#JEWISH PRESS VoLLXXX
No. 36
Omaha, NE
8 Tammuz, 5761
June 29,
SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FttR 80 YEARS
Sculpture Garden Opens in Jerusalem's Zoo
In the End, Maccabiah Games Will Go on— with Fewer Athletes by GSL SEDAN
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JERUSALEM (JT_4>-Despite hesitations "and many cancellations, the Maccabiah Games are set to take place. Organizers of the 16th Maecabiah were expected to announce that the Games, slated to begin July 16. had been postponed putil nest summer. If so, it would have marked the first lime the Maccabiah Games had been canceled since World War II-and would have made them the latest casualty of the nine-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israel. Instead, at the last minute, the steering committee decided to hold the games as scheduled after Maccabi-USA announced it would send a delegation after all.
Citizens of Jerusalem turned their minds to sisting of 21 animals, plus a huge ark. The more pleasant things when the city honored French sculptor NiM de Saint Phalle created the 90th birthday of one of its most illustrious the animals, while the Swiss designer Mario sons, former city mayor Teddy Kolleck. He Botta created the ark. Jerusalem Foundation has always regarded the zoo, which opened hi International President Ruth Cheshin celeMarch. 1993, as one of his favorite places in his brated with Tisch Family Zoological Garden beloved city. Over $5 million was raised by Director Shai Boron at the new Noah's Ark the Jerusalem Foundation to create a color- Sculpture Park. ful, sculpture wonderland for children conPhoto by ISRANET.
Western Galilee Region in Need Mobile Mammography Unit by CAROL KATZMAN, Editor • Last January, during the United Jewish Communities Solidarity Mission to Israel in which Omaha participated, the international liaison from the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya mentioned quietly to the group that the hospital had applied for a grant to fund a mobile mammography unit. Judith Jochnowitz, who also represents the hospital on the Women's Forum in the region, met again in the spring with T ,.,» T , ., & , c r\ -u > J u d i t h J o c h n o w i t z members of Omaha s , .- ± t , „,. , spoke to participants TTT Women s Mission, and in t h e Omaha Womtold them the grant had e n ' s Mission a b o u t been denied. the high incidence of Now, the women of the b r e a s t c a n c e r in Western Galilee are still Israel. without a mobile breast imaging unit, and are looking to American Jewish women for help. "Our region is large," Jochnowitz explained. "Many villages and rural agricultural settlements have only a few busses, making it very difficult for a mother to leave her home for an examination. "Although our population is half Jewish and half Arab, the story doesn't end there. Each of these groups is composed of many different ethnic backgrounds and cultures," she added. "In addition, not all (of the women) have the education or awareness
necessary to make the trip here." It's not just that the medical leadership of the Western Galilee Hospital wants to make it easier for women to receive regularly scheduled mammograms; it's more serious than that and the startling facts back this up: ® Israeli women (and t h a t includes Jews, Muslims and Christians) suffer from among the
highest incidence of breast cancer in the world; • The rate is one in eight; • Most diagnoses of breast cancer are made in the advanced stages, where the hope for a eure is considerably reduced; and • Fewer than half the women over age 50 undergo annual mammograms. The hospital does have a Genetic Institute and a mammography center. Dr. Mahmoud Haj, a certified surgeon, who specializes in breast cancer surgery, heads the Day Hospital and Ambulatory unit (what we would call Outpatient Surgery here). Dr. Haj, who also spoke to the Women's Mission, voluntarily lectures to medical personnel on the importance of breast self-examination and referral of high-risk patients and women over 50 for annual mammograms. In order to increase the detection of breast cancer in its earliest stages, improve the cure rate and reduce the death rate, the hospital and the Women's Forum are banding together to raise the $450,000 needed for a mobile unit. The vehicle would be outfitted with a state-of-theart mammography machine and staffed by four rotating oncology nurses trained at the Columbus, OH, Breast Cancer Outreach Program. The van would also be air-conditioned and heated for yearround use, with a complete water supply and private dressing room. This is something that we take for granted in the United States," noted Rocky Stern, a participant in last spring's Women's Mission. "Israeli women, of all religions and backgrounds, should have the same access to mammography as we do," Zoe Riekes, Chairman of the Social Subcommittee for Partnership 2000's Central Region, will travel to the Western Galilee next month, along with Federation Executive Director Jan Perelman, to review programs and projects in anticipation of the 2002 allocations process. One of the items at the top of the list will be funding for the mobile unit. For information on how you can help, contact Julee Katzman at the Federation office, 334-6428.
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Photo by Rudy Smith, Omaha WorM-Serald Omahan Ben Jacobson, above, is on bis way to Philadelphia where he will practice with t h e USA Men's Maccabi Basketball team — a n d t h e Philadelphia 76ers! The Jacobson family will meet him in Israel for the Games. Other delegations-from South Africa, Canada, and Australia—quickly announced that they, too, would attend. Despite initial reports to the contrary, Britain is planning to send a delegation to fee Games as well. In all, just 2,000 athletes are expected to compete, down from the 5,000 who originally registered. And the Games will be cut from -10 days to one week, Israel Radio reported. The question of whether the Games would be held followed the recent announcement by the U.S. Reform movement that it is canceling its summer youth camps this year in Israel. Both developments drew the ire of Israeli officials, -who feel that especially now—when Israelis feel they are under siege from Palestinian terror attacks and international criticism—world Jewry should make good on its frequent protestations of unity. By canceling trips, however, Diaspora Jews were refusing to show solidarity with- Israel at this difficult'time, Israeli officials charged. Last week, government officials reacted gratefully to the decision to proceed with the Maccabiah Games. Science, Culture and Sports Minister Matan Vilnai announced that the decision "was right because the Maecabiah is not a regular event, and because any other decision could have put the entire Maccabiah project in jeopardy." "Canceling the Maccabiah or postponing it is like granting Arafat the gold medal," Knesset member Eliezer Sandberg said.
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Remembering Entebbe.«.««.«page 10 Crossword Puzzle....—..«..«—page 11