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Ben-Gurion: Introducing Israel's First Bedouin Woman Doctor
by Anat Bershovsky
 Among the 58 graduates of the Ben Gurion University Medical School who received their doctoral degrees last week, Rania Okabi (26) stood out as the first Bedouin woman in the country to become a physician. Dr. Okabi, who specialized in gynecology and obstetrics at the Rambam Hospital in Haifa in the past year, hopes that her achievement will set an example for all Bedouin girls. (Ynet News)
Brown: Student Kidnapped While in West Bank
by Eric Beck
 Benjamin Bright-Fishbein '07 was kidnapped and later released early Sunday by Palestinian gunmen as he was traveling in Israel, according to University officials. Bright-Fishbein was traveling alone in the West Bank city of Nablus, which is controlled by Palestinians, when he was snatched from a coffee shop by a gunman. Security forces negotiated Bright-Fishbein's release with Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. (Brown Daily Herald)
Claremont-McKenna College: Frankford NJ Woman Going to Improve Israel's Image
by Jessica Seda
  One of 30 students worldwide charged with helping to improve Israel's image in the media, Alexandra "Alex" Marin will spend two months in Jerusalem this summer. Marin, a Frankford resident and recent graduate of Claremont-McKenna College in California, will leave for the capital city after spending a four-day training period in Washington, D.C. She was chosen out of 250 applicants to take part in The Israel Project, a nonprofit organization that works to educate the press and public about Israel. (New Jersey Herald)
Hillel Opens in Haifa
  Hillel opened its fifth center in Israel, in Haifa. The Haifa Hillel Chais Center opened at Beit Hecht in the Hadar neighborhood to serve students at Haifa University, the Technion and area community colleges. An estimated 35,000 young people are in Haifa-area schools, the largest concentration of college students in Israel today. (JTA News)
Mary Baldwin College Professor Returns from Studying Counter-Terrorism Efforts in Israel
by Christina M. Mitchell
 At first, they thought they were being brave by hanging out at Mike's Place, a bar in Tel Aviv. In 2003, it was the site of a terrorist bombing. But what Gordon Bowen and his colleagues soon learned was that in Israel, the people have long learned to accept disaster when it occurs, and then to move on. Bowen, a professor of political science and international relations at Mary Baldwin College, recently returned from a fellowship in Israel, where he studied the country's counter-terrorism efforts with several other academics on a trip sponsored by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. (Staunton, Va. News Leader)
Toronto: Israeli Doctoral Student Wins Peace Fellowship
 An Israeli law student at the University of Toronto is the recipient of Canadian Friends of Peace Now's (CFPN) first annual Peace Fellowship. Meital Pinto is writing her doctoral thesis on an Israeli legal framework for the advancement of minority language rights. She received the award, which includes a sum of $2,000, at a recent luncheon in her honor at the University of Toronto Faculty Club. (Canadian Jewish News)
Western Washington: Students Experience Israeli Conflict
by Boris Kurbanov
 Western junior Daniel Jones will spend 11 months surrounded by the Negev Desert participating in a Western-sponsored study abroad program. Jones will study at the Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba. Jones toured Israel for two weeks in 2004 while traveling in Europe. "It's such a diverse, complicated and misunderstood region," Jones said. "Most of our perceptions of the country are shaped by the media." Jones will study peace and conflict resolution, travel throughout Israel and teach English to the Bedouin. "Israel is one of the most captivating and breathtaking countries in the world," Jones said. "Walking through the streets of most Israeli cities is like walking through biblical times." (Western Front)
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Brandeis: Survey: Birthright Achieves its Goals
by Yitzchak Benhorin
  Taking part in the Taglit-Birthright Israel program improves attitudes towards Israel and Judaism, a survey conducted by Brandeis University reveals. According to the survey, the program's participants hold stronger positive opinions towards Israel and their Jewish identity compared to their peers who did not take part in the program. It also concludes that the participants are more involved in the Jewish community. (Ynet News)
UCLA: Groups Communicate through Conflict
by Sarah Winter
 Bruin Walk served as a stage for discussion, debate and dispute among members of the pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian communities last month. On the way to class, students were given a peek into the tumultuous world of the Middle East – and the underlying emotions, passion and pride that fill students from the two communities. Though pro-Palestinians congregated on one side of Bruin Walk while supporters of Israel gathered on the other, it was not uncommon to see small groups of students – with some holding Israeli flags and the others wearing "Free Palestine" shirts – engrossed in discussion with each other. (Daily Bruin)
Georgetown: Donor May Fund Jewish Center to Give U.S. Leaders Another Viewpoint
by Shmuel Rosner
 The question repeats itself over and over: "Is it good for Israel?" And in this case, everyone's answer was the same: Certainly. The questioner here was Sheldon Adelson - the richest Jew in the world, so they say. The people being asked were professors and activists, and the subject under discussion was a $20 million donation to Georgetown University. Adelson is considering whether to donate the money to expand the university's Program for Jewish Civilization, part of its School of Foreign Service, into a full-fledged Center for Jewish Civilization. (Ha'aretz)
Harvard: Student Fights Illness for MBA
by Madeline W. Lissener
  For the Harvard Business School classmates and professors of Avichai "Avi" Kremer, he has been a symbol of life since he was diagnosed last fall with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Since Kremer was first diagnosed, this second-year Business School student has raised over two million dollars, facilitated discussions between competing pharmaceutical companies, and founded two companies dedicated to discovering a treatment for ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Kremer will graduate this week from the Business School and receive the prestigious Dean's Award for his devotion to increasing ALS research and awareness. (Harvard Crimson)
Princeton: Scholar Seeks World Peace Through Understanding of Languages
by Kara Fitzpatrick
 Only through communication will there be peace. And only with language will there be communication. So Ephraim Isaac has dedicated his life to both causes peace and languages. Mr. Isaac, who speaks 17 languages, is co-founder and director of the Institute of Semitic Studies in Princeton, the nation's only independent institute that is dedicated to the study of Semitic languages some of the earliest known to man including Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic and related languages such as Oromo, Berber and Coptic. Mr. Isaac said he has seen what results if peace is not present; he witnessed war firsthand in Ethiopia as a child and was in Israel during the Six-Day War. (Princeton Packet)
Yale: Middle East Wars Flare Up
by Liel Leibowitz
 Juan Cole, one of the country's top Middle East scholars, was poised for the biggest step of his career. A tenured professor at the University of Michigan, Cole was tapped earlier this year by a Yale University search committee to teach about the modern Middle East. Last week, however, in what is shaping up as the latest in a series of heated battles over the political affiliations of Middle Eastern studies professors, the tenure committee voted down Cole's nomination. Several Yale faculty members described the decision to overrule the votes of the individual departments as highly unusual. (New York Jewish Week)
YU Makes Strong Showing at Salute to Israel Parade
 Hundreds of YU students, faculty, alumni and friends enthusiastically marched up Fifth Avenue in the annual Salute to Israel Parade in New York City. President Richard M. Joel led the YU contingent that accompanied a parade float and live music was provided by Blue Fringe. (Yeshiva University News)
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