Thank you, Israel

Instant messaging, wireless computer chips and video camera capsules that examine internal organs. What do these three relatively new innovations have in common with one another? For one, they all exist in modern, democratic cultures. More importantly, though, they were all invented in Israel.\nUnknown to the majority of America is the fact that Israel, the tiny state between Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, is a giant in the world of modern technological advances. Despite the obvious population disadvantage, Israel has risen above the majority of its fellow democratic allies (and adversaries) in terms of innovative entrepreneurship.\nTake a look into her forests. Israel is the only country in the world to have more trees at the end of the 20th century than at the beginning. As a leader in global environmentalism, Israeli pioneers have tended to its land by transforming the arid desert (which makes up 60 percent of the country) into beautiful green forests. Through joint efforts with the United States, Israel continues to educate students all over the world with curricula on the most pressing environmental issues facing the world. \nIsrael’s financial district is also making a solid mark on the world’s stock exchanges. With a population of only 7 million, Israel has the most companies listed on NASDAQ of any foreign country. While we Americans lament the decreasing value of our dollar upon entering our seventh year in the war on terror, Israeli companies (also familiar with prolonged states of war) have avoided a direct effect from their nation’s political happenings. \nThere is no doubt that Israeli minds are making American lives safer, smarter and healthier. First off, they have improved one of the most commonly used medical implants in American surgeries, the heart stent. Save a Child’s Heart, a noteworthy nonprofit that provides postgraduate training in pediatric cardiology to physicians in developing countries around the world, has its headquarters there. After immigrating to Israel from the U.S., Dr. Ami Cohen started this organization that has since performed nearly 2000 life-saving procedures to indigent children from across the world. Many of these children come from the Palestinian Authority, China, Iran and Jordan. \nKnowing how significantly Israel has contributed to our daily lives, it’s hard to believe she will only be turning 60 years old this May. Many of us are unaware of the involvement of Israeli innovations in our lives due to the media’s global bias against the East. We are inundated with images of warfare when we should be educated on subjects of environmentalism, medicine, technology and the arts. We should experience world cultures and educate ourselves on how foreign countries contribute to the global economy that transforms our lives.\nI invite you to take advantage of the upcoming IU-sponsored celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday benefiting Save a Child’s Heart. From 2 to 5 p.m. next Sunday at Dunn Meadow, Israelpalooza will allow you to delve beyond the mindsets that impact our thinking and experience first hand the culture of Israel. Take the time to learn and experience life for yourself. The world is at your fingers. What are you waiting for?