New law sees compensation for flight delays

Law which was passed last week ensures that airlines pay out in case of flight delays and cancellations; presents detailed list of passenger rights

A new law,the Aviation Services Law, which came into force last week will ensure that passengers receive compensation for flight cancelations, major delays and changes in terms and conditions.

The law, which was passed in the Knesset in line with a proposal presented by Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta’al) may cost airlines and tour operators a hefty sum.

The law details the alternatives and support services passengers must be offered if their flights are cancelled or delayed as well as the passengers’ right to seek compensation without proof of damage to a sum of up to NIS 10,000 ($2,480) should the passenger go to court after failing to receive direct compensation from those responsible for the flight.

The law applies to scheduled flights as well as charter flights, flights leaving Israel, including flights by foreign carriers, as well as layovers. Airlines or charter operators that fail to comply with the new law will be subject to stiff penalties which could include a ban from Ben Gurion airport.

The law states that passengers must be compensated with food and drink, according to the time they are forced to wait as a hotel room for the night if the wait is overnight or more.

Should the flight be delayed between 5 and 8 hours, the passenger can cancel their reservation, receiving in exchange for a full refund from the airline.

Moreover, the passenger is entitled to compensation due to cancellations, delays or any other major change in the terms of the ticket by the operator within 45 days of the date a request for compensation was presented in writing.

The compensation will then be paid out to the passenger in cash, by credit card or any other method agreed upon by the sides where compensation will equal 25%-100% of the ticket price in line with the flight distance.

Source: Ynetnews.com

Israel’s Paralympians harbor high hopes for London gold

Sailor Dror Cohen aims to repeat his team’s ’08 gold medal performance

With Israel’s Olympic delegation now back in the country, the country’s medal hopes have turned to its Paralympic team, which flies to London on Wednesday, two weeks before the start of the games.

“We have a lot of spirit. We will do our best and try to return with the gold medal,” sailor Dror Cohen told Army Radio Wednesday. Cohen and his two sailing partners won gold at the games in 2008 in Beijing, and hope to repeat their achievement.

Hand-cyclist Nati Gruberg, who cited cyclist Lance Armstrong as his inspiration, said that making the competition was an achievement. After being injured in a motorcycle accident and spending two years in the hospital, Gruberg was ranked seventh in the world in hand-cycling.

The cyclist said he “was very proud to represent Israel,” especially since there were “no regular people” who cycled for the country at the Summer Games. “I will try to get the honors for everybody.”

On Tuesday team members met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who wished them luck in the upcoming competition. Netanyahu told the athletes the two months with a cast on his leg helped him understand the difficulties of a physical handicap “just a little bit more.”

He couldn’t imagine the willpower and prowess they constantly had to call upon, he said, after he was forced to think twice about showering with his broken leg.

The Israeli delegation consists of 25 people, seven of them women, who are set to compete in nine sporting disciplines: sailing, wheelchair-tennis, sharpshooting, marathon, hand-cycling, table-tennis, swimming, riding and rowing.

Sharpshooter Doron Shaziri is one of the team’s more decorated members with six Paralympic medals.This summer he hopes to win his first Olympic gold. “It’s coincidence that I haven’t won gold at the Olympics yet,” he told the Israeli sporting site One. The same competitors attend every international competition, he said, noting that he won gold at the European and World championships.

The Ramat Gan resident was injured by a landmine at the age of 20 and had his leg amputated below the knee. Since then, Shaziri has won the European and World Championships, as well as multiple international medals.

At the ’96 Games in Atlanta he won two silver medals and in the following two Olympics he added three bronze and another silver to his shelf. “It’s a question of timing,” Shaziri said, of winning the ultimate prize. “You have to bring yourself to the peak at the right moment, and that’s what I’ve been training for.”

“You do amazing things and you act as role models,” Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat told the delegation. Livnat said her office was trying to increase its support of the Paralympic team, as Israel tries to bridge the gap between the able-bodied and disabled in all fields of life.

Because there are different levels of disabilities present at the game, the competition is divided into subcategories, determined by the severity of impairment the athlete has.

The 2012 London Paralympics will be the 14th time the Games are held. They will open on August 29 and close on September 9. Seats for the sporting events were already sold out, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

Source: Times of Israel

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Paralympic handcyclist Nati Gruberg ranks first in Israel and seventh in the world in his sport. He was not born with a disability, but got seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in 1999.

Now he gets around on crutches or a wheelchair when he's not zooming around the track on his handcycle. "A handicapped athlete doing sports is already a winner," he says.

Film, editing by Michael Grynszpan; Reporting by Viva Sarah Press

Lenny Kravitz to make an extended first stay in Israel

There’s a tendency to make a fuss when a big act goes to Israel for the first time. There’s something normalizing about it (even if it sometime signals that a star is in decline and even if ticket prices tend to be offensively high).

I’m happy to put all this on the shelf for Lenny Kravitz who will be making his first trip to Israel in October. The Tel Aviv show will be at the end of his most recent tour and so, word on the street is that he’s going to hang out for a little bit in Israel.

For those who don’t think this is a big deal, I happen to be a recovering Lenny Kravitz fan so I’ll try to convince you otherwise with an embarrassing amount of Lenny Kravitz information. His mother wasn’t Jewish, but his father was. If you really think about it, the probability of a modern rock star with the name Lenny Kravitz seems low. His mother famously starred onThe Jeffersons and his father Sy, was a television producer. Lenny Kravitz is actually named for his paternal uncle Leonard who died heroically in the Korean War and was given the Distinguished Service Cross.

Kravitz grew up listening to a combination of rock and soul music and, in some ways, may have embodied the “sense of other” that many American Jews felt as record labels rejected his work for not being either white or black enough. Undeterred, Kravitz struck out on his own, recording an album where he played most of his own instruments, and despite tepid critical reviews, he managed to open for the likes of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and Tom Petty.

Kravitz helped write Madonna’s song “Justify My Love,” which was controversial because of its racy video (which was banned) and because it led to rumors of Kravitz having been unfaithful to his wife, actress Lisa Bonet, with Madonna. Kravitz’s break-up with Bonet prompted Kravitz to write the album “Mama Said,” which is one of the most devastating break-up albums of all-time, full of really earnest and shlocky lyrics with really great rock music behind it (including multiple appearances by the guitarist Slash).

Kravitz eventually would go on to blow up with a bunch of songs that he’s best known for now including “Are You Gonna Go My Way” (the riff for which is rumored to be purloined from the Israeli song “Yo Ya”), a cover of “American Woman,” and “Fly Away.” Despite this, most of his songs are heavily about faith (he has two different songs called “Believe”), love, and reconciliation, themes which should play well in Israel. He has an activist streak as well, his songs “Mr. Cab Driver” and “Bank Robber Man” are about race, the latter of which a re-telling of when Kravitz was detained by police in Miami for fitting the description of a bank robber.

Kravitz is calling his trip to Israel “monumental.”

Source: TableMag

Infected Mushroom and Mayumana! in Jerusalem on August 30th! NOT TO BE MISSED!

Two of Israel’s best combine talents! Mayumana and Infected Mushroom to perform on August 30th in Jerusalem!

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30.8 גן סאקר ירושלים - INFECTED MUSHROOM & MAYUMANA

הופעה חד פעמית מבית היוצר של THE FRONT STAGE

לכרטיסים סרקו את הברקוד או כנסו ל
http://tickets.bimot.co.il/default.asp?cgCode=123

צילום - תומר זמורה - עריכה קובי שרביט

Former mayor to become Kadima’s first Arab MK

Ahmed Dabah brought Mofaz 1,121 primary votes; swearing-in makes him record-breaking 17th non-Jewish MK.

Ahmed Dabah is expected to become Kadima’s first Arab MK, replacing Avi Dichter who resigned from the Knesset Tuesday to become home front defense minister.

Dichter called Dabah, 57, Kadima’s strongest Arab activist, on Monday night, to notify him that he would become an MK soon. The two wished each other luck in their new jobs.

Dabah brought Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz 1,121 votes from Deir-el-Assad – where he was mayor – in this year’s primary. Mofaz got more votes in the northern town than his and former party leader Tzipi Livni’s combined votes from Tel Aviv (1,112).

However, Dabah objects to being called a “vote contractor,” saying he is a public figure that the public trusts.

“I see my entrance to the Knesset as part of a national mission and a heavy responsibility,” Dabah said, adding that he has been in public service since he his 20s. Dabah described himself as serious, responsible and a successful businessman.

He also said he hopes to rebuild Kadima as a strong party, and expressed skepticism about the accuracy of polls predicting that the faction’s seats in the next Knesset will drop to a single digit, saying that the Kadima has over 100,000 members.

Dabah joined the Likud in 1992, and broke off from the party with former prime minister Ariel Sharon. Kadima insiders say he was placed high on Sharon’s never-published list for the 17th Knesset, but was pushed to the 51st spot by former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Kadima’s list for the 18th Knesset had Dabah in the 36th spot. The faction has 28 seats in the Knesset, and Dabah is Kadima’s seventh replacement-MK since 2009.

Ze’ev Boim and Gideon Ezra passed away and were replaced by Doron Avital and Akram Hasson. Haim Ramon left the Knesset, bringing in Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich, as did Tzachi Hanegbi, whose place was taken by Nino Abesadze.

Eli Aflalo resigned from the Knesset and was replaced by Avi Duan, and Yuval Zellner was sworn in as an MK after former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni decided to take a break from politics.

Dabah’s swearing-in as an MK will make him the record-breaking 17th non-Jew in the current Knesset. MK Shakib Shanan (Independence) first broke the record in February, and Hasson brought the number to 16 in May.

Dabah has nine children, and owns a chain of supermarkets and a slaughterhouse. Formerly, he was not only the mayor of Deir-el- Assad, but also head of the Shagur Local Council.

Source: Jpost.com

Withdrawal from Gaza - 7 Years Ago Today

Seven years ago today, from August 15, 2005 until August 22, 2005, Jewish residents were evacuated from their homes in the Gaza Strip block of communities known as "Gush Katif". Even today, seven years later, this event continues to have tremendous impact and significance in Israel. 

On the anniversary of this difficult period in Israel's history, watch a powerful and emotional documentary called 'WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZA' (formerly titled 'Unsettled'), online now at http://vimeo.com/46423843.  This film gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the people whose lives would forever be impacted by this event, both residents and soldiers. 

We ask you to please SHARE the story by forwarding this email it to at least 7 people today - to help make sure that this event and its impact on current events in Israel is acknowledged and discussed.

To support the distribution of the movie or make comments please send an email to: GazaWithdrawal@gmail.com

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH A POWERFUL FILM ABOUT THE WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZA

WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZA - Documentary (Formerly 'Unsettled') from Gaza Withdrawal on Vimeo.

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On this day, 7 years ago, August 15-22, 2005, the State of Israel underwent an internally polarizing and extraordinary dramatic event which would become known as the disengagement from the Gaza Strip. The film 'Withdrawal From Gaza' offers a personal behind-the-scenes look, both before and during the evacuation, at the people whose lives would forever be impacted by the events which unfolded during those difficult weeks. With the ramifications of the disengagement from Gaza still very evident today, this emotional documentary film takes you back to experience the event from the perspective of both the settler and the soldier.

Please note: Statistics at the end of the film are from 2007 when the film was completed.

To support the distribution of the movie or make comments please email: GazaWithdrawal@gmail.com

Hamas leader's kin gets Israeli medical aid even as terror group blasts Jewish state

Ismail Haniyeh turns to Israel when his family needs medical attention. (AP)

HAIFA, Israel – Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has no problem calling for the destruction of Israel and blaming it for attacks linked to his own party, but when his relative needs life-saving heart surgery, only Israeli doctors will do.

The stunning hypocrisy comes to light after five Hamas-backed terrorists allegedly killed 16 Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula that borders Gaza. Although evidence points to a Hamas-backed terror operation, Haniyeh inexplicably blamed it on Israel. The suspects were later killed by Israeli Defense Forces when they tried to cross the Kerem Shalom border.

“A person from the inner circle of the Hamas leadership did receive treatment at Beilinson Hospital."
- Israeli government source

"Israel is responsible, one way or another, for this attack to embarrass Egypt's leadership and create new problems at the border, in order to ruin efforts to end the [Israeli] siege of the Gaza Strip,” Haniyeh claimed during in an interviews with the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television.

Yet only a few months ago, the revelation that Ismail Haniyeh’s brother-in-law received a special permit from the Israeli government to travel into the Jewish State to receive life-saving heart surgery has come as something of a surprise.

Haniyeh’s sister Suhila’s husband suffered undisclosed heart problems four months ago that doctors in Gaza were unable to treat. The stricken man and his wife were whisked to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva in central Israel, where he was treated, and some days later, the couple returned to Gaza.

“A person from the inner circle of the Hamas leadership did receive treatment at Beilinson Hospital," an Israeli government source confirmed to FoxNews.com. "Although there are no diplomatic relations between Israel and Hamas, there are many occasions when requests for help based on purely medical decisions taken in Gaza are granted by Israel for humanitarian reasons.”

No one from Hamas was available for comment on the case.

Guy Inbar, spokesman for Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories told FoxNews.com that Israel routinely renders such humanitarian aid to Palestinians - when it is requested. “Approximately 115,000 Palestinian patients from the West Bank were treated in Israeli hospitals during 2011. Additionally, some 9500 permits were issued for Palestinians from Gaza to receive treatment”, he said.

The Palestinian Authority, which has received an average of $600 million in annual aid from the U.S., foots the bill for all medical treatment of Palestinians in Israeli hospitals.

But Haniyeh's rhetoric against Israel may be coming at the expense of ailing Palestinians without ties to the leadership. In recent weeks there has been a notable decrease in the number of permits being requested by Gazans for medical treatment in Israel, prompting some regional observers to wonder if Haniyeh - who has repeatedly vowed not to rest until “Israel is wiped off the face of the map”- is now denying his own people the opportunity to benefit from Israeli medical help.

Ronen Bergman, an expert on Israeli intelligence affairs, told Fox News that he feels the permission granted to Haniyeh’s brother-in-law for treatment in Israel could however be part of a bigger picture.

"Hamas is well aware that Israel will give high quality treatment to Palestinians without taking into consideration their organizational membership," he said. "Furthermore, this case could be interpreted as a signal to Hamas ... that the channels of negotiation that brought about the release last year of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit ... might potentially be used to develop better relations between the two sides.”

Paul Alster is an Israel-based broadcast journalist and can be followed on Twitter at @paulalster

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/08/12/hamas-leader-kin-gets-israeli-medical-aid-even-as-terror-group-blasts-jewish/#ixzz23RvaRVdG

Israeli Miracle: Paraplegics Can Walk Again!

Israeli Engineers at Argo Medical Technologies developed the first commercially viable upright walking assistance tool. ReWalk enables paraplegics to stand, walk, climb stairs and drive.

Watch this video to see it for yourself.

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Argo Medical Technologies, established by Technion Electrical Engineering graduate Dr. Amit Goffer, develops and manufactures ReWalk™ the first commercially viable upright walking assistance tool. ReWalk enables paraplegics to stand, walk, climb stairs and drive. For more information visit::http://www.argomedtec.com/

Please ‘SHARE’ this incredible story with your family and friends.

‘THE LAST ISRAELIS’: Israeli Submarines and Iranian Nukes

The powerful new novel entitled “The Last Israelis” is a gripping military and psychological thriller based on current events and extensive interviews with veterans of the elite and secretive Israeli submarine force.

The novel was recently published on Amazon, iTunes and many other book sellers and has already garnered many five-star reviews, including from some of Amazon’s top book critics. Amazon Vine Voice reviewer Chris Kruschke calls it “One part ‘Crimson Tide’ and another part ‘Twelve Angry Men,’” and raves that “the final third of the book is some of the fastest paced and most gripping literature I’ve ever read.”

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CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ‘THE LAST ISRAELIS’ ON SALE NOW!

The novel begins with the Mossad informing Israel’s Prime Minister that he has only one week left to conduct a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities before Iran enters the “zone of immunity.” He must convince his cabinet to authorize a strike and avoid a possible second Holocaust, but first sends the US President an urgent message: “If, in the next 24 hours, you provide me with a written reassurance that the United States will give Iran a firm ultimatum, backed by overwhelming force, requiring the complete and verified dismantling of their nuclear program starting within 48 hours, then I will cancel the strike.” But hours later, a tumor in the Israeli leader’s brain stem leaves him in a coma, and Iran ultimately gets its nuclear weapon.

Depicting the doomsday scenario that follows, the story takes a suspense-filled ride aboard the Dolphin submarine.The mightiest vessel in the Israeli Navy, the Dolphin is armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles that are Israel’s “second-strike” answer to the existential threat posed by a nuclear Iran. Daniel, captain of the Dolphin, is abruptly ordered to cut his military drill short and bring his crew back to shore. His gut tells him that something ominous is happening, as he and his crew commence a mission that will be one of the most important in world history. “The Last Israelis” is full of surprises and unpredictable twists. In his five-star review, David Edmiston, another Amazon Vine Voice reviewer, calls the book “spectacular”, noting that the “story plays out as well as any Tom Clancy novel.”

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ‘THE LAST ISRAELIS’ ON SALE NOW!

The book has enough naval action to qualify as a geopolitical page-turner about a Middle East Armageddon, but it also entertains as a psychological thriller. The cramped submarine provides a kind of social experiment that is more intense and compelling than any reality show: 35 men from completely diverse backgrounds who must survive or die together under regular and sometimes life-threatening challenges. The Dolphin’s crew represents a microcosm of Israeli society:descendants of Holocaust survivors, a Christian Arab, the son of Persian Jews who escaped from the 1979 Iranian revolution, an Arabic speaking Druze, an Ethiopian who crossed Sudan by foot as a child to reach Israel, religious Jews who serve on a mostly secular crew, the atheist son of a Soviet Refusenik, a submariner who holds staunchly right-wing views and another who secretly attends leftist rallies, and even the son of Vietnamese refugee boat-people saved by Israel in 1977. How does everyone get along through the relentless pressures of submarine life, various threats at sea, and an unthinkable dilemma placed before the group of 35 men?

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Added to the cauldron of complexity are the rivalry and suspicion between the captain and his deputy, and the fact that one of the submariners suffered a tragic horror as a child and quietly lives with the emotional scars – psychological wounds that explode unpredictably.

Secondary to the main drama, many of the crewmembers’ loved ones highlight the best of Israel with their contributions to alternative energy, agriculture, medicine, humanitarian aid, and high-tech.

If you are concerned about Iran’s nuclear program, please support this book to raise awareness about the issue (and to enjoy a very entertaining read!). For more information and to purchase the book, please visit www.thelastisraelis.com.

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