations using heavy mechanical tools in efforts to uncover ancient treasures, according to the report.
The suspects allegedly dug a tunnel about 15 meters long, four meters wide and two meters deep, destroying the ancient walls and causing irreparable damage to the site. The four were detained, questioned and brought for a remand extension at the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court.
Guy Fitoussi, supervisor of the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit, decried the incident, stressing that “the damage caused to ancient sites constitutes irreversible harm to a heritage that belongs to us all.” The Local website quoted him as saying, “a blow to a site like this erases forever part of the puzzle of the country’s history.”
He added, “The IAA invests much effort in preventing and deterring theft of antiquities. Excavating an ancient site without permission and damaging it is a serious offense, punishable by law with five years in prison.”