UK ambassador celebrates Holocaust survivors’ club launch

City Notes: "You should be able to live in the comfort that you deserve," Gould tells survivors at new Kiryat Bialik club.

By TAMARA ZIEVE
UK Ambassador Matthew Gould 311 (photo credit: UK Embassy in Israel (YouTube))
UK Ambassador Matthew Gould 311
(photo credit: UK Embassy in Israel (YouTube))
NORTH
British Ambassador Matthew Gould and his wife Celia celebrated the official launch of the fourth Café Britannia Holocaust Survivors’ Club in Kiryat Bialik on Sunday.
The club was founded in the Tzur Shalom neighborhood, where a relatively large number of Holocaust survivors reside. The launch was the fruit of collaboration among the municipality, the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel, and the UK Jewish community, which generously supported the initiative. The project came about after Kiryat Bialik Mayor Eli Dukorsky and municipality staff identified a need to create a social setting for survivors. The club also serves other survivors living in the greater area.
“My wife, Celia, and I are thrilled to be here with you. We came to Israel just over two years ago, and when we came we knew we wanted to do something for the survivors,” Gould told community members at the opening, in a mixed Hebrew and English address.
“Because we thought it is incredibly important that you will be treated with full respect, you should be able to live in the comfort that you deserve, and that we, the people in the world and [especially] Jewish people, owe you a particular debt of gratitude.”
The official opening came months after the club opened its doors last April to a community of 90 survivors.
Members socialize with other community members and participate in activities including arts, crafts, tours and Jewish holiday celebrations.
Addressing the club participants, Dukorsky said, “We are delighted to see you as you arrive each day with great pleasure and enjoy the different activities.
Your active participation and the increasing number are the sign and concrete proof of the success of the project.”
There are seven clubs of this kind operating across the country, and four more are set to be established by the end of 2014.
‘So French So Good’ gastronomy week kicks off
Four French Michelin-star chefs were due to arrive in Israel for French Gastronomy Week and give master classes around the country to instructors from leading culinary institutions, in an initiative led by the Tourism Ministry. The culinary quartet of Christophe Dovergne, Christopher Hache, Damien Piscioneri and Thierry Marx was set to lead workshops in Haifa, Tiberias, Herzliya and Eilat on Thursday.
The “So French So Good” festival, sponsored by the French Embassy, also features special meals that the visiting French chefs and their Israeli counterparts will prepare in select Tel Aviv and Jerusalem restaurants, as well as an “Art and Food” photography exhibition from the International Culinary Photography Festival.
“Israeli cuisine enriches the Israeli tourism product and enriches the country’s appeal for incoming tourists,” said Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov. “Cooperation with one of the world’s culinary powers such as France plays a pivotal role in upgrading the tourism product for tourists and locals alike.”
Karmiel: Police arrest man over stun grenade
Police arrested a 23-year-old man suspected of throwing a stun grenade at an apartment in Karmiel last weekend.
The man reportedly threw the grenade as a consequence of an argument between him and another man.
No injuries or damages were reported in the incident.
Brawl between families leaves 3 wounded
Three people were hurt in a brawl between rival families in the Arab village of Tamra over the weekend, police said.
One of the people involved in the incident was stabbed and severely hurt, while the other two suffered light wounds. Police arrested three suspects.
1 killed, 1 critically hurt in car crash near Jezreel Valley
A 55-year-old man was killed and a 30-year-old man was critically injured in a car accident last weekend on Route 60 between the Jezreel Valley junction and Afula.
Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated the younger man to Emek Medical Center in Afula.
CENTER
TA city hall hosts weekly fun-time for kids
The Tel Aviv Municipality announced last week that it has begun hosting a games extravaganza for children every Thursday. Children and parents can escape the winter weather and revel in giant games such as dominoes, pick-up sticks and snakes and ladders, or they can curl up for story time. Entrance to the indoor playground is free, and opening times are between 4 and 7. p.m.
Herzliya teams up with Stamford for pain management research
Herzliya company ElMindA and Stamford, Connecticut company Purdue entered a strategic, multi-year collaboration agreement last week, focusing on pain diagnosis and management. The partnership will involve numerous projects designed to discover and develop clinical diagnostic tests and biomarkers to manage pain and pave the way to developing more effective pain treatments.
Founded in 2006, ElMindA is a leading innovator in neuro-technology that has developed a system capable of providing drug developers with superior insights into the effect of therapeutic interventions on brain function.
“We are extremely pleased to enter into this collaboration with Purdue Pharma that will apply our advanced Brain Networks Activation (BNA) technology to research efforts for the development of better diagnostic tools and biomarkers for pain management,” said ElMindA CEO Ronen Gadot. He described the partnership as a significant step forward for the company, marking an expansion of its collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, as well as adding pain management to the company’s portfolio of therapeutic focus.
Purdue chief medical officer Dr. Craig Landau also lauded the new partnership, saying his staff was “very excited about this collaboration and looks forward to leveraging ElMindA’s BNA technology in a combined effort to enhance the diagnosis, treatment and management of pain.”
Foreign worker found dead in suspected murder
A 45-year-old foreign worker was found dead in Kibbutz Ha’ogen over the weekend with signs of violence on his body.
Magen David Adom paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Police were called to the area and opened an investigation into the cause of the man’s death.
SOUTH
Seven months later: Stolen jeep returned to owners
Arad Police this week located a jeep that was stolen seven months ago, and returned it to its rightful owners, the Local website reported.
The owners, residents of the country’s Center, had lost hope of ever seeing their vehicle again and did not have insurance for it.
However, Arad Police found the car in the West Bank during an intelligence operation, brought it to the police station in the city and located its owners.
Ashkelon starts financial aid hotline
The recent fighting during Operation Pillar of Defense not only caused emotional and physical scars, it also economically harmed many families in the South. As a result, the Ashkelon municipality has aided the Pa’amonim organization in setting up a hotline for families in financial distress to help them get back on their feet, the Local website reported last week.
Volunteers working for the help line will offer financial guidance and counseling to southern residents. The team comprises a variety of professionals, including home economics experts, bankers, national insurance representatives, insurance advisers, and attorneys who specialize in labor law. The center will operate in full cooperation and coordination with all relevant state authorities. Pa’amonim has called on every family seeking financial guidance to contact the hotline, and emphasized that the consultations are free of charge.
Joel Copeland, Pa’amonim’s director in the Jerusalem and southern region, stressed that in some cases a solution can be pinpointed through consultation in a specific field without the need for a complicated or drawn-out process, and that can successfully guide a family in how to manage a well-organized budget responsibly.
“We will work energetically to help the public learn the language of ‘economic responsibility,’ and in this way we will aid Israeli society to achieve socioeconomic resilience,” he added.
Eilat: Police detain 2 teens over cat abuse film
Police detained two youths from Eilat last week following accusations that they had made a film in which one of the boys was abusing a cat, according to the Local website.
The complaint, lodged by nonprofit organization Let the Animals Live, accused one of the teenagers of posting a video on his Facebook page in which he appears to be kicking a cat. The second boy was suspected of filming his friend’s actions. The two, aged 14 and 15, were taken for questioning on suspicion of abusing an animal. They admitted to having made the film and were released under restrictive conditions.