About AICE (American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise)

[aurora]

As I was searching for the countries that israel's imports oil, I ran into the jewish virtual library. It is interesting to note how the US and Israel is entwined in a financial love affair.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/boards.html

The AMERICAN-ISRAELI COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISE (AICE) was established in 1993 as a nonprofit 501(c)(3), nonpartisan organization to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship by emphasizing the fundamentals of the alliance — the values our nations share. Tangibly, this means developing social and educational programs in the U.S. based on innovative, successful Israeli models that address similar domestic problems, and bringing novel U.S. programs to Israel. These cooperative activities, which stem from our common values, are called Shared Value Initiatives.

The Boards of Directors and contributors to AICE believe Israel has many valuable projects and ideas to offer the United States. Our book, Partners for Change: How U.S.-Israel Cooperation Can Benefit America, describes Shared Value Initiatives in virtually every area of concern to Americans, including science and technology, the environment, social services, education and health.

Board of Directors

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Howard Rosenbloom President / Treasurer
Dr. Arthur Bard Vice President / Secretary
Mitchell G. Bard Executive Director

ADVISORY BOARD

Dorothy Bard Bernice Manocherian
Newton Becker J. George Mitnick
Martin Block Oscar Morvai
Renee Comet Sy Opper
Edith Everett Terry M. Rubenstein
Henry Everett Charles Schusterman z"l
Howard Friedman Lynn Schusterman
Jerry Gottesman Irving Shuman
Paula Gottesman Alan Slifka
Eugene M. Grant Mark Vogel
Andy Lappin Arnold Wagner
Stephen J. Lovell Jane Weitzman

HONORARY COMMITTEE

Rep. Gary Ackerman Rep. Tom Lantos
Rep. Howard Berman Rep. John Linder
Marshall Breger Rep. Nita Lowey
Rep. Ben Cardin Rep. Michael McNulty
Sen. Richard Durbin Rep. Carrie Meek
Sen. Dianne Feinstein Sen. Barbara Mikulski
Douglas Feith Rep. Constance Morella
Rep. Robert Filner Rep. Michael Pappas
Sen. Charles Grassley Rep. Ed Pastor
Rep. Ralph Hall Dr. Daniel Pipes
Rep. Alcee Hastings Rep. John Porter
Richard A. Hellman Esq. Sen. Rick Santorum
Rep. Sue Kelly Rep. Jim Saxton
Rep. Peter King Sen. Charles Schumer
Hon. Paul Simon

Dr. Mitchell G. Bard

Mitchell Bard is the Executive Director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) and a foreign policy analyst who lectures frequently on U.S.-Middle East policy. Dr. Bard is also the director of the Jewish Virtual Library, the world’s most comprehensive online encyclopedia of Jewish history and culture.

For three years he was the editor of the Near East Report, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) weekly newsletter on U.S. Middle East policy.

Prior to working at AIPAC, Dr. Bard served as a senior analyst in the polling division of the 1988 Bush campaign.

Dr. Bard has appeared on local and national television and radio outlets. His work has been published in academic journals, magazines and major newspapers. He is the author/editor of 18 books:

The Water's Edge And Beyond: Defining the Limits to Domestic Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy

Partners for Change: How U.S.-Israel Cooperation Can Benefit America

U.S.-Israel Relations: Looking to the Year 2000

Building Bridges: Lessons For America From Novel Israeli Approaches To Promote Coexistence

Myths And Facts: A Concise Record of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (coauthor)

Forgotten Victims: The Abandonment of Americans in Hitler's Camps

The Complete Idiot's Guide to World War II

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict

The Complete History of the Holocaust

The Holocaust (Turning Points in World History)

Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict

The Nuremberg Trials (At Issue in History)

The Nuremberg Trials (Eyewitness to History)

From Tragedy to Triumph: The Politics behind the Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding the Brain

On One Foot: A Middle East Guide for the Perplexed or How to Respond on Your Way to Class When Your Best Friend Joins an Anti-Israel Protest

The Founding of the State of Israel

1001 Facts Everyone Should Know About Israel

Will Israel Survive? (Forthcoming)
Dr. Bard is also the author/editor of six studies published by AICE:

Learning Together: Israeli Innovations in Education that Could Benefit Americans

Experience Counts: Innovative Programs For The Elderly In Israel That Can Benefit Americans

Good Medicine: Israeli Innovations In Health Care That Could Benefit Americans

Breakthrough Dividend: Israeli Innovations In Biotechnology That Could Benefit Americans.

Rewriting History in Textbooks

TENURED OR TENUOUS: Defining the Role of Faculty in Supporting Israel on Campus

Bard holds a Ph.D. in political science from UCLA and a master’s degree in public policy from Berkeley. He received his B.A. in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Contact Dr. Bard or go to his personal web site:

www.mitchellbard.com

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/states/TX.html
Cooperation Between Israel
and the State of Texas
________________________________________

Exports to Israel in 2005: $838,712,785
Percentage change from 2004: -20.7
Israel's rank as trade partner: 44
Total exports since 1991: $7,598,770,851
Military Contracts with Israel in 2005 Using Foreign Military Financing: $235,001,672
Jewish Population in 2001: 131,000
Jewish Percentage of Total Population: 0.6
Binational foundation grants shared by Texas institutions:
BARD (1987-2003): $7,382,000
BSF (1987-2005): $4,397,258
BIRD (1980-2005): $2,016,748
Recipients of grants from U.S.-Israel binational foundations:
Adacom Corp.
Agar Corp.
Baylor Medical School
BMC Software, Inc.
East Texas State University
ElectroCom Automation
Exon Research & Engineering Corp.
G.B.I. International Inc.
Graphic Science Corp.
Harris Adacom Corp.
Microdynamics Inc.
Persys Inc.
Rice
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
Texas A&M
Texas A&M Research Foundation
Texas A&M University Citrus Center
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
Texas Agricultural Research & Extension Station
Texas Tech
Texas Tech Medical School
Tracor Aerospace Inc.
University of Houston
University of Texas
University of Texas Medical Branch
University of Texas Health Science Center
University of Texas SW Medical Branch
University of Texas Medical School
USDA Cropping Systems Research Lab
VTEL Corp.
Wynn's Climate Sys. Inc.

Agreements with Israel
Perhaps the oldest state to state relationship is the Texas-Israel Exchange (TIE), which was created in 1984 to promote mutually beneficial agriculture projects. The agreement was reaffirmed by a new Memorandum of Intent in 1992. In 1994, another agreement was negotiated to create the TIE Fund to support joint agricultural research and development, and foster the expansion of trade. The Texas Legislature enacted legislation providing up to $250,000 for the TIE Fund and Israel agreed to contribute an equal amount. That program was expanded in 1993 and a new Texas-BARD program has been established.
Partners For Change
The U.S.-Israel relationship is based on the twin pillars of shared values and mutual interests. Given this commonality of interests and beliefs, it should not be surprising that support for Israel is one of the most pronounced and consistent foreign policy values of the American people.
It is more difficult to devise programs that capitalize on the two nations' shared values than their security interests; nevertheless, such programs do exist. In fact, these SHARED VALUE INITIATIVES cover a broad range of areas, including the environment, science and technology, education and health.
Today's interdependent global economy requires that trade policy be developed at the national and state level.
Many states have recognized the opportunity for realizing significant benefits by seeking to increase trade with Israel. No fewer than 23 states, including Texas, have cooperative agreements with Israel.
In 2005, Texas exported nearly $1 billion worth of manufacturing goods to Israel. The total value of exports since 1991 exceeds $7.5 billion. In addition, Texas companies received $235,001,672 in 2005 for U.S. government-funded military contracts with Israel through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program (U.S. military assistance to Israel). Israel now ranks as Texas' 44h leading trade partner.
In 2005, the Texas Treasury purchased $2 million in new State of Israel bonds and renewed $2 million in bonds that were scheduled to mature. The purchase of the new bonds and the renewal of the mature bonds will bring the Texas Treasury's total investment in State of Israel bonds to $20 million. Texas began purchasing State of Israel bonds in 1994.
Israel is certainly a place where potential business and trade partners can be found. It can also be a source, however, for innovative programs and ideas for addressing problems facing the citizens of Texas.
Israel, for example, has developed a number of pioneering education programs. One, the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters, has been praised by President Clinton as “the best preschool program on earth" and replicated throughout the country, including Dallas, El Paso, Austin, Houston, Beaumont and San Antonio.
A range of other exciting approaches to social problems like unemployment, environmental protection and drug abuse have been successfully implemented in Israel and could be imported for the benefit of Americans.
The potential for greater cooperation with Israel for the benefit of Texas is limited only by the imagination.

 

[Ryan]

As I was searching for the countries that israel's imports oil, I ran into the jewish virtual library. It is interesting to note how the US and Israel is entwined in a financial love affair.

[...]

Dr. Mitchell G. Bard

Mitchell Bard is the Executive Director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) and a foreign policy analyst who lectures frequently on U.S.-Middle East policy. Dr. Bard is also the director of the Jewish Virtual Library, the world’s most comprehensive online encyclopedia of Jewish history and culture.

For three years he was the editor of the Near East Report, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) weekly newsletter on U.S. Middle East policy.

Prior to working at AIPAC, Dr. Bard served as a senior analyst in the polling division of the 1988 Bush campaign.

Dr. Bard has appeared on local and national television and radio outlets. His work has been published in academic journals, magazines and major newspapers. He is the author/editor of 18 books:

[...]

Myths And Facts: A Concise Record of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (coauthor)

The Complete Idiot's Guide to World War II

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict

On One Foot: A Middle East Guide for the Perplexed or How to Respond on Your Way to Class When Your Best Friend Joins an Anti-Israel Protest

[...]

Dr. Bard is also the author/editor of six studies published by AICE:

[...]

Rewriting History in Textbooks

TENURED OR TENUOUS: Defining the Role of Faculty in Supporting Israel on Campus

Bard holds a Ph.D. in political science from UCLA and a master’s degree in public policy from Berkeley. He received his B.A. in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

No prizes for guessing how objective Dr Bard's books might be...

 

[sHiZo963]

No prizes for guessing how objective Dr Bard's books might be...

See for yourself; the Rewriting History in Textbooks is online and can be found here:
http://www(dot)jewishvirtuallibrary(dot)org/pub/texts.html

...where you find, among many other things:

Executive Summary

The political correctness debate has led to increased scrutiny of how textbooks present the history of different peoples. While many minorities have actively campaigned to have their histories more accurately depicted, Jews have stayed on the sidelines. The following examination of 18 of the most widely used world and American history texts indicates this silence has allowed publishers to distribute books that are filled with egregious factual errors and specious analyses. The mistakes invariably are to the detriment of the Jews or Israel, raising questions about the predisposition of authors and publishers.

[...]

For the last several years publishers have been pressured to revise textbooks to better reflect multicultural values. As in the political correctness debate, in general, Jews have stayed mostly on the sidelines. The result is that distortions of Jewish history have become a feature of some of the most frequently assigned textbooks and little effort has been made to monitor or rectify the situation.

To be fair, writing textbooks that satisfy everyone is probably impossible. Most have multiple authors and are therefore unevenly written. The authors rarely have a background in Middle East or Jewish history. Moreover, in 800-page tomes designed to cover all of world and American history, events must be condensed. In the case of U. S. history texts, space devoted to Jews, Israel and the Middle East is by necessity limited. Still, given the extent of media coverage on the Middle East, and the level of U.S. aid provided to Israel, one might expect greater efforts would be made to explain the basis of the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Occasional mistakes can be expected to slip through the editing process. Still, it is startling to find references to the 1973 war that failed to mention that Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, or that some recent texts describe the 1991 Gulf War and omit that Iraq fired SCUD missiles at Israel. After reviewing 11 world and 7 American history texts that are among the most widely used, it became clear, however, that inadequate and inaccurate depictions of Middle East history are the norm. The books reviewed here are riddled with flaws. Moreover, errors are consistently to the detriment of the Jews or Israel, which raises questions about the predisposition of the authors and publishers. The anti-Israel bias rarely is manifested in the way material is interpreted, it is usually a result of factual inaccuracy, oversimplification, omission and distortion. The conclusions students are most likely to draw from these presentations are those held by Israel's detractors; therefore, it should not be surprising if students are easily encouraged to believe the worst about Israel when they reach politicized college campuses. Even more worrisome is the likelihood that future American leaders will have their earliest political attitudes toward Israel shaped by misinformation.

[...]

Islamic Tolerance

Perhaps the most serious flaws in most books are distortions resulting from a combination of omission and commission. This is particularly true of the coverage of Islamic history and Muslims' treatment of Jews in the world history texts. The increased attention given to Islam is one change made to recent editions. Its prominence is now at least equal to that of Judaism and Christianity and, in some books, surpasses them. The significance of Islam to world history is not in doubt. What is historically inaccurate, however, is the portrayal of Muslims as paragons of tolerance, particularly regarding Jews.

Don Peretz, a Middle East scholar who should know better, wrote in the regional studies text, The Middle Fast (Houghton Mifflin, 1990), that Muslim conquests in the 7th Century were welcomed by Jews because they were offered religious toleration. As proof of this toleration, he said Jews were appointed to high positions. Wallbank and Schrier's Living World History says that conquered peoples "were generally treated with leniency" by Muslims. Several books cite Maimonides as an example of how Jews flourished under Islam.

Jews were generally viewed with contempt by their Muslim neighbors; peaceful coexistence between the two groups involved the subordination and degradation of the Jews. Jews did thrive culturally and economically at certain times, but their position was never secure and changes in the political and social climate would often lead to harassment, violence and death.

[...]

Spontaneous Combustion

The mandatory period is described as a time when Arabs and Jews simultaneously or spontaneously clashed. Usually, no one is blamed for inciting the violence. Stearns et al. write in World History-Traditions and New Directions, for example, that Arabs lived in Palestine "for thousands of years." They mention violence between the two groups increasing over the years without drawing any distinctions as to whom the instigators were. Similarly, Beers says in World History--Patterns of Civilization that after World War II the Arabs felt threatened by a new wave of immigrants and "new clashes occurred .... The fighting escalated as Arabs and Jews fought to control the towns and villages of Palestine." Jewish immigration "continued and grew, until by the late 1930's, Jews accounted for nearly one-third of Palestine's population," Hantula et al. write in Global Insights. "Before long, riots and armed conflict broke out." But battles did not just break out, particularly at this time, when Arab guerrillas were carrying out most of the attacks. It was not until after the partition decision, and Arab forces had already begun to infiltrate, that Jews began to fight for control of towns and villages. The way these passages are written, however, the insinuation is that Jewish immigration rather than Arab rejectionism was the cause of the violence.

[...]

Refugees and Revisionism

The number and condition of the refugees are distorted in every book that discusses them. Wallbank and Schrier say most refugee camps became "permanent settlements" without jobs, farms or services. Hantula et al., Stearns et al. and Beers all have nearly identical versions. According to these authors, one-third of the 3.5 million Palestinians live in exile, as many as two million confined to squalid refugee camps. These descriptions give the impression that millions of Palestinian refugees are suffering in camps, but this has not been the case for decades. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, two-thirds of the approximately 2.2 million Palestinian refugees are not in camps. "They live and work like everyone else in the towns and villages of the Middle East," UNRWA reports. Moreover, of the five million Palestinians, nearly three-quarters now live in historic "Palestine," either as Israeli or Jordanian citizens or in the West Bank and Gaza.

[...]

The Heroic Intifada

The status of Palestinians in the territories is given surprisingly short-shrift. The information presented, however, is entirely one-sided. In Living World History, for example, Wallbank and Schrier mention universities being closed. Hantula et al. say in Global Insights that schools in the territories have been "subject to Israeli censorship" and those "who spoke out against the occupation risked being deported." It is fair to mention deprivations in the territories, but no one mentions the security concerns that prompt them. Schools were only closed after they ceased to be centers of learning and became instead staging grounds for violent demonstrations. All the universities are now open. Israeli "censorship" in schools has been restricted to replacing Jordanian textbooks laced with anti-Semitic references. The January 1993 deportation of more than 400 Hamas activists has reinforced the impression that expulsion is a common method of stopping protests, but it has actually been used sparingly. Moreover, just speaking out against the occupation has never been the cause for someone's expulsion. Even with the military administration, there is no shortage of Palestinians making their feelings known. In addition, if these books were to be consistent in their efforts to present issues in a balanced manner, they would discuss some improvements in living conditions in the territories since 1967.

Nash's American Odyssey acknowledges that Israel modernized the territories in the 1970's and 80's, but says the Palestinians "were forced to carry identity cards, usually got the most menial jobs and, if suspected of causing trouble, could be beaten, arrested or have their homes bulldozed into rubble." In truth, Israelis also carry identity cards. Palestinians often are employed in low-paying jobs because they are willing to take them and Israelis generally are not. They are not forced into them. Finally, Palestinians have to do more than simply be suspected of causing trouble to merit the treatment Nash describes. Demolishing homes, for example, is a punishment rarely used and then only for severe crimes. More important, unlike elsewhere in the Middle East, the Palestinians have recourse to the courts.

Some more recent texts discuss the intifada, which is always described as a reaction to Israeli actions. No reference is made in Nash (American Odyssey) or the others to the internecine warfare labeled the intrafada. Norton et al. simply refer in A People & A Nation to Israeli forces using brute force to quell "rock-throwing youths." Nash and Farah and Karls' newer edition of The Human Experience--A World History incorrectly say the intifada started when Israeli soldiers were surrounded and shot and killed a 17-year-old. Welty and Greenblatt's The Human Experience--World Regions and Cultures is the only book to give a complete and accurate explanation of how the intifada started. Nash actually devotes more space to inaccurately explaining the outbreak of the uprising than any other aspect of the conflict or U.S.-Israel relations. More disturbing than the narrative, however, is the use of a photo of Palestinian women demonstrating next to a picture of the Mandelas, creating the misimpression of a symmetry between the struggles of Palestinians and black South Africans.

The treatment of Arabs in Israel is largely ignored. One exception is Peretz, who wrote in The Middle East that they "are not integrated into the nation's social and political structure." He calls them second-class citizens. Arab citizens of Israel have suffered hardships because of their exemption from military service and inequalities in funding of Arab municipalities, but they have greater political rights than Palestinians anywhere else in the Middle East. They have political parties and Knesset representation, and are probably as integrated into Israeli society as most minorities are elsewhere.

[...]

What Can Be Done?

The only way the quality of education can be improved is if parents take an active role in their children's schooling. Students are not likely to recognize problems with their textbooks, it's up to their parents. If a book appears problematic, the relevant passages can be forwarded to the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise for analysis. If they are inaccurate or biased, we would recommend that a protest be made to the teacher, the school and the school board, outlining the problem and expressing an interest in seeing that a more suitable book be used.

Besides alerting local school officials, protests should also be made to the publishers. The people who are responsible for putting out textbooks are not anti-Semites out to corrupt the nation's youth. Often they are harried editors who depend on reviewers to catch errors. The best publishers do not want mistakes in their books and will take steps to correct them. Sometimes, they may be reluctant. In the case of The Enduring Vision, I wrote an article on its deficiencies in the Near East Report, which provoked many angry letters to DC Heath. The publisher's initial response was defensive, claiming there "were a few factual slips" but that passages were quoted out of context. Reputable experts were subsequently brought in, however, to correct the errors and to provide more background explanations of Middle East events. In the end, the publisher produced a better book and students had a more useful educational tool.

What is interesting is that more often than not, these people insert opinionated statements as "corrections" to published works. No data is presented to support their claims for changes, just a charge of "wrongness" and "one-sidedness."