december 2012 / january 2013 • volume 7 • issue 8 • kislev / tevet / shevat 5773

Eli Cohen, an Israeli national with Australian citizenship, who confessed to murdering his wife in Bangkok in Febru-ary 2004, has received a royal pardon from the King of Thai-land. Cohen is set to be re-leased in May 2013 and could return to Israel.

Cohen, 45 years, was mar-ried to the victim, Carol Cohen for 10 years. The couple de-cided to amicably split and he moved to Australia while Carol remained in Israel.

In February 2004, Cohen invited his ex-wife to meet him in Bangkok saying he wanted to spend some time with her in the city. He sent her a one-way plane ticket. Carol did not real-ize at the time until she was on her way to the country.

Her family immediately ar-ranged a return flight for her as soon as she notified them but less than 24 hours after landing in Bangkok, she had already been murdered.

Cohen murdered his ex-wife in his hotel room, where he mutilated her body, crammed it into a suitcase and threw it into the river. He then contacted the Israeli embassy in Bangkok to report Carol missing. But was almost instantly suspected as the chief suspect in her murder when police discovered his ho-tel room looking like a slaugh-ter house. Some parts of her body have yet to be found.

In December 2004, Cohen was sentenced to life imprison-ment. He did not receive the maximum penalty of the death sentence, despite confessing

THAI ROYAL PARDON GRANTED FOR A CONFESSED MURDERER IN BANGKOK

IN THIS ISSUE

Regional NewsNew stamps to commemorate 20 years of Israel and India relations 3-8

Business NewsSingapore Jewish Business Forum launches its first event 9-11

FeatureUN: Palestine is now a Non-Member State; Reality: Palestine will continue to be a Non-Existent State 12

Art and CultureDuo Amal perform in Vietnam - Harmony in music 13-15

JTA Classifieds 20-21

FestivalChanukah 22

Jewish communities in AsiaCandle-lighting and the months Parshas 23

By staff writer and agencies

December 2012 / January 2013 Volume 7 Issue 8 Kislev / Tevet / Shevat 5773 www.jewishtimesasia.org

they should have made sure he will be sent to Australia and doesnt set foot in Israel, her mother says.

Carols mother has now made it her personal mission to ensure Eli Cohen does not return to Israel.

I would rather die than see the person who cut my daugh-ter into pieces and threw her into the river walking down the street as if nothing happened, she told Israels Ynet News.

She has called on Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu to take this matter into his hands.

Established 2006

to the murder, as he managed to convince the judges that the murder was not pre-meditated but happened in the heat of the moment.

Since his sentence, Cohen has appealed twice for a par-don. On his first attempt, his sentence was reduced to just three years. After his second effort, the pardon was granted and his sentence reduced again, making him eligible for release.

Carol Cohens family are sickened by the idea of her murderer being set free. Her mother, Rivkah Amsalem, told the Jerusalem Post that she first heard this news via a journalist and not from any Israeli offi-cial.

The family have accused Is-raels Interior Minister Eli Yis-hai of being involved in the ef-forts to get Mr Cohen released, an accusation which has been firmly denied by the minister.

There is still something

fishy (masriach) here; there are many other Israelis sitting in Thai prisons for drugs and they arent given pardons but this person is? How does it make any sense? Amsalem added.

A statement on behalf of In-terior Minister, Eli Yishai said, the minister has no connection to the murderers release. He is of the opinion that a murderer, any murderer, must spend the rest of his days behind bars.

But Carols family are not convinced, knowing that Yishai has previously worked on be-half of young Israelis who are serving sentences in Thailand and India for drug offences, in order to find a way for them to serve their sentences in Israel where the detention conditions are more humane.

Eli Yishai should have talked to us, the victims fam-ily, not just the murderers fam-ily before he became involved. The murderer has Australian citizenship. At the very least

Eli Cohen handcuffed with Thai police

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New stamps to commemorate 20 years of Israel and India relationsIn New Delhi on 19 November, two new stamps commemo-rating twenty years of diplo-matic relations between India and Israel were launched.

These limited edition stamps were each based on a common theme, the festival of lights. One stamp designed by Israel artist Ronen Goldberg depicts the Jewish festival of Chanukah and the other stamp, designed by Indian artist Alka Sharma depicts the Hindu festival of Divali. The stamps will be in circulation in December in both countries.

It is indeed a privilege to be here today on this particular occasion of the presentation ceremony to commemorate 20 years of diplomatic relation between India and Israel, said Communications and IT Minis-ter Kapil Sibal while speaking at an event to release the stamp.

pabilities on both sides when it comes to art to design is quite amazing. It gives us very good feeling when artist from both sides collaborate.

Postal services and stamps are still cradles of any civilisa-tions communications. It is something that people share, Ushpiz added.

The Indian stamp shows a row of traditional earthen lamps, diyas, representing Diwali and the Israeli stamp features a menorah with the word Zion inscribed inside a Magen David star.

Previously, India has is-sued joint stamps with France, Mexico, Japan and Cyprus to commemorate bilateral ties.

Jewish Times Asia, October 2012 issue, covered a lead story on stamps commemorating 52 years of relations between Israel and Nepal.

Families sue Bank of China in US for Hamas money transfers

Florence Melton Adult Jewish Learning comes to Asia

First function for new Thailand ambassador

Recently appointed new Ambassador of Israel to Thailand, Simon Roded held his first official en-gagement with Virachai Vi-rameteekul, Head of Thai-land and Israel Parliamen-tary Friendship League.

Virameteekul, along with other members of the group welcomed Ambassador Roded in their meeting to discuss the collaboration in developing the relationships between the two countries parliaments, specifically the tie in the form of the Friend-ship League.

The two countries are preparing for exchange vis-its, in order to encourage ideas sharing, which will lead to the development of both states and their legisla-tion systems.

Sibal said Indias journey of diplomatic relations with Israel started in 1992 and since then Is-rael has emerged as a significant key partner on many fronts such as defence, science and technol-ogy, water and non-conventional energy amongst others.

Israel is our 6th largest trading partner with India, add-ed Sibal. He said India is a huge market for Israel, especially the growing middle class in India, particularly in tourism and other cultural activities.

Israels Ambassador to India, Alon Ushpiz said, ca-

The Florence Melton Adult Education School began op-erating in Hong Kong last year with 33 students.

The programme, already in fifty communities around the world, made its first foray through Ohel Leah Synagogue which has sponsored the pro-grammed locally. Ohel Leahs Rabbi Oser said I knew about Melton from Sydney where it draws across many com-

munities. I contacted Melton because I thought Hong Kong was ready for this sort of learn-ing initiative.

The core curriculum is a two year programme that con-sists of thirty two hour classes per year. In the first year stu-dents studied the Purposes of Jewish Living and the Rhythm of Jewish Living and in the sec-ond year students are studying

the Dramas of Jewish Living and the Ethics of Jewish Living. For many the course has been an eye opener. This was the first time I have encountered sophisticated Jewish learning, said one student. Another stu-dent, said, The classroom dy-namic between the various par-ticipants is something I really enjoyed. Each person brought their own perspective and expe-rience to the texts we studied,

which made for some interest-ing discussion and debate.

Now Melton plans a new 10-week course starting 9 Janu-ary called Foundations of Jew-ish Family Living with the aim of helping parents and grand-parents share stories and values with their children.

For more information contact: Melton Direc-tor Tara Diestel at [email protected]

The families of five victims of Hamas terror attacks are suing the Bank of China for knowingly assisting the terror group.

The law-suit, filed in No-vember in a New York State Court, accuses the bank of mak-ing wire transfers amounting to several million dollars begin-ning in 2003.

In March 2008, eight stu-dents were killed and fifteen injured when a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem opened fire in the grounds of the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva. Hamas praised this attack but denied responsi-bility.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center is the lawyer repre-senting the families. She states that the Bank of China knowing-ly assisted Hamas to carry out this attack with the full approval of the Chinese government.

She maintains that the trans-fers were initiated by Hamas in Iran and Syria, processed through Bank of China branches in the US and then sent to an-other Bank of China account in China, operated by a senior ter-rorist. The lawyer says that these funds were then distributed to Hamas and other West Bank and Gaza terror groups, including

Palestine Islamic Jihad.The Bank of China has re-

jected all claims relating to this law suit, stating that all media reports about this case and all accusations are, entirely groundless.

They add that they have not yet been served with any litigation documents. A Bank of China official also stressed that, the bank strictly bans any kind of financial services for any terrorist groups in line with UN regulations against money-laundering and terrorist financ-ing, as well as laws in China and other jurisdictions where

the company operates.

The US has designated Hamas as a terrorist organisa-tion since 1997 and as specially designated global terrorists since 2001. As a result, Hamas is subject to strict economic sanctions intended to prevent it from conducting banking activi-ties that help finance its attacks.

US citizens have the right to file law suits against these or-ganisations. There are also laws allowing non-Americans to sue in US courts in the case of ter-rorism, hence why these Israeli families are suing through the US justice system.

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Regional News

JWA Bazaar delivering bargains and much morePersistent rain did not dampen the enthusiasm and attendance of shoppers at this years annu-al Hong Kong Jewish Womens Association (JWA) Bazaar that took place on 25 November at Island School.

As with all previous events, visitors arrived in their hun-dreds to eagerly purchase dis-counted branded clothes, jeans, jackets, knitwear, bags, shoes, electrical goods and house-wares to quality toys and books for all ages.

Volunteers manned the booths and kosher food and snacks were suppl ied by Chabad.

A lot of preparation is in-volved the night before with volunteers setting up the stalls

Searching for bargains in the Houseware Section

All the money collected dur-ing the day goes to the various charities that JWA represent.

In spite of the inclement rain, the volunteers made the 2012 JWA Bazaar another suc-cessful event. I am very grateful to all the volunteers, donors, shoppers and everyone else who helped made this event possible, said Ana Scherer, JWA Chair-woman and Bazaar Organiser.

It was very inspiring to wit-ness the community showing a deep commitment to such amaz-ing causes. Our hope is to con-tinue to engage all in this work of making our world a better place, Scherer added.

and unloading the boxes of merchandise.

As usual there was plenty of activities for children such as face paintings, handy crafts and other attractions to keep every-one happy.

Ephraim Kaye gives lecture at Hong Kong University

Sponsored by the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Cen-tre, Ephraim Kaye, Director of International Seminars at the International School for Holo-caust Studies at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, gave a lecture at the Hong Kong University on 2 November.

Entitled: The Holocaust as a Unique Event in History, the talk was attended by over 50 educators and secondary and university students.

Kaye addressed the various ways in which the Holocaust was a unique event in history. Specifically, the lecture focused on the totality of the genocide waged against the Jews and

other undesirables, interspers-ing a discussion of the Nazis plan and its execution with the testimonies of survivors, dem-onstrating the perspective of both survivors and perpetrators.

Kaye was appointed Direc-tor of the International Semi-nars in 1994, and since then has coordinated and led over 250 international seminars in over 20 countries in eight different languages.

He has also led and guided more than 17 trips to Poland for high school students, graduates of the Yad Vashem seminars and IDF Officers and published many books and articles on the Holocaust.

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Childrens activities at the JWA Bazaar


Israeli windsurfer wins youth world championships

Regional News

China Cup Regatta 2012

of this crew reside in Hong Kong. Second place was Bei-jing Sailing School and third was Simpson Marine Team also from Hong Kong.

Team Israel consists of nine sailors mostly from Israel but also a few Hong Kong residents.

Inaugurated in 2007, the China Cup International Regatta is the first and only sailing boat regatta initiated in China.

ing from Hong Kong.Our first day the wind

was 12-15 knots with 1 metre of waves and then over the weekend, and Monday races it was rough conditions of 15-20 knots wind with 1.5 metre waves, commented Gil Blum, Team Israel Captain.

Each team uses an identical boat, a Beneteau 40.7 footer. This year, Team Israel finished in 10th place. The winner was Team Vati from China. Most

For the third consecutive year, Team Israel competed in the China Cup Interna-tional Regatta. The sailing regatta attracts over 100 boats and sailors from more than 33 countries.

Under the Chinese Yacht-ing Associat ion and the Shenzhen Administration of Culture, Sport and Tourism, the race is run over a week-end. This year it was held between 26-29 October at the Vanke Longcheer Yacht Club, Shenzhen with the race start-

Team Israel on the waters of China

Team Israel boat

Naomi Cohen won gold for Is-rael at the RS:X Youth World Womens Windsurfing Cham-pionships 2012 which was re-cently held in Penghu Island, Taiwan, in October.

The 17-year-old, beat Saskia Sills from Great Britain on the final day after she was behind by 4 points. Cohen pressed home her late charge for the title and took the medal race gun and in so doing snatched the title at the last gasp. Sills finished in

2nd place and Jeanne Dantes from France took the bronze medal.

A second Israeli participant, Shahar Tibi finished 5th, Ofri Givati 10th, Noga Geller 12th and Adi Cohen in 18th place.

After disappointment for Israeli windsurfers Lee Korzits and Shahar Zubari at the 2012 London Olympics, Cohen gives hope to a new generation of Israeli athletes eager for success on the world stage.

Silver and Gold medal winners together

Yossi Beilin, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel and one of the initiaters of the Oslo Peace Process in the 1990s, was invited to Hong Kong in November.

The trip was organised and coordinated by Israels Consul-ate in Hong Kong.

On a busy schedule, Beilin gave a talk on The Unique Is-raeli Economy: Security, Agri-

culture, Health and Innovation, organised by Ronnie Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Prop-erties, at Asia Society Hong Kong Centre.

He also attended a Panel discussion on the topic What keeps me awake at night? at World Presidents Organisation, Hong Kong University.

Beilin also met leaders and members of the Hong Kong Jewish community and also gave a lecture. His final en-gagement was on 7 November, where he was invited to give a lecture at Lingnan University. The seminar was entitled: From Oslo Accord to Agreement be-tween the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

In his private work, Beilin is currently the founder and president of Beilink-Business Foreign Affairs Ltd.

Beilin meets business leaders and academics

Smadar Harpak, a trained medical clown from Israel, is visiting Nepal in December to add some smiles to the faces of children and the elderly.

Ms. Harpak, has a theatre background and more than 10 years experience in the field of medical clowning.

She will be visiting an Old Age Home in Pashupatinath and interacting with children from the Orphanage Home and Child Protection Center.

Two doctors from Bir Hospital are accompanying her mission. During the ses-sion, children and elderly will receive free medical check-ups and medicines along with a little fun and play.

She will also visit the Pedi-atric Department at Dhulikhel Hospital and be working with the children and train local medical professionals to en-hance their skills in medical clowning at the hospital.

Medical clown in town for patients and doctors

Yossi Beilin giving an address at the Hong Kong Jewish Community Centre


Regional News

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Students ready for next-generation Israel-Asia Leaders Students from Mongolia, In-donesia and Hong Kong are among a group of next gen-eration leaders in Israel-Asia relations participating in the 2012-13 Israel-Asia Leaders Fellowship.

The 8-month programme kicked off in November in Jeru-salem. The Israel-Asia Leaders Fellowship caters for Asian stu-dents studying at universities in Israel, many of them mid-career who have demonstrated strong potential to be leaders in their fields in the future.

The Israel-Asia Center is a non-profit organisation dedi-cated to building a shared future between Israel and Asia. Dur-ing the programme, fellows meet Israeli government and business leaders, attend field trips on Israeli innovation and technology, develop skills in leadership and innovative think-ing.

Some of this years fellows include, Hun Jang Cho, a South Korean masters student in con-flict resolution and mediation at Tel Aviv University. He has lived in Turkey for 13 years and

Hong Kong through arts and cultural events.

Aryo, from Indonesia, has a professional background in law and finance, and is developing business exchange opportuni-ties between Israel and Indone-sia. Diplomatic relations do not currently exist between the two countries.

Narantuya Gursed, from Mongolia, is studying for her masters in Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University. She interned at the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was a foreign rela-tions officer for technology, environmental and student ex-change organisations in Mon-golia.

served as an intelligence of-ficer in the Korean Navy. Most recently, he handled corporate PR portfolios at the 2012 Expo in Yeosu, South Korea, and was a delegation liaison officer for Turkey in the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit.

Ingrid Ye, from China, has a background in investment and banking and she was inspired to pursue an MBA in Israel after reading the book Start-Up Na-tion.

Eppie Lau, who is on an exchange programme in inter-national relations at the Hebrew University, is the first student from Hong Kong to study in Israel for a year, and is develop-ing ways to connect Israel and

Fellows at the Knesset with Rebecca Zeffert, Israel-Asia Center, Founder and Executive Director (fourth from the left)

Commemarative marker unveiled at Boys Town Jerusalem

The recent trip of Philippine Vice President Jejomar Bi-nay to Israel in October also included a visit to Boys Town Jerusalem, one of Israels pre-mier education schools.

Binay was warmly received by students waving Israeli and Philippine flag. The vice-president took one more step to acknowledge the humanitar-ian deeds of the Open Doors policy by Philippine President Manuel Quezon, who in 1939 offered refuge to thousands of Jews fleeing the Holocaust.

At a moving ceremony, a commemorative marker was unveiled at the schools Zwar-tendijk Memorial Garden, in the presence of Vice President Binay, Israeli dignitaries and the entire student body.

Like most of the Philippine population, I was unaware of President Quezons heroism in offering 10,000 visas for Eu-ropean Jews, Vice President Binay said, as he viewed the marker in the Boys Town gar-den. It is extremely gratifying that Boys Town has acknowl-edged this deed, and has raised

awareness both in Israel and in the Philippines.

Vice President Binay headed a delegation to Boys Town that included both the present and the former Philippine ambassadors to Israel, as well as officials of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and of the Philip-pine Embassy in Israel.

Following his visit to Boys Town, Vice President Binay ded-icated the Quezon Room at the Philippine Embassy, dedicated in President Quezons memory and to the future generations of Filipinos and Jews, so that they may know his legacy to man-kind.

Philippine V.P. Binay (right) with Boys Town students


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Regional News

Rabbi Avraham Firer welcomed in Hong Kong

Rabbi Firer with Aaron Zweig Dr Uzi Arad

Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Firer, Founder and Chairman of the Ezra LeMarpeh Organ-isation was warmly welcomed to Hong Kong at an event that took place on 18 November at the Hong Kong Jewish Com-munity Centre. Rabbi Firer was joined by his assistant, Kalman Shraiber, Eli Leder-man and guest speaker Pro-fessor Dr. Uzi Arad.

Professor Arad was the for-mer National Security Advisor to Israels Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu and Head of the Israeli NSC between 2009 and 2011.

Arad addressed the Hong Kong community and spoke

From left to right: Dr Uzi Arad, Avi Nagar, Elie Lederman, Kalman Shraiber, Rabbi Firer and David Zweig

about the recent disturbances between Israel and Gaza and how the population in the Southern part of Israel are find-ing a very challenging life with the constant worry of rockets landing in their homes and streets.

Elie Lederman, volunteer and philanthropist, working closely with the organisation for 14 years, financed the venture of bringing Rabbi Firer and Dr Uzi Arad to Hong Kong and then onto Australia.

The Hong Kong event was organised by Avi Nagar a long- term member of the community and the local Chairman of the

Friends of the Ezra LeMarpeh Organization, Hong Kong Chapter.

A welcoming address was given by David Zweig who expressed his deep apprecia-tion for Rabbi Firers personal involvement with his family many years ago, as well as to the many other families who needed Rabbi Firers guidance and help. During the evening, a series of short videos were screened providing a unique insight on Rabbi Firer and the organisation he founded 33 years ago, that provides free as-sistance to the sick and needy in Israel and beyond.

A simple rabbi growing-up in Bnei Brak, Rabbi Firer has become a phenomenon, receiving wide recognition for his outstanding life project, and being awarded the highest civilian honour award in Israel, the Israel Prize in 1997. And numerous honorary doctorates from Israels leading academic institutions.

All this, for a man with no actual formal medical training. Many doctors worldwide and leading specialists acknowledge his exceptional medical knowl-edge and respond willingly to his call to assistance. Many feel that he has received a higher blessing and spiritually been guided by the Hand of G-d.

Rabbi Firer s object ive medical referral service is the cornerstone of the organisation. Providing a whole range of med-ical services including: lending medical equipment, coordinating video-conferencing with medi-cal experts, ambulance services, homecare for children with can-cer and running a rehabilitation centre for victims of stroke and other disorders. The organisa-

tion, reaches out to over 150,000 people per year, offering its services to Jews and non-Jews, secular and observant anyone in need.

Rabbi Firer s trip is to promote his latest project, the construction of a Medical Re-habilitation Center in the border city of Sderot. The project will provide state-of-the-art medi-cal rehabilitation services. The complex will be housed under one roof and include a day centre, therapeutic pool, phys-iotherapy, medical centre and diagnostic consulting room.

For further details, you can visit: www.facebook.com/SderotMedicalRehabilita-tionCenter


Regional News

Kedmi holds talks in Hong Kongtween Israel and Hong Kong.

Kedmi also exchanged views with Simon Galpin, Di-rector-General of Investment Promotion of InvestHK. He also met with Dr Roy Chung, Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Dr Jonathan Choi, Chairman of Sun Wah Group, Susan Chow, Deputy Group Managing Di-rector of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., and Anita Fung, Gen-eral Manager and CEO Hong Kong of HSBC.

Kedmi a lso met wi th representatives of the Jewish Community and Israeli busi-nessmen.

Sharon Kedmi, Director General of the Israeli Min-istry of Industry, Trade and Labour, visited Hong Kong during 22-25 November to explore ways to enhance the economic ties between Israel and Hong Kong.

Kedmi held high-level talks with senior officials of the Hong Kong SAR Govern-ment, including Janet Wong, Commissioner of Innovation and Technology. The subjects of discussion involve co-op-eration on hi-tech, clean tech, investment, and the finalising of the signing of the MOU on research and development be-

Inter-faith Dialogue: Religion & Human Rights

Religious leaders with panelists

The second inter-faith dialogue event was arranged by the Hong Kong University (HKU) this year on 19 November at the Rayson Huang Theatre. The theme was: Religion and Hu-man Rights. Representatives of three Monotheistic religions came together to discuss their religions, common grounds and differences with respect to human rights. The evening dis-cussion was well attended by a cross section of local and inter-national individuals.

Welcoming remarks were made by Professor C. F. Lee, Director of HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education. The moderator was

and the responsibilities and chal-lenges Judaism has to this topic. A team of panelists including Professor David Zweig from the Hong Kong Jewish community provided questions for the guest speakers to answer.

Towards the end of the dia-logue a series of questions were asked from the audience. Some heated dialogue between pan-elists, Sheikh Fadel Soliman, Bridges Foundation, Egypt and Professor David Zweig on the current situation in Gaza and rocket firing that was happen-ing at the time prompted an address. There was also further

Venerable SIK Hin Hung, Cen-tre of Buddhist Studies, HKU.

Guest speakers were Imam Muhammad Arshad, Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre, Dr. John Lemond, Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre and Rabbi Ash-er Oser, Ohel Leah Synagogue.

Each of the guest speakers presented a 15 minute presenta-tion on the topic and theme. The Imam quoted extracts from the Koran and John Lemond read verses from the New Testament. Rabbi Oser addressed the topic from a slightly different angle and spoke about the UN Dec-laration of Human Rights 1948

dialogue on the right of self defence for the citizens of Israel and that the world sets a higher standard than any other country to defend itself.

These regular inter-faith events aim at fostering dialogue amongst the different religious communities residing in Hong Kong, while at the same time

promoting the city as an ideal international platform to openly discuss issues that are consid-ered too controversial in other parts of Asia and the world.

To this extent, Hong Kongs tradition of freedom of expres-sion and frank talk is well cel-ebrated.

Rabbi Oser making a presentation


Business News

Singapore Jewish Business Forum launches its first eventSingapores Jewish Business Forum (JBF) launched on 19 November, with an impres-sive inaugural event. Over 260 members of Singapores Jewish community, spanning locals and expats, gathered to celebrate the kick-off of a new and exciting organisation ded-icated to fostering connections among Jewish businesses in the region.

The evening included a pre-sentation by renowned architect Moshe Safdie who spoke about the challenges and remark-able accomplishments of his career. Moshe Safdie was fol-lowed by David Adelman, US Ambassador to Singapore, who discussed US post-elections, US-Singapore relations and the special bond shared between the US and Israel.

The evening concluded with Israels Ambassador to Singapore, Amira Arnon who discussed the current situation in Israel and warmly welcomed the launching of this new organ-isation. These two ambassadors are also Honorary Members of

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Japans Fuji in talks to buy Given Imaging According to Israels Globes business newswires, Japans Fujinon, a unit of Fujifilm Holdings Corporation is in talks to purchase Israels Giv-en Imaging Ltd.

Market sources say that a deal is under discussion at a company value of US$750 mil-lion for Given Imaging, a 34% premium on its US$561 million market capitalisation.

Elron Electronic Industries Ltd, a subsidiary of Mr Nochi Dankners IDB Holding Corpo-ration Ltd owns 22% of Given Imaging and Discount Invest-ment owns 15.26%.

Given Imaging has received several queries about an ac-quisition. A source close to the deal told Globes, there is no chance Dankner will agree to sell the company value of less than US$1 billion. A deal at this valuation would reflect a

78% premium for Given Imag-ing, which last reached such a market cap in 2004.

Dankners need for cash is why he has put Given Imaging up for sale, even though he used to talk about its huge potential and expectations of US$1 bil-lion in annual sales, compared with its expected sales of US$185-190 million in 2012.

A year ago, Given Imaging president and CEO Homi Shamir told Globes, Nochi strongly be-lieves in Given Imagings great future, and he has patience.

Given Imaging develops, manufactures, and sells endo-scopic capsules for diagnosis of the small and large intestine. The company has long-standing ties with Fujifilm and its subsid-iaries, going back to 2007 when it signed a strategic R&D and marketing cooperation agree-ment with Fujinon.

ners, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and FJ Benjamin.

JBF is a non-profit organi-sation dedicated to promoting the interests of JBF members in Singapore and the region by fa-cilitating business relationships and opportunities within the community. It was orchestrated by Simcha Sharon who has lived and worked in Singapore since 1980.

JBF and were perfect dignitar-ies to grace the inaugural event.

In his introductory remarks, President of JBF, Harry Elias, welcomed the dignitaries, spon-sors and audience and articu-lated JBFs vision to foster networking amongst Jewish business leaders in Singapore and the region, provide a base for Jewish business leaders to meet, exchange ideas and engage each other. In Harry Eliass words, it is a Singapore Jewish Diasporas attempt to emulate the Chinese guan xi attitude.

The guests enjoyed an evening, engaged with interest-ing speakers, networked and indulged in delicious kosher food. Many attendees remarked that this was the biggest Jew-ish event Singapore has seen in years and they were delighted to see such a remarkable turnout. Singapores Jewish community is now eagerly waiting for the next JBF event!

The evening was generously sponsored by Harry Elias Part-

Moshe Safdie with David Adelman (second from right)

Cosmoprof Asia, the largest and most prestigious interna-tional beauty trade event in Asia, was held during 14-16 November at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Over 48,500 visitors, 1,780 exhibitors from 42 countries and regions with 23 national and group pavilions including an Israel Pavilion participated.

The exhibition attracts most-ly international buyers and sell-ers of a wide range of cosmetic, beauty and hair care products. Highlights this year included a SPA Conference, Hairstyling Awards 2012 and Nail Compe-tition.

Twelve Israeli cosmetics and skin care companies exhibited at the event. In the past, Israeli skin care and hair products were only available in beauty salons and spas in Hong Kong. Nowa-days they have become very

Cosmoprof Asia 2012

reachable, in shopping malls, department stores, chain beauty retailers and drug stores.

While the Israeli brands are offered at various price ranges, they are all very committed to technological R&D and natural and organic formulations, par-ticularly with the mineral ingre-dients and salt from the Dead Sea, and plants and herbs that are local in Israel.

Simcha Sharon and Yishai Klein


Business News

Jaffa oranges growing in India Hutchison Water acquires Kinrot Ventures

The Indo-Israel Centre of Ex-cellence for Fruits in Haryana, India, hosted the first citrus cluster seminar in October, for representatives from four of the centres of excellence states across India.

Citrus experts from Maha-rashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, came together in Mangiana to share interstate knowledge and experience, along with Israeli know-how and technologies in citrus grow-ing.

These areas of expertise include modern nursery pro-cedures for the production of seedlings, young plant pruning and shaping, tree spacing re-gime and ridge planting.

Participants observed first-hand citrus varieties from Israel which were introduced and planted in the Mangiana Centre, such as the world famous Jaffa orange, which has become a symbol of Israeli agricultural excellence around the world.

It is hoped that the increase and diversity of the varieties of citrus grown in India, will significantly expand the orange

harvest period in India from October to May and thereby substantially increase the farm-ers income and decrease the need to import citrus fruits from abroad.

The seminar was hosted by Dr. Satyavir Singh, Director of General Horticulture and Dr. Arjun Singh Saini, Additional Director of Horticulture, Dept. Of Horticulture, Government of Haryana. The workshops were lead by one of Israels leading citrus experts, Dov Rabber, to-gether with the Indo-Israel cit-rus cluster head, Dr. Dewanand Panchbhai, Professor of Horti-culture, College of Agriculture, Nagpur University.

Uri Rubinstein, Agriculture Counsellor at the embassy of Israel in New Delhi, a citrus grower himself, also took part in the seminar. He said that this is a promising start for coop-eration between agricultural experts from different states across India who are involved in the Indo-Israel agriculture cooperation programme.

Our purpose is not only to share Israeli knowledge with our counterparts in India, but also to make sure that this knowledge is shared and dis-cussed between experts from the different States, and suc-cessfully implemented by farm-ers across India, Rubinstein added.

Assaf-Barnea

According to an Israeli gov-ernment agency, Israel New Tech, Hong Kong based Hutchison Whampoa Lim-ited through a subsidiary Hutchison Water Israel an-nounced the acquisition of Kinrot Ventures.

This is a technological incubator founded in 1993 as part of the Israeli Incubator Program, from Aqua Agro Fund LP, which owned the incubator since 2010.

Kinrot is a worldwide leading seed investor in water and clean-tech technologies. According to a press release issued by Hutchison Water, the company could invest around US$25 million in the incubator and in its portfolio companies over the coming eight years.

Dan Eldar, Executive Director of Hutchison Water said, the acquisition of Kin-rot Ventures is expected to provide early stage companies with access to the highest level of expertise in the water and clean-tech worlds and to

enable promising Israeli com-panies access to diverse world markets in which Hutchison Whampoa operates.

Hutchison Whampoa is a global organisation, renowned for its commitment to in-novation and technology. It employs over a quarter of a million people in 52 countries around the world.

Assaf Barnea, CEO of Kinrot said: Hutchison Wa-ters acquisition of Kinrot provides a rare opportunity for early stage companies and a global platform for entry into growing markets worldwide.


Business News

Taiwan-Israel joint workshop on artificial intelligence

Israel Homeland Security Convention 2012

Ten delegates from Israel and 20 from Taiwan convened at the National Cheng Kung Uni-versity (NCKU), in Tainan, southern Taiwan, to attend a two-day workshop and share research findings on artificial intelligence and ocean science.

The workshop entitled: Taiwan-Israel Artificial intelli-gence and learning algorithms and Effect of human activities on marine environment, was held on 6 November under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology and Taiwan National Science Coun-cil.

NCKU has close ties with Israeli scientists. Professor Aaron Ciechanova, an honorary doctor of NCKU is from Israel.

Yon-hua Tzeng, NCKU Dean of the College of Electri-cal Engineering and Computer Science welcomed all the del-egates.

Taiwan and Israel have many features in common. Both nations pay much attention to education, disciplines and pro-fessional ethics and are living in

small countries with poor natu-ral resources except the lifeline ocean, commented Yon-hua Tzeng

Dr. Larry Manevitz from the Department of Computer Science, University of Haifa, agreed to Tzengs observation and added that global warming, ocean acidification and human activities on marine environ-ment and ecosystem are very important to both countries.

Without rich natural re-sources, knowledge based economy is, therefore, essential to both countries, according to Dr. Sheng-tzong Cheng of the Department of Computer Science and Information Engi-

Yon-hua Tzeng

Simona Halperin

Initiated by The Israel Export and International Coopera-tion Institute and The Israel Airports Authority in Co-operation with the Ministry of Industry Trade & Labor and Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs, held the second biennial Homeland Security (HLS) Convention from 11 14 No-vember at the MaxiDome Hall, Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center, Tel Aviv.

About 800 representatives and delegations from some 50 countries attended including municipal officials and senior government officials from around the world.

Responding to homeland se-curity developments and trends around the world, HLS 2012 focused on four principal areas that are the top of every gov-ernments list: Cyber Security, Securing the Smart City, Criti-cal Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Management. The conference examined the challenges these areas repre-sent, discussing the deployment of appropriate technologies and systems.

Ramzi Gabbay giving an address to the delegates

Around 60 Israeli compa-nies exhibited their innovative technologies, creating a plat-form promoting Israeli exports while encouraging international cooperative ventures.

At the opening ceremony a keynote address was given by Ramzi Gabbay, Chairman, Israel HLS 2012 who is also Chairman of the Israel Export & International Cooperation In-stitute. Other notable attendees and guest speakers were; Andr Luiz de Souza Batista, Security Consultant for the World Cup 2014; Tom Ridge, former US Homeland Security Secretary and Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense, Israel.

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neering, adding that artificial intelligence such as machine learning techniques and intel-ligence algorithms is among the core economic ingredients for both countries.

This is a follow-up interac-tion after the 2011 Workshop held in the University of Haifa.

Referring to the workshop as a dream come true, Si-mona Halperin, representative at Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, was happy to see the convention of Taiwan and Israel, saying experts and scholars of the two countries visited and negotiated for near-ly two years and finally the mu-tual cooperation is facilitated in the workshop.


UN: Palestine is now a Non-Member State; Reality: Palestine will continue to be a Non-Existent State

Twenty-four years ago, almost to the day, in 1988, I stood in a large hall in Algeria and saw Yasser Arafat declare the independence of a Palestinian state. And that was forty-one years, almost to the day, after the UN offered a Palestinian state in 1947. Twelve years ago Israel and the US officially offered a Palestinian state as part of a compromise at deal in the Camp David summit of 2000.

Arguably, despite all their errors, the Palestinian movement has made progress since those events, though it is not very impressive progress. Yet in real terms there is no real Palestin-ian state; the movement is more deeply divided than at any time in its history; and the people arent doing very well.

Now the UN has voted to give Palestine the status of a non-member state. The only thing that will change is to con-vince people even more that they are following a clever and successful strategy. They arent.

Perhaps in 24 or 41 years there will actually be a Palestin-ian state.

There are two ways to re-spond to the General Assemblys vote to designate a state of Pal-estine. One of them is outrage at the absurdity of how the interna-tional system behaves. The other would be to dismiss the gesture as meaningless, even more than that, as something that will even further delay the day that a real, functioning state comes into ex-istence.

Certainly, there are threats and dangers, for example the use by Palestine of the International Court. Or one could look at this as another step on the road to a final, I mean comprehensive, solution to the issue. Yet overall, Ill go for disgusted and cynical as the most accurate responses.

Lets start with disgusted. In 1993, the PLO made an agree-ment whose very basis was that a Palestinian state would only come into existence as a result of a deal made with Israel. Instead, the Palestinian side refused to make such a compro-mise and broke its commitments repeatedly. The ultimate result was Arafats refusal to accept a Palestinian state with its capital in the eastern part of Jerusalem both at the 2000 Camp David meeting and a few months later when President Bill Clinton made a better, and final, offer.

I recently came from an in-terview with a very nice journal-

sible with either of the current Palestinian leaderships.

Incidentally, people on both sides in other countries make a serious mistake in assessing Isra-el. Its enemies think it evil; many of its friends think it stupid. Both are wrong. There are real constraints in the international system, including the current government of the US.

The solution is not to rail against this fate verbally but to assess the best course in the con-text of these conditions. There are many who dont comprehend the implications of this situation. They either think Israel should endlessly make concessions or that it should win total victory by ignoring the surrounding reality.

At any rate, the UN General Assemblys action neither con-tributes to peace nor is a just de-cision. Nevertheless, once again we have a case of symbolism over substance. This is the same General Assembly that received Arafat as a man of peace in 1974 at the very moment he was mas-terminding terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians and the follow-ing year voted for a resolution that Zionism was racism. Can one really say things have gotten worse?

During the period since then, Israel has survived and prospered. Its enemies in the Middle East have undergone constant instability and eco-

nomic stagnation (except for those small in population and large in oilfields). The supposed springtime of democracy has quickly turned into just another authoritarian era of repression and disastrous policies that ulti-mately weaken those countries and make their people poor and miserable. What else is new?

Ignoring that history and the contemporary reality, some Western countries are voting for this resolution or abstaining for a variety of reasons: cheap public relations gain among Arabs and Muslims; a belief that this will shore up the Palestinian moder-ates against the radicals, or that it will encourage the non-existent peace process.

In 1939, the British offered the Arab states and Palestinian leadership a deal in which they would be handed all of the Pales-tine mandate as an Arab state if they accepted a few simple condi-tions, including a ten year transi-tion period. Despite the pleas of some Arab rulers, the Palestinians said no, believing a German vic-tory would give them everything soon. Almost precisely 65 years ago the UN endorsed the creation of a Palestinian Arab state. The Palestinians said no believing that the military efforts of themselves and their allies would give them everything soon.

The Palestinian leaders have long believed that an intransi-gent strategy coupled with some outside force, Nazi Germany, the USSR, weaning the West away from Israel will miraculously grant them total victory. They arent going to change course now but that route leads not for-ward but in circles.

Supplied by Professor Barry Rubin.Professor Rubin is Director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLO-RIA) Center, Interdisciplinary Center Uni-versity, Israel. 2012 All rights reserved. Article was published in November.www.gloria-center.org

ist who asked me, But doesnt Israel want everything and offer nothing in return. What was most impressive is the fact that he had no personal hostility or any political agenda. (Youd un-derstand if I identified the person and his newspaper but Im not going to do that.) This conclu-sion was simply taken as fact. He was astonished to hear that another perspective even existed.

My first response was to point down the street to the place where a bus was blown up in 1995 and right next to it where a suicide bomber had killed about a dozen pedestrians around the same time. This was the result of risks and concessions that Israel had voluntarily undertaken in trying to achieve peace. And, I added, it was possible to supply a long list of other examples.

So despite Israel taking risks and making concessions, the Palestinian Authority rejected peace. Moreover, this is a body that is relentlessly begging Hamas, a group that openly calls for genocide against both Israel and Jews, to join it.

Hamas, of course, ran for of-fice without accepting the Oslo agreement (a violation of it) and then seized power in a coup. Since then it has rained rockets and missiles on Israel. In other words, although it is unlikely to happen, in a few months Hamas might become part of the official government of this non-member

thing when the course they have followed ensures they get pretty close to nothing. But, to use a Biblical phrase, it availeth them not. On the contrary, to coin a phrase, this move counter-matters, that it is a substitute for productive action that actu-ally detracts from the real goal.

To the extent that President Mahmoud Abbas convinced West Bank Palestinians that they have achieved some great victory it takes off the pressure for violent action or support for Hamas there. Of course, there is no popular pressure for a negoti-ated solution. Indeed, Im not aware of a single Palestinian Authority official who has even claimed for cosmetic purposes that the reason for this move at the UN is to press Israel to com-promise or strike a deal.

Its purpose is to make Ab-bass regime look good and be a step forward toward total vic-tory, a Palestinian state unbound by commitments that could be used as a base for wiping out Israel.

But that doesnt mean it will work. Residents of the Palestin-ian Authority will still be exactly where they are now. Hangovers wear off even after non-alcohol-ic celebrations.

You should also understand that in Israel there are no illu-sions about this whole charade. Few think that a real deal is pos-

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state of the UN.Yet complain-

ing about the un-fairness of inter-national behaviour or the treatment of Israel, like com-pla in ing about ones personal fate, doesnt get you anywhere.

Th e s e co n d issue is whether it will really mat-ter. Yes it entails symbolism, yes it will convince the Palestinians they are getting some-


Art and Culture

Duo Amal perform in Vietnam - Harmony in music As a tribute to the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who was assassinated on 4 November seventeen years ago while promoting peace between Israel and its neigh-bours, the Embassy of Israel in Vietnam in cooperation with the National Music Acad-emy of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music hosted a piano concert, entitled Harmony in music.

World famous duo pianists Duo Amal, got an emotional reception by the audiences at their performances in Vietnam. The pianists gave two recitals, one at the HCMC Conservatory Concert Hall on 4 November, and the other at the Viet Culture Space in Hanoi on 5 November. They played Fantasy for four hands by Schubert and pieces for two pianos by Mozart and Rachmaninov.

This is the first time the duo have visited Vietnam and they are really moved by the warm welcome of the Vietnamese audience. They expressed their wish to come back to Vietnam to perform at the earliest request.

Concert invitees included senior officials of Vietnamese

Here or There exhibition in Macau

that music making at the high-est level can transcend political and national differences.

The performance was part of the embassys efforts to strength-en its presence in Ho Chi Minh City. It recently opened its Trade Office in the city.

government, diplomats, con-sular agencies, local media and a large number of Vietnamese students.

Duo Amal was formed in 2008, by two talented pianists, one an Israeli Yaron Kohlberg and the other Bishara Haroni from the Palestinian Territories.

They have performed in many countries around Europe, US and Asia with the worlds leading orchestras.

Amal in Hebrew means Hope. With their talent and friendship, Duo Amal wish to convey to the world the hope

Duo Amal

Yaron Gottfried and the Netanya-Kibbutz Orchestra

Macau born photographer, Mina Ao has an intense inter-est in Israel and Judaism and these are subject matters that she has worked on in her ex-hibition.

My relationship with Israel began through my husband and was strengthened after my con-version to Judaism a few years ago. I have visited Israel on many occasions and have cre-ated an extensive body of work on the Land and the people, Ao commented.

The series of photographs were created between 2007-2012 in Macau and Israel. Aos exhibition in Macau entitled Here or There consists of two-series photographs, portrayed togher in pairs, showing scenes

from both Macau and Israel. These are primarily street scenes, two places, two parallel universes, which coexist at the two ends of the continent.

One of the photos show Is-raelis playing Backgammon (in Hebrew Shesh Besh) while in Macau the locals are playing Chinese chequers.

We hope these photographs will pique the viewers curios-ity into the cultural similarities and differences and initiate dia-logues between these two cul-tures, Ao added.

The exhibition will run from 23 November 22 December at the Livraria Portuguesa Gal-lery in Macau and after that will continue in another location in Macau.

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Netanya-Kibbutz Orchestra tours ChinaOne of Israels best known orchestras, the Netanya Kib-butz Orchestra toured China and performed in a series of concert halls. One of the ven-ues was the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing and in Zhengzhou, they performed at the Henan Art Center.

They were joined by Israeli conductor, composer and pia-nist Yaron Gottfried, one of the most prominent musicians of his generation in Israel- a mul-

tidisciplinary who bridges clas-sical, contemporary and jazz music.

The Netanya Kibbutz Or-chestra perform more than 120 concerts annually, both in Israel and overseas. The orchestra has performed in the US at Carn-egie Hall and the Chicago Sym-phony Hall, in Europe, at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Hall, Salle Pleyel Concert Hall and in Asia at the Seoul Arts Center among others.


Pirate-JT-QP4c.indd 1 2012/12/5 11:11:18 AM

Art and Culture

Israel Film Festival in Singapore celebrates 20 years A significant milestone was achieved in 2012 for the Is-rael Film Festival in Singa-pore. What started out as a small exclusive showcase, has grown into a fully fledged fes-tival. This year the film festi-val screened highly acclaimed films to suit every cinematic taste.

The gala opening was held in September. Over a course of eight days, the festival present-ed six award-winning films and twelve ticketed screenings. Well over 1500 people attended.

Oscar nominee Footnote and award-winning Restoration

Music entertainment for the opening night

and The Secrets had a full house for their screenings while My Lovely Sister, Intimate Gram-mar and Jellyfish drew at least 90% of seat occupancy, exceed-ing the organisers expectations. This in turn has driven passion to take the festival to the next level in 2013.

The festival opening night included invited guests of the diplomatic corp, sponsors, arts partners and friends of Israels embassy in Singapore. Close to 170 guests were present at the Cathay Cineplex for a preview screening of the opening film,

Restoration. Among the guests of honor were President of the Singapore Film Society, Ken-neth Tan and the award-winning screenwriter of the film, Resto-ration, Erez Kavel.

In light of the event being the 20th anniversary, the open-ing night was jazzed up with several treats including goodie bags and gift vouchers, a Falafel stand courtesy of Pita Pan to tantalize the palates of both lo-cal and Israeli guests. A three- piece band and a dazzling photo backdrop heightened the spirits of the cocktail reception.

Stempenyu showcased as part of Delhi International Arts Festival

In conjunction with the em-bassy of Israel in India and Cameri Theatre, a play en-titled: Stempenyu was per-formed at the Sirit Fort Au-ditorium, New Delhi on 4 No-vember.

The play by Edna Mazya is based on the novel by Shalom Aleichem and was also directed by Edna Mazya and Yehezkel Lazarov. Aleichem is one of the greatest Jewish writers and storytellers who wrote amongst many, Fiddler on the Roof.

Stempenyu tells the story of a gifted musician who leads a band of Klezmers that perform at wed-dings, and the various aquantan-cies and relationships he meets. One day, Stempenyu falls in love with the beautiful, but alas mar-ried, Rochele. Matters become complicated when Rochele falls in love with him too.

The Cameri Theatre, was formally known as the Tel Aviv Municipal Theatre which was founded in 1944. It is one of the leading theatres in Israel, staging many new productions every year, performing through-out Israel and overseas. The

theatres company boasts eight of Israels finest actors, and its plays are directed by celebrated directors from Israel and abroad.

The Delhi International Arts Festival is known as Indias Signature Festival and is the longest multi-arts, multi-venue cultural festival in the country.

Over 50 venues came alive during the 23 day period with world class professionals per-forming alongside special seg-ments created for the youth and children. This years event was held between 27 October 10 November, covering classical music, folk dances, western music, Indian dancing, theatre, visual arts, sufi singers, jazz groups, and puppetry acts.

Stempenyu

In attendance at the Festival, left to right, Erez Kavel, Amira Arnon, Israels Ambassador to Singapore and Kenneth Tan


Art and Culture

Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival fetes its Bar MitzvahThe Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival wrapped its 13th edition in November to rave reviews. The week-long pro-gram, which ran simultane-ously in both Hong Kong and Macau, included a series of special events to celebrate its bar mitzvah.

Kicking off the festival was a captivating, outdoor screen-ing of Breaking Home Ties, a recently restored 1922 silent film. The event featured the live musical accompaniment of tal-ented Jerusalem-based compos-er, Amit Weiner, and three local musicians.

Later in the week, the fes-tival held a Vodka & Kosher Blini Night in conjunction with its screening of the quirky film, How to Re-establish a Vodka Empire. The next day featured a beer tasting event to comple-ment the screening of Swinging With the Finkels. Both these films added some light mo-ments to the festivals rich slate.

The HKJFF also honoured Israeli screen and stage legend Gila Almagor with a retrospec-tive of some of her most notable performances.

Filmmaker Ami Drozd My Australia speaking to audience members at the UA Galaxy Macau

Opening night silent movie Breaking Home Ties with live music at Cyberport

While in Hong Kong, Ms. Almagor also visited Elsa High School to present her autobio-graphical film, The Summer of Aviya, to the students there. Other film guests included Al-gerian filmmaker Safinez Bous-bia, who presented her Chaabi music documentary, El Gusto, and Israeli filmmaker Ami Dro-zd whose film, My Australia, is his autobiographical story about growing up in Poland and learn-ing he is Jewish.

This years line-up consist-ed of 23 productions from 12 countries. Two of the films were also screened free-of-charge to 15 schools across Hong Kong and Macau. This community outreach programme was done in conjunction with the Hong Kong Holocaust & Tolerance Centre, whose members at-tended each screening to answer students questions.

The festivals Audience Award for Best Feature went to Kaddish For a Friend from Germany, while The Heart of Auschwitz from Canada won for Best Documentary. The 14th Festival will run from 16-24 November, 2013.

Israeli acting legend Gila Almagor enjoying the festivals opening night film

Pianist Boris Giltburg in China

Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg will be performing in Beijing at the Forbidden City Con-cert Hall on 2 December. The recital will feature pieces by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky.

The concert is a part of the Russian Music Gala Festival which will include 44 concerts that will be played around Chi-na by some of Israels best mu-sicians over the next 12 months. With involvement from re-nowned Israeli composer, con-ductor and pianist Gil Shohat as the Artistic Director.

Giltburg is one of Israels most promising young pianists. He has played with some of the best orchestras in the world. He was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award 2008.

In 2011 Giltburg won the second prize in the International

One of a series of paintings entitled Bag Check 2004, Oil on Canvas by Debbie Kampel

Arthur Rubinstein Piano Mas-ter Competition, which is the highest achievement of any Is-raeli pianist in the history of this competition.

Giltburg was born in 1984 in Moscow, Russia. He began studying piano with his mother at the age of five. After moving to Israel he studied with Israeli classical pianist, Arie Vardi.

The 5th International Beijing Biennale was recently held at the National Art Museum of China during October.

The theme of this years Art Fair was Future and Reality bearing the hope that art can con-tribute to building a better world, either by confronting reality or by envisioning an ideal future. Around 261 works by interna-tional artists were exhibited.

Debbie Kampels paintings, Border Check were selected for the exhibition. This is the third Beijing Biennale that she has participated in. Her paintings reflect the day to day realities of life in Israel and her perceptions of the quotidian activities around which life revolves.

Kempel was born in Johan-nesburg, South Africa, and has been living in Israel since 1974.

She has works in the collec-

tions of The Israel Museum, Je-rusalem, the Yeshiva University Museum, New York, the Olym-pic Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, the S.A.N. of Senart, the Lehm-an Collection, the Kula Cultural Institute, Croatia, and private collections in Israel, Australia, Canada, South Africa, US and France.

In addition, her work has been selected for Palphots pres-tigious Israeli Art Calendar 2013.

Beijing Biennale includes artist Debbie Kampel


Hadassah Medical Center celebrates its centeniary

Me m b e r s f r o m around the world c o n v e r g e d i n October to pay tribute to the global medical organisation to celebrate 100 years and dedicate its new hospital tower.

Convention chairwoman Miki Schulman worked for the past three years to plan a week where the delegates could ex-plore projects at the two world-renowned Hadassah hospitals and affiliated research labs and schools, which are open to em-ployees, patients and students of every ethnic and religious background.

In fact, the global donor-supported organisation earned a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomi-nation for its ongoing initiatives to use medicine as a bridge to peace.

The visitors had a day of sessions on Hadassahs role in education and immigration ab-sorption, held at the Hadassah Neurim Youth Village run in partnership with the Jewish Na-tional Fund. Hadassah has two additional youth villages, Meir

Shfeya and Ramat Hadassah Szold for youth at risk.

This is a celebration of Hadassahs first 100 years and the launch of its next 100 years, said Schulman. So it was important to the leadership to make sure that our members and delegates all had at least a taste of each of the areas in which we are involved in Israel, because this is really who we are and what we have been do-ing for the past 100 years, she added.

The crown of convention week was the dedication of the new 19-story state-of-the-art Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hos-pital Tower on the Ein Kerem campus, with its interactive Ha-dassah Heritage Center. Other highlights were the unveiling of a commemorative Israel Postal Service stamp, and the presen-tation of Hadassahs highest award to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Were marking 100 years and committing ourselves to the next 100, said Hadassah National President Marcie Na-tan, who led a festive parade

Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower

through downtown Jerusalem.Hadassah was founded on 3

March, 1912 by a group of New York women headed by Hen-rietta Szold, to improve health and education conditions for women and children in the Holy Land. Two nurses were sent to Jerusalem to set up a small pub-lic-health clinic for maternity care and to treat the eye disease trachoma, then rampant in the Middle East.

Today, more than half the hospital-based research in Israel is conducted through the Hadas-sah Medical Organization.

The Hadassah-Hebrew

University Medical Center at Ein Kerem and the Hadassah University Hospital at Mount Scopus treat more than 1 mil-lion patients annually in-house and at 120 outpatient clinics. Together they are the largest employer in Jerusalem outside of the government, with 850 physicians, 1,940 nurses and 1,020 paramedical and support staff.

Hadassahs work is not confined to Israel. Through its School of Public Health, it conducts a wide variety of train-ing programmes for medical personnel and students from the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and

Jordan, and from about 90 other countries.

A Hadassah Ein-Kerem obstetrician delivered the first baby born at the Israeli field hospital in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake (the grateful mother named him Israel) and it was a Hadassah Mount Scopus nurse who showed workers at a Haitian factory how to fashion much-needed surgical screws from simple nails.

Since 1960, Hadassah has brought critical care expertise to earthquake-torn Armenia, Tur-key and Greece and to tsunami victims in Sri Lanka; and assist-ed in the recovery effort at the bombed US embassies in Nai-robi and Tanzania. The govern-ment of Panama took Hadassah as a consultant to build a state-of-the-art emergency trauma unit there.

C l i n i c a l a n d r e s e a r c h achievements at Hadassah have gained fame throughout the world. Surgeons at Hadassah medical centers perform 30,000 operations each year.

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Business Scalability

A few days ago one of my old-est friends Bernard (a pseud-onym) called me from Syd-ney. He had a dilemma. He had successfully remodelled his casual dining concept and is now running five outlets in Sydneys northern suburbs.

Bernard had been ap-proached by a business associ-ate of many years who wants to buy a franchise to open the con-cept in Wellington, New Zea-land. Bernards problem is that on the one hand the prospective franchisee had made an offer of a generous upfront payment, but on the other hand Bernard had concerns.

Weighed against the tempta-tion for the ready cash and the on-going royalty was Bernards worry that he and his wife did not have time nor budget to

Expanding retailWhat makes Franchising work?

travel to New Zealand to ensure that the new franchisee main-tained the standards and kept the offering consistent.

After a long discussion Ber-nard wisely decided to put on ice that particular offer. Instead, he would focus on developing more outlets in his domestic market and possibly extending as far as Melbourne and Bris-bane.

Franchising a brand has for a long time been deemed to be the easy way to expand. After all, once you receive your up-front fee all you need to worry about is the collection of the royalties. These range from 5 to 8% on gross turnovers.

What could be simpler? Un-fortunately, the converse is true. In franchising your business you are virtually underwriting the franchisees ability to profit from his franchise. He has paid you for your knowledge and that intellectual property is not

only the value of the brand that you have put to work but how you will help him make it work.

Franchising goes beyond the franchisors responsibility to supply manuals, style guides, POS systems, accounting sys-tems and the like. It encom-passes training of the franchisee and his employees and provid-ing on-going support. It requires coordinated supervision of the franchisees operation ensuring that he (the franchisee) adheres to the principles of the brand and its deliverables.

The franchisor has to be in-volved in many of the physical operational requirements. No less is finding and approving the real estate. Many retail opera-tions, be they food and beverage or other, succeed or fail on the correct selection of the outlet premises.

In order to minimise that risk, the franchisor needs to pro-vide comprehensive site selec-

tion criteria. It is not feasible to believe that the franchisee has a full understanding of the demo-graphic and other criteria that is needed for a real estate site to provide the necessary turnover and profit margin. In these ar-ticles we will expand on these processes.

There are also a number of franchise arrangements, models and agreements that the legal fraternity will advise on. Care-ful consideration of the best ar-rangement for a particular juris-diction is essential.

McDonalds in many parts of the world owned a majority of the equity in their outlets. Ray Kroc the original chairman of McDonalds once stated, If I had the capital I would not fran-chise. This policy has been the backbone of the most successful scalable restaurant concept in the US, Chipotle. This company founded in 1996 has over 1500 wholly owned casual dining

Supplied byBy Edward PinshowChairman, Tranic Development

restaurants in North America. One only needs track its success on the NYSE to realise there is a viable alternative to franchising provided you have the cash.

Tranic Franchising was founded by a group of seasoned executives in the scalable, fran-chiseable business arena. The team, all with different disci-plines, have been part of the development of brands such as McDonalds and Starbucks and played significant roles the in-ternational expansion of Inter Continental Hotels amongst many others. We are headquar-tered in Hong Kong specialising in building brands into and out of the Asian market.

We intend to publish a series of articles including some in-teresting war stories and invite comment from readers of Jew-ish Times Asia.

The topic is long and com-plex. I have dealt with some of the issues of both franchisor and franchisee. There are many more which cover diverse sub-jects marketing, brand guard-ianship, real estate, operations and finance and financial con-trol.

We welcome enquiries email: [email protected], website www.tranic.com


Does the product proposed meet all your needs?

Can you afford it? Which company designed the

product? Who is the underwriter ? Is the contract legally bind-

ing in Hong Kong, Europe or somewhere else?

Can the Company you are sign-ing (not the agent or the broker) with, guarantee you that they will not cancel your contract or increase the premium as a result of a major illness?

Is there an age limit? What happens after age 65? Will your policy be cancelled?

Is your contract worldwide? Do you have to pay first for

outpatient and inpatient treat-ment?

Is there any capping on each illness?

It is vital to remember that once you are diagnosed to have a serious medical condition, no international Medical Insurance company will accept you.

You must be in good health to join the best insurers.

Medical Insurance is a life-time choice for you and your family.

Medical Insurance

Choosing a good medical in-surance policy can be a very difficult task and could result in a disastrous situation if you have not made the right choice or if you have not been advised correctly.

How to obtain informa-tion about medical insurance is very easy, the preferred sources would be: Our friends and relatives Internet Directly through an Insur-

ance company Through an Insurance Agent Through a financial adviser

or broker

Friends and relatives are always a good source for recom-mendation. However, be careful as they are normally not experts in Insurance and do not neces-sarily have the same situation or requirements as yourself.

How to choose good international medical insurance

Internet can give plenty of information, however the advice and the service you get from the internet may not be specific enough. In addi-tion, you may not have all the protection you can get dealing with a person or a company not registered through a legally recognised Insurance Body or in a country which does not have strict rules and control for Medical Insurance providers.

Directly through the In-surance Company could seem to be the best solution. Howev-er, the Insurance Company will only promote their own product thus limiting your knowledge and awareness of other com-petitive products which may be more suitable to your needs.

Furthermore, when you have claims, they will represent the interest of their own compa-ny and might not always defend your best interest.

An Agent works solely for

an Insurance Company and le-gally represents the Insurance Companys interests. They will also highly recommend that companys product without hav-ing the possibility to propose another product which might be more appropriate. Very often, life insurance agents attempt to sell medical insurance with very little knowledge and experience.

A Broker works on behalf of his client and a brokers main concern is servicing the client and providing the right product. Through his knowl-edge of different products in the market, he will be able to give the best recommendation based on his clients needs and requirements. You must how-ever check the credentials of a Broker and check if he is spe-cialised in Medical Insurance or if it is only a side activity.Questions to always ask agents or brokers: Can they give you names of

some of their clients? Any

testimonies from clients? What are the advantages and

disadvantages of the different plans they propose?

What services do they offer to their clients? Do they assist with claims?

In which country is the broker registered?

How long have they been working in the Medical Insur-ance industry?

The difficult part now be-gins and the questions when choosing a plan need to be ad-dressed before any final deci-sion can be made or assessed.

Some questions you should ask before choosing a medical plan: What kind of medical compa-

ny proposes the plan (Insur-ance Company or underwrit-ing agent)? What is the finan-cial standing of this company and in which country is the plan registered?

How long has it been in activ-ity?

Supplied by Primila Lalwani, Senior PartnerAbacare Group Ltd

For more details, contact: Primila Lalwani, AlnstAM (Dip) Senior Partner. Abacare Group Mobile: +852 9053 4358 Email: [email protected]


ITS

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ITS

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ITS The List Ad.indd 1 2/20/12 4:29 PM

Education Planning

There are deep misconcep-tions about what it takes to access the highest levels of UK higher education. I spend much of my time each year helping students prepare ap-plications to, and for inter-views at Oxford and Cam-bridge. Time and again I see potentially decent candidates in an impossible position due to a failure to prepare well enough in advance.

The single biggest miscon-ception is that excellent, often perfect, examination grades are what it takes to win a place at one of the these great institu-tions.

Wrong. Great grades, as-sured or predicted, win you a consideration for a place only. Everyone that converts an ap-

Oxbridge calling? How to succeed at the highest level

plication into an interview will have the same great grades his-tory. The top UK universities forced the introduction of A* grade at A-level just a few years ago and already find it does not discriminate enough. In that sense then, grades become somewhat irrelevant.

So what do great candidates have that others do not? The an-swer is complex, but if we try to distill it into a form on which action can be taken I would say: a huge amount of preparation; great communication skills; a liberal dash of intelligence; and a massive slice of luck.

The nature of intelligence is a book if not a library so lets assume our candidates at least have that in the bag. What of the other factors?

Preparation is the key. Not rocket science perhaps, but the type and quality is where many fall down. Preparation needs to

happen in many areas of a can-didates academic portfolio and there needs to be an understand-ing of how admissions officers look at that range of offerings.

The admissions literature for Oxbridge champions something called intellectual curiosity. Candidates are aware it is im-portant but the approach is often to write or say things like I re-ally love Chemistry and Im re-ally interested in studying it.

This obviously has no weight whatsoever. Candidates need to demonstrate their pas-sion and curiosity. Students who really have these qualities will go on academic camps and in-ternships, attend lectures in their home town, join organisations and societies linked to their sub-ject area.

In addition have subscrip-tions to journals and will have read well around the subject even into the undergraduate lit-

erature by the time their final school year comes around. Note the academic emphasis.

I often use this as a good barometer. If a student comes to me a month before the ap-plication deadline and does not do these things as a matter of course then not only should they not bother applying to Oxbridge, but they should also cross many other top institu-tions off their list regardless of grades.

If you dont do those things anyway then you dont love your subject or academia. Peri-od. There is no shame. It should help you make a better decision about what to do after school. There are many other options and they all lead to excellent outcomes if used properly.

Appropriate pathways are essential to success. It is some-thing of a heresy in middle-class families these days but univer-

Supplied byBy Danny Harrington M.A. (Oxon)Founder and DirectorITS Education Group

sity is not for everyone.So, as far as preparation is

concerned, we can say that good Oxbridge candidates are well prepared because they are good Oxbridge candidates.

Personal statements, en-trance test prep, interview prep are all essential, but they are tools with which you demon-strate the real underlying love of your subject.

I was lucky as a pupil at a London state school in the 1980s. I had teachers who cared and I got six months of essays, reading, tutorials and the like.

But these were building on two years worth of loving my subject and putting everything into it. They are also essential in building the communication skills a candidate needs to navi-gate the interview which are highly academic and specific.

Our last factor was luck. Well as Seneca said luck is when preparation meets oppor-tunity. So if youre thinking of applying, good luck!

For more information email: [email protected] us at: www.tuition.com.hk


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Dear Friends, Members, Supporters

I would like to inform you that Mr. Daniel Gordon has been appointed as a Head of Delegation for the 19th Maccabiah Games 2013.

I must say it is incredible to see the work Daniel has done for Maccabi Hong Kong over the years, especially with the junior boys, girls and seniors Mac-cabi Soccer Program. Daniel has shown tremendous leadership, devotion and dedication without collecting points. I think he really deserves it.

It has been 80 Years of Maccabian Tradition. Since 1932, one of the worlds largest sports events took place in Israel. The Maccabiah makes a major con-tribution to the connection between Jews in Diaspora and the State of Israel. With 8,500 athletes competing, including 5,000 from abroad, the Maccabiah Games is a celebration of sports and Zionism. Competitors from 55 countries gather to celebrate solidarity between our people.

I am looking forward to seeing you all at the The 19th Maccabian Games 18th-30th July 2013.

Thank you kindly

Rafael AharoniChairmanMaccabi Hong Kong

Thank you.We couldnt have come this far without you.

Room 712 East Ocean Centre, 98 Granville Road, TST East, Kowloon, Hong Kong.Tel. (852) 23121111 E-mail: [email protected] Fax. (852) 23116999

Maccabi World Union (HK Chapter) Ltd.Hong Kong Macau - China

Two years ago, we celebratedthe 18th World Maccabiah Games

*Worlds 3rd Largest International Sports Event*

Congratulations to Daniel GordonHead of Delegation

19th Maccabiah Games 2013

Our obligation to light candles for Chanukah

Chanukah is the first non-biblical holiday to be incorporated i n t o t h e J e w i s h calendar. The holiday finds its roots in real historical events occurring in the Graeco- Syrian Empire around 175 B.C.E.

The Hebrew word Chanu-kah means dedication. In the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the Second Temple, the Syrian-Greek regime of Antio-chus sought to pull Jews away from Judaism, with the hopes of assimilating them into Greek culture. Antiochus outlawed Jewish observance including performing a Brit Milah, keep-ing Shabbat and studying Torah all with the death penalty.

When the Greeks chal-lenged the Jewish people to sacrifice a pig to a Greek god, a few courageous Jews took to the hills of Judea in open revolt against this threat to Jewish life.

Led by Matitiyahu, and later his son Judah the Maccabee, this small band of pious Jews led a guerrilla warfare against the Syrian-Greek army.

not counted as one of the can-dles. First light the Shamash, then recite the blessings, and then use the Shamash to light the Chanukah candles. On the second night, place two candles in the two far-right positions and use the Shamash to light the left one first, This procedure is adopted by adding an extra candle for the eight days.Other customs

A number of other customs have developed, including: eating oily foods like fried potato latkes (pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts), in commemoration of the miracle of the oil.

Giving Chanukah gelt (coins) to children and spinning the dreidel, a

december 2012 / january 2013 • volume 7 • issue 8 • kislev / tevet / shevat 5773

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