On the other hand
This year Jews and Christians are celebrating their respective Festivals at the same time and nowhere is this more evident than in the very country where the historical events actually took place.
Most of the rest of the world may be shut down for the festive season but in Israel it’s business as usual as our scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators work tirelessly to ensure that this country remains in the forefront of cutting edge technology.
GOOD NEWS FROM BETHLEHEM
This could not have happened at a more appropriate time of the year.
As reported by TPS news agency, Israel helped to make a miracle for this family from Bethlehem. Needless to say, the International Criminal Court at The Hague will ignore this.
Eleven-year-old Gamal Allaham of Bethlehem, who suffered from a benign tumour in the hypothalamus that caused him uncontrollable fits of laughter and severe seizures, received advanced brain surgery at the Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv and was cured of his severe condition.
Gamal had to be confined to his home due to his seizures, detached from friends and unable to take part in social activities. The hospitals in the Palestinian Authority (PA) were unable to cure him due to his unique disorder.
However, his family heard about brain surgery at Ichilov that may help him, and humanitarian cooperation between Israel and the PA brought Gamal to Tel Aviv for the treatment.
The surgery at Ichilov uses lasers to disconnect the tumour from the rest of the brain, precisely targeting the area causing the seizures without harming other brain functions.
In a long and complicated surgery, surgeons Dr Ido Strauss and Prof. Itzhak Fried from the Functional Neurosurgery Unit and Dr Shimrit Uliel, from the Pediatric Epilepsy unit, were able to transplant an optic fibre deep into the tumour centre and cut it off from the rest of the brain.
A month after the surgery, Gamal’s life has changed dramatically. The outbursts of uncontrollable laughter have ceased entirely. For the first time in years, Gamal has been able to return to school with his friends.
Gamal’s father thanked the hospital staff for the surgery, which he said made an immense change in his son’s life.
“Thank you very much to the Israeli doctors who brought my child back to life. He no longer suffers from seizures; we got our son back. I have no words to thank the staff for the care we received, which completely changed our lives. Thank you,” he said.
ANOTHER WORLD FIRST
The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality has issued a series of unprecedented new regulations for shared electric scooter companies, which aim to keep riders and pedestrians safe.
These regulations, which the municipality says are the first of their kind in the world, include equipping electric scooters with helmets, installing license plates, recycling used batteries, lowering the speed of the scooters in certain areas, and preventing the usage of scooters in restricted areas.
The regulations, which will be enforced by the city, are meant to set an example for other municipalities around the world who are dealing with similar circumstances, the municipality said in a statement.
The municipality has already issued strict restrictions requiring riders to use their scooters as a speed limit of 15km/h. Scooters and bikes are also banned from sidewalks and riders face fines for endangering pedestrians and being on their phones.
The crackdown on electric scooters followed a number of severe injuries and even deaths involving shared scooters and bikes, and complaints by residents feeling endangered on sidewalks.
Tel Aviv introduced shared scooters almost two years ago and a number of international providers operate in the city including Lime, Bird, and Wind.
According to micro-mobility company Lime, Tel Aviv is already one of its top-performing markets.
ANOTHER IDF INNOVATION
A newly developed mini drone will help IDF soldiers on the battlefield and in the war against terrorists.
AN INSPIRING HANUKKAH MESSAGE
As we celebrate this Festival of national and religious liberation be inspired by this moving message:
