This week from Israel

* A group of Pro-Palestinians protested during a concert in Berlin, while the Israeli singing group, the Givatron, performed. The Israeli folk group was performing at a Jewish National Fund and Israeli House fundraiser when 10 protesters disrupted the show immediately after the first song, causing a riot and crying: “Free Palestine”. The protesters included Palestinians residing in Germany, Iranians, a Spanish activist and two Israelis. They hurled JNF boxes and Givatron CDs and knocked over signs. But the performers did not let the provocateurs confuse them, and continued their performance to the applause of the audience.

* Yad Vashem Chairman, Avner Shalev was appointed by the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, to be a Vice Chairman of the International Council of the Auschwitz- Birkenau State Museum. The council was founded in the year of 2000, and was tasked with advising the Polish government on the preservation of the memorial sites at former Nazi death-camps in Poland. The Council includes 21 members from Poland, the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

* Nowadays, somewhere after Sukkot, is the time of the year when the weather goes crazy. In the natural order of the world, the summer is coming to an end by the end of August (give or take a week), and make room for fall and then winter. But our small Israel, has always refused to play by the rules. Each year during the months of September and Ocboter, no one really knows what to expect. In the past week we've had two storms that took us all by surprise, both followed by scalding hot sun. I believe there wasn't a single Israeli left dry when the sky opened up in the middle of the day, while everyone was wearing shorts and sandals, hanging out in the beach or the park…

* An archeological excavation conducted by the Israeli Antiquities Authority exposed prehistoric finds. The excavation, which was conducted on behalf of the National Roads Company prior the widening of Highway 79, encompassed an area of about half a mile on both sides of the road and lasted this past year. While digging, the archeologists found Prehistoric settlement remains that range in date from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (c. 10,000 years ago) to the Early Bronze Age (c. 5,000 years ago). The findings include a string of colored beads in a bowl, images of ostriches carved on a stone plaque and more, and are now presented in Ein Zippori site near the Sea of Galilee.

* A Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) aircraft landed at Ben-Gurion Airport for the first time this past Tuesday, with a commercial Ethiopian Airlines' flight from Addis Ababa. This progressed and highly developed aircraft originally intended to land in Israel on October 16th, but due to operational reasons, it made its first landing Tuesday morning. A special ceremony will be held next week. The spokesperson of Ethiopian Airlines said they chose to bring the plane to Israel as a gesture to their Israeli passengers who have faith in the company. The modern plane is built from composite materials and was built with a “green” vision, allowing for significant lower air pollution than other aircraft. /An Israeli family has recently founded an aid organization called “Israel for Africa”, which purpose is to get Israeli and Jewish backpackers who travel in Africa to help around where needed. Voluntarily, of course. The Milo family, who founded this private organization, also donated the money to help it get started.